About beings higher than man, or about spirits

From the Biblical teaching about the world in general, let us turn to the teaching about the world in particular and, firstly, let’s look at how the Holy Scripture teaches about the spiritual world. This teaching cannot but become part of the Christian religion: a) already because in this world the perfections of God are most clearly expressed, here God is most visible - the Provider and Ruler of the universe; b) besides this, people receive existence here and continue it until a certain time; then they must move into another world - the spiritual; and therefore they need to know this world and its inhabitants; c) another reason, and moreover, the most important one, forcing us to recognize the spiritual world, is that this world is related to us: half of the Angels, or most of them, help us, while others harm us. This attitude towards us is so important that the Savior Himself set the destruction of the dark kingdom as the goal of His embassy: “let him destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). Therefore, we need to know what the relationship of the Angels is to us and us to the Angels. Therefore, the doctrine of Angels is very necessary. Let's take care of it. One could not expect revelation to describe in detail the world of the Angels. This is not necessary for us. This world has shown us revelation from the sides by which it tends towards our salvation. The teaching about Angels in the Holy Scriptures is simple, brief and directed toward morality. However, Holy Scripture confirms that the mind partly only guesses. It says that besides us there are many spiritual beings, if not completely free from materiality, then at least incomparably less susceptible to it than we are, moreover, pure, good and evil, powerful. This is clear from many places in Holy Scripture, so that only an excessive deviation towards sensuality could lead some to doubt the existence of these spirits. This was also caused by excessive wisdom, which forced those who indulged in it to recognize the Angels as expressions of the will of God, personified by the writers. The places confirming the existence of Angels are the following (Heb. 1:4–5, and others). The Apostle Paul, wanting to prove the Divinity of Jesus Christ, places Him above the Angels; could he have used such proof if Angels were dreams of the imagination - conceivable beings, moral ideals? “I will testify before... the angels” (1 Tim. 5:21). What incentive would there be for Timothy to properly fulfill his title if the Angel were a dreamy creature? Jesus Christ himself speaks in the most important cases about Angels as real beings. “From here,” He says to Philip and Nathanael, “behold the heavens opened and the Angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1:51). These Angels are neither pure thoughts nor inspirations from above, for would it be possible for them to see them in that case? They will say that history does not provide examples of this ascension and descent of Angels. So, it does not represent There are many too clear examples, but there are cases where Angels are represented as descending to earth, for example, in the Garden of Gethsemane, at the resurrection of Jesus Christ, at His ascension, and so on. Jesus Christ said to the disciple who wanted to defend Him in an unreasonable way: “Or do you think that now I cannot pray to My Father, and an Angel will present Me with a greater legion than twelve?” (Matthew 26:53). However, one can also say about these passages that Jesus Christ spoke in accordance with the concepts of His disciples. But here is a place that cannot be refuted by anything. The Jews had a whole sect of Sadducees who, not believing in the future life, also rejected the existence of Angels. If the existence of these creatures were just a dream, then it would be completely unreasonable to affirm it in those who did not want to be dreamers in this case. But Jesus Christ tells them affirmatively about the existence of Angels (Matthew 22:30), which means that this is not a dream, but the real truth. Thus, in the New Testament the existence of Angels is assumed to be undoubted. The Old Testament mostly consists of a story about the actions of Angels, so, in the times of the patriarchs, Angels often appear on the stage; Moses receives the law with the assistance of angels (Acts. 7:38); Angels appear to the prophets, especially Isaiah and Daniel; the most important events in the Jewish people were carried out by Angels. All reinterpretations of these passages are obvious efforts and stretches. And this opinion, that the doctrine of Angels appeared among the Jews from the time of the captivity of Babylon, when they became acquainted with Eastern philosophy, which talks about Angels or spirits and their phenomena, is fundamentally weak and incorrect. For Angels are mentioned in the holy books of the Hebrews much earlier. Moreover, the Eastern teaching about Angels, which in many respects differs from the Biblical one, having appeared even before the latter, does not reject, but confirms the existence of these beings. Can reason say anything to confirm the existence of Angels? Not only can he, but he also talks a lot. In general, he says that the human world alone is not enough in comparison with the physical world; the chain of earthly creation ends with man; but it is impossible to say that the chain of all creation ends with them. In addition, after death a person goes to the upper world; it cannot be that this world will be created again for him; it must already exist and, without a doubt, it is that Angelic, spiritual world that we accept, based on the testimony of Holy Scripture. Consideration of the forces of nature also leads to spiritual peace. Physical nature certainly acts, but can it act without the mind? Every action presupposes a desire for something; Can this aspiration exist without representation? Let us assume that one action is mechanically performed first by another, then by a third, and so on; but the first movement must be the action of freedom and thinking. Moreover, what is strength? The very concept of strength leads to the fact that there is something spiritual and intelligent in it. For force is the cause of a certain action, and therefore itself is something self-moving, self-acting. And since there are different powers, we will see that there are also different Angels; there are Angels of water, fire, winds, and others. Earthly wisdom itself, as if involuntarily, is brought to the existence of spirits. For example, chemistry turns all rough bodies into gases, into perfumes. Consequently, the mind itself cannot doubt the existence of Angels. How does Holy Scripture describe the nature, actions, place of residence and time of creation of Angels? The Greek name: αγγελος and the Hebrew םלך do not express their nature; They are so named because they are sent from God. The nature of the Angels is better and more clearly expressed by the name of the spirit (Heb. 1:14). By calling Angels spirits, Holy Scripture attributes to them everything that we attribute to spirit; and since it calls them so in contrast to matter, it thereby ascribes to them incorporeality, invisibility. "Vision" phenomenon: (Luke 1:22); that is, it was not the Angel that Zechariah saw, for he is incorporeal, but a form, a shell. This idea about the incorporeality of Angels is expressed by Jesus Christ when he says that people after the resurrection will be like Angels. But does Holy Scripture assert that Angels have no materiality? It does not enter into this, but only contrasts them with people. Consequently, only physical coarseness separates them from them; but whether it completely destroys corporeality is not visible. Therefore, the Church Fathers still had the opinion that a part of materiality was connected with their spirituality. This is what the eastern people thought: Basil the Great, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Gregory the Theologian. From the West: Augustine. They represented the body of Angels as luminous, based on passages of Scripture in which the appearance of Angels is mostly accompanied by light and some radiance. These are the passages (Matthew 28:3, Luke 11:9, Mark 16:5, Acts 1:10). Therefore, it is as if Angels, even in a physical sense, are called Angels of “light” (2 Cor. 11:14). Reason, judging the Angels, also cannot imagine them completely without matter; for him it is more likely that there is only one immaterial being. For the actions of creatures must be expressed in time; time, according to our concept, cannot exist without space, but what is subject to space cannot be non-material. However, this opinion of the Church Fathers can be accepted or not. Holy Scripture does not speak about this materiality, but does not reject it either. Accepting this opinion, one must be wary and warn oneself not to roughly represent the materiality of the Angels. Jesus Christ says that the spirit (no doubt meaning the Angel here) “has no flesh and bones.” And our bodies, when they become glorified, will become subtle and spiritual; the thinner, purer, higher and more spiritual the bodies of Angels should be. By calling Angels incorporeal, the Holy Scriptures affirm that they do not have our needs, our relationships and pleasures. “For on the resurrection they neither marry nor commit violence, but as the angels of God are in heaven” (Matthew 22:30), says Jesus Christ. Consequently, they have no differences in gender, birth, or family ties; there is no thirst, no hunger, no nakedness, no cold, no heat, or anything else. Do Angels have a certain appearance? The Holy Scripture presents them in well-known forms, for example, in the form of Cherubim at the ark; in the prophecy of Isaiah, in the Revelation of John one can also see Angels in certain certain forms, but these are nothing more than emblems. Whether these emblems have a physical similarity and how far this similarity extends is impossible to say. For example, Angels are represented as flying; maybe they have something similar to the flight of birds, maybe not. How do Angels communicate with each other? Scripture says they have a tongue. “Even the tongues of men and of angels,” says the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 13:1). True, this can be taken as a metaphor; but it can also be taken in its own sense. For knowledge of the heart must belong to God alone. If so, then the Angels must have an external way of detecting their thoughts, therefore there must be something similar to our language. So, according to Holy Scripture, Angels are spirits, and therefore have mind and will. The Angelic Mind, even without Scripture, should represent the purest and best of our minds, and the most perfect and good will. However, Holy Scripture does not present their mind as all-perfect and their will as all-good. It represents them as being perfected: “Let the manifold wisdom of God now be seen as the principle and authority of the heavenly Church” (Eph. 3:10). And before, the Angels knew about this wisdom, about this mystery, but imperfectly: “The Angels desire to dwell in the Lord” (1 Pet. 1:12). So, the Angels receive an increase in wisdom from the earth, without a doubt, it is also delivered from other worlds. The will of the Angels is engaged in good deeds and through this is perfected. Thus, according to the testimony of Holy Scripture (Luke 15:10), they are engaged in the salvation of sinners and rejoice over one sinful soul who has been converted. Having existed for so many centuries, having such perfect abilities, seeing so many experiments, they, without a doubt, have improved a lot. Are they so established in goodness that they cannot fall away from it? The Church accepts this affirmatively because the Holy Scripture portrays the Angels as perfect, such that they cannot fall. The Church is especially based on the place in which they are represented at the last Judgment as surrounding the throne of God. If they retain their purity until that time, and after that there is no chance or possibility of losing it, then we can conclude from this that they will never fall and, therefore, are established in goodness. Is it really possible for them to fall morally now? This is unknown; perhaps, it is possible, since for a limited creature there is always an area of ​​darkness and sin, but the Angels do not bring this possibility into reality, and therefore some of them did not fall and do not fall. Thus, although the Holy Scripture does not affirm the impossibility of sinning in the Angels, one can see from its words that they will never lose their purity, their blissful state. While attributing wisdom and holiness to the Angels, Holy Scripture also ascribes to them power (2 Thess. 1:7). This power is expressed in their actions. The notable actions of the Angels are: rolling away the stone from the Savior’s tomb, liberation from the shackles of the Apostle Peter, the gathering of the chosen from all over the earth before Jesus Christ, during His second coming; in the Old Testament, an Angel kills one hundred and eighty thousand of the enemy army in one night, makes the fiery furnace harmless for the three youths, and beats all the firstborn of Egypt; The power of Angels is especially visible in the images of the Revelation of John the Theologian, where they command the forces of nature and the elements. Can their power extend to the point where they can perform miracles? Maybe because they know nature and its forces better; consequently, they can produce things that exceed our concepts and our ordinary way of acting. However, Holy Scripture does not tell us how far this power extends. Moreover, where Angels perform wonderful deeds, it is unknown whether Angels perform them, for through them God Himself often acts. Where do the Angels stay? The Holy Scripture says that they are in heaven. But this expression, both in relation to God and in relation to the Angels, is vague and is metaphysical, meaning the highest and most perfect state of these beings. Just as God exists everywhere and heaven is with Him, so Angels can be everywhere. Do they not inhabit the heavenly worlds, like the Angels of Light, for whom light is the element of life? Do they not live in the suns, these sources of light? The Holy Scripture is silent about this, and reason also says nothing. For him, it is more likely that they exist everywhere. When did Angels originate and how? That Angels are not uncreated beings, are not emanations, Aeons, as some thought, the Holy Scripture clearly teaches about this: Col. 1:16. When they happened, there is no clear place about this. Some of the Church Fathers think that they were created before the physical world and that this world was created as a result of a revolution that took place in the spiritual world; others argue that they occurred on the first day, when heaven is spoken of, because the sky is not attributed to the disorder that is attributed to the earth; others - on the second day, when light, the element of Angels, occurred; others - on the fourth day, when the luminaries were created; and some think that they were created after man, on the grounds that God in creation ascended from the less perfect to the most perfect. But with greater probability we can assume that the Angels occurred before man and almost long before his creation, for man soon finds himself a tempter. This spirit, or this whole kingdom of spirits, could not fall so quickly and in such a terrible way. A man, like a baby, could easily and quickly fall; but that a whole host of perfect spirits could and did fall just as quickly - this seems incredible. What is known about the number of Angels? The Holy Scripture concerns their calculation, but nowhere does it show a certain definite number of Angels. It is only clear that their number must be very large. The Savior tells the Apostle Peter that He can present more than “twelve legions of angels” in defense for Himself (Matthew 26:53); No matter how you understand the word “legion,” the entire number will be considerable. The Apostle Paul tells believers that they have come to Mount Zion and to “many thousand angels” (Heb. 12:22). Daniel writes that the throne of God is surrounded by “thousands of thousands... and tens of thousands” of angels (Dan. 7:10). Therefore, the number of Angels is very large. Yes, and it should be so. The goodness of God is great and boundless, which for this very reason revealed as many of God’s perfections as the world could contain; but many Angels are very much in agreement with the wise structure of the world. Such a multitude of Angels could not exist without great diversity, without disturbing essential unity; from here there are degrees, ranks, beginnings between the Angels. This is confirmed by passages of Scripture, for it speaks either of the actions of Angels or of the actions of Archangels; clearly there must be some difference between them. In addition, in many places of Holy Scripture there are allusions to the angelic orders (Col. 1:16, Eph. 3:10, Rom. 8:38), although these names, that is, “Principalities, Powers, Dominions,” and others, are unclear and vague. This difference is much more clearly visible where the Holy Scripture presents in particular an Angel. For example, it represents Michael as the Archangel and leader of the Jewish people: it is clear that there must be Angelic armies subordinate to him (Luke 2:13). Gabriel introduces himself as preaching the gospel to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is obvious that he is some kind of special messenger; Raphael guides Tobiah; This means that he is an Angel, especially, so to speak, appointed by God for such service. From these and similar places it is clear that the Angels have ranks, and that they are very diverse. A further definition of this is found in the fathers, namely in the book of Dionysius the Areopagite. Here the Angels are divided into three sections, and in each section there are three ranks. Their order is as follows: 1. Seraphim - Seraphim Cherubim - Cherubim Tgoni - Thrones 2. Exercitus - Forces Dominationes - Dominations Potestates - Powers 3. Principatus – Beginnings Archangeli – Archangels Angeli – Angels Does this division belong to the Areopagite Dionysius? Probably not, for it appeared already in the 3rd century and, without a doubt, was made by some other Dionysius, who was familiar with Alexandrian philosophy, whose judgments are very consistent and even identical with many places in the book under the name of Dionysius the Areopagite. The opinion about such a division of Angels came from the Old Testament Church, where in the book entitled “Testaments of the 12 Patriarchs” the same order of the Angelic rank is described. In conclusion, it must be said that this subject is unimportant for Christian teaching, because it does not concern the moral side. And the teacher of religion cannot say anything better about them, as Augustine said: “Esse sedes,” he says (in a letter to Orosius, p. 11), “et dominationes, et principatus et potestates in coelestibus adparalibus, firmissime credo, et differe aliquid indubitata fide teneo, sed quaenam ista sunt et quid vere inter se differant, nescio.” Let us pay attention to the activities of Angels. In the Holy Scriptures they appear to be very active, for they are called vigilant, strong, and the like. Their abilities are great, therefore, their range of activities should also be great and extensive. What is their activity in relation to God? Firstly, in the glorification of God, for the throne of God is surrounded by Angels, incessantly crying: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts!” But what does this glorification consist of? Not in the way it is depicted sensually, that Angels surround the throne of God as a King, and utter some words of praise, but in the fact that they constantly consider the perfections of God, His benefits, and especially delve into the mystery of redemption, and are thus filled with a feeling of love and reverence. Secondly, in fulfilling the will of God, which extends not only to the human world, but also to the Angelic world. For the Angels instruct each other, deliver each other’s characteristic pleasures, protect each other from shortcomings, help each other in times of need (for example, Daniel says that Michael helped Raphael); in general, the objects of the Angels’ activity are objects of knowledge and love. In the human world, their activity is especially revealed, both in general and in particular. In general, Angels are engaged in saving the human race. The Holy Scripture says that the ancient world was subject to the Angels just as the new world was subject to Jesus Christ: “Whoever received the law by the dispensation of the Angels and did not keep it” (Acts 7:53). Moses is silent about this because it was dangerous to reveal this to the Jews; they would begin to render service to the Angels such as follows only God: “the law was instituted by the angels by the hand of an intercessor” (Gal. 3:19). “If the word spoken by the angels” (law), and so on (Heb. 2:2). These three places prove that the Angels take a great part in the work of our salvation and that the Old Testament, and therefore the law, was arranged and given by them. since the code of Moses is very extensive and varied, since it concerns politics, the Church, and the family, we can believe that all this was thought out by the Angels, whom God allowed, so to speak, to test their strength in this way and improve. They could have had a great part in the very announcement of the law. Moses stayed on the mountain for a long time; perhaps he was there talking with the Angels all this time. Josephus narrates that at first God Himself appeared to Moses on the mountain, but when he was afraid, instead of God the Angels began to speak the law to him. Therefore, it is not in vain that the Apostle Paul says that the old universe was subjugated to the Angels, and the coming one - to Jesus Christ. To know what should be understood by the future universe, we must remember that the Jews, waiting for the Messiah, divided time into two sections: the first was called the present universe, and the last - the coming one, and therefore, the first constituted the Old Testament - Judaism, and the last - the New, Christianity. The Apostle Paul also speaks in relation to this. So, Angels in the Old Testament were like rulers, but in the New they are servants. This idea is completely Biblical, and that the law was created by Angels, this should not and cannot be rejected without an obvious contradiction to the three passages of Holy Scripture shown above. They also take a great part in the arrangement of the New Testament: in the life of Jesus Christ they foreshadowed everything that preceded and followed His birth; when the teaching of Christ began to spread, they assisted its first disseminators, the apostles; then they will appear at the end of this world, when they will surround the throne of Jesus Christ and judge the world. This is generally the ministry of Angels in relation to the human race. But is it limited to this? Some Christians, like all Protestants, rely on this one thing for all the angels to minister to us. But our Greek-Russian and Catholic Church extends this further. According to their teaching, Angels still have care for nations and individuals. That the Angels care about the peoples is based on this in Daniel, where the Angel of the people of Judah wants to fight “with the prince of the kingdom of Persia” (Dan. 10:13, 21). Who do we mean by this prince? Can you understand the Angel? But how to explain their abuse? Is it because God does not reveal to them in advance the fate of the kingdoms they rule, and therefore they can make mistakes and argue among themselves? But this explanation is somewhat strange. The best interpretation in this case is that a good angel is given to a good people, and an evil one to an evil one. Hence the reason for the fighting between them. There are no other, clearer places on this subject, but if the Holy Scripture says that Angels deal with the fate of people individually, then why not admit that they deal with the fate of entire nations? And that Angels are concerned with the fate of private people and that the teaching of the Church about the Guardian Angel is Biblical, this can be seen from the following places of Holy Scripture: from the book of Tobit (Tobit 12:12), where such an Angel is presented who observed all the actions of Tobit, therefore, was his Guardian Angel; from the Gospel of Matthew: “For their angels in heaven behold the face of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:10). The meaning here is this: beware of offending them, for their Angels, so to speak, will complain about you before God. The expression: “they can see your face” is Eastern and means closeness to someone; Therefore, when it is said about Angels that they “see the face” of God, it means that they are always close to Him. If the idea of ​​a Guardian Angel were wrong, then Jesus Christ would not have expressed himself in such a way before the Jews, who thought that every person had his own Angel; On the contrary, he would have rejected her. In addition, the entire Universal Church believed in the existence of such Angels, as can be seen from the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles: “They said: His angel is” (Acts 12:15). We find the same thing in Athenagoras, Basil the Great, and others. But, they will say, they are necessary only for children who are weak and susceptible to many dangers due to their physical condition. So, but aren’t older people weaker and in greater danger internally? And therefore, don’t they need Guardian Angels more in this regard? But wouldn’t it be a punishment for Angels, sinless beings, to treat wicked and sinful people? It is true that this conversion is often combined with sorrow and sorrow, that the stench of our sins often even drives them away from us, as was experienced by those who tried to notice the action of the Guardian Angel in themselves. But this matter, on the one hand, is bitter, has another side, pleasant. For the pure love that Angels have, it is very pleasant to engage in the improvement of others. This is also experienced by people who have a purer and more sublime feeling of love. Thus, Paul (Rom. 9:2–3) wished for the Israelites to be rejected, to lose their salvation, if this would take away the honor of Jesus Christ. But this is unfair: the king’s honor does not lose at all from the fact that his servants are also given due honor. You just need to be careful not to give to the servants what belongs to the king. They claim that in the New Testament the service of Angels is absolutely prohibited: “Let no one deceive you by the humility of his kind and the service of Angels” (Col. 2:18). The meaning of this place is as follows: “Let no one deceive you with that malicious humility by which he claims that because of our weaknesses we cannot turn to Christ for anything, but must ask only the Angels for everything and only expect help from them.” From this it is already clear that service to Angels is prohibited here, which is associated with damage to respect for Jesus Christ. This is confirmed by the history of the Church, which tells that in the 2nd century there were heretics, the so-called angels, who, as Irenaeus writes about them, taught that one should turn to the Angels in everything, and they were only recognized as their intercessors before God, not knowing that our Intercessor is Jesus Christ the God-man, “who was better than the angels, being much more glorious than their inheritance name” (Heb. 1:4). They also refer to the place in Revelation where it is said that the Angel did not accept worship from John (Rev. 22:8–9). But it does not follow from this that Angels should not be worshiped. John was at that time in extraordinary circumstances, for he accepted the Revelation about the future fate of the Church, and therefore his thought had to be completely occupied by God Himself. Based on these considerations, one can see the following thought in the words of the Angel: “Forget about creation, do not think about its dignity, but remember God alone.” Moreover, the Angels are as high as they are humble. Therefore, the Angel could speak like this to John out of his humility; but the humility of the Angels, which serves as a model for us, does not subvert our respect for them. And that Angels should be worshiped is clear from many places in the Old Testament. For example, Jacob, immediately after calling on God, calls on an Angel to bless his children (Gen. 48:16). Joshua bowed to the Angel who appeared to him (Joshua 5:14). Daniel also fell face down on the ground when he heard the voice of the Angel (Dan. 10:9). God Himself commanded honor and respect for the Angels (Ex. 23:20–21). This is how Holy Scripture represents the good angels. It describes them as beings much higher than us, participating in the Old Testament and participating in the New, caring for the nations and for each person separately, and for this worthy of all respect and gratitude. Let us now look into the abyss of the dark angelic world. The teaching about evil spirits is worth attention, both because their effects on us are very great and their relationships are too close, and because now is the time of unbelief, which does not allow the existence of these spirits. What does Holy Scripture say about these spirits? It claims that there are many of them, and that a fall occurred in them, by which “the third part of the stars” of heaven was cut off (Rev. 8:12, Luke 21:25). When did this fall happen and how? Holy Scripture doesn't say. From it it is only clear that the cause of this is sin; that this happened through the deviation of the will of the creature from the Creator. The Second Epistle of Peter (2 Pet. 2:4) says that the angels sinned. This, on the one hand, proves that sin was the cause of the fall of the angels, and on the other hand, the absurd opinion about the eternal existence of the evil principle is rejected. For if the angels sinned, then there was a time when they did not sin, when there was no lie and there was only truth; there was no evil, but only good. Consequently, according to the teachings of the Bible, the devil is not eternal, but became so in time. There are also hints in the Holy Scriptures about how sin occurred in the world of Angels, and how this revolution happened to it. This type of sin is pride. This is clear from the First Epistle to Timothy: “lest the devil become proud and fall into judgment” (1 Timothy 3:6). The word χριμα has a double meaning: “judgment” and “condemnation.” If we accept the first meaning, then the meaning of this place will be this: “So that he is not subjected to the power of the devil in the same way as a defendant is subject to the power of a judge.” If we accept the latter meaning, then the following meaning will come out: “So as not to be subjected to the same condemnation, the same disaster to which the devil fell.” This last meaning clearly indicates that the cause of the fall of the devils was pride, for the same punishment must be preceded by the same crime. Some people take the word “devil” incorrectly, in the sense of a slanderer, and give this place the following meaning: “So that you, being proud, do not fall under the condemnation of those who slander Christianity, not being Christians themselves.” The words of the text also tolerate this meaning, but the first one is more natural. Where most of the Church Fathers put pride as the reason for the fall of the evil angels. There is also a place, on the one hand clearer, and on the other, perhaps darker, in the Epistle of Jude: “the angels did not keep their rulership, but left their own dwelling place” (Jude 1:6). In Russian translation: “those who did not retain their dignity.” What kind of dignity is this? It is obvious that they were entrusted with something to store and some place to live; but they kept neither one nor the other. The Apostle Jude, proving that sin inevitably follows punishment, speaks in passing about evil angels. Christians had the opinion that evil angels were entrusted with the management of this world with their planets, but that they, seduced by the beauty of some human faces, entered into criminal relations with them and forgot to govern the world. It is clear that this idea came to Christians from the Jews, who based it on a misunderstood passage in the book of Genesis (Gen. 6:2-4), which says that the sons of God (that is, the godly seed of people) were deceived by the daughters of men. If the apostle had this thought in mind, then perhaps in passing, however, this is not entirely worthy of the apostle. Therefore, it is better to believe that he represents his own view here, perhaps partly similar to the way of thinking that existed at that time. He could have had the idea that the angels were entrusted with ruling something, some part of the world, and that they poorly fulfilled this assignment, ruled poorly, no doubt, out of disobedience and willfulness, therefore, at the basis of all this lay pride. And therefore the words of the Apostle Jude represent another hint that pride has cast down evil spirits. The third hint lies in the words of Jesus Christ (John 8:44). This leads to the idea that their fall consisted of a perversion of the truth, which occurred, without a doubt, from disobedience to God, from pride, as can be seen from his conversation with Eve (Gen. 3:4-7). In general, we can say, in accordance with the spirit of the Bible, that the fall of evil spirits consisted in disobedience to the will and was associated with pride, which alone could produce such a terrible division in the world of the Angels; the sin of any weakness would never have produced this. But how could an Angel, a being higher and more perfect than man, forget and not understand his relationship to God? How did the first angel, as some fathers thought, come to the idea of ​​fighting with God? Devils appear to be creatures who know a lot; therefore, it is easiest for them to understand that it is impossible to resist God. Meanwhile, they go against God - isn’t it strange? This strangeness disappears when we remember what the secret of the existence of creatures in general consists of. We have seen that the existence of free creatures is associated with the limitation of the Creator; God once and forever renounced unlimited action over free creatures and, as it were, ceded to them a part of His Divinity; made for them, dare we say, self-sacrifice. The evil angels, no doubt, clearly saw this refusal of God and knew that God would never return this one back. That’s why they could boldly enter into battle with God, knowing that their independence would continue throughout eternity. This is the only way to explain the germ of evil in angels. Another strange thing: how could these lofty spirits be eclipsed so quickly to reach such malice? And we see that their sin could not have preceded the fall of man too early. Against this, let us remember that in order not to see any country, it doesn’t take much: you just have to turn your face away from it and turn it in the opposite direction, and everything will be lost; so the devil turned away from the light and immediately became darkness. Moreover, the taller the creature, the thinner, the sooner, the more both light and darkness are reflected in it. We said that the angels fell through pride. The Fathers of the Church have particular indications of this pride of angels. Some think that the fallen Dennitsa was given a revelation about the Messiah and Jesus Christ was indicated; but that he did not want to worship Him. This opinion is based on the words of the Apostle Paul: “When he again brings the firstborn into the universe” (Heb. 1:6), which seems to indicate the second appearance in the world of the Son of God; but here παλιν does not refer to the verb “introduces,” but to the verb “verb,” that is, “speaks again.” Others think that the angels, having learned in advance about the creation of man, became jealous and wanted to place themselves, as much as possible, above him. Did the fall of all spirits immediately follow, or did they fall away gradually? The Holy Scriptures give hints that first one angel sinned, and that he drew others into the abyss. For in Revelation he is shown to be a slanderer, “deceiving the world.” Suddenly the fall of all of them could not follow, for it is impossible for the wills of all of them to suddenly take up arms against the Creator. That is why the Fathers of the Church thought that first the chief angel fell, and then others who were either subordinate to him, or more friendly with him than others. This fall followed, no doubt, before the fall of man, before the creation of the sensory world, but it cannot be said that it happened before the physical world. What are the consequences of their fall? God punished them terribly: they were sent into darkness and reserved for judgment of the last day in hell fire (Jude 1:6, Rev. 12:9). These are harmful consequences in relation to themselves; it can be assumed that their fall had a tangible effect on nature itself, although Holy Scripture does not indicate this. If the fall of man could not but produce a revolution in nature, then, without a doubt, the same can be said about the fall of the angels. Thus, the vanity of the creature, to which it obeyed in trust, should, judging fairly, be attributed not to man alone, but also to the angels; and they introduced damage into nature, unless this damage was corrected by God even before the fall of man. Perhaps, however, it is impossible to put the fall of man in parallel with the fall of angels because the consequences of the first are reversible and final; and the punishment of the latter is eternal. Some church writers recognized the consequences of the fall of the angels as extending to nature itself; and therefore they argued that the human world arose as a result of a revolution that occurred in the Angelic world, in order to correct the resulting shortcomings in nature. An opinion based on nothing! What is the state of the evil spirits now? An unhappy state, a state of awe and horror. Where are they located? Their place of residence is air. They are called the “spirit of wickedness in high places,” the princes of the “power of the air” (Eph. 6:12; Eph. 2:2). How can one reconcile the darkness in which they remain with their aerial presence? So that the air spaces in which they now reside, in comparison with their previous places of residence, are dark and gloomy. For example, if someone were to pass from the solar atmosphere into the earth's atmosphere, for that latter, without a doubt, there would be darkness in comparison with the first. In addition, perhaps, due to their organization, the air cannot but be darkness for them; Maybe they could see better on the ground than in the air. So, for example, there are animals for which the darkness of night is the same as daylight for us, and vice versa: day for them is the same as night for us. Hence the word rubbish means both “air” and “darkness,” indicating, that is, the property of these spirits. What is their structure? The structure of their nature and their relationships is the same, only dark and in disorder. Holy Scripture says that they, just like the good angels, have superiors and subordinates. It calls them by different names: Satan (slanderer, adversary), the devil (slanderer), Belial, that is, the lord of emptiness, destruction (2 Cor. 6:15), Beelzebub - the god of flies, unclean places (Matthew 10:25). One of the most common titles given by Jesus Christ is “prince of peace, prince... according to the age of this world” (John 12:31, Eph. 6:12); also called the dragon, “the ancient serpent” (Rev. 12:9). The number of unclean spirits must be great already because the word of God warns all people against them and places them in one person as a “legion”: “legion: for many demons have brought in a stench” (Luke 8:30). What is the inner state of their mind and will? The worst thing is: the mind is engaged in slander and lies, and the activity of the will is to destroy everything that is best and especially to be treacherous against people. Firstly, the devil was the cause of the fall of man, who appeared to Eve in the form of a serpent (Gen. 3:1). The Apostle Paul here means the devil by the serpent. Further, he spread idolatry and superstition among people, and through this, by the time of Jesus Christ, he enslaved the whole world to himself (Eph. 2:2). Acting in this way, he enslaved entire kingdoms, and finally seized almost the entire kingdom of Israel, having previously invaded it several times. Therefore, when one of the pagans converted to Christianity, the apostles said that he was coming from the region of Satan to God; and Jesus Christ, having laid the foundation of His religion, said: “Today the prince of this world will be cast out” (John 12:31), that is, now love and faith will reign, the presence of which is unbearable for the evil spirit. since the purpose of Christ’s coming was to destroy the works of the devil, this evil spirit primarily armed itself against Christianity. In order to deviate Jesus Christ from His intention, or lead Him into evil thoughts, he tempts Him; seeing his failure in this case, he turns from Jesus Christ to His disciples and sometimes not without success: this is evident, firstly, from the words of Jesus Christ, Who tells the disciples: “Satan asked that he might sow you like wheat” (Luke 22:31); secondly, from the fact that He was once forced to call Peter Satan. However, the disciples of Jesus Christ defended themselves from this enemy; Only the unfortunate Judas succumbed to him forever. During the spread of Christianity, he also demonstrated extraordinary activity. For example, the Apostle Paul was prevented from traveling (Acts 13:9). The last experience of his evil activity will appear at the end of the world; there he will reveal all his cunning and cruelty; will raise up the Antichrist, arm him with miracles, and with everything that can be used to attract faith. These are the main activities of evil spirits! In particular, they act on a person’s mind, preventing him from seeing the truth. The Apostle Paul says that the devil has blinded the minds of many Christians; act on the will of, for example, Judas, Ananias and Sapphira; on appearance, encouraging pride; briefly: Holy Scripture describes them as evil, cunning, and treacherous. Does an evil spirit act directly on the soul? The sanctuary of the human soul is inviolable even for God Himself. This thought must be maintained. God once gave freedom and never takes it away. But one cannot but agree that an evil spirit can act on a person in the same way that external objects act on him. This is clear from the lives of the saints. It can act on the brain and lower faculties, in a word, on the outer shell of the soul, and not on the soul itself. However, these actions of evil spirits are extremely limited, because their activity is now constrained; they are connected. The actions of evil spirits on the body in the Holy Scriptures are presented in a very great form. They can possess human bodies and inhabit them. We see this often in the New Testament: both Jesus Christ and the apostles often healed such people. Here is the place on this (Mark 1:25–26, 5:8), and many other places. Here we just need to decide the following question: did these people really have evil spirits? Was it not an illness, for example, sleepwalking, epilepsy, and the like? Maybe the common people considered these diseases to be evil spirits, and Jesus Christ, perhaps, did not want to change the people's opinion? And therefore, is not the whole teaching about spirits an adaptation to the way of thinking of the Jews? No, Jesus Christ and the apostles could not lie. They rebelled against such prejudices, to eradicate which it was necessary to shake the very heart of man, and the opinion about the existence of evil spirits is not such that it would be difficult to convince the people of it. Perhaps they will say that they did not want to convince the people so as not to diminish the glory of their deeds? But for them it was equally glorious whether it was to heal the most important diseases or to cast out spirits. In addition, Jesus Christ could have privately told His disciples that these are not spirits, but diseases; but He does not do this anywhere. The incidents themselves confirm the idea that these were indeed spirits. What, for example, does the transition of spirits from humans to pigs prove, if not that they were real spirits? Moreover, the Savior gave both His disciples and all the faithful the power to cast out demons in His name. These expulsions were very frequent in the first centuries of Christianity. The Church Fathers testify to this. Origen concludes the entire activity of Christians of the primal Church in this; the same is confirmed by Cyril of Jerusalem and Cyprian, who talk about public spells; Tertullian and Lactantius, apologists, call on all pagans to look at these actions, performed in the name of Jesus Christ, as evidence of the Divinity of the Christian religion. Before the coming of Jesus Christ, the power of the devil developed, but Jesus Christ bound him by His death; and he began to get lost; The devil at the time of Jesus Christ, according to one Church father, was like a mortified snake, which fathers give to children for fun, without the danger of being wounded. Why does the devil want to deal with a person? Scripture says he wants to have dominion over people. What is this dominion for? Because he wants to be in great opposition to God, and since he cannot act on God directly, he acts through people. Is there another reason for the devil's dominance? Eat. Here it is: 1) The devil is the greatest evil, and therefore he tries to spread evil, for an evil being finds pleasure only in spreading evil. Take, for example, an angry person devoted to drunkenness: he finds it very pleasant to look at people like himself. 2) Holy Scripture reveals little about the metaphysical world; it only said something about the spirits of evil and good. The devil, it says, has left his home. Well, if we assume that a person will take his place? Isn’t it a pity and isn’t it painful for the devil in this case, and is there any reason to deceive a person? 3) For the devil, there is even some interest in his treachery against man: it is interesting for him, that is, he receives pleasant pleasure from communicating with evil people. There are indications of this from the Church Fathers and a hint in the Holy Scriptures. Jesus Christ says in the Gospel of Matthew that an evil spirit, coming out of a person, passes through dark places, then returns to him, as to a clean and swept house, and takes other spirits with him; This means that it is pleasant for the devil to live in a person; living in a person for him is the same as living in a beautiful house, and living outside a person means living in a swamp, in cramped conditions. We do not know the relationships of all natures; We only know that man occupies the middle in a series of creatures: “I am the connection of worlds,” says Derzhavin. So, what is below man and what is above him constitute two opposite extremes. Consequently, for an evil spirit that has fallen into the opposite world, each sphere is painful and unnatural. But as creatures approach the center of these two opposite worlds, this torment decreases, so that in man, as the chain or center of these worlds, it is more pleasant for an evil spirit to dwell than in any other creature of the entire visible or sensory world. The devil, like someone suffering from fever, throws himself from fire into water, and the like. The pagans came to this idea; it was developed by the Alexandrian philosophers: Iamblichus, Porphyry, and others, and why not allow it, especially if devils are not completely immaterial beings? There is a hint of this in animal magnetism; there a person enters into spiritual communication, and through another he gets everything from this world. How can we reconcile the devil’s possession of people with Providence? Even if we could not agree, we cannot reject it. True, a person loses his activity for a while. But if the loss of time is also allowed in natural madness, then why not allow it in this? Moreover, we do not know whether time is completely lost? The soul has its own sides that we do not know and which, perhaps, are perfected during madness or demonic possession. That is why there is an opinion among the people that when such unfortunate people are healed, they become kinder; this is confirmed by the Apostle Paul when he commands to hand over the incestuous man to Satan, “so that the spirit may be saved” (1 Cor. 5:5); They also noticed in some crazy people that the time of their madness was not wasted, for during it they acquired the kind of information that needs to be acquired through labor and learning. There may still be times when it is necessary to stop the activities of a famous person. And this contributes to his perfection, and even more so to the perfection of others. For if the connection between beings is too close, then sometimes it is necessary, as in music, to stop some organs so that others can act more freely. Moreover, the purpose of allowing this in people can also be in other creatures, in evil angels, if not in order to convert them (for Scripture does not speak about this), then in order to prevent their other most disastrous activity, so that, that is, the devil, having occupied himself with one person, would not have time to carry out his evil intentions against a hundred or more people. So, from all these reasons it is clear that the devil’s possession of people does not contradict Providence. Taxonomists previously rejected the idea that evil spirits can have an influence on a person, but now doctors and natural scientists themselves have begun to come to the assumption of this. If planets, for example, the moon, can have an influence on a person, what causes sleepwalking; Saturn - due to distance from the sun - which causes madness, or in certain months there are seizures, the causes of which are remote from us, then one cannot help but believe the influence of evil spirits and the existence of the possessed. Experience shows that even today there are demoniacs; only our scholarship has not yet explored the possibility of these phenomena. Our scientists write systems, prescribe recipes, but the secrets of nature, how a higher being can act on a lower one, are not explored, or at least have not yet been explored. They haven’t yet explained why a person can scream like an animal and how it can? What is the motivation for such activity? How, from the bite of rabid animals, from touch and glance, does the human soul take the form of an animal and adjust its activity accordingly? Thus, even the language of the future is found in patients; some of them say when an evil spirit has settled in them. All this shows that the devil can act a lot on the lower abilities of a person, and that he could act just as much on the higher activity of the soul if he were not bound. What is the remedy against the influence of these hostile forces on a person? A Christian has very strong remedies against this; and if he does not drive away this enemy with them, then the reason for this is only his oversight. These means are: prayer, which cleanses the soul, and fasting, which cleanses the body. By these means, a Christian, according to the Apostle James, must resist the evil spirit, and he will flee from it. In addition, the thought of God and a strong desire for good are powerful weapons against the devil. This truth was proven in the first centuries of Christianity, when the very name of Jesus Christ caused the spirits of evil to tremble. What can we say about witchcraft and magic? Are they possible, that is, is it possible for people to communicate with evil spirits? The Old Testament provides examples of prohibitions against them; therefore possible; The New Testament is silent about this. The Acts of the Apostles only mentions that the Apostle Paul found magic books and ordered them to be burned. There is a general opinion that this message is possible. In almost every village you can find such a person, although these are mostly imaginary sorcerers, and real ones are very rare. In the Middle Ages, many recognized as such were killed and burned at the stake. On the part of a person, this is possible, because he, having fallen under the moral influence of an evil spirit, can also go into physical communication with him; on the part of the evil spirit there is also no impossibility; if he can act on a person indirectly, then all the better for him to have direct communication with him. From the history of Christianity it is clear that the personal appearances of good angels to virtuous people were; Why shouldn’t immoral people believe such appearances of evil angels? Their reasons lie in God, but more in people, in their morality. Jesus Christ said: “See heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1:51). This is about good angels. The Holy Scriptures do not speak so clearly about the wicked; it only speaks of their visible appearance at the end of the world. But history presents interesting stories about the meetings of devils with holy people, for example about their repentance, about failure to fulfill the conditions required of them, and others. What organ of communication do people with evil spirits have? Based on the experiences of warlocks and ventriloquists presented in Moses, this organ should be the nervous system in a person. A person, being in this state, seems to renounce this world and at a crossroads he encounters these wandering creatures. There may be other means for this, for example, herbs, drinks, and more. It goes without saying that this connection is the most reprehensible and happens to desperate people. Women are most susceptible to this, because their nervous system is more delicate and more upset, which is why melancholy, hysteria, hypochondria - nervous diseases - belong to them. It is noteworthy that the end of such people is the most painful. This is how it should be. It is difficult for a soul that has reached the crossroads of the world to return and move into the spiritual world. The nervous system is a network and chains by which our spirit is connected. That is why, when this network breaks through, when the rings of this chain are broken, the soul looks into another world, sees other sides and receives phenomena from other worlds. In this state, extraordinary strength and heat of the blood are manifested. From here some came to the idea that human souls are fallen spirits (Plato). But even without this, man has a most miserable existence: how much trouble he has received from his parents, how much he inflicts on himself and how much he suffers from evil spirits! What awaits these enemies of ours in the future? “Eternal fire,” according to Jesus Christ, “prepared for the devil and his angel” (Matthew 25:41). Will there be an end to this fire, and what is beyond it? Although the word “eternal” does not always mean eternity, here it must be understood in the strict sense. In ancient times there was an opinion (Origen) that the devil could turn, but it was condemned and anathematized. The atonement of Jesus Christ applies to people, but not to evil spirits. Why does this mercy not extend to them? If anywhere, then here, especially, it must be said that God cannot be not God. If the love of God delivered people, then it would also deliver evil spirits if their conversion were possible. Basil the Great thinks that before the creation of man there was a place for repentance for the devil, but now there is no longer any place: post conditum mundum (humanum) ei obstinctum est paenitentiae locus. How can a creature go to this extreme? There is a limit to which, having reached, you cannot return; there is an opportunity, instead of becoming like God, to go against God; this height-abyss is the inalienable property of evil spirits. Man existed for a little while, and yet fell hard; What can we say about the spirit, whose activity is intense and whose anger is extreme? The limit of this possibility should embrace fear in those approaching this line. Should one desire and seek the appearance of spirits? It is good to wish for a good purpose; it is even necessary to have a spiritual communication with them, to listen to their thoughts, desires and advice; but there is no need to ask for a visible appearance, for this is contrary to the order of nature: to desire the appearance of Angels means to desire miracles unnecessarily. Sacred history shows that this is dangerous. If the appearance of an Angel followed, then how to deal with it? A good angel will take action and make his kindness known. But a person must demand evidence, he must demand the confession of Christ. Moreover, it is the duty of a Christian to ask not to appear unnecessarily; everything should have its time. What to do when an evil spirit appears? A Christian should not be afraid, but regret the existence of such high and at the same time such poor spirits. The Guardian Angel, the name of Jesus Christ, prayer and fasting will deliver a Christian from such phenomena. Why did they often doubt the existence of evil spirits? Previously, they believed their existence to the point of excess, but now, on the contrary, especially in the past century during the development of the French Revolution, when they gave no place to anything superexperimental and to God Himself, they doubt it. Eastern religion has extended far and wide the doctrine of evil and good geniuses. This is based on the nature of things; various superstitions polluted the minds and rushed to extremes. The Biblical teaching is one of the most favorable. It introduced us to all this. It told us that faith in spirits is not in vain; it clarified the origin of evil, although incompletely. Having said that evil arose from the freedom of angels, it calmed the spirit of man, for it removed some of the burden from him. The desire of opponents to make people evil forces them to stand on guard together with the assistant assigned to them - the Guardian Angel. On the other hand, Holy Scripture vouches for the importance of man, for around him the whole world of Angels seems to revolve. Representing a terrible revolution, it warns against frivolity and absent-mindedness. Philosophers, having rejected the real existence of evil spirits, accepted the ideal. Kant was content with such a devil. Note: Some were tempted by Peter Mohyla’s “Trebnik”, which talks about spirits living at crossroads, in bathhouses, rivers, air, lakes, and so on. But this seems to be fair, for why not assume that one spirit likes one thing better and another another? The spiritual world should not be imagined as completely detached from the physical world. How should we deal with this teaching when instructing the people? The people have a concept of good angels; one only needs to wish for more clarification about the Guardian Angel. For us, the doctrine of the Guardian Angel takes up little space, while it is very necessary for us, and it is closest to us to know about his relationships. In our moral theology there are no duties in relation to the Guardian Angel: it’s a pity! He sacrifices his whole life for us, and we don’t even think about him; if we remember him, then only in prayers and in systems. The people also have a concept of evil spirits, but remain faithful to the superstitions that remained from the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Do we need to talk about this? Need to. The teachers of the Church advise to beware, but if the Holy Scripture warns, then why not warn in sermons? We need to talk about caution and courageous resistance to these spirits. Let us imagine a family or one member of it possessed by an evil spirit: what a pitiful situation! Here it is necessary, only with caution, to speak and point out the means - prayer and fasting; do not talk about guilt - it is better to lay it on the devil. 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