EverApostate » Why should there be a war in heaven, as the Bible says? War is
possible only with materialistic and tangible living things. God and
his angelic myriads are spirit creatures and how do you think a war is
practical in this respect. Can't god inactivate the rebelling angels in a
split second, stripping them off their power.
Most likely it was a war of words, not done with swords. God respects our free agency. As Father Kallistos Ware notes: "The source of evil lies thus in the free will of spiritual beings endowed with moral choice, who use that power of choice incorrectly." (The Orthodox Way, p. 75)
Before the creation of the world, one third of the hosts of heaven rebelled. Their defeat was certain, but the Adversary was willing to sacrifice his all to make a point. We don't know what the debate was over or what would have happened if Satan had won the majority; we just know he was doomed to defeat.
Ware also noted: "There has been a double fall; first of all the angels, and then of man." But what if we were those angels? What if those born into mortality were the two-thirds who were loyal, while the one-third who were rebellious were cast down to Earth to lead us astray?
"Prior to man's creation," Ware notes, "there had already occurred a parting of the ways within the noetic realm: some of the angels remained steadfast in obedience to God, others rejected him. Concerning this 'war in heaven,' (Rev. 12:7) we have only cryptic references in Scripture; we are not told in detail what happened, still less do we know what God has for a possible reconciliation within the noetic realm...." He even wonders if God will ever reconcile with Lucifer and his angels.
That I doubt.
The point is, we don't know enough to gauge the situation. We can only guess. The details must remain until later. After the resurrection, there will be no more war or dissension.
David Jay » The so-called Fall of Man, the War in Heaven, even "Satan the Devil" are
all Christian inventions that, for lack of a better term, screws up the
meaning behind the Jewish Scriptures.
Or they could be the results of further revelation. I understand why you would be skeptical, but in the end you may see it differently. Only time will tell. Christian and Jewish scholars have been battling for eons over this and the verdict is not in.
Your view that Jesus is God also remains to be seen. If we Christians are wrong, we're wrong. If you're wrong, then I suspect you would be equally willing to change. Jesus certainly enraged the Jews of his time with his claims of a divine nature.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Matthew 23:37
Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
John 10:31-35
