Can Satan repent?

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No. Satan sinned in eternity, therefore the consequences are eternal. I wish I could elaborate, but I can’t.
 
The devils will never repent because they are obstinate in their evil. This has to do with how the angelic mind works; they do not reason the way we do, nor change their minds the way we do. They had their opportunity and chose themselves over God.

St. Thomas explains (S.T. I, Q. 64, a2):

[T]he angel by his intellect apprehends immovably … whereas man by his reason apprehends movably, passing from one consideration to another; and having the way open by which he may proceed to either of two opposites. Consequently man’s will adheres to a thing movably, and with the power of forsaking it and of clinging to the opposite; whereas the angel’s will adheres fixedly and immovably. Therefore, if his will be considered before its adhesion, it can freely adhere either to this or to its opposite (namely, in such things as he does not will naturally); but after he has once adhered, he clings immovably. So it is customary to say that man’s free-will is flexible to the opposite both before and after choice; but the angel’s free-will is flexible either opposite before the choice, but not after. Therefore the good angels who adhered to justice, were confirmed therein; whereas the wicked ones, sinning, are obstinate in sin.
 
No, satan and the demons can’t repent because they are completely evil, and made that decision based on supernatural knowledge which all the angels received from God when they were created.

But, I thought that the Orthodox Catholic Church prays for their redemption nonetheless.

Can anyone tell me if that’s correct? I’ve heard it my entire life, but that’s not saying much…
 
Well, since the Church teaches that if you find yourself in hell, that’s it for you.
No parole for good behavior.
Since Satan resides there, I’d say that’s where he’ll retire.
 
Hodegetria said:
No, satan and the demons can’t repent because they are completely evil, and made that decision based on supernatural knowledge which all the angels received from God when they were created.

But, I thought that the Orthodox Catholic Church prays for their redemption nonetheless.

Can anyone tell me if that’s correct? I’ve heard it my entire life, but that’s not saying much…
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Satan and the demons are all fallen angels. As with all angels, and all creation, God made them good. However, when Lucifer rejected God’s plan and obedience to God’s plan, he eternally shut himself out of Heaven and the Beatific Vision. As angels live in eternity, it is not so much that the devils cannot repent, but that their wills are hardened so much that they eternally refuse to repent. It’s the same with us humans after we die - if we die unrepentant of mortal sin, our wills also will eternally refuse to repent and we will eternally shut ourselves out of Heaven.
 
No neither Satan nor demons will or can repent. We know this because Jesus explicitly stated it. First Jesus specifically stated that hell is eternal. No one who has already been condemned to hell can repent per Jesus own words. Satan was throws in hell from the very beginning hence he will be eternally in there.

Suggesting that Satan can repent implies that Jesus is lying.

Second from every reference made by Jesus about Satan is also clear that he is eternally condemned. When Jesus says that he was sent to"destroy him (Satan)" and refers to him as “the murderer from the beginning and has nothing to do with the truth” that is pretty strong language. Jesus did not say that he wanted to “convert” Satan or anything similar. Jesus said he was here to “destroy” him. If Jesus is stating that he is going to “destroy” Satan is pretty clear that there is no chance for repentance there.
 
Apocatastasis
Is God going to force Himself on beings that utterly reject Him? If so, that would not be freely chosen love.
Look up the heresy of Apocatastasis for more information on this and why the Church has rejected this false idea.
No being can repent without grace.

Satan has utterly refused grace. There is no repentance for satan, nor does satan or his minions want any repentance.
 
Ad_Orientem said:
The devils will never repent because they are obstinate in their evil. This has to do with how the angelic mind works; they do not reason the way we do, nor change their minds the way we do. They had their opportunity and chose themselves over God.

St. Thomas explains (S.T. I, Q. 64, a2):

[T]he angel by his intellect apprehends immovably … whereas man by his reason apprehends movably, passing from one consideration to another; and having the way open by which he may proceed to either of two opposites. Consequently man’s will adheres to a thing movably, and with the power of forsaking it and of clinging to the opposite; whereas the angel’s will adheres fixedly and immovably. Therefore, if his will be considered before its adhesion, it can freely adhere either to this or to its opposite (namely, in such things as he does not will naturally); but after he has once adhered, he clings immovably. So it is customary to say that man’s free-will is flexible to the opposite both before and after choice; but the angel’s free-will is flexible either opposite before the choice, but not after. Therefore the good angels who adhered to justice, were confirmed therein; whereas the wicked ones, sinning, are obstinate in sin.
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The Angelic Doctor normally “nails it to the perch” and he has certainly achieved that objective in this query. Thank you for posting this. It is amazing how the more you read St Aquinas the more you understand. No wonder the secularists hate him
 
DaddyGirl said:
Never say never. They could. Why think negatively?
How exactly would we know the inner workings of a demon’s mind?

If it could *never *happen…why would people pray for their redemption? It would be a waste of time.

.
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We can indeed say NEVER. Not only Satan and the other fallen angels but everyone who goes to Hell is there FOREVER. No possibility of ever getting out.

Yes you are correct. It is a complete waste of time praying for those who are in Hell.
 
I find it to be profound that Lucifer used to be the Angel of Light, which to me sounded good.

I pray that our Jewish brothers and sisters are correct in their perception as hell simply being a Purgatory… no eternal damnation. Our religious faith is so closely tied to Judaism that I give some credence to their beliefs.
 
Robert_Sock said:
I find it to be profound that Lucifer used to be the Angel of Light, which to me sounded good.

I pray that our Jewish brothers and sisters are correct in their perception as hell simply being a Purgatory… no eternal damnation. Our religious faith is so closely tied to Judaism that I give some credence to their beliefs.
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Catholics CANNOT have such a belief. The Church teaches infallibly that anyone dying in a state of mortal sin goes immediately to Hell FOREVER. To believe otherwise is heresy.
 
Durnford said:
The Angelic Doctor normally “nails it to the perch” and he has certainly achieved that objective in this query. Thank you for posting this. It is amazing how the more you read St Aquinas the more you understand. No wonder the secularists hate him
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Regarding Saint Thomas Aquinas, his feast day is January 28. So Tuesday January 20 would be the day to start a 9-day novena asking for his intercession. I posted a “St. Thomas Aquinas Novena” thread under Spirituality earlier today.

BTW, my question in this thread is still unanswered – I always thought the Orthodox Church has regular prayers for the “conversion” of the evil spirits – does anyone know for sure?
 
Ad_Orientem said:
The devils will never repent because they are obstinate in their evil. This has to do with how the angelic mind works; they do not reason the way we do, nor change their minds the way we do. They had their opportunity and chose themselves over God.

St. Thomas explains (S.T. I, Q. 64, a2):

[T]he angel by his intellect apprehends immovably … whereas man by his reason apprehends movably, passing from one consideration to another; and having the way open by which he may proceed to either of two opposites. Consequently man’s will adheres to a thing movably, and with the power of forsaking it and of clinging to the opposite; whereas the angel’s will adheres fixedly and immovably. Therefore, if his will be considered before its adhesion, it can freely adhere either to this or to its opposite (namely, in such things as he does not will naturally); but after he has once adhered, he clings immovably. So it is customary to say that man’s free-will is flexible to the opposite both before and after choice; but the angel’s free-will is flexible either opposite before the choice, but not after. Therefore the good angels who adhered to justice, were confirmed therein; whereas the wicked ones, sinning, are obstinate in sin.
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There seems to be a flaw with this line of reasoning.

The angels exist within eternity. So if Satan at some point made a decision to adhere his will to evil, there was therefore a point at which he was not evil.

But eternity has no beginning and no ending. So if there is a point at which he was an angel of the light, then it follows that he must have been holy for a (beginningless) eternity prior to his decision to be evil. If he was a holy angel for an eternity, that implies that his will was adhered to holiness. (In fact, I’ve heard it said that he was the holiest of angels prior to his fall, which seems to contradict the assumption that his will was not somehow fixed in holiness during the eternity in which he held that position).

However, if he was previously fixed in holiness, and then changed his mind, that implies that Thomas’s assumption about how the minds of the angels work is flawed. Since if he can change his mind once, there is nothing preventing him from doing it again.

Therefore, it seems that Satan can indeed repent, if he so chose.
 
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