Sentences, Books I–II

Chapter 1 (26).

1. Some fell from both the higher and lower ranks; among them one was highest, namely, Lucifer. Furthermore, it must be known that just as some from both the higher and lower ranks stood firm, so some from each rank fell; among them one was more excellent than all the others who fell, and none among those who stood was more worthy than he, as the testimonies of authorities show.

2. For Job says³: He is the beginning of the ways of God. And in Ezekiel we read⁴: You are the seal of likeness, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty; you were in the delights of God’s paradise. Gregory⁵ explains this, saying: «The more subtle his nature, the more clearly the likeness of God is shown to have been impressed upon him.» — Again, in Ezekiel we read¹⁰: Every precious stone was your covering, that is, every angel was as it were his covering, because, as Gregory¹¹ says, «in comparison with the others he was brighter than the rest». Hence he was also called Lucifer, as Isaiah¹² testifies: How, he says, have you fallen, Lucifer, who used to rise in the morning, etc.

3. Not one rank, but one spirit is to be understood; according to Isidore¹³, after he was created he considered the excellence of his nature and the depth of his knowledge, and grew proud against his Creator, to such an extent that he even wished to make himself equal to God, as Isaiah¹² says: I will ascend into heaven; above the stars of heaven I will set my throne, and I will be like the Most High. He wished to be like God, not by imitation, but by equality of power.

Chapter 2 (27).

1. Where he was cast down from and to, on account of his pride. On account of such great pride he was cast down from heaven, that is, from the empyrean heaven, where he had been with the others, into this murky air, together with all the companions of his wickedness. For, as John says in the Apocalypse¹⁴, the dragon, falling from heaven, dragged with him a third part of the stars; because that Lucifer, greater than the others, did not fall alone, but many others who agreed with him in evil fell with him, and this murky air received them as they fell, to be their dwelling place.

2. This was done for our testing, so that it might be a cause of exercise for us. Hence the Apostle¹⁵ says: Our struggle is against the principalities and powers of this world, against the rulers of this darkness, against spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavens. For demons, who are spiritual and wicked, dwell in this turbulent air near us, which is called heaven¹; hence the devil is also called the prince of the air².

¹ merited BLM. || 8 merited] merited LMVX. || 10 not] nor BCRTV. || 18 and] from added LNW.]

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⁴ may they be BCV (Sum of Sentences). || 24 of this darkness] of these added LT, added between the lines OV, added in the margin R.]

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Chapter 3 (28).

They were not permitted to dwell in heaven or on earth. For they were not permitted to dwell in heaven, because it is a bright and pleasant place, nor on earth with us, lest they harass human beings too much; but, according to the teaching of the apostle Peter handed down in his canonical Epistle³, in this murky air, which has been assigned to them as a kind of prison until the time of judgment. Then they will be thrust down into the abyss of hell, in accordance with this⁴: Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Chapter 4 (29).

Some demons rule over others and also hold other dominions. And just as some of the good angels rule over others, so among the evil some are set over others, and some are subject to others. As long as the world endures, angels rule angels, human beings human beings, and demons demons; but in the future every dominion will be abolished, as the Apostle teaches⁵. — They also have greater or lesser dominions according to their greater or lesser knowledge. Some rule over a province⁶, others over one person, and some over one vice⁷. Hence one speaks of a spirit of pride, a spirit of lust, and the like, because the spirit can tempt people especially in the vice from which it is named. Hence also riches are called by the name of a demon, namely, Mammon¹. For Mammon is the name of a demon, and riches are called by this name in the Syriac language. This is not because the devil has the power to give or take away riches from whomever he wishes, but because he uses them to tempt and deceive human beings.

Chapter 5 (30).

Whether all demons are in this murky air or some are in hell. It is customary to ask whether all of them are in this murky air, or whether some are already in hell. — It is plausible that some demons descend into hell every day, leading souls there to be tormented. And it is not far from the truth that some are always there, perhaps in alternating turns, detaining and tormenting souls there. That the souls of the wicked descend there and are punished there is clear from the fact that Christ descended to the underworld in order to lead out the righteous who were held there: if the righteous descended there, much more so the unrighteous; and, as an authority reports², when he led out the righteous he left the wicked there. For he bit hell; he did not swallow it up.

Chapter 6 (31).

1. Some think that Lucifer has been bound in hell ever since he tempted Christ and was defeated; they say that he first tempted and overcame the first man. Concerning Lucifer, some think³ that he has been bound there and now has no access to tempt us, because we read in the Apocalypse⁴: When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and he will go out and deceive the nations; this will happen at the final time of Antichrist, when there will be such great tribulation that even the elect, if possible, will be shaken⁵. They say that he was bound there… they say he was bound from the time when he tempted Christ in the desert¹ or during the Passion and was defeated by him. They think that he first tempted and overcame the first man², and then God as well, but was overcome by him and therefore bound in hell. — Others think he was plunged there from the time he fell³. Still others think⁴ that from the time he fell he was plunged there on account of the magnitude of his sin.

⁷ and BCL. || 11 prepared] made ready LT. || 15 for omitted BCOPRVW.]

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¹⁰ underworld MNTV. || 19 defeated] bound MOP, corrected by P.]

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2. Lucifer does not have the power he will have at the time of Antichrist. But whether he has been plunged into hell or not, it is credible that he does not have the ability to approach us that he will have at the time of Antichrist, when he will act deceitfully and violently; and therefore it is perhaps said⁵ that he will then be released, because God will then grant him the power to tempt human beings that he does not have now.

Chapter 7 (32).

Demons once defeated by saints do not approach others again. The power of those demons who are defeated by saints living justly and chastely also seems to be taken away, so that they cannot tempt others. Hence Origen⁶ says: «I think, indeed, that the saints, when they resist these tempters and conquer them, diminish the army of demons, as if killing very many of them; nor is it thereafter permitted to that spirit, which has been conquered by someone holy through chaste and modest living, to attack another person again.» — Some⁷ think this should be understood only of the vice in which it was overcome: for example, if it tempts a holy man with pride and is defeated, it is thereafter not permitted to tempt him or another person with pride.