Why are the evil angels also called “devils,” that is, slanderers or deceivers?
The evil spirits, or demons, extend and support the dominion of the devil: they are ever laying snares for people, seeking to deceive them and to inspire them with false notions and evil desires.
Speaking to those who sought to kill him, Jesus Christ says:
You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and did not remain in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own self, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (Joh 8:44)
This recalls the evil spirit that took hold of Cain and led him to murder his brother Abel, revealing him to be of “the seed of the serpent” (Gen 3:15; 4:7; 1Jo 3:12; see Q028, Q038). Those who follow the devil’s path of self-will and prideful exaltation against God include both evil spirits and living human beings, as St Paul writes: “you once walked… following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Eph 2:1–2; see Q055).
