Paradise Lost-based on what?

Factual Questions
1

From what I understand, it is an unspoken accepted fact on the part of many christians that at one point in the distant past, Satan(or Lucifier) was an angel under God(I believe 2nd in command is the general idea), but according to the story, Lucifier got greedy and wanted it all, thus revoted againest God, with the angels being divided into thirds(1/3 pro-God, 1/3 againest, and 1/3 neutral). God wins and all those who rebel and were neutral are thrown out of Heaven on their ass.

I know this comes from Milton’s Paradise Lost, but there are references to it in Dante’s Inferno. The question is…is there any Biblical grounding for this story? If not, where did it come from? I don’t think Dante originated it, and he was around long before Milton. As far as I know, the only time God and Satan are ever mentioned to interact (besides revelations) is in the Book of Job.

2

The main source of this myth is the Book of Enoch, a Jewish text dating from probably the 1st century BC. Fragments of Enoch are found among the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS). The starting point is Genesis 6:2: “The sons of God seeing the daughters of men, that they were fair, took to themselves wives of all they chose.” The “sons of God” are interpreted as angels who rebelled against God. The leader of the rebel angels is called by various names: Semihazeh, Asael, Azazel, Mastema, in different versions of the story. In later versions of the myth, the rebel leader is called Satan.

At least some early Christians treated Enoch as Scripture. Jude quotes from Enoch. The passage in Luke 10:18 is probably related to Enoch: *He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.” * (This passage also relates to Isaiah 14:12, another text used frequently in the developing tradition of Satan.) In spite of this, Enoch didn’t make it into the accepted canon of Scripture, either in Judaism or Christianity. But it exerted great influence on the development of ideas of Satan and the end times.

See the article at Catholic Encylopedia:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01602a.htm
and check out the book of Jubilees, too:
http://wesley.nnu.edu/noncanon/ot/pseudo/jubilee.htm

These developments in the Jewish understanding of evil are probably the result of Zoroastrian influence, after Cyrus of Persia liberated the Jews in exile in Babylon and helped them rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.

3

I will respectfully disagree with FriendRob on this one.

The question (as I understand it) is “Is there any Biblical significance or backing to the story that 1/3 of the angels in heaven were thrown out along with Satan/Lucifer”?

Yes, there is. I will attempt to explain something that should take a long time here in this forum (grossly abbreviated).

Satan was a created being. “Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God;” (Ezek. 28:13). Only Adam, Eve, God, and the serpent, who is identified as Satan were in the garden of Eden in the beginning of time. Ezekiel 28:13 shows this being “wast created.” V. 14, “Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth;” Now notice the next verse, 15. “Thou was perfect in thy ways from the day that thou was created, till INIQUITY was found in thee.” V. 16, “…and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will DESTROY thee…” This being fell because of sin.

Let’s compare Ezek. 28 to Isa. 14. “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,…how art thou CUT DOWN to the ground, which didst WEAKEN the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ASCEND above the heights of the clouds: I will be like the most High” (Isa. 14:12-14). These two accounts show that Lucifer, a cherub angel, assaulted God’s throne. He sinned against God. Notice what Jesus, who was there, said. “…I beheld Satan as lightning FALL from heaven” (Lk. 10:18).

So, now you ask, “Where does the 1/3 number come into play?” Here is the answer. The mention of the 1/3 number is directly from Revelation chapter 12.

12:1
Then a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet, and on her head was a crown of twelve stars.
12:2 She was pregnant and was screaming in labor pains, struggling to give birth.
12:3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon that had seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadem crowns.
12:4 Now the dragon’s tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth.
“Stars” is a symbolic reference to angels in this passage, and was never taken literally by the original writer or readers of this passage. 1/3 of the created angels chose to rebel against God along with Satan and were thusly cast from Heaven to rule the earth.

Hope this clears up your question.

4

Sorry to hijack this thread, but this is something that has long interested me. Great question, I hope debate continues.

As to my attempted hijack, are their sources in the Bible or otherwise for the identies of the angesl involved in the war? Are any numbers give, besieds the thirds division? How many angels were/are there? Are they all “named” or are they too numerous? What is the definition of an archangel as opposed to just an angel? Are there any passages that specifically say what the fallen angels are doing now? Besides the general, ruling in hell, what are the sources for the common mythology that Satan is plaooting a comeback?

5

Pfbob,

Some answers to the best of my knowledge:

  1. There are no identities given for the angels involved in the “war” as you call it (Armageddon to most Bible scholars) These angels are unnamed and it appears that this conflict is pretty much over before it even begins. Jesus Christ comes riding on a white horse with a double-edged sword coming from his mouth as he wipes out the armies of darkness and of the coming world himself. (From the text, it appears he needs no help from angels for this task)

  2. There are no numbers of angels given, but there are more than 100,000 x 100,000 angels that exist. There are references that speak of a great multitude of angels, greater than 10,000 x 10,000 and 100,000 x 100,000. That’s all the Bible ever speaks as to the number of angels that exist.

  3. There is no evidence that all angels are named, but certainly some are. Gabriel, Lucifer, Michael, etc…

  4. An Archangel is defined as: A chief angel; one high in the celestial hierarchy.
    Seraph is defined as: One of an order of celestial beings, each having three pairs of wings. In ecclesiastical art and in poetry, a seraph is represented as one of a class of angels.
    Cherubim: The plural form of Seraph.

  5. “Fallen angels” are usually thought of as what we know as demons or demonic influences in the world. They are Satan’s tools for causing havoc and spreading the influence of sin on Earth.

  6. You asked about Satan planning a comeback. To be honest, it’s kind of the other way around right now. Satan pretty much has control/dominion over the earth at this time (allowed by God the Father for reasons I cannot come to explain). Satan is having his hay-day at this current time, but there will come a time when Jesus Christ will return from Heaven to Earth to put an end to Satan’s rule over the planet.

It’s called the 2nd Coming and refers to Christ’s birth in Bethlehem as the 1st Coming, and this would thusly be the 2nd Coming. Christ comes with an army of angels from Heaven and ends up binding Satan in the Abyss or Bottomless Pit for a period of 1,000 years. (Known as the Millenium)

Hope all this helps.

6

tubbytreats writes as though the Bible presented a unified viewpoint on Satan. In fact, Satan rarely appears in the OT, and when he does, he is subservient to God. There have been several recent discussions of this on the boards, try searching (here or GD).

The Ezekiel 28 passage, which is often used to justify beliefs about Satan, actually refers to a human king, the ruler of Tyre.
Ez 28:12 “Son of man, raise a lament for the king of Tyre. Say to him…” (then follows what tubbytreats quoted).

One interesting aspect of Jubilees is that when God rounds up the rebel angels and throws them in prison, Satan complains that he will have no henchmen left, and God should leave him 10% of his forces. God, inexplicably, agrees to this request.

Clearly what’s going on here is an attempt to explain the existence of evil. God can’t be responsible for it, so it must be someone else, i.e. Satan. But why doesn’t God conquer Satan? He does. But then why is there still evil? Well, God left the 10%, you see, and so…

It becomes an endless argument. Not surprising that Jubilees didn’t make the cut. Early christians followed a different approach, that God leaves Satan in control for a limited time, and the destruction of evil will only come in the last days. This still leaves the question, “Why does God leave Satan in control?” The only answer being “for mysterious reasons of his own”.

7

Yes, Satan in the Old Testament rarely makes an appearance, and he is actually known as “the satan” which means “deceiver” or “trickster” or something of that nature. He is an angel and does God’s will. “The satan” is a description of his role more than anything else. In one story, the satan offers his services to God to test’s Job faith. In the story of Balaam, God sends down the satan to prevent Balaam from disobeying God (by going to a certain town). The satan goes down and stop’s Balaam’s donkey in its tracks and prevents Balaam from reaching the town.

Satan as a near-omnipotent force opposing God doesn’t really show up until the New Testament. Most scholars cite Zoroastrianism’s influence in the forming of this idea.
But we’re swaying off topic.

Per the OP, some of the books of the Pseudepigrapha have references to the fall of angels. I believe the Book of Adam and Eve in particular may have the reference, but I can’t remember off hand. Anyhow, I don’t think Milton directly referenced the Pseudepigrapha, but rather Christian tradition and folklore, some of which can be traced to these books.

8

No. Cherubim is the plural of cherub. The plural of seraph is seraphim. Cherubim and seraphim are considered different types of angels.

9

While we’re on angels, Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica (a good source for all your angel information) places angels in this order:

1st hierarchy: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones
2nd hierarchy: Dominations, Virtues, Powers
3rd hierarchy: Principalities, Archangels, Angels

10

Well, here’s a little bit better description of the various orders–from one of their own, no less.

11

Where does Aquinas pull this from? One of the prophets?