Poetry, Theology, and Worldview among Celtic Christians (4)
Part 1: Colum Cille, Altus Prosator (4)

III
Crown and best of heaven’s creatures, puffed up by his splendid features,
Lucifer, with envy swelling, was expelled from angels’ dwelling.
He the best by God created was cast out; and, with him fated,
the apostate angels stumbled. All together fell and tumbled.
Envy’s author and his minions lost their glorious dominions,
while the greater host of heaven kept the places they’d been given.

IV
Dreadful he, that dragon, loathsome, ancient, terrible, and awesome,
on the earth a serpent donning would perform his slippery cunning.
Fiercer than all living creatures, stronger far in all his features,
he a third of heaven’s tenants dragged down with him, unrepentant.
They to dark, infernal regions, and assorted jails and prisons,
were consigned, no Light receiving, by the Parasite deceiving.

(You can continue to sing these stanzas to the tune, Tryggare Kan Ingen Vara – “Children of the Heavenly Father”.)

In the third and forth stanzas of Altus Prosator, Colum Cille continues to describe events in the unseen realm of spiritual beings.  As we have seen, Stanza II summarizes the creation of all the angels and unseen spirits, including Lucifer. Colum’s focus here is on the rebellion of Satan and his subsequent fall to earth and the regions of darkness. We’ll look first at the account itself, then at the theology.

Stanzas III and IV: The Fall of Satan
Having just explained in Stanza II that all the heavenly spirits were created by God in order to serve and exalt Him, Colum turns immediately to describe the rebellion of Lucifer and his casting down from the heavenly realm.

Lucifer (“the morning star”) was the most beautiful of the spiritual beings, and that was more than he could handle. God made Lucifer, as all the other angels, but being a creature he was susceptible to temptation. Colum does not address the question of how a good God could create a being that would do wickedness. He simply describes what Isaiah (14.12-21) and John (Rev. 12) report concerning the rebellion and fall of Satan.

Puffed up with his own beauty and supposed superiority, Lucifer aspired to the throne of God. Envy led him to contrive a rebellion against God, which could only fail. A third of the heavenly host joined him in his rebellion, and they were all cast out from the presence and favor of the Lord, while the majority of the angels remained faithful (thus, perhaps, passing an important trial of their own?).

On the earth Lucifer assumed the form of a serpent, slippery and cunning, and fierce beyond all creatures because of his demonic powers. At the same time, the devil and his rebellious cohort are cut off from the Light of God, consigned to prisons of darkness (Colum will expound on this a bit more in Stanzas VII and VIII). The fallen angels will never be restored to the favor of God; nor will they will always have power to ravage the earth.

Colum refers to the devil as “the Parasite” in Stanza IV. This is not a Biblical term, of course, but the idea is plain: parasites suck the life out of us. In the same way, Lucifer sucked the life out of his fellow rebels, and he sucks the life out of all who fall under his wiles. Satan is life-destroying, as we shall see in Stanza VII.

Stanzas III and IV: Theology
Colum might seem to situate the events of Satan’s fall somewhere within the six days of the creation week, since Stanzas V and VI give us more of the details found in Genesis 1 and 2. However, the pluperfect verb forms of Stanza V (fecerat, “had made” and condiderat,“had fashioned”) can be understood as intending to put the creation of earth and its creatures prior to the events described in Stanzas III and IV. It is unlikely that, at the end of the creation week, God would have pronounced all that He had made “very good” (Gen. 1.31) if the rebellion of Lucifer had occurred before that time.

Thus we put the rebellion and fall of Lucifer after the creation week, even though these events are described before the creation of earth and its creatures. Colum thus keeps the story of the unseen realm – its creation and disturbance – as a unit. This will make it easier for him to introduce the consequences of this spiritual situation as they unfold in Stanza VII, without having to do a good bit of backing-and-filling.

Lucifer is the author of envy, or covetousness, and covetousness is the gateway to all sin. We should learn from Lucifer’s plight to recognize and check envy or covetousness whenever it appears within us. Failure to do so will suck the life out of us and leave us floundering in the darkness of rebellion against God (cf. Ps. 73).

Light and dark are separate realms of spiritual reality, not just descriptions of earthly conditions or processes. We are warned that the devil, the prince of darkness, is a powerful being, not to be trifled with in any way, since he is “slippery” (lubricus) and wiser (sapientor – more clever) than all creatures, including human beings. As Peter counsels, we must be always vigilant against his wiles and stay safely beyond the reach of his powers (1 Pet. 5.8, 9).

Colum’s emphasis on spiritual realities as foundational to everything else is an important component of Celtic Christian theology. The spiritual realm is pre-eminent, and God rules there. No one should think he can rebel against God and remain in the Light, or challenge His authority with impunity. God is Creator, Lord, and Ruler of the unseen realm of spiritual beings and verities. Colum seems to be saying, “Get this straight from the get-go, and keep it straight in your mind at all times.”

For reflection: Colum believed it was a matter of first importance to understand the dynamics at work in the spiritual realm. Suggest some ways you might keep these matters before your mind at all times, following Peter’s advice. Talk with a Christian friend about how believers can help one another in this matter.

T. M. Moore

For a fuller account of the wiles and workings of the devil, order a copy of T. M.’s book, Satan Bound, from our online store.