Hi Max,
I don't know if "convince" was the right word....making it sound as if the other angels were tempted to go with Lucifer. There was much spiritual fighting in heaven at that time which is something quite hard to imagine for us. Those fighting with Archangel Michael obviously were fighting along side him because they chose to do so and be loyal to God. that is all but the 1/3 that left with Lucifer. It's just interesting that Michael (the less in rank of the angels) became the lead in fighting for God against Lucifer. But then again, God seems to choose the meek and small throughout his creation of humans, so why would this be too surprising.
Anyway, here's some info I found on the angels and Lucifer I found interesting and decided to share here:
At the dawn of creation, before God made the visible world, but after the creation of the angels, there was a great catastrophe, of which we have knowledge only by its consequences. A group of angels opposed itself to God and fell away from Him, thereby becoming enemies of all that was good and holy. At the head of this rebellion stood Lucifer, whose very name (literally meaning light-bearing) indicates that originally he was good. By his own will he changed from his natural state into one which was unnatural; he opposed himself to God and fell away from good into evil. Lucifer, also called the devil (Greek
diabolos divider, separator, slanderer), belonged to one of the highest ranks in the angelic hierarchy. Together with him other angels also defected, as the Book of Revelation tells us metaphorically: And a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch... and a third of the stars was struck, so that a third of their light was darkened (Rev.8:10, 12). Some commentators therefore say that along with the morning star a third of the angels fell away.
By exercising their own free will the devil and his demons found themselves in darkness. Every reasonable living creature, whether angel or human being, possesses free will: the right to choose between good and evil. Free will is the property of everyone so that we can, by practicing good, become an ontological part of that good. In other words, goodness was never meant to be granted externally to us but must become our very own possession. If God imposed goodness as a necessity or an inevitability, then no one could ever become a perfectly free person. Nobody has ever become good by force, says St Symeon the New Theologian. Through unceasing growth in virtue the angels were meant to ascend to the plenitude of perfection, to the point of utter assimilation to the God of supreme goodness. Yet some of them chose to reject God and thereby sealed their own fate and the fate of the universe, which from that moment onwards became an arena for two contending polar (yet not equal) principles and powers: the Divine and the demonic, God and the devil.
The problem of the origin of evil has always been a challenge for Christian theology as it has often had to contend with overt or hidden manifestations of dualism. According to some dualistic sects, the entirety of being is made up of two realms which have forever existed together: the kingdom of light filled with many good aeons (angels), and the kingdom of darkness, filled with evil aeons (demons). Spiritual reality is subject to the god of light, while the god of darkness (Satan) has unlimited dominion over the material world. Matter itself is a sinful and evil entity: the humans should by all means possible mortify their bodies in order to be liberated from matter and return to the non-material world of good.
Christian theology viewed the nature and origin of evil differently. Evil is not a primeval essence that is coeternal and equal to God; it is a falling away from good, it is a revolt against good. In this sense it would be wrong to call evil a substance, as it does not exist in its own right. As darkness or shadow are not independent beings but are simply the absence or lack of light, so evil is merely the absence of good. Evil, writes St Basil the Great, is not a living and animated substance, but a condition of the soul which is opposed to virtue and which springs up in the slothful because of their falling away from Good. Do not, therefore, contemplate evil from without; and do not imagine some original nature of wickedness, but let each one recognize himself as the first author of the vice that is in him.
God did not create anything evil: both angels and humans, as well as the material world, are good and beautiful by nature. However, rational creatures, possessing free will, can direct their freedom against God and thereby engender evil. This is precisely what happened: the light-bearing morning star (Lucifer), originally created good, abused his freedom, defaced his own virtuous nature and fell away from the Source of goodness.
An Online Orthodox Catechism » Catechism » OrthodoxEurope.org
First let me congratulate you on one of the best written explanations of this subject I have seen, especially here on CF.
A lot of what you have written I agree with completely. I agree for example that there is no proof god created evil nor that Lucifer was origionally inteded to be evil, quite the opposite is true as you have pointed out.
A new question has come about in my mind also. Was Lucifer the first/only rebellion in heaven or among the angles or have there been successive wars of this nature over course of eternity? I know that this one is the only one we know of, but if there was one why not a second or earlier such conflict?
Also I have heard that there is debate over the question of Lucifer and Satan being the same. I have been told by some that they believe them to be seperate beings Lucifer being the senior angle in heaven who lead the rebellion against god in order to seize the throne in heaven and Satan "the accusser" they seem to me to be seperate persons. Have you heard of this before?
The reason I used the word "convince" is that surely more were tempted than actually joined Lucifers side. Also this brings up the question of what type of contest actually occured in heaven? Was it an acctual war as we thnk of it? Were there casualties? Was there physical distruction of property? How close did Lucifer actually come to achieving his victory? What prevented his victory, was it an actual significant engagement like D-Day, Waterloo or Gettysburg? What was the nature of the "War"? I am not sure anyone really knows but the question is intriqing.
As for the meaning of Lucifer's name (light bearer). It could have additional meaning aside from saying he was created "good". Light has always been used in literature to indicate knowledge. What if Lucifer was a "knowledge bearer"? What if the light he shinned was not physical light but the light of knowledge? What knowledge might he have had? Knowledge of god or more approperiately god's vunerability? The secerts known only to god himself? The translation of that term has a great deal of implication. Do you see what I am saying? Pehaps there is more to his name than we realize?
I enjoy this sort of inquiry and would love to know what you think. Also anyone reading this please fell free to comment and give your oppinions and any source information you may be willing to provide.
just "logical and rational explanations" that you made up in your own head. But as long as you know you're only speculating. I can live with that
