By Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo
The theological evidence of the presence of angels and devils in this world is in Holy Scripture. Holy Scripture is full of accounts of the presence of angels and devils. If you don’t believe in the existence of angels and demons then you don’t believe in Scripture. If you don’t believe in Scripture then you don’t believe in Christianity for even Christ Himself attests to their presence. He not only attests to them but He created them. Christ would refer to them as His angels. “The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.” (Mt. 13:41)
The philosophical proof of the existence of angels is based on the hierarchy of creation. Since God created the universe in different degrees of perfection starting from inanimate beings such as rocks to animate beings such plants then to animals and finally man, if there were no angels then there would be a gap in creation between man to God. Since God is pure Supreme Spirit, there has to be a lower form of pure spirit. Man is body and spirit with intelligence and will. Angels are pure spirit with intelligence and will. And then God is the Supreme Spirit with supreme intelligence and will. We might think that a pure spirit is inferior to a body with a spirit. Pure spirit is superior because it’s eternal whereas body with a spirit is temporal among many other things.
There were initially no devils or bad angels in the beginning since everything that God creates is always good. Devils were good angels who became bad by their choice. They did not want to serve God. A sin of pride. The same sin which the devil infected Adam and Eve. It was pure pride because they were not tempted unlike Adam and Eve. They made a clear choice of either choosing God or themselves. That’s the reason why devils are not forgiven because they did not make a temporary mistake. It was an eternal choice because of their stronger intelligence and will. Their decision is always final.
There is a hypothetical story crafted by theologians on how the angels were tested. Hypothetical since no human being knows accurately how the angels were tested. Angels were made before the universe. The theory goes that the angels were told that they are to worship God in the form of man (which is Christ). For all the angels, this was a big test in humility because they are much more superior to man in intelligence and will or in dignity. It was like asking man to worship an ant because that ant is God. Not all were amenable to it and so a number of them became devils, led by their leader Lucifer.
The word angel comes from the Greek word “angelos” meaning messenger. Courier work is the common tasks given to angels by God. St. Gabriel, the supreme messenger was tasked to deliver the most important message in the history of salvation, informing the Blessed Virgin Mary of her vocation as the Mother of the Messiah. To be continued in the next article.
Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo is the chairman of the Electronics Engineering Department of Mary our Help Technical Institute in Minglanilla, Cebu. Aside from engineering subjects, he also teaches values and Christian Doctrine classes to students in tertiary level.
