[Footnote B: St. John viii:44.]
In the Book of Revelation, however, and also in Jude, this "war in heaven" is more minutely described. In the former it is said:
"And there was a war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time."[A]
[Footnote A: Rev. xii:7-12.]
And this from Jude: "And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day" (Jude 6). Peter also alludes to this event when he says: "God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment" (II Peter ii:4).[A]
[Footnote A: It is upon these declarations of Scripture that Milton has based his gorgeous epic, "Paradise Lost.">[
2. Modern Scriptures on the War in Heaven: These are the scripture passages which I said in a vague way represent both the pre-earth existence of Intelligences, and a state of strife, struggle, rebellion, war; attended with the loss of "first estate," and place in heaven, being thrust out into outer darkness. But what the point of controversy, the cause of difference upon which the "war" was based—all this we are left in ignorance of in these scriptures; and even in those other scriptures yet to be quoted, the brevity is painful, and yet they shed great light upon conditions that one feels must have existed in heaven, from the passages of Hebrew scripture massed above. In the Doctrine and Covenants occurs the following passage:
"Behold, the Devil was before Adam [speaking of Adam in the Garden of Eden, and of his temptation], for he rebelled against me, saying give me thine honor, which is my power; also a third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency; and they were thrust down and became the Devil and his angels. And behold there is a place prepared for them from the beginning, which place is hell."[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 29:36-38.]
Again, in the revelation called the "Vision," or "Vision of the Three Glories," the Prophet says: