VII. OF THE ANGELS: THEIR NATURE
Why did God wish there should be pure spirits in His work of creation?
He willed there should be pure spirits because they were destined to be the crowning of His work
Why are these pure spirits the crowning of God's work? Because they are the highest, the most perfect, and the most beautiful part of His creation
What is the nature of these pure spirits?
Pure spirits are substances free from all body and from all matter
Are these pure spirits very numerous?
Yes
Is their number greater than that of all other created things?
Yes
But why are they so numerous?
Because the most beautiful part of God's creation ought to dominate by its grandeur all the rest of His creation
What are these pure spirits called?
They are called angels.
Why are they called angels?
Because they are the messengers whom God employs for the administering of the rest of His creation.
Can the angels take to themselves a body like ours?
No, the angels cannot take to themselves a body like ours; if at any time they reveal themselves to men in a bodily form, this form has only the external appearance of a body
Do the angels exist somewhere?
Yes
Ordinarily speaking, where are the angels?
Their ordinary place is in heaven
Can angels pass from one place to another?
Yes
Is time necessary for their passing from one place to another?
In an instant the angels can pass from one place to another no matter the distance
Are they also able to leave one place gradually and to be present gradually in another place according to will?
Yes, they can do this, for their movement is nought else but a successive application of their power or their activity upon different things or on different parts of the same thing
VIII. THE INNER LIFE OF THE ANGELS
What is the life of the angels in so far as they are pure spirits?
Their life as pure spirits consists in knowledge and love.
What kind of knowledge have the angels?
Their knowledge is intellectual
Have the angels a knowledge through sense as we have?
No, there is no such knowledge in the angels
Why is there no knowledge through sense in the angels as in us?
Because knowledge through sense is acquired through a body; and the angels have no body
Is the intellectual knowledge of the angels more perfect than ours?
Yes.
Why is this?
Because their intellectual knowledge is not acquired like ours from the exterior world; moreover they attain to the truth of a thing at a single glance without need of reasoning
Do the angels know all things?
No, for their nature is finite; God alone knows all things because He is infinite
Do they know the totality of creatures?
Yes; for their nature of pure spirit demands that this be so
Do the angels know all that passes in the external world?
Yes. For the ideas in their minds manifest to them these things according as the latter come into being
Do they know our secret thoughts?
No. For these thoughts depend on our free will, and thereby are not necessarily linked up with external events
Is there no means at all whereby the angels can know our secret thoughts?
Yes. Our secret thoughts can become known to them by the revelation of God, or by the person himself revealing them (ibid.).
Do the angels know the future?
No, unless God reveal it to them (LVII. 3).
What kind of love is connatural to the angels?
Connaturally there is in the angels a perfect love of God, love of themselves and of all creatures unless sin, in the supernatural order, does not denaturalize what is free in their love in the natural order (LX.).
IX. OF THE CREATION OF THE ANGELS
Were all the angels created by God Himself?
Yes, for each of them is a pure spirit which can come into being only by way of creation (LXI. 1).
When were all the angels created by God?
The angels were created by God instantaneously at the same time when He created all the contents of the corporal world (LXI. 3).
Were the angels created by God in a locality?
Yes, the harmony of the divine work demanding this (LXI. 4, Obj. i).
What is the locality where the angels were created called?
We call it heaven simply, and sometimes the empyrean heaven (LXI. 4).
What does the empyrean heaven mean?
It means a place full of glory and splendour which is the most beautiful part of the corporal world (ibid.).
Is the empyrean heaven the same as the heaven of the blessed?
Yes (ibid. Obj. 3).
X. OF THE PROBATION OF THE ANGELS
In what state were the angels created?
They were created by God in a state of grace (LXII. 3).
What is meant by saying the angels were created in a state of grace?
By this is meant that at the instant of their creation they received from God a nature adorned with sanctifying grace which made them God's children, and which gave them the wherewith to attain to the glory of life eternal (LXII. i, 2, 3).
Was it by an act of their free will that the angels could attain the glory of life eternal?
Yes (LXII. 4).
In what consisted this act of their free will?
This act consisted in responding to the impulse of grace which inclined them to submit to God and to receive from Him with love and acknowledgment the gift of His glory which He offered to them (ibid.).
Under this impulse of grace, was time at all necessary for the angels to make the choice proposed to them by God?
No, this choice was made by them instantaneously (ibid.).
Did the angels attain to glory as soon as ever they had made this choice?
Yes, they attained to glory on the instant (LXII. 5).
XI. OF THE FALL OF THE BAD ANGELS
Did all the angels make the choice deserving of heaven offered to them by God?
No,for some of them turned away from God (LXIII. 3).
Why did certain angels refuse to turn to God?
Because they were prompted through pride and through the desire of self-sufficiency making themselves like unto God (LXIII. 2, 3).
Was this pride a great sin?
Yes, it was a heinous sin which provoked God's anger on the instant.
What was the result of God's just anger in regard to this sin of the angels?
On the instant God cast the bad angels into hell; and this place will be for ever the scene of their punishment (LXIV. 4).
What are these bad angels who revolted against God and were cast into hell called?
They are called the devils (LXIII. 4).
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