Second Council of Constantinople (553) – anathema 9 against Origen’s apocatastasis (Mansi vol. 9)

The Second Council of Constantinople (553), the Fifth Ecumenical Council, convoked by the Emperor Justinian I, solemnly condemned the doctrine of apocatastasis (the final restoration of all things) taught by Origen (3rd century) and by his followers, according to which even the Devil and the demons would one day be saved. This condemnation dogmatically defines that the fall of the angels is irrevocable. Text in Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum vol. 9, col. 396ff.

Origen and apocatastasis

Origen of Alexandria (185-253), one of the most brilliant theologians of the early Church, developed in his work Peri Archon (On First Principles) the doctrine of apocatastasis (from the Greek apokatastasis, “restoration”). According to it:

1. All spiritual creatures were created equal
2. The diversity among angels, men, and demons results from free pre-existential choices
3. Through the continual education of God, all will finally come to God
4. Even the Devil and the demons will one day be restored to the original good

This position presents an “immense mercy” of God but has grave implications: it denies eternal punishment, empties the Cross of its definitive dimension, and can lead to moral relativism.

The ninth anathema (anti-Origenist anathemas)

Latin text, anathema 9

“Si quis dixerit aut senserit, omnium impiorum hominum et daemonum punitionem temporariam fore, et ab ea finem illi habituram esse, hoc est, restitutionem futuram daemonum vel impiorum hominum: anathema sit.”

English translation, anathema 9

“If anyone says or thinks that the punishment of all impious men and of the demons will be temporary and that it will have an end, that is, that there will be a restoration of the demons or of impious men: let him be anathema.”

The 15 anti-Origenist anathemas

The 15 anathemas of the Second Council of Constantinople (553) against the errors of Origen include:

Implications for demonology

Anathema 9 dogmatically establishes:

1. The fall of the angels is irrevocable: the demons will not be saved, they are definitively lost
2. Hell is eternal: not a temporary state of purification for all
3. The freedom of the spirits is definitive: the angelic choice determines the eternal destiny
4. Divine mercy does not annul justice: God respects the free choice of the spiritual creatures

Magisterial continuity

Anathema 9 of the Second Council of Constantinople was taken up:

• Saint John Damascene (8th century): “There is no repentance for the angels after the fall” (De Fide Orthodoxa II, 4), cited by CCC no. 393
• Lateran IV (1215): “Diabolus enim et alii daemones a Deo quidem natura creati sunt boni, sed ipsi per se facti sunt mali”, the “by themselves they made themselves evil” implies irreversibility
• Florence, Cantate Domino (1442): takes up the definition
• Saint Thomas Aquinas: “The will of the angel, by its nature, adheres immovably to that which it has chosen” (ST I, q. 64, a. 2), see the post on Thomas
• CCC no. 393: “It is the irrevocable character of the angels’ choice, and not a defect in the infinite divine mercy, that makes the sin of the angels unforgivable”

Hans Urs von Balthasar and the universal “hope”

In the twentieth century, the theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-1988) proposed in Was dürfen wir hoffen? (1986) that “we may hope” for the salvation of all, without affirming apocatastasis as a dogma. This position gave rise to controversy. The official interpretation:

• One may NOT affirm that all will be saved (against anathema 9 of Constantinople II)
• One may desire and hope in prayer for the salvation of all men
• Active apocatastasis (affirming that all will in fact be saved) is heretical
• Passive hope (praying with humility for the conversion of all) is legitimate

But in the case of the demons, the position is clear: they are definitively lost. Von Balthasar’s hope refers to condemned men, not to the demons.

Soteriological implications

Anathema 9 has profound consequences for Catholic soteriology:

1. Christ did not save the demons: “because He assumed human nature, not the angelic” (Heb 2:16)
2. Exorcism does not “convert” the Devil: it only casts him out
3. Hell is a real and eternal state: both for the demons and for the impious
4. The infinite mercy of God respects definitive freedom

Further reading

Fourth Lateran Council 1215 | Florence Cantate Domino 1442 | Saint Thomas, Treatise on the Angels | CCC on Angels and Demons | CDF Fede e Demonologia

See also: What Is Angelology? The Angels in the Bible and in the Magisterium