06 — The Fall and the Demons

Some of the angels fell. This section treats the fall of Lucifer and his host — the received readings of Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28, weighed honestly against their contextual senses — and the demons who are the fallen angels: what they are, the strict limits on their power (no bodies, no foreknowledge, no power to compel), and the sober, unsensational spiritual warfare of the tradition. The desert demonology is introduced and its depth deferred to the desert and Philokalic collections; the toll-houses are deferred to eschatology; prelest is deferred to the Jesus Prayer collection.

Tradition: Pan-Orthodox

Files

• the-fall-of-the-angels.md — The fall of Lucifer/Satan through pride; Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 as received readings and in their contexts; the fall as a single irrevocable turning.
• the-demons-and-spiritual-warfare.md — The demons as fallen angels, their limits, the desert tradition, and sober spiritual warfare.

See Also

• The Bodiless Nature — the mutable will and immutability-by-grace behind the fall
• The Desert Fathers — the ascetic demonology, in depth
• Orthodox Eschatology — the demons at the hour of death (the toll-houses, deferred)