Could satan repent?

[Teresa9]

Dear friends

This might seem like an odd question, but if it is possible for us as humans to repent, is it possible for satan to repent if he wanted to?

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa

 

[JimG]

No. Satan is an angel, and angels do not change their minds.

To be more precise, I should say, they do not change their wills.
They do not acquire knowledge through sensory experience, but have infused knowledge. Thus, there is nothing that would induce them to have a change of heart.

The same is true of us when we die.

While alive, we are continuously receiving sensory (name removed by moderator)ut, gaining in knowledge, changing our decisions.

When we die, there is no more (name removed by moderator)ut, no more change. What we have decided then, is permanent.

 

[SPOKENWORD]

Only if he did something good.

 

[mlchance]

JimG:

To be more precise, I should say, [angels] do not change their wills. They do not acquire knowledge through sensory experience, but have infused knowledge. Thus, there is nothing that would induce them to have a change of heart.

If that were the case, then Satan could never have rebelled and fallen.

I believe Augustine opined that the degree to which Satan rebelled and fell was so great that he would never repent. Also, there is no means by which Satan could repent, for Christ’s atoning death was for Man not the angels.

My opinion: Why worry about things which we cannot know?

– Mark L. Chance.

 

[davidv]

mlchance:

If that were the case, then Satan could never have rebelled and fallen.

Not so, he still had free will.

I believe Augustine opined that the degree to which Satan rebelled and fell was so great that he would never repent. Also, there is no means by which Satan could repent, for Christ’s atoning death was for Man not the angels.

My opinion: Why worry about things which we cannot know?

– Mark L. Chance.

I believe we are taught that Satan rebellion and fall was so great because he was an angel. So, despite his full knowledge of God’s love and mercy and the seriousness of his disobedience, he disobeyed anyway.

 

[JimG]

Angels, including the fallen angels, have free will. But no one’s free will is truly free when exposed directly to the glory of God. Therefore the angels, like man, were given a test. Some chose themselves over God, and were damned. The rest chose God, and immediately received the Beatific Vision.

What was the test? No one knows. Some theologians speculate that the angels were commanded to adore Christ–a human being! (And yet the second Person of the Trinity.) It is speculated that Satan was the first to say “I will not serve.”

 

[Hudsonite]

The CCC states that it is the irrevocable character of their choice and not a defect in the infinite divine mercy that makes the angels sin unforgivable. There is no repentence for the angels after thier fall just as there is no repentance for men after death.

 

[RobedWithLight]

Unlike human beings who have sinned, the fallen angels committed what we may call a cold-blooded sin, a sin committed despite the fact that they were already in an angelic state in heaven. There was no “temptation” with them, in contrast to us human beings. Their sin was deliberate, fixed and with **full **knowledge of what they are doing and what the consequences are. These angels perfectly knew with the clarity of their angelic minds what they were throwing away, and what they were embracing in turn as a result of their actions.

Humans, on their part, are capable of repenting because men, being limited in their knowledge, really did not know what the full consequences of sinning are and when confronted with this fact, men would repent.

With angels, what they did was with full knowledge. They already made their choice, and thus, once that choice was made, it was a fixed choice made for all eternity. There was no more turning back for the rebellious angels.
Gerry

 

[Servulus]

Another aspect to consider in the case of the sin of the fallen angels is the temporal. We humans are constrained by time, and our present mode of existence involves a “then”, a “now”, and a “later”. We can have made a decision or committed an act in the past, reconsider and regret it now, and correct or change it later. Angels exist outside of time. For them, there is only the “now”. Because of that, their decision is complete, “continuous”, and irrevocable.

Hope that helps.

 

[Teresa9]

Dear all

Thank you for all of your comments and thoughts. It has often puzzled me why Satan couldn’t repent if he wanted to.

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa

 

[rfk]

From the Catechism:

**II. THE FALL OF THE ANGELS **

391 Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which makes them fall into death out of envy.266 Scripture and the Church’s Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called “Satan” or the “devil”.267 The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: "The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing."268

392 Scripture speaks of a sin of these angels.269 This “fall” consists in the free choice of these created spirits, who radically and irrevocably rejected God and his reign. We find a reflection of that rebellion in the tempter’s words to our first parents: "You will be like God."270 The devil “has sinned from the beginning”; he is “a liar and the father of lies”.271

393 It is the irrevocable character of their choice, and not a defect in the infinite divine mercy, that makes the angels’ sin unforgivable. "There is no repentance for the angels after their fall, just as there is no repentance for men after death."272

 

[George789]

This may be a strange question but here goes. Jesus said that we are “to love our enemies” so if Satan is our ememy. Does that mean we should love Satan??? Should we forgive him for all the hardships caused by sin in our lives (tempting Eve)? I asked my priest if God loves Satan and he said that since he is allowed to exist than God does love him?? I am puzzled by this…

 

[JGC]

George789:

This may be a strange question but here goes. Jesus said that we are “to love our enemies” so if Satan is our ememy. Does that mean we should love Satan??? Should we forgive him for all the hardships caused by sin in our lives (tempting Eve)? I asked my priest if God loves Satan and he said that since he is allowed to exist than God does love him?? I am puzzled by this…

From the ‘Ask an Apologist’ forum

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=15510&highlight=love+satan
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=8427&highlight=love+satan