The War of Heaven
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| The War of Heaven | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 A 16th-century illustration of the battle by Pieter Bruegel. |
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| Combatants | |||||||
| Rebel angels |  Loyalist angels |
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| Commanders | |||||||
| Lucifer | Michael the Archangel | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 133,306,668 (disputed) | 266,613,336(disputed) | ||||||
| Casualties | |||||||
| uncertain | uncertain | ||||||
A facet of Christian mythology, the War in Heaven was a defining moment in the universe, when the cherub angel Lucifer led a third of the Angels in an open revolution against God and his loyal angels.
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[edit] Background to the War
The most common catalyst considered to have driven Lucifer towards his unsuccessful coup was the Creation of Man, whereupon God ordered all his angels to bow down to Mankind. Lucifer considered this an insult, and rallied discontent amongst other angels who felt the act was degrading since they were God's first creation themselves.
[edit] The War
In 1273, Pope John XXI, then Bishop of Tusculum, estimated that the total number of angels who sided with Lucifer's revolt numbered 133,306,668, which would suggest that they were fighting against a force of just over 266 million angels who remained loyal to God. This number was later affirmed by 15th-century scholar Alphonso de Spina.[1]
In the end, Lucifer and all the angels under his command, were thrown to Earth as punishment for their insurrection.[2] Several millennia afterwards, Jesus Christ reported that he had been present and seen Lucifer being thrown down "like lightning" to the surface of Earth.[3]
[edit] Religious interpretations and variations
The Muslim tradition draws on Quran 7:12, in which it claims that Lucifer's pride was seen in his insistence that he was better than Mankind, being forged from fire, rather than clay. Sufi tradition, however, explains that Lucifer espoused a great love of God - and that he had sworn to never bow to anyone except God.
According to the Mormon church, Lucifer formented the revolution after volunteering to take Jesus' place as God's emissary to humanity, stating that he believed that all mortals should be guaranteed entry into Heaven and that their ability to choose should be stripped. He also demanded that all glory for saving humanity should be given him, while Jesus desired the glory only for God the Father.[4][5]
In the Hindu scriptures, Nahusa is mentioned as having been the God of Earth, who envied the Supreme Lord's position in Heaven, and tried to lead a war against him. After his fall from grace, he was sent back to Earth in the form of a serpent, akin to Satan's first post-war appearance in the Garden of Eden.
[edit] See also
- Grigori, another company of angels who chose to fall from God's grace at approximately the time of Noah.
- DC Comics character Phantom Stranger's backstory suggests that he was an angel who refused to take sides during the war, and thus was condemned and barred from entering either Heaven or Hell.
