Full Question
Revelation 12:7-9 says Lucifer and his angels fought against God and were cast out of heaven. Since Lucifer was a highly intelligent creature — not to mention the fact that he had an intimate knowledge of God– I can’t comprehend how he (or any angel for that matter) could rebel against God. That seems to be utterly insane. What was the particular sin that Lucifer and the angels allied with him committed?
Answer
You’re right in characterizing Lucifer’s rebellion as an insane act. Don’t forget that, although Lucifer had a superabundance of spiritual gifts, he was also endowed, as we are, with the gift of free will. God left him free to choose good over evil, and, as we know, he chose evil.
Consider Adam and Eve. Before the Fall they possessed immortality, control over their passions and appetites, the complete integrity of their wills, as well as a human intelligence far superior to that which we have now. Yet, like Lucifer, they chose to commit a mortal sin. This means God allowed them to exercise their free will.
As for the particular sin the bad angels committed, many theologians believe that in their pre-fallen state the angels were given a foreknowledge of humans (who would be inferior to them), as well as a foreknowledge that God himself (the second Person of the Trinity) would be incarnated as a man and redeem the universe through his death on the cross.
This revelation angered Lucifer because it meant he and the other angels would have to worship God incarnate. Lucifer and the other angels who fell were so proud of being superior to men that their overweening arrogance wouldn’t allow them to worship Jesus Christ the God-Man. This refusal–this non serviam–stemmed from pride. That, anyway, is the theologian’s theory.
Read More
What we should do when the Devil’s at work, according to St. Ignatius
Yes, Lucifer isn’t really Satan’s name. But who (or what) is Lucifer?
Why the devil wants you to wait till death to repent and why you shouldn’t
Perhaps there was a Divine inheritance for these (so far) inferior creatures (men) of which the angels were given foreknowledge that sparked Lucifer’s indignation – an inheritance that Man cost himself in choosing to succumb to temptation. Perhaps the temptation was an attempt to preemptively cut this off, and Man’s choice cooperated with it. All the theories are made in darkness of ignorance (which we chose for ourselves). We can never ascend to Divine knowledge of our own efforts, however much intellectual rigor, however gifted and however applied Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam. Revelation can only be given at the Father’s ordinance and in His time – though we must persevere all the same. Our Blessed Mother has promised that, by the end, all things will be revealed.