The Scriptures would lead us to believe that these beings are
intelligent free agents, and, as such, have had their time of
probation--that some fell under their trial, and are now the enemies of
God as wicked men are, and that others stood in the time of trial and
continue the willing servants of God.
The Scriptures reveal that good angels act as good men do; they
endeavour, as far as lies in their power, to confirm others in goodness
and in the service of God; and that evil angels act as evil men act,
they endeavour to seduce others and to involve them in their own
condemnation.
The Scriptures say nothing to satisfy our curiosity about these beings,
as Apocryphal books do. They simply describe the one as sent on errands
of mercy, and the other as delighting in tempting men and inflicting
pain. The mystery of the fall of some of these angels, and their
consequent opposition to God, is no difficulty in itself. It is simply
the oldest form of that which is to those who believe in the reality of
the holiness and goodness of God the great problem of the universe--the
origin and continuance of evil.
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