Was the Devil Made With a Sinful Disposition?

Examining Aquinas on Sin, Desire, and Free Will

One commonly asked issue when considering sin and the devil is: did God design the devil with a built-in need to sin? Alternatively, did something happen along the road? For theologians, this is not only a theoretical concern; it also touches the core of fundamental issues about desire, decision-making, and what it is to lead a moral life. The 13th-century philosopher and theologian St. Thomas Aquinas presents an interesting viewpoint on these issues that enables us to view our own decisions, as well as the narrative of the devil, in a fresh light. Let’s investigate Aquinas’ conception of sin, desire, and free will.

Knowing Desire: For What Are We Really Yearning?

First, we have to know what Aquinas meant by desire. Many times, we consider want as a sort of yearning for what we do not have, a need for food, a hope for achievement, or a draw toward company. Aquinas probes farther, though. According to him, desire transcends simple desires to include both spiritual longings and physical needs (Summa Theologica, I-II, Q. 8, Art. 1).

Consider the distinctions between intellectual and bodily wants. Simple basic wants are hunger, thirst, and physical comfort. Intellectual aspirations, however, transcend to the pursuit of truth, beauty, and kindness. Deeply, Aquinas says, our intellectual aspirations are all about aiming for something ultimate: God Himself (Summa Theologica, I, Q. 82, Art. 1). Aquinas would thus claim that when we discuss “the will,” it is a form of desire rather than just a question of choice. Fundamentally, the will expresses our craving for the good, which for Aquinas finally guides us toward God. But where does sin fit if the will is a desire for good? From a will ostensibly meant for what’s good, how can something as evil as sin result?

The Devil and Desire: Was He Made to Sin?

When we consider the devil, we may see someone basically bad, nearly predisposed for sinfulness. Aquinas would object to it, though. Was the devil, or Lucifer, produced out of a will to sin? Aquinas’s response is sophisticated and profoundly philosophical, not simple.

For Aquinas, the issue is not want per se. Like other beings, he says Lucifer was created with good in mind. Here’s where it gets challenging, though, he pursued that goal in a disordered manner. Thus, Lucifer wanted something good, a resemblance to God, but he wanted it on his own terms rather than under humility and dependence on God (Summa Theologica, I, Q. 63, Art. 3). He did not seek evil. Though it seems little, this difference is crucial.

Like when we might crave a milkshake while on a diet, the milkshake itself isn’t “bad,” but the timing and decision to indulge can be. Likewise, Lucifer’s want to be like God wasn’t intrinsically bad. His decision to pursue that resemblance via egotistical pride brought him down.

Free Will: The Foundation of Moral Decision

But why had Lucifer initially chosen this path? Aquinas introduces the notion of free will at that point. Angels lack physical passions that could skew their judgment, unlike us. Being just intellectual creatures, their decisions are taken with absolute clarity. For humans, wrong decisions are simple when we get confused, overloaded, or just make mistakes. That excuse is absent from angels (Summa Theologica, I, Q. 64, Art. 2).

Stated differently, Lucifer’s decision to sin was a purposeful rejection of the divine order, not because of ignorance or mistake. His fall, thus, was the consequence of a deliberate choice to give his will top priority above God’s, not of defective desire. Aquinas notes that although free will allows both angels and humans to make decisions, for angels that choice is quite evident. Lucifer selected his road in complete understanding, therefore stressing the profundity of his decision, he was not swayed by outside influences or physical needs.

Where Did Sin Come From?

Does it follow that God is partly accountable for Lucifer’s fall if He created him with a good in mind? Aquinas says no. He explains that God created Lucifer with the ability for choice, but He did not create him to choose sin. Lucifer’s wickedness results from his choice to skew his desire rather than from his inherent nature. Sin is an act of the will, Aquinas stresses, an intentional movement away from the good and toward a self-centered aim (Summa Theologica, I-II, Q. 71, Art. 6).

One may find resonance in this notion of “choosing good in a wrong way.” How often do we seek something genuinely good only to discover later that we handled it from the incorrect angle? Aquinas argues that Lucifer’s fall is the perfect illustration of this confused decision.

Does This Line Up With the Bible?

All this discussion about the devil’s free will and desire for the good might cause us to question how it fits with Scripture. James 1:13 reminds us, after all, “God does not tempt anyone to sin.” How did it happen if God did not create Lucifer to sin?

For Aquinas, the response is that God grants every creature, including Lucifer, the freedom to decide. God does not compel anybody to pursue the ultimate good, He just models that ideal and wants every creation to follow. Though it was not immoral in and of itself, Lucifer’s quest of excellence was the one that brought him off course. This perspective reveals how Aquinas balances the devil’s fall with scripture teachings on divine goodness: God created Lucifer with free will, but the decision to walk away was Lucifer’s alone (Summa Theologica, I, Q. 63, Art. 4).

Was the Devil Made With a Sinful Disposition?

Aquinas would contend ultimately that Lucifer was not formed with sin in mind. Like all creation, he was fashioned with a longing for the good. Choosing to pursue that goal in a self-serving, disorganized manner turned his will from a love of God into a love of self and brought about his collapse.

This reading clarifies the essence of sin and desire. It helps us to realize that sin results from a misalignment of desire with the proper sequence of events, not from desire itself. Aquinas’s perspective on Lucifer’s narrative reminds us of the need of orienting our decisions toward the real good and of being cautious about turning our needs inward at the price of a greater, divine purpose.

Finally, What Can We Learn?

Thinking back on Aquinas’s perspective of Lucifer’s fall could help us to assess our own choices and wants. Are we letting pride and self-centeredness skew our will, or are we following good things in the proper manner? Aquinas’s observations remind us that although our tastes might guide us toward the good, our decisions finally define our moral path. Lucifer’s narrative serves as a warning on the nature of desire, the power of free choice, and the need of humility in helping us to line up with the good.