To speak of a primordial "spirit world" is, I would argue, inherently problematic because it lends itself needlessly to Platonism, or worse, Gnosticism; i.e. that there is anterior to the universe a realm of pure spirit. Such an idea has no basis in Scripture, nor in historic Christian teaching, but does have basis in Platonic thought and its corruption in Gnostic thought (see: the
World of Ideas and
the Pleroma).
Scripture itself, while mentioning the existence of the angels and their fallen former compatriots, the devils or fallen angels, never itself talks about the creation of the angels or the fall of the devils (or even the cause of it). We get a few ideas showing up in the 2nd Temple Period, for example the Book of Enoch, but such things are never mentioned or discussed in Canonical literature.
I would argue that the silence of Holy Scripture ought to be taken seriously here, and speculations on the subject, while fine insofar as speculation itself goes, ought to be tread upon carefully. The Scriptures, and the unfolding drama of redemption it communicates, is focused on human beings, our place in creation, and ultimately our--and creation itself--salvation, redemption, and renewal in the Age to Come in the resurrection through the good purposes and promises of God realized and accomplished through Jesus Christ our Lord, by His life, death, resurrection, and future parousia. Insofar as we are told anything about the faithful angels and the fallen angels at all, it exists largely in relation to us, our salvation, the story of redemption, and in the case of the devils specifically that they are like a growling, snarling beast seeking to devour and turn us away from God and thus we are commanded to resist them.
So when were the angels created? We don't know.
When did the devils fall? We don't know.
What is the precise cause of the diabolic fall? We don't know.
As such all that is left to us is speculation and conjecture.
-CryptoLutheran
