What is the Devil "made of?"

  • Thread starter Thread starter ccmnxc
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
C

ccmnxc

Guest
As far as my understanding of Thomism goes, evil is privation of good. Consequently, God, who is pure actuality, cannot be remotely evil, since potency is required for privation. However, the devil is seen as extremely evil. I don’t know if a things evil is proportional to potency, but if it is, wouldn’t the devil be mostly potency? And if he is mostly potency, how does he have the power to do all that he does?
 
Like us the Devil is made in the image and likeness of God with the creative power of free will and the capacity for love.
 
I thought Adam was made in the image and likeness of God. Then because of sin, Adam’s offspring was made in the image and likeness of Adam (Gen.5:1-3). Wasn’t the devil a fallen angel?
 
The devil isn’t “made of” anything. When you ask what something is made of, you are asking about its material composition. What kind of matter is this thing? The devil, like all angels, and God Himself, is immaterial, meaning that he has no matter, and is hence not “made of” anything.

In regards to potency, we need to understand that the devil is not pure evil. In fact, he exists only insofar as he has some goodness. Not moral goodness, but ontological goodness. Just existing is a form of goodness. Being intelligent is a form of goodness.

When we talk about moral even, we are not speaking of a privation of some physical trait, but the movement of the will away from a good that it should pursue for the sack of some lesser good. The will cannot choose privation per se, only some lesser good at the expense of a “due good”.

The devil saw himself as good and choose to, in essence, worship himself rather than God, even though God is infinitely desiring of worship.
 
Probably sugar and spice and everything nice. 😉

Until you follow him, then it gets pretty nasty.
 
cguerber said:
I thought Adam was made in the image and likeness of God. Then because of sin, Adam’s offspring was made in the image and likeness of Adam (Gen.5:1-3). Wasn’t the devil a fallen angel?
Click to expand...
We are all made in the image and likeness of God because we all have free will.

The Devil fell but he didn’t fall accidentally! He wasn’t compelled to fall. He chose to fall…
 
ccmnxc said:
As far as my understanding of Thomism goes, evil is privation of good. Consequently, God, who is pure actuality, cannot be remotely evil, since potency is required for privation. However, the devil is seen as extremely evil. I don’t know if a things evil is proportional to potency, but if it is, wouldn’t the devil be mostly potency? And if he is mostly potency, how does he have the power to do all that he does?
Click to expand...
The Devil is a spiritual entity, he has a substance in the same way as the angels do. He is not substantial evil rather evil in his operations. Now you and I are a mixture of both act and potency, only God is Pure act, human beings and Angels both have potencies and it is because of this that the devil(like us) can choose to do that which is not good. It is because the Devil is a spiritual Substance that he has the powers to effect those things that he does. Even as a fallen angel, he retains the created powers of the angels(not limited by time and space, knowing things in their essence, not needing to come to know as humans do etc.) it is from this he draws his ‘power’ as it were.

As an aside God loves all sinners in their substance(even the Devil) what he hates are those operations which are sinful.
 
The devil was originally a ‘created’ angel. He HAD potential for good, but now has only potential for evil. Whatever love he had was lost in his fall, pride and envy and self love replaced any love he had before.

What he loves now is deceit, mayhem, himself, destruction of others, evil in every shape and form.
 
Wyrd said:
Fear, hatred, cruelty, sloth, selfishness, etc
Click to expand...
And the capacity for courage, kindness, compassion, patience, diligence, forgiveness, unselfishness, humility, gratitude and love…
 
I don’t know, but some of it found its way into my cat. :D:p i’m sorry, i couldn’t help myself.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top