Tag: Christianity

Gary Pollard

[This is a continuing translation of Origen’s systematic theology in modern language]

We need to approach the subject of angels in the same way. It isn’t by chance that certain tasks are assigned to specific angels. For example, Raphael is entrusted with healing, Gabriel with carrying out wars, and Michael with presenting the prayers and petitions of mortals.¹ These roles were not given randomly. They were assigned according to the angels’ own merits—the zeal, effort, and excellence each one demonstrated before the world was created. Based on this, some were placed in the order of archangels, each given a specific responsibility. Others were assigned to the lower ranks of angels, serving under particular archangels or leaders. 

All of this was arranged by God—not randomly, but with perfect justice, according to what each angel deserved. So, for example, one angel was entrusted with the church in Ephesus, another with the church in Smyrna. Peter had an angel assigned to him, Paul had his own, and so on for all the “little ones” in the Church—for as Scripture says, their angels see God’s face every day. Likewise, “the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him.” These things are not the result of chance, nor are they due to the way the angels were created—otherwise we might accuse God of favoritism. Instead, God, the just and impartial ruler of all, distributed these tasks according to the worth, goodness, and strength of each individual spirit.

Let us now address those who claim there are different kinds of spiritual natures, so we can avoid the foolish and irreverent myths of people who imagine that heavenly beings and human souls were created by different makers. They think it absurd that one Creator could have made rational beings of such different kinds. But in saying this, they fail to understand the real cause of the differences. They argue that it would be unfair for the same Creator to grant authority to some without merit, while making others subject to rulers. But as we explained earlier, the real reason for diversity among rational beings was not divine favoritism but the conduct of each being—whether they acted with diligence and goodness, or with negligence and sin.

Let’s use examples from human life. Paul and Peter are certainly recognized as men of spiritual character. Yet Paul persecuted God’s church, and Peter, when questioned by a servant girl, denied Christ with an oath. How could these men—who according to those who claim “different natures” must have sprung from a purely spiritual root—commit such serious sins? Didn’t Jesus say that a good tree cannot produce bad fruit? And if that is true, how could Peter and Paul, coming from a “good tree,” produce such evil fruit? Some try to escape the problem by saying it wasn’t really Paul who persecuted, but some other being within him, or it wasn’t really Peter who denied Christ, but another acting through him. But then why did Paul confess, “I am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted God’s church”? Why did Peter weep bitterly after his denial? They knew they had sinned, and this shows that the theory of “different spiritual natures” is groundless.

¹ This comes from Tobit 3.17, 12.18; Enoch 9, 20.1-7; Dan 8.16, 10.13, 21; Rev 12.7

Gary Pollard

[Editor’s Note: Gary is translating the Ante-Nicene Fathers works, beginning with Origin’s work. It is meant to update the British English of Roberts and Donaldson. What follows is part of that translation]

In the last chapter, we spoke in broad terms about the nature of rational beings, reasoning through inference rather than laying down rigid definitions. The only exception was where we did our best to discuss the nature of God. Now, however, we turn to matters that should be addressed according to the church’s established teaching. All souls and all rational natures, whether holy or wicked, were created. By their very nature, they are incorporeal, yet still creatures, since God made everything through Christ. As John’s Gospel teaches: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made.”

Paul also describes the created order in terms of classes and ranks. He writes that all things were created in Christ: “In Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is the head.” The text is clear that everything, whether visible and bodily, or invisible and spiritual, was made in and through Christ. The “invisible things” are none other than incorporeal and spiritual powers. Paul, having spoken broadly of the visible and invisible, then lists the particular categories: thrones, dominions, rulers, authorities, and other such powers.

We have already touched on these things before. But now, moving forward in an orderly way, we must consider the sun, moon, and stars. By inference we ask: should these also be counted among the “principalities,” since they are said to have been created in ἀρχάς—that is, for the governance of day and night? Or should we instead see them only as governing day and night in the sense of providing light, without being true members of that order of ruling powers?

When we say that all things were made by Him, and that in Him all things were created—both in heaven and on earth—it is clear that the things in space, which we call heaven, including the sun, moon, and stars, are counted among these heavenly things. Next, since our discussion has already shown that everything was created, and that among created things nothing exists that cannot be capable of either good or evil, we must ask about a certain view held by some: that the sun, moon, and stars are unchangeable and incapable of becoming anything other than what they are. Many people have held a similar view even about the holy angels, and certain heretics have said the same about souls, which they call spiritual natures.

Let us first see what reason itself can discover regarding the sun, moon, and stars. Is the belief in their unchangeableness correct? To answer, we should first turn to what holy Scripture teaches. Job, for instance, appears to say not only that the stars can be subject to sin, but that they actually are not free from it. He says: “The stars also are not clean in Your sight.” This should not be taken as referring to the brightness or physical splendor of the stars, as if one were to say that a garment is unclean. If that were the meaning, it would unfairly reflect on the Creator: after all, the stars cannot, by their own effort, make themselves brighter or less bright, so how could they be blamed for being “unclean” in terms of their physical substance if they are also not praised for their brilliance?

To understand these matters more clearly, we should first ask: is it reasonable to suppose that the stars are living, rational beings? Next, we should ask whether their souls came into existence at the same time as their bodies, or whether they existed beforehand. We should also consider whether, at the end of the world, they will be released from their bodies, and whether, as we cease to live, they too will cease to illuminate the world.

Though these questions may seem bold, our desire to understand the truth as fully as possible makes it reasonable to investigate them, guided by the grace of the Holy Spirit. We think, then, that the stars may rightly be called living beings, because they are said to receive commandments from God—a characteristic normally reserved for rational beings. As the Lord says, “I have given a commandment to all the stars.” What are these commandments? They are the instructions that each star, in its proper order and course, should provide to the world the amount of brilliance entrusted to it. The planets, for example, move in one type of orbit, while the stars called ἀπλανεῖς (wandering stars) move differently.

It follows that the movement of these bodies cannot occur without a soul, nor can living beings exist without motion. Since the stars move with such order and regularity, never seeming to go astray, it would be absurd to claim that such precise and orderly behavior could occur among purely irrational beings. Jeremiah even calls the moon the “queen of heaven.” Yet if the stars are living, rational beings, we should expect both advances and retreats in their movements. Job’s words—“the stars are not clean in His sight”—seem to point to this very possibility.

Gary Pollard

[Editor’s Note: Gary is translating the Ante-Nicene Fathers works, beginning with Origin’s work. It is meant to update the British English of Roberts and Donaldson. What follows is part of that translation]

We must remember that some beings, who fell away from the original state we spoke of earlier, have sunk so deeply into corruption and wickedness that they are considered unworthy of the kind of training and instruction given to humanity in this life, with the help of heavenly powers. Instead, they remain in open hostility and opposition to those who are receiving that instruction. This is why our mortal life is full of struggles and trials: they are stirred up by the resistance of those who fell from a better condition without even looking back. Scripture calls them “the devil and his angels,” along with the other ranks of evil that the apostle listed among the hostile powers.

Will any of these beings, who now live under the devil’s rule and obey his evil commands, one day be restored to righteousness because they still possess free will? Or has their stubborn and deep-rooted wickedness become so hardened by habit that it has essentially become their very nature? The answer is not yet clear. Perhaps you, reader, may consider it possible that in the end, nothing—whether in the visible, temporal worlds or in the unseen, eternal worlds—will remain entirely outside the ultimate unity and order of all things.

For now, however, both in the visible and temporal realms and in the unseen, eternal ones, every being is placed according to a deliberate plan, in the order and degree that matches its worth. Some may, in the earliest times, and others much later—even after long and severe punishments lasting through countless ages—be improved by this stern discipline. Maybe they will slowly be restored, first by the teaching of angels, and later by higher powers, until step by step they advance to better states. Through this process, they may finally reach the eternal and invisible realm, having passed through every stage of heavenly instruction.

From this, I think we might infer that every rational being, by moving from one order to another, may eventually experience the whole range of states—rising and falling, progressing or failing—according to its own choices and the exercise of its free will. 

Paul teaches that some things are visible and temporary, while others are invisible and eternal. So we must ask: in what sense are visible things “temporary”? Does it mean that they will completely cease to exist in the ages to come, when all things scattered from one beginning are being restored to unity? Or does it mean that, while the outward form of visible things will pass away, their underlying essence will remain, free from corruption?

Paul seems to support the latter view when he says, “The form of this world is passing away.” David says the same: “The skies will leave, but You endure. They will grow old like a garment, You will change them like clothing, and they will be changed.” If the skies are “changed,” then they do not vanish altogether. Likewise, if the form of the world “passes away,” this is not destruction of its substance but a transformation of its quality and appearance. Isaiah also, when he speaks of “a new sky and a new earth,” points to the same reality.

This renewal of sky and earth—the transformation of the world and of the skies themselves—is prepared for those who follow the path we have described, moving toward that final happiness in which even enemies are subdued, and in which God is said to be “all in all.” If anyone imagines that at the end material, bodily nature will be completely destroyed, that view is hard to sustain. For how could so many powerful beings exist without bodies? Only God has the nature to exist entirely without material substance. Others suggest instead that, in the end, bodily existence will be purified and refined until it is like the clearness of the skies, pure and radiant as the aether. Ultimately, however, the truth of how this will be is known with certainty only to God, and to His friends through Christ and his spirit. 

Gary Pollard

[Editor’s Note: Gary is translating the Ante-Nicene Fathers works, beginning with Origin’s work. It is meant to update the British English of Roberts and Donaldson. What follows is part of that translation]

When we talk about the end, we mean the time when everything is finally made perfect. Because this is such an important and difficult subject, anyone who wants to study it should come with a clear and careful mind. If someone doesn’t have experience thinking about subjects like this, they might consider it to be a waste of time. Or if someone already has strong opinions or presuppositions, they might even say that these ideas are evil or heretical—not because they really understand them, but because they’re already prejudiced by dogma. That’s why we must talk about these things with caution. We are not giving definitive answers, we’re just investigating these things for the purpose of discussion. Earlier, when we looked at the nature of God, I tried to present only clear and unquestioned truths. But we will do our best to handle this more like a discussion than a set of dogmatic definitions.

The end of the world, then, will come when God judges everyone for their sins. Only God knows the time when this will happen, and only He knows how He will give each person what they deserve. But we also believe that God’s kindness, through Jesus Christ, will guide all of His creation to one final goal—even His enemies, who will one day be defeated and brought under His power. 

The scripture says, “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’” If that sounds hard to understand, Paul explains it more clearly, “Christ must rule until he has put all enemies under his feet.” And if we still wonder what that means, Paul adds, “For all things must be put under him.”

But what does it mean for everything to be “put under” Christ? I believe it means that all things will one day submit to Him in the same way we try to submit now. The apostles submitted this way. All of the faithful dead have, too. For us, being put into subjection under Christ is not an act of tyranny, but it is about being saved. To belong to Christ means to share in the rescue He’s made possible. David understood this when he said, “I must calm down and turn to God; only He can rescue me.”

Since this will be the end—when all enemies will be placed under Christ, when death (the last enemy) will be destroyed, and when Christ will hand the kingdom over to God the Father—let’s think about the beginning of all things. The end is always like the beginning. Just as there is one end for all things, there was also one beginning of all things. From that single beginning came many different paths with lots of variety. But through God’s goodness and through submitting to Christ, everything will be brought back to one final end, which looks like the beginning. This is what it means when every being in the sky, on earth, and under the earth bows at the name of Jesus, showing their submission to Him. These three groups represent the entire universe, which was arranged from the one beginning, each according to how they lived. 

Goodness does not belong to created beings by their very nature; only God is good by His very nature. Others share in “goodness” only when God gives it, and they remain that way only as long as they pursue holiness, wisdom, and fellowship with God. But if they reject these things, each one causes their own fall—some quickly, others slowly, some falling far, others not as far. This demonstrates God’s fair judgment: each one has consequences in proportion to their choices and how far they’ve fallen.

Some who were closer in time to the beginning (which mirrors the future end) were placed in high ranks when the world was arranged: some became angels, some influences, some principalities, some powers to rule over those who need guidance. Others became thrones, with the work of judging or ruling, and others were given control over those who were like slaves. All of this was given through God’s wise judgment, fairly and without favoritism, according to each one’s merit and their progress in imitating God. But those who were removed from their primal state of happiness were not removed with no hope of recovery. They were placed under the rule of the different powers we just mentioned, so that by learning from them and through discipline, they might be reshaped and restored to blessedness again.

All of this makes me think that God arranged the human race for a purpose: that in the future world—when God makes a new sky and a new earth, as Isaiah promised—it will be brought back into perfect unity. This is the unity Jesus prayed for when He said to the Father, “I’m not praying for just these followers, but also for those who will believe in me because of their teaching. Father, I pray that all who believe in me can be one. You are in me and I am in you. I pray that they can also be one in us. Then the world will believe that you sent me.” 

Paul confirms this when he says, “This work must continue until we are all joined together in what we believe and in what we know about the Son of God.” And Paul urges us even now, while we are alive and in the church (which is like a preview of the kingdom that will come), to live out this unity when he says, “I beg all of you to agree with each other. You should not be divided into different groups. Be completely joined together again with the same kind of thinking and the same purpose.” 

Gary Pollard

The prophet Isaiah tells us about another enemy of God. He says: “How you have fallen from heaven, O light-bearer, morning star! You once rose like the dawn, but now you are crushed to the ground—you who attacked all nations. You said in your heart, ‘I will climb to heaven. I will set my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the highest mountain in the far north. I will rise above the clouds. I will be like the Most High.’ But now you will be brought down to the world below, to the very depths of the earth. 

Those who see you will stare in shock and say, ‘Is this the one who shook the earth, who made kings tremble, who turned the world into a wasteland, who destroyed cities, and never freed his prisoners? All the kings of the nations rest in honor in their own graves, but you will be thrown away among the dead on the mountains—cursed and pierced by the sword—down to the world below.

Like a blood-stained robe that cannot be made clean, you will never be clean again. You destroyed my land and killed my people. You will never last, evil seed. Prepare your sons for death because of their father’s sins, so they will not rise to take the earth or fill it with war. I will rise against them, says the Lord of hosts. I will erase their name, their survivors, and their children.’”

From these words it is clear that the morning star—once a bringer of light—fell from heaven. If, as some think, he was always a creature of darkness, how could Scripture call him “light-bearer” or “morning star”? Even Jesus said about the devil, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning,” showing that at one time he was light. Jesus also compared His own return to lightning: “As the lightning flashes from one end of the sky to the other, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.” By comparing Satan’s fall to lightning, Jesus showed that Satan once lived in heaven, had a place among God’s holy ones, and shared in the same light that all God’s saints enjoy. This light is what makes angels “angels of light,” and is why Jesus called His apostles “the light of the world.”

So this being once existed in light before turning away from God. When he fell, his glory turned to dust—a mark of the wicked. That is why he is called the “prince of this world,” meaning he rules here on earth over those who follow his evil ways. As Scripture says, “The whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” God also calls him “the runaway dragon” in the book of Job, meaning he is an enemy who has fled from the truth. The dragon is the devil himself.

If these enemies of God were once pure, then it’s clear that only the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are pure by their very nature. Every created being is pure only because God gives them that purity—and they can lose it. Since these evil powers were once pure but fell, we see that no one is born evil, and no one is pure by nature alone. This means it is in our own hands—through our choices and actions—to live in happiness and holiness, or to fall into sin and ruin. If we grow deeply in evil through neglect and laziness, we can sink so low that we become an “opposing power” against God, just as the morning star once did.

Gary Pollard

[Editor’s Note: Gary is translating the Ante-Nicene Fathers works, beginning with Origin’s work. It is meant to update the British English of Roberts and Donaldson. What follows is part of that translation]

Now that we’ve listed so many important names of heavenly ranks and offices—and we know these titles refer to real, personal beings—we can ask this question: Did God, the Creator and Maker of all things, create some of these beings holy and happy, so that they could never become anything else—not even have the possibility of being evil? And did He make others capable of either virtue or sin, depending on their choices? Or did He maybe create some in such a way that they could never become good, and others who could never become evil? 

And still others who were able to become either good or evil? Let us begin by looking at the names themselves. Were the holy angels, from the moment they were created, always holy—and have they remained holy ever since, and will they always remain holy—without ever sinning or even having the power to sin?

Next, let us ask whether those called “holy principalities” began exercising authority from the moment of their creation. Were the ones they rule over made for the very purpose of being subject to them? In the same way, were those called powers made with the specific nature and purpose of ruling? Or did they come into that position as a reward for their virtue?

And what about the thrones or seats—did they receive their place of happiness and stability right when they were created, simply by God’s will? Or were the dominions given their rule, not because of anything they had done, but as a natural privilege that came with how they were created—something inseparable from their being? Now, if we believe that the holy angels, powers, thrones, virtues, and dominions were given their roles and glory by nature—that they were created that way from the start—then we must also believe the same thing about the opposing beings.

In that case, we would have to say that the evil principalities we struggle against were not originally good and then turned evil, but were evil from the beginning—that resisting what is good is part of their nature. And the same would go for the evil powers and wicked spirits—that they did not fall from goodness later on, but were created wicked from the start. Even the beings the apostle calls “rulers and princes of the darkness of this world” would have their rule over darkness not by choice, but by necessity of how they were made.

And if we follow this logic, then wicked spirits, malicious powers, and unclean demons would all have been created evil from the beginning. But if this seems absurd—and surely it is absurd—to say their evil doesn’t come from their own will, but was built into them by the Creator, then we must also say something similar about the good and holy beings.

That is, their goodness must not be something that belongs to their essential nature. For we have already shown that only the Father, the Son (Christ), and Holy Spirit possess goodness by their very nature—because there is nothing divided or changeable with God. Their goodness is not something added on, it is part of who they are.

So for every created being, their position (whether ruling or being ruled) doesn’t come from a special quality built into them at creation, but from their own actions and choices. Those who now rule, or exercise power or dominion, were put in those roles not because they were created with a right to them, but because of their merit—because they proved worthy of them.

We don’t want to base our beliefs on guesses or reasoning alone—especially when the subject is this serious and difficult. Nor do we want to ask people to agree with us based only on ideas that are uncertain. So let’s turn to holy Scripture and see if there are any clear teachings that can support what we’ve said, so that our views can be backed by something with real authority. First we’ll look at what Scripture says about wicked powers. Then we’ll continue our study of the others, as the Lord helps us understand, so that in things this difficult, we can get as close to the truth as possible—or at least form opinions that are faithful to the spirit of true religion.

In the book of the prophet Ezekiel, we find two prophecies addressed to the prince of Tyre. The first one might seem to be about a regular man, a human ruler over the city of Tyre. So for now, we won’t focus on that first prophecy. But the second prophecy clearly describes someone far greater than a man. It speaks of a higher being who fell from a great position to a lower and worse one. This passage gives us a strong example to show that evil powers were not created evil, but fell from a better condition and became wicked. It also shows that even the good powers were not made in such a way that they were totally unable to fall—if they became careless and didn’t guard their fortunate position, they could fall too.

The prophecy says that this being—called the prince of Tyre—had once been good, without any sin, placed in the paradise of God, beautiful and shining. Could such a being have been less than the other good ones? He is described as being beautiful, pure, and walking in the paradise of God—how could he be anything other than one of the holy and blessed powers, those created in a happy and exalted state?

Now let’s look at the actual words of the prophecy (Ez 28.11-19):

The word of the lord came to me. He said, “Human, sing this sad song about the king of Tyre. Say to him, ‘This is what the Lord God says: You were the perfect man — so full of wisdom and perfectly handsome. You were in Eden, the garden of God. You had every precious stone — rubies, topaz, and diamonds, beryls, onyx, and jasper, sapphires, turquoise, and emeralds. And each of these stones was set in gold. You were given this beauty on the day you were created. 

God made you strong. You were one of the chosen Cherubs who spread your wings over my throne. I put you on the holy mountain of God. You walked among the jewels that sparkled like fire. You were good and honest when I created you, but then you became evil. Your business brought you many riches. But they also put cruelty inside you, and you sinned. So I treated you like something unclean and threw you off of the mountain of God. 

You were one of the chosen Cherubs who spread your wings over my throne. But I forced you to leave the jewels that sparkled like fire. Your beauty made you proud. Your glory ruined your wisdom. So I threw you down to the ground, and now other kings stare at you. You did many wrong things. You were a very crooked merchant. In this way you made the holy places unclean. 

So I brought fire from inside you. It burned you! You burned to ashes on the ground, and now everyone can see your shame. All of the people in other nations were shocked about what happened to you. What happened to you will make people very afraid. You are finished!’” 

When we hear words like “You were the perfect man, full of wisdom and perfectly handsome”, and “From the day you were created with the cherubim, I placed you on the holy mountain of God”—who could possibly weaken or shrink the meaning of this so much as to think it describes just a man? Not even an ordinary saint—certainly not the historical prince of Tyre.

What fiery stones could any man have walked among? Who but a heavenly being could be called blameless from the day of creation, only later to have wickedness discovered in him, and then be cast down to the earth?

To be “cast down to the earth” means this being was not originally on earth, but was thrown there after falling. His “holy places” are said to have been polluted, which again shows that he had once been holy and blessed. So we can now say clearly: what Ezekiel wrote about the prince of Tyre is actually referring to an opposing spiritual power, and it clearly proves that this being was once holy and happy, but fell when wickedness was found in him. He was not created evil—he became evil.

We believe this refers to an angel who had been given authority to rule over the people of Tyre and to watch over their souls. Now, what exactly this “Tyre” means—the earthly Tyre in Phoenicia, or some other spiritual Tyre that this one represents—and which “souls of the Tyrians” are being spoken of, whether earthly or spiritual—is something we don’t need to explore in detail here. These are deep and mysterious matters and should not be handled in a quick or careless way. They deserve careful study and effort on their own.