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He who from among these angelic powers was set over the earthly realm,
and into whose hands God committed the guardianship of the earth, was
not made wicked in nature but was good, and made for good ends, and
received from his Creator no trace whatever of evil in himself. But
he did not sustain the brightness and the honour which the Creator had
bestowed on him, and of his free choice was changed from what was in
harmony to what was at variance with his nature, and became roused
against God Who created him, and determined to rise in rebellion
against Him: and he was the first to depart from good and become
evil. For evil is nothing else than absence of goodness, just as
darkness also is absence of light. For goodness is the light of the
mind, and, similarly, evil is the darkness of the mind. Light,
therefore, being the work of the Creator and being made good (for
God saw all that He made, and behold they were exceeding good)
produced darkness at His free-will. But along with him an
innumerable host of angels subject to him were torn away and followed
him and shared in his fall. Wherefore, being of the same nature as
the angels, they became wicked, turning away at their own free choice
from good to evil
Hence they have no power or strength against any one except what God
in His dispensation hath conceded to them, as for instance, against
Job and those swine that are mentioned in the Gospels. But when God
has made the concession they do prevail, and are changed and
transformed into any form whatever in which they wish to appear.
Of the future both the angels of God and the demons are alike
ignorant: yet they make predictions. God reveals the future to the
angels and commands them to prophesy, and so what they say comes to
pass. But the demons also make predictions, sometimes because they
see what is happening at a distance, and sometimes merely making
guesses: hence much that they say is false and they should not be
believed, even although they do often, in the way we have said, tell
what is true. Besides they know the Scriptures.
All wickedness, then, and all impure passions are the work of their
mind. But while the liberty to attack man has been granted to them,
they have not the strength to over master any one: for we have it in
our power to receive or not to receive the attack. Wherefore there has
been prepared for the devil and his demons, and those who follow him,
fire unquenchable and everlasting punishment.
Note, further, that what in the case of man is death is a fall in the
case of angels. For after the fall there is no possibility of
repentance for them, just as after death there is for men no
repentance.
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