Fallen angel

== Christianity ==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="230">
File:William de Brailes - The Fall of the Rebel Angels (Apocryphal) - Walters W10624R - Full Page.jpg|left|The Fall of the Rebel Angels (Apocryphal) ({{Circa|1250}}), by [[William de Brailes]]. [[God in Christianity|God]] sits on a throne within a [[mandorla]]. The rebelling angels are depicted as falling out of heaven and into a hell, in the shape of a mouth. As they fall, the angels become demons.
File:Paradise Lost 1.jpg|Michael casts out rebel angels. Illustration by [[Gustave Doré]] for [[John Milton]]'s ''[[Paradise Lost]]'' (1866)
File:Paradise_Lost_24.jpg|Angels fighting against fallen angels during the [[War in Heaven]]. Illustration by Gustave Doré for John Milton's ''Paradise Lost'' (1866)
</gallery>

=== Bible ===
Luke 10:18 refers to "Satan falling from heaven" and Matthew 25:41 mentions "the Devil and his angels", who will be thrown into hell. All [[Synoptic Gospels]] identify Satan as the leader of demons.<ref name="jstor.org">Martin, Dale Basil. ''When Did Angels Become Demons?'' Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 129, no. 4, 2010, pp. 657–677. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/25765960.</ref> [[Paul the Apostle]] ({{Circa|5|64}} or 67) states in 1 Corinthians 6:3 that there are angels who will be judged, implying the existence of wicked angels.<ref name="jstor.org"/> 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 1:6 refer [[Protrepsis and paraenesis|paraenetically]] to angels who have sinned against God and await punishment on [[Judgement Day]].<ref>J. Daryl Charles ''The Angels under Reserve in 2 Peter and Jude'' Bulletin for Biblical Research Vol. 15, No. 1 (2005), pp. 39–48</ref> The [[Book of Revelation]], chapter 12, speaks of Satan as a great red dragon whose "tail swept a third part of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth".<ref>Revelation 12:4</ref> In verses 7–9, Satan is defeated in the [[War in Heaven]] against [[Michael (archangel)|Michael]] and his angels: "the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient [[Serpent (Bible)|serpent]] who is called the [[Devil]] and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth and his angels were thrown down with him".<ref>Revelation 12:9</ref> Nowhere within the New Testament writings are fallen angels identified with demons,<ref name="jstor.org"/> but by combining the references to Satan, demons and angels, early Christian exegetes equated fallen angels with demons, for which Satan was regarded as the leader.<ref name="jstor.org"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Packer|first=J.I.|title=Concise theology : a guide to historic Christian beliefs|year=2001|publisher=[[Tyndale House]]|location=Carol Stream, Ill.|isbn=978-0-8423-3960-5|chapter=Satan: Fallen angels have a leader|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rXmOrt8mVJkC&pg=PT70}}</ref>

The [[First Epistle to the Corinthians]] in 11:10, according to the early Church Father [[Tertullian]], references fallen angels; Tertullian taught that protection from the lust of the fallen angels was the reason for [[Saint Paul]]'s directive to Christian women to wear a headcovering (veil).<ref name="Stewart2022">{{cite book |last1=Stewart |first1=Tyler A. |title=The Origin and Persistence of Evil in Galatians |date=25 February 2022 |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |isbn=978-3-16-159873-9 |page=51 |language=en}}</ref> Tertullian referenced a woman who was touched on the neck by a fallen angel "who found her to be a temptation".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hammerling |first1=Roy |title=A History of Prayer: The First to the Fifteenth Century |date=2 October 2008 |publisher=Brill Academic Publishers |isbn=978-90-04-17122-0 |page=52 |language=en}}</ref>

[[Origen]] and other Christian writers linked the fallen morning star of [[Isaiah 14]]:12 of the [[Old Testament]] to Jesus' statement in Luke 10:18 that he "saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven", as well as a passage about the fall of Satan in Revelation 12:8–9.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ldDLYd2AuAsC&pg=PA320 |author= John N. Oswalt |chapter= The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 1–39 |title= The International Commentary on the Old Testament |publisher=Eerdmans |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-8028-2529-2 |page=320 |access-date= 2012-07-03}}</ref> The Latin word ''lucifer'', as introduced in the late 4th-century AD [[Vulgate]], gave rise to the name for a fallen angel.<ref>Kaufmann Kohler ''Heaven and Hell in Comparative Religion: With Special Reference to Dante's Divine Comedy'' Macmillan original: Princeton University 1923 digitized: 2008 p. 5</ref>

Christian tradition has associated Satan not only with the image of the morning star in Isaiah 14:12, but also with the denouncing in Ezekiel 28:11–19 of the king of [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]], who is spoken of as having been a "[[cherub]]". The [[Church Fathers]] saw these two passages as in some ways parallel, an interpretation also testified in apocryphal and [[Pseudepigrapha|pseudepigraphic]] works.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=smxPS7QRR5MC&dq=Patmore+pseudepigraphic&pg=PA78 Hector M. Patmore, ''Adam, Satan, and the King of Tyre''] (Brill 2012), {{ISBN|978-90-04-20722-6}}, pp. 76–78</ref> However, "no modern evangelical commentary on Isaiah or Ezekiel sees Isaiah 14 or Ezekiel 28 as providing information about the fall of Satan".<ref>Paul Peterson, Ross Cole (editors), [https://books.google.com/books?id=TBFAAwAAQBAJ&dq=Petersen+modern+evangelical+commentary&pg=PA246 ''Hermeneutics, Intertextuality and the Contemporary Meaning of Scripture'' (Avondale Academic Press 2013] {{ISBN|978-1-921817-99-1}}), p. 246.</ref>

=== Early Christianity ===
During the period immediately before the rise of Christianity, the intercourse between the Watchers and human women was often seen as the first fall of the angels.<ref>Gregory A. Boyd, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Hj791_BeAF0C&q=first+fall&pg=PA138 God at War: The Bible & Spiritual Conflict]'', InterVarsity Press 1997 {{ISBN|978-0-8308-1885-3}}, p. 138</ref> Christianity stuck to the Enochian writings at least until the third century.<ref name="Patricia Crone p. 4" /> Many [[Church Father]]s such as [[Irenaeus]], [[Justin Martyr]], [[Clement of Alexandria]] and [[Lactantius]]<ref name="Reed 2005 14, 15">{{harvnb|Reed|2005|pp=14, 15}}</ref><ref>Annette Yoshiko Reed ''Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature'' Cambridge University Press 2005 {{ISBN|978-0-521-85378-1}} p. 149</ref> accepted the association of the angelic descent to the sons of God passage in Genesis 6:1–4.<ref name="Reed 2005 14, 15" /> However, some [[Christian monasticism|ascetics]], such as Origen ({{Circa|184|253}}),<ref>David L Bradnick ''Evil, Spirits, and Possession: An Emergentist Theology of the Demonic'' Brill 2017 {{ISBN|978-90-04-35061-8}} p. 30</ref> rejected this interpretation. According to the Church Fathers who rejected the doctrine by Origen, these angels were guilty of having transgressed the limits of their nature and of desiring to leave their heavenly abode to experience sensual experiences.<ref>Annette Yoshiko Reed ''Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature'' Cambridge University Press 2005 {{ISBN|978-0-521-85378-1}} p. 163</ref> Irenaeus referred to fallen angels as [[apostates]], who will be punished by an everlasting fire. Justin Martyr ({{Circa|100|165}}) identified pagan deities as fallen angels or their demonic offspring in disguise. Justin also held them responsible for Christian persecution during the first centuries.<ref>Annette Yoshiko Reed ''Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature'' Cambridge University Press 2005 {{ISBN|978-0-521-85378-1}} p. 162</ref> [[Tertullian]] and Origen also referred to fallen angels as teachers of [[astrology]].<ref>Tim Hegedus ''Early Christianity and Ancient Astrology'' Peter Lang 2007 {{ISBN|978-0-8204-7257-7}} p. 127</ref>

The Babylonian king, who is described as a fallen "morning star" in Isaiah 14:1–17, was probably the first time identified with a fallen angel by Origen.<ref>Jeffrey Burton Russell ''Satan: The Early Christian Tradition'' Cornell University Press 1987 {{ISBN|978-0-8014-9413-0}} p. 130</ref><ref>Philip C. Almond ''The Devil: A New Biography'' I.B.Tauris 2014 {{ISBN|978-0-85773-488-4}} p. 42</ref> This description was interpreted typologically both as an angel and a human king. The image of the fallen morning star or angel was thereby applied to Satan by early Christian writers,<ref>{{harvnb|Charlesworth|2010|p=149}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Schwartz|2004|p=108}}</ref> following the equation of Lucifer to Satan in the pre-Christian century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10177-lucifer |title=Lucifer |publisher=Jewish Encyclopedia |access-date=2014-03-11}}</ref>

=== Catholicism ===
[[File:Detail-Isenheim-Altarpiece-Gruenewald.jpg|thumb|[[Isenheim Altarpiece]] ({{Circa|1512}}-1616), by [[Matthias Grünewald]]. Concert of Angels (detail), with [[Lucifer]] in [[Feather tights|feather costume]] and fallen angels in the background]]
[[File:Innichen Pfarrkirche St.Michael 3 - Deckenfresco Engelssturz.jpg|thumb|Frescos depicting the fall of the rebelling angels (1760), by Christoph Anton Mayr. Saint Michael Parish Church, Innichen, [[Tyrol|South Tyrol]]]]
The subject of fallen angels is covered in a number of [[catechisms]], including [[George Hay (bishop)|Rev. George Hay's]] in which he answers the question ''What was the sin by which they fell?'': "It was pride, arising from the great beauty and sublime graces which God had bestowed upon them. For, seeing themselves such glorious beings, they fell in love with themselves, and, forgetting the God that made them, wished to be on an equality with their Creator." The consequence of this fall being that, "they were immediately deprived of all their supernatural graces and heavenly beauty: they were changed from glorious angels into hideous devils; they were banished out of heaven, and condemned to the torments of hell, which was prepared to receive them."<ref>{{cite book|chapter=[[s:Works of the Right Rev. Bishop Hay of Edinburgh/Volume 1/Chapter 4|Chapter 4: On The Creation And Fall Of The Angels]]|title=Works of the Right Rev. Bishop Hay of Edinburgh|year=1871|publisher=William Blackwood and Sons|first=Rev. George|last=Hay|author-link=George Hay (bishop)}}</ref>

In terms of the history of fallen angel theology it is thought to be rooted in Enochian literature, which Christians began to reject by the third century. The sons of God came to be identified merely with righteous men, more precisely with descendants of Seth who had been seduced by women descended from Cain. The cause of evil was shifted from the [[Supernatural|superior powers]] of angels, to humans themselves, and to the very beginning of history; the expulsion of Satan and his angels on the one hand and the original sin of humans on the other hand.<ref name="Patricia Crone p. 4">Patricia Crone. The Book of Watchers in the Qurān, p. 4</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Reed|2005|p=218}}</ref> However, the Book of Watchers, which identified the sons of God with fallen angels, was not rejected by [[Syriac Christian]]s or the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]].<ref name="Patricia Crone p. 5">Patricia Crone. The Book of Watchers in the Qurān, p. 5</ref> [[Augustine of Hippo]]'s work ''[[Civitas Dei]]'' (5th century) became the major opinion of Western demonology and for the [[Catholic Church]].<ref name="ReferenceC">David L Bradnick ''Evil, Spirits, and Possession: An Emergentist Theology of the Demonic'' Brill 2017 {{ISBN|978-90-04-35061-8}} p. 39</ref> He rejected the Enochian writings and stated that the sole origin of fallen angels was the rebellion of Satan.<ref name="Heinz Schreckenberg 1992">Heinz Schreckenberg, Kurt Schubert, ''Jewish Historiography and Iconography in Early and Medieval Christianity'' (Van Gorcum, 1992, {{ISBN|978-90-232-2653-6}}), p. 253</ref><ref name="ReferenceD">David L Bradnick ''Evil, Spirits, and Possession: An Emergentist Theology of the Demonic'' Brill 2017 {{ISBN|978-90-04-35061-8}} p. 42</ref> As a result, fallen angels came to be equated with demons and depicted as non-sexual spiritual entities.<ref name="ReferenceE">Joad Raymond ''Milton's Angels: The Early-Modern Imagination'' OUP Oxford 2010 {{ISBN|978-0-19-956050-9}} p. 77</ref> The exact nature of their spiritual bodies became another topic of dispute during the Middle Ages.<ref name="ReferenceC" /> Augustine based his descriptions of demons on his perception of the [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] [[Daimon]].<ref name="ReferenceC" /> The Daimon was thought to be a spiritual being, composed of ethereal matter, a notion also used for fallen angels by Augustine.<ref name="ReferenceF">David L Bradnick ''Evil, Spirits, and Possession: An Emergentist Theology of the Demonic'' Brill 2017 {{ISBN|978-90-04-35061-8}} p. 40</ref> However, these angels received their ethereal body only after their fall.<ref name="ReferenceF" /> Later scholars tried to explain the details of their spiritual nature, asserting that the ethereal body is a mixture of fire and air, but that they are still composed of material elements. Others denied any physical relation to material elements, depicting the fallen angels as purely spiritual entities.<ref>David L Bradnick ''Evil, Spirits, and Possession: An Emergentist Theology of the Demonic'' Brill 2017 {{ISBN|978-90-04-35061-8}} p. 49</ref> But even those who believed the fallen angels had ethereal bodies did not believe that they could produce any offspring.<ref>Jeffrey Burton Russell ''Satan: The Early Christian Tradition'' Cornell University Press 1987 {{ISBN|978-0-8014-9413-0}} p. 210</ref><ref>David L Bradnick ''Evil, Spirits, and Possession: An Emergentist Theology of the Demonic'' Brill 2017 {{ISBN|978-90-04-35061-8}} p. 45</ref>

Augustine, in his ''Civitas Dei'' describes two cities (''Civitates'') distinct from each other and opposed to each other like light and darkness.<ref name="ReferenceG">Christoph Horn ''Augustinus, De civitate dei'' Oldenbourg Verlag 2010 {{ISBN|978-3-05-005040-9}} p. 158</ref> The ''earthly city'' is caused by the act of rebellion of the fallen angels and is inhabited by wicked men and demons (fallen angels) led by Satan. On the other hand, the ''heavenly city'' is inhabited by righteous men and the angels led by God.<ref name="ReferenceG" /> Although, his [[Ontology|ontological]] division into two different kingdoms shows resemblance of [[Manichaeism|Manichean]] [[dualism (philosophy)|dualism]], Augustine differs in regard of the origin and power of evil. In Augustine works, evil originates from [[Free will in theology|free will]]. Augustine always emphasized the sovereignty of God over the fallen angels.<ref>Neil Forsyth ''The Old Enemy: Satan and the Combat Myth'' Princeton University Press 1989 {{ISBN|978-0-691-01474-6}} p. 405</ref> Accordingly, the inhabitants of the earthly city can only operate within their God-given framework.<ref name="ReferenceD" /> The rebellion of angels is also a result of the God-given freedom of choice. The obedient angels are endowed with [[Grace in Christianity|grace]], giving them a deeper understanding of God's nature and the order of the cosmos. Illuminated by God-given grace, they became incapable of feeling any desire for sin. The other angels, however, are not blessed with grace, thus they remain capable of sin. After these angels decide to sin, they fall from heaven and become demons.<ref>Jeffrey Burton Russell ''Satan: The Early Christian Tradition'' Cornell University Press 1987 {{ISBN|978-0-8014-9413-0}} p. 211</ref> In Augustine's view of angels, they cannot be guilty of carnal desires since they lack flesh, but they can be guilty of sins that are rooted in spirit and intellect such as [[pride]] and [[envy]].<ref>David L Bradnick ''Evil, Spirits, and Possession: An Emergentist Theology of the Demonic'' Brill 2017 {{ISBN|978-90-04-35061-8}} p. 47</ref> However, after they have made their decision to rebel against God, they cannot turn back.<ref>Joad Raymond ''Milton's Angels: The Early-Modern Imagination'' OUP Oxford 2010 {{ISBN|978-0-19-956050-9}} p. 72</ref><ref>David L Bradnick ''Evil, Spirits, and Possession: An Emergentist Theology of the Demonic'' Brill 2017 {{ISBN|978-90-04-35061-8}} p. 44</ref> The [[Catechism of the Catholic Church]] does not take "the fall of the angels" literally,{{not in source|date=March 2024}} but as a radical and irrevocable rejection of God and his reign by some angels who, though created as good beings, [[free will|freely chose]] evil, their sin being unforgivable because of the irrevocable character of their choice, not because of any defect in infinite divine mercy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1C.HTM |title=Catechism of the Catholic Church, "The Fall of the Angels" (391–395) |publisher=Vatican.va |access-date=2012-07-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904224955/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1C.HTM |archive-date=2012-09-04 }}</ref> Present-day Catholicism rejects [[Apocatastasis]], the reconciliation with God suggested by the Church Father Origen.<ref>Frank K. Flinn ''Encyclopedia of Catholicism'' Infobase Publishing 2007 {{ISBN|978-0-8160-7565-2}} p. 226</ref>

=== Orthodox Christianity ===

==== Eastern Orthodox Christianity ====
Like Catholicism, [[Eastern Orthodox Christianity]] shares the basic belief in fallen angels as spiritual beings who rebel against God. Unlike Catholicism, however, there is no established doctrine about the exact nature of fallen angels, but Eastern Orthodox Christianity unanimously agrees that the power of fallen angels is always inferior to God. Therefore, belief in fallen angels can always be assimilated with local lore, as long it does not break basic principles and is in line with the Bible.<ref>Charles Stewart ''Demons and the Devil: Moral Imagination in Modern Greek Culture'' Princeton University Press 2016 {{ISBN|978-1-4008-8439-1}} p. 141</ref> Historically, some theologians even tend to suggest that fallen angels [[Christian universalism|could be rehabilitated]] in the ''[[world to come]]''.<ref>Ernst Benz ''The Eastern Orthodox Church: Its Thought and Life'' Routledge 2017 {{ISBN|978-1-351-30474-0}} p. 52</ref> Fallen angels, just like angels, play a significant role in the spiritual life of believers. As in Catholicism, fallen angels [[Temptation|tempt]] and incite people into [[sin]], but mental illness is also linked to fallen angels.<ref name="ReferenceJ">Sergiĭ Bulgakov ''The Orthodox Church'' St Vladimir's Seminary Press 1988 {{ISBN|978-0-88141-051-8}} p. 128</ref> Those who have reached an advanced degree of spirituality are even thought to be able to envision them.<ref name="ReferenceJ" /> [[Ritual]]s and [[sacrament]]s performed by Eastern Orthodoxy are thought to weaken such demonic influences.<ref>Charles Stewart ''Demons and the Devil: Moral Imagination in Modern Greek Culture'' Princeton University Press 2016 {{ISBN|978-1-4008-8439-1}} p. 147</ref>

==== Ethiopian Church ====
Unlike most other Churches, the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church|Ethiopian Church]] accepts 1 Enoch and the ''Book of Jubilees'' as canonical.<ref>Loren T. Stuckenbruck, Gabriele Boccaccini ''Enoch and the Synoptic Gospels: Reminiscences, Allusions, Intertextuality'' SBL Press 2016 {{ISBN|978-0-88414-118-1}} p. 133</ref> As a result, the Church believes that human sin does not originate in Adam's transgression alone, but also from Satan and other fallen angels. Together with demons, they continue to cause sin and corruption on earth.<ref>James H. Charlesworth ''The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha'' Hendrickson Publishers 2010 {{ISBN|978-1-59856-491-4}} p. 10</ref>

=== Neutral angels ===
In Christian folklore tales about encounters between men and spirits, the spirits were often explained as fallen angels. They would have been cast out of heaven, damned to roam the world as demons, but were not so evil that they were sentenced to hell, like Lucifer and his devils. Yet they were still not as good to remain in heaven.<ref>Mack, C. K., Mack, D. (1998). A Field Guide to Demons, Fairies, Fallen Angels, and Other Subversive Spirits. USA: Arcade Pub. p. xxiii</ref> Therefore, they would live between heaven and hell among humans in liminal spaces.

[[Caesarius of Heisterbach]]'s ({{Circa|1180|1240}}) asserted that not all fallen angels are equally bad. Some fallen angels would be banished for not actively defending God against Lucifer, but since they did not side with the devils, would not be sentenced to hell. They remain loyal to God on earth, do good deeds, and bearing some resemblances to saints, as seen in the ''Dialogus Miraculorum'', in which a knight is guided by a fallen angel to lead him back on the path of piety.<ref name="Newman, Coree 2018">Newman, Coree. "The Good, the Bad and the Unholy: Ambivalent Angels in the Middle Ages." Fairies, Demons, and Nature Spirits: 'Small Gods' at the Margins of Christendom (2018): 103-122.</ref> In another tale, a neutral fallen angel became an assistant of a noble knight. However, when the knight learned that his best assistant was actually a demon, he dismissed him. When the knight wants to pay the demon for his service, the demon asserted that the knight should spend the money on a new bell for the church, instead.<ref name="Newman, Coree 2018"/>

According to [[The Brendan Voyage]], during the Medieval Age, Brendan meets a group of angels referred to as "wandering spirits". On holy days, they were embodied as white birds, symbols usually used for purity and the holy spirit. In later versions, such as the 15th Century Dutch and German variant, the fallen angels are much more depicted as akin to grotesque demons. Although they would not have supported Lucifer in his evil schemes, they would have been passive and not fighting for good, thus turned into animal-like creatures cast out of heaven.

Such earthly fallen angels were used as a possible origin of [[fairy|fairies]] in Irish and Scandinavian folk-tales. Depending on the place they fell, they will remain as spirits of the specific element, but are usually benevolent and harmless.<ref>Wilde, J. F. E. (1888). Ancient Legends, mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland: With Sketches of the Irish Past. To which is Appended a Chaper on "The Ancient Race of Ireland". USA: Ticknor and Company. p. 89</ref> If such fairies were identified with the Biblical fallen angels, their salvation after Judgement Day was usually denied, since the fallen angels could not return to heaven.<ref>Christiansen, R. Th. (1971). Some Notes on the Fairies and the Fairy Faith. Béaloideas, 39/41, 95–111. {{doi|10.2307/20521348}}</ref> Later [[Protestantism|Protestant thinkers]] increasingly dismissed belief in fairies and neutral angels as part of either fairy-tales or a delusion cast by Satan.<ref>Oldridge, Darren. "Fairies and the Devil in early modern England." The Seventeenth Century 31.1 (2016): 1-15.</ref>

=== Protestantism ===
[[File:John Martin 002.jpg|thumb|Fallen angels in Hell ({{Circa|1841}}), by [[John Martin (painter)|John Martin]]]]
[[File:Alexandre_Cabanel_-_Fallen_Angel.jpg|thumb|[[The Fallen Angel (painting)|''The Fallen Angel'']] (1847), by [[Alexandre Cabanel]], depicting [[Lucifer]]]]
Like Catholicism, Protestantism continues with the concept of fallen angels as spiritual entities unrelated to flesh,<ref name="ReferenceE" /> but it rejects the [[angelology]] established by Catholicism. [[Martin Luther]]'s (1483–1546) ''sermons of the angels'' merely recount the exploits of the fallen angels, and does not deal with an angelic hierarchy.<ref>Peter Marshall, Alexandra Walsham ''Angels in the Early Modern World'' Cambridge University Press 2006 {{ISBN|978-0-521-84332-4}} p. 74</ref> Satan and his fallen angels are responsible for some misfortune in the world, but Luther always believed that the power of the good angels exceeds those of the fallen ones.<ref>Peter Marshall, Alexandra Walsham ''Angels in the Early Modern World'' Cambridge University Press 2006 {{ISBN|978-0-521-84332-4}} p. 76</ref> The Italian Protestant theologian [[Girolamo Zanchi]] (1516{{en dash}}1590) offered further explanations for the reason behind the fall of the angels. According to Zanchi, the angels rebelled when the incarnation of Christ was revealed to them in incomplete form.<ref name="ReferenceE" /> While Mainline Protestants are much less concerned with the cause of angelic fall, arguing that it is neither useful nor necessary to know, other Protestant churches do have fallen angels as more of a focus.<ref name="ReferenceE" />

=== Philosophy ===
In [[Western philosophy]], the devil was understood as a personal identity of evil in opposition to good. Its conception as a fallen angel, in contrast to [[Manichaeism|Manichaeistic]] [[Prince of Darkness (Manichaeism)|absolute evil]], allowed to avoid two separate ontological principles.<ref>Karl Rahner, “Devil - The Devil”, in: Sacramentum Mundi Online, General Editor Karl Rahner, SJ. Consulted online on 08 February 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2468-483X_smuo_COM_001082>
First published online: 2016</ref>

[[Theodicy]], the question of how evil can exist simultaneously with the existence of an all-powerful and all-good God, may utilize the concept of fallen angels to explain [[natural evil]]. Accordingly, the angels would have great power, and by exercising havoc over the earth, they cause suffering and misery, manifesting in natural disasters. Accordingly, natural evil can be traced back to free-will (in that case of super-human agents). Opponents argue that this implies that fallen angels have supernatural powers to influence the world, powers left unproven, thus falling into a ''[[God of the gaps|devil of the gaps]]''.<ref>Dunnington, Kent. "The Problem with the Satan Hypothesis: Natural Evil and Fallen Angel Theodicies." Sophia 57.2 (2018): 265-274.</ref>