Section XI: The State of the Angels Before the Fall, § 57
SECTION XI: ON THE STATE OF THE ANGELS BEFORE THE FALL
§ 57. The Scholastics inquire carefully about the state of the angels before the fall. After all, if they were in a state of perfection, how could they have fallen out of it? On the other hand, if they were still imperfect, why did the Creator, who Himself is perfect, deny them perfection?
They distinguish between blessedness (perfection) taken positively or privatively. In the first way, blessedness indicates a perfect state with the fullness of every good and thus includes the clear vision of God, perfect enjoyment, and firm possession. This perfection they deny to angels before their confirmation in good. In the latter way, perfection means a state lacking every evil of fault and of punishment,6 and having whatever befits its own nature. This perfection they attribute to the angels even before their confirmation in good. (See Thomas, [ST,] part 1, q. 62, art. 1; Bonaventure and others, Sent. 2, dist. 4).
They ask if angels were created in grace or in natural purity [in puris naturalibus]. Here there are various divisions of opinions.