Wikipedia's first sentence called it “defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven”. Today it says “mythic conflict between supernatural forces in traditional christian cosmology”. Sections present on October 6, 2023 no longer exist: “Video games”.
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Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2025
Conflict between Lucifer and Michael in the New Testament The Son casts the rebels out of Heaven . 1866 Illustration by Gustave Doré for John Milton 's Paradise Lost . The Fall of the Rebel Angels; left hand panel of Hieronymus Bosch 's The Haywain Triptych , c. 1500 The War in Heaven is a mythical conflict between supernatural forces in traditional Christian cosmology , attested in the Book of Revelation alongside proposed parallels in the Hebrew Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls . It is described as the result of Satan , who is often identified as the angel Lucifer , rebelling against God and leading to a war between his followers and those still loyal to God, led by the Archangel Michael . Within the New Testament , the War in Heaven provides basis for the concept of the fallen angels and for Satan's banishment to Hell . The War is frequently featured in works of Christian art , such as John Milton 's epic poem Paradise Lost , which describes it as occurring over the course of three days as a result of God the Father announcing Jesus Christ as His Son .
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1296429717.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Hieronymus Bosch , detail showing the Fall of the Rebel Angels, from a larger painting, c. 1500 The Book of Revelation , which opens with the words, "The revelation of Jesus Christ , which God gave him to show to his servants what must soon take place", includes in those events a War in Heaven : Now war arose in heaven , Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon ; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent , who is called the Devil and Satan , the deceiver of the whole world - he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 369067488.
The opening as it stood in 2015 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The Fall of the Rebel Angels; right hand panel of Hieronymus Bosch 's The Haywain Triptych , c. 1500 The Book of Revelation describes a " war in heaven " between angels led by the archangel Michael versus those led by "the dragon", identified with "the devil and Satan ", who are defeated and thrown down to the earth.Revelation's "war in heaven " has been compared to the idea of fallen angels , and possible parallels have been proposed in the Hebrew Bible and Dead Sea Scrolls .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 656349351.
The opening as it stood in 2020
The Fall of the Rebel Angels; right hand panel of Hieronymus Bosch 's The Haywain Triptych , c. 1500 The Book of Revelation describes a war in heaven between angels led by the Archangel Michael against those led by "the dragon", identified as the devil or Satan , who will be defeated and thrown down to the earth.Revelation's war in heaven is related to the idea of fallen angels , and possible parallels have been proposed in the Hebrew Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 965425075.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Supernatural war described in the Book of Revelation The Fall of the Rebel Angels; left hand panel of Hieronymus Bosch 's The Haywain Triptych , c. 1500 Illustration by Gustave Doré for John Milton 's Paradise Lost , depicting angels fighting against fallen angels .In the New Testament of the Christian Bible , the Book of Revelation describes a past war in heaven between angels led by the Archangel Michael against those led by " the dragon" , identified as the devil or Satan , who was defeated and thrown down to the earth. Revelation's war in Heaven is related to the idea of fallen angels , and possible parallels have been proposed in the Hebrew Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1178688550.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven”. Today it says “mythic conflict between supernatural forces in traditional christian cosmology”. Sections present on October 6, 2023 no longer exist: “Video games”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven
Now
mythic conflict between supernatural forces in traditional christian cosmology
Sections that no longer exist
Present on October 6, 2023, absent today, with no near-matching heading in the current article and the article shorter overall, so this is not a renamed heading or a topic absorbed into a fuller treatment. 1 section of 400 characters or more gone since October 6 2023, with the article 1,555 characters shorter.
Video games
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
