Getting Clarity on the Enemy
Fr. John Riccardo
June 23, 2021
Much of the current discussion, both culturally and ecclesially, revolves around “the enemy.” Republicans, Democrats, liberals, conservatives, LGTBQ+ supporters, transphobes, Vatican II, Yankee fans—there’s an almost endless list of suspects. And the rhetoric that is often used (even in the Church) is brutal and virtually devoid of charity.
Among the many reasons we need to reacquire a biblical worldview is to get clear on who the real enemy is. “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood,” Paul reminds us, “but against the rulers, the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12). As we continue to offer some excerpts from our recently published book The Christian Cosmic Narrative: The Deep History of the World, we turn this week and next to a discussion of this enemy, how he came into existence and how he deceived our first parents and literally unleashed hell on earth.
“When God decided to create, to bring into existence a world outside of himself yet intrinsically related to him by its participation in his existence, he began by calling forth the first creatures of his thought, the noblest of all created beings: the angels. Resembling God by the gift of intelligent minds and free wills, angels were meant to live in the joy of God’s presence, delighting in him, serving him, and joining in his eternal dance of love. They were to be his special aides, his messengers and stewards, and were to have an important role in governing and caring for the second part of creation yet to come, that of the material world.
“Many different kinds and ranks of angels were created, each with special qualities of excellence, each participating in and reflecting an aspect of the infinite Divine mind that had brought them into being. Their numbers were vast beyond counting, and their light and power as they basked in and reflected the potent loving gaze of their Creator were a marvel of beauty beyond description. Noteworthy among them was the mighty archangel Michael, whose name was a tribute to the greatness of God.
“Among the myriads of angels, the creature in whom God infused the greatest portion of his power and his gifts was given the name Lucifer, the ‘light bearer,’ the ‘daystar.’ He was highly favored by his Maker, meant to occupy a unique place in God’s creative plan and to reflect God’s goodness with an unequaled splendor.
“Like all the angelic beings, Lucifer had been graced with the gift of free will, a gift that allowed the exercise of genuine love. But the gift of freedom and the door it opened upon a glorious destiny came also with a perilous possibility: that the one who was free to love was also free to turn away from love in self-centered pride. Lucifer thus faced a necessary choice: either to embrace his created being and participate in the life and love of the God who had made him and upon whom his existence depended, or to foolishly declare his independence from his Maker and, by falling into delusion, insist on calling himself the source of his own life.
“Lucifer chose the blindness of pride. He became enamored of his own beauty and strength, and set himself to be independent of his Maker. Our biblical sources tell us that he fell from his high place out of envy. His envy was most significantly directed at God. He wanted not to serve but to rule. He resented the fact of his created and derivative nature. He also envied a not-yet-created humanity. He perceived that in fulfilling the role God had planned for him, according to heaven’s logic of love he would be called upon to serve creatures of far less power and excellence than himself. He envied the good that he saw coming to them and he resented their destined place. So he abandoned the life that had been laid out for him by his Maker and he determined to grasp rule and authority on his own terms. Such was his power and majesty that many among the angels followed him into rebellion, caught by the same desire for egotistical self-rule.
“Corrupted now by his pride and cut off from communion with God, Lucifer degenerated into a spirit of malice and hatred. The one who had been the Son of the Dawn was now called the Evil One. He was given other names as well: the Dragon; the Serpent; Satan the accuser; the Devil; Appolyon the destroyer; the deceiver of the whole world…
“Banished from heaven and the Divine presence, enchained by his own perverse choice, this once bright but now dark spirit plotted vengeance and attempted, where he could, to thwart God’s plans and, if such a thing were possible, to take God’s place. He and his subject angels, malignant spirits who shared his envy and hatred, now lived in the darkness of their chosen prison of self-regard. Robbed of God’s reflected grace, they could think only of marring and corrupting whatever God had made, and of fruitlessly attempting to satisfy their lust for self-engorgement by subjugating others to their own darkened wills. Their abode was called Hell, Sheol, the Pit; and their existence was dominated by hatred for God, fear of each other, struggle after power, and the insatiable desire to enslave other minds.”