Revelation Concerning the Angels of Christian Angelology
FROM THE FUNDAMENTALS OF CATHOLIC DOGMA
Ludwig Ott


§ 28. The Supernatural Exaltation and Probation of the Angels

2. Probation of the Angels

The Angels were subjected to a moral testing.
[Senta. cert. as regards the fallen Angels, Sent. communis as regards the good.]

They were first in a state of pilgrimage (in statu viae), in which they, through their free co-operation, with grace were required to merit (in statu termini) the Beatific Vision of God. The good Angels, who passed the test, entered as a reward therefore into the blessedness of Heaven (Mt. 18:10; Tob. 12:15; Hebr. 12:22: Apoc. 5:11; 7:11), while the bad Angels, who did not pass the test, fell under the ban of eternal damnation (2 Peter 2:4 ; Jud. 6).

As far as the fallen Angels are concerned, the fact of their moral testing may be inferred from the fact of the fall (2 Peter 2:4). As regards the good Angels, it cannot with certainty be established from Scripture as their blessedness is not expressly represented as a reward for their loyalty. The opinion adopted by many of the Fathers, that the Angels were created in a state of glory, is, as regards the bad Angels, irreconcilable with the fact of the Fall. The view which was held for a long time by St. Augustine, but which was finally abandoned by him, that from the beginning there were two distinct realms of Angels, the higher realm consisting of the Angels created in the state of glory, and therefore incapable of sin, and the lower realm of the Angels capable of sin, who bad first to merit the perfect blessedness by loyal fulfillment of duties, is improbable. as it implies a completely unfounded difference in the original creation of the Angels. S. th. I 62. 4-5.