This sounds boring, but it’s important.
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By “episcopacy” I refer to the organizing structure, as well as the functionality or performance of duties, that belongs to the office of bishop.
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The first major schism occurred in 1054, and is known as the Great Schism or the East-West Schism, for it divided the episcopacies of Constantinople, and all of their congregations, from those of Rome.
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In the history of the Church, there have been countless minor schisms, and two major schisms.
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When I say “the Church,” I usually mean the Roman Catholic Church in particular, though sometimes I mean the entire body of Christian people in general. There are many denominations within Christianity, at least in the West, and I would not intend any disrespect to those who identify differently than I do.
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This isn’t the first time the Church has been in crisis. At various moments in history, when a crisis has developed, she has found herself in danger of what is known as schism.
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I earlier said that the ship that is the Church is, at this moment, sinking. And I don’t think it alarmist of me to say it. But she doesn’t have to sink. And I don’t believe she will sink all the way, although I do not deny that such an occurrence would be unsurprising to those who have been watching her, even in the most cursory way, and who do not see themselves as belonging to her. Perhaps they would even think it justified, and not without reason. If she did in fact sink all the way, I myself would be more than surprised. I would be lost. For I would understand then that what I believe to be true, about God’s relation to humankind, and what the Church herself has said, from her very beginning, is not true. That she was instituted by Christ, and is guided by the Holy Spirit.
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Because I am writing as a Catholic, on matters that sometimes pertain to Catholic doctrine, I want to say that if I am sometimes in error, in the way that I represent those things, that error is my own, and does not belong to the Catholic Church.
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This is not to say that angels don’t have free will. They do. But it seems that the one choice they were given was whether they would serve God. And, once made, that choice was irrevocable.
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For example, if angels are intelligence without bodies, as Aquinas defines them, then they would not apprehend things as we do, in time, needing one moment and then another moment to process phenomena, using sense organs and the apparatus of the mind, but instead would apprehend things instantaneously, from the moment of their creation, as if through osmosis. Neither would they age or die, for that is what bodies do, and they have no corporeality. Thus, when John mentions a “war in heaven,” what he might really be describing is a conflict that is utterly intangible, without blood, to be sure, but also without even a measurable transaction (which is not to say an effect), almost as if the event is decided in advance, the way a mathematical problem already has an answer, regardless of whether someone gives expression to it.
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When you read from the Book of Revelation, understand that it is a work of dense symbology, the meaning of which is obscure, perhaps even impenetrable. It seems to sometimes describe past events, and at other times to describe future events. On occasion, too, it seems to describe events that occur outside of time as we know it.
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Michael is the great archangel, the protector of heaven, the leader of the armies of God.
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It is generally thought, based on passages such as this, that two thirds of the angels in creation remained loyal to God, and that one third fell with Satan.
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Here is an excerpt from Revelation, Chapter 12:
“And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth…Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world — he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”
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The scriptural basis for our understanding of the fallen angels isn’t plentiful, but it does exist. Much of what the Church can infer of them has its origin in the last book of the New Testament, the Book of Revelation, which is also known as the Apocalypse of John the Apostle. Here the word “apocalypse” should be understood in its original Greek meaning — a revelation or unveiling of things previously hidden — as opposed to what it has come to mean, for a contemporary audience, a sort of fiery, end-of-times spectacle. John wrote the book on the Greek isle of Patmos, where he experienced the vision that he recorded, some 60 years after the time of Christ.
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In one of the gospels, Jesus says this of him: “He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”
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Some other names for Satan are: the Father of Lies, the Prince of this World, the Devil, the Dragon, the Beast, the Deceiver, the Tempter, the Adversary, the Accuser, and the Slanderer.
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Satan, too, belongs to the third category, for in substance he is spirit alone; an angel like any other, only very powerful, he is the leader of the fallen angels, who are also known as demons.
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According to the Summa Theologica, the substance of creation can be divided into three categories: that which is body alone, that which is a composite of body and spirit, and that which is spirit alone. Most of the visible universe belongs to the first category. Humankind belongs to the second category. Angels belong to the third category.
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I say that the Son, also known as the Logos (the Word), becomes incarnate so as to “participate” in creation. And while this is true, the fullness of his purpose involves the redemption of humankind. This phrase can sound vague, but imagine for a moment that our existence takes place in a sort of cosmic economy. Satan shifts the balance by seducing us to sin, which causes us to lose Eden. He himself has nothing to lose, because he has already and forever been banished from Heaven. Remember that he was once Lucifer, the highest of all angels, until, in primeval time, envy of God caused him to relinquish the beatific vision. His only satisfaction now, if you can call it that, is in causing strife and disorder throughout creation, and in seeing souls bring themselves into his realm. That he can do this only insofar as God allows him to do it — for Satan is a creature (pure spirit, but a creature no less) and in no way equal to God — is one of those mysteries or paradoxes that we sometimes encounter when we try to understand the way of things. Why does God allow evil to persist? Well, if he didn’t, we would be without free will, for there would be nothing for us to choose but that which God would have us choose. And that is not the way of God. He is not a tyrant.