Free Will and Angels

I was discussing angels with a theologically confused friend of mine, who had read the basic list of beliefs that make a Jew a Jew.

It was his contention that angels DO have free will–citing the fall of “Lucifer” and 1/3rd of the stars of heaven (which Catholics apparently take to mean a whole flock of other angels) as proof of this free will.

It is also his contention that if Angels do NOT have free will, then all the lies “Lucifer” tells us are lies from G_d , making G_d the great deceiver–and implying that our lives’ paths are already ordained and set in stone at our birth, therefore WE have no free will either.

I know this is NOT true. However, I couldn’t find the words, or the Torah verses, to effectively refute these contentions–they are just something I have ALWAYS known, in my heart, just as I have ALWAYS known Ha-Shem is One, not three.

Please tell me where it says clearly that Angels do not have free will–or the logical means the sages used to determine this is the case, so I may better explain it to him and others who ask me.

Thank You

Answer:

While angels do not have free will as humans, there are some sources that indicate that angels do have some level of free will. SOme suggest that they have free will to decide their intent, but not their actual actions.

Your question however seems to confuse 2 points. While Jewish tradition teaches us angels do exist and may even have some level of free will, this just means that just as humans are held accountable for their actions, so too on some level are angels.

This has nothing to do with Lucifer and the stars and his lies etc. In fact according to Jewish belief these these don’t exist at all. These are [shaky] traditions of Christian theology that developed over the centuries. So your response should be that if we are to discuss Jewish belief and theology it has to be based on facts and traditions that are true to our Torah.

In Genesis 6:4 there is a verse which according to one interpretation in the Midrash refers to angels who sinned and were sent down form heaven. This is mentioned in the Talmud, Tractate Yoma 67b. See the commentary to Nachmanadies to that verse who indicates that this teaching requires a deep knowledge of the mystical aspects of the Torah to understand it’s implications and true intent.