Angels (and Demons) by Peter Kreeft

Angels (and Demons): What Do We Really Know About Them? is a concise text about the topic. It was first published in 1995.

The book is about 150 pages long in total, the main text is about two-thirds of the book. The remaining are the 4 appendices and the bibliography.

This text is not in the form of a Socratic dialogue as is common in books by Kreeft. It is in the form of Q&A, which is still very easy to read. The text contains a total of 100 questions organized into 4 parts.

The author wrote this book as he noticed people’s interest in angels, and although there were a number of books available, their quality was lacking.

Part 1: Questions about Our Fascination with Angels contains questions 1 to 4 that serve as a preface to the book, on the motivations for our fascination and the differences it can make in one’s life whether one believes in angels or not.

Part 2: Questions about How We Know Anything about Angels contains questions 5 to 17 that serve as an introduction to the subject. Most of the material in this book is taken from Scripture and Tradition, taking a Thomistic approach.

I’ve piggybacked on a lot of giants who knew a lot more about angels than you or I do. As medieval philosophers loved to say, even dwarfs can see far if they have the good sense and humility to climb up onto the shoulders of giants—like Moses and Jesus and Augustine and Aquinas and saints and mystics. This book is not just me. It’s 90 per cent unoriginal. That’s what makes it different. Those tiresome and shallow modern books that all say the same thing are too desperately striving to be original. … Most of what I know about angels I learned from Saint Thomas Aquinas. Not all my answers are directly from him, but the principles from which I deduce my answers usually are.

The author in essence gives a brief lesson in philosophy by making the distinction between the natural and supernatural, and that natural science cannot prove or disprove the supernatural.

Then he covers the argument for angels by observing nature, that there is hierarchy in nature (minerals, plants, lower animals, higher animals, humans) such that angels fill the “gap” between man and God. Strictly speaking, angels are not necessary since God does not need anything but it does make sense for them to exist.

Part 3: Questions about the Nature of Angels contains questions 18 to 83 that more directly address the subject, such as what angels are, how they move and how they communicate. Part 3 and Part 4 are the bulk of the text.

Angels (“messengers”) are spiritual beings with a will and intellect. They have no physical bodies although they may choose to appear to have one. Every human is assigned at least one guardian angel.

Part 4: Questions about Demons contains questions 84 to 100 that specifically address demons, which are fallen angels who rebelled against God out of pride.

They are permitted to tempt, oppress and even possess man. The author briefly covers possession and exorcism. Although the author is correct in stating that sin, especially messing around with the occult, opens the door to demonic influence, he does not mention that even virtuous individuals may be possessed by Divine Permission.

The author includes in one of the appendices the list of scriptural references that mention angels, demons and spirits, which is a great convenience.

Kreeft writes with his usual simplicity without sacrificing precision. He is less technical in this book than in his other works. If anything, given his ability to explain things, he can be more technical.

Although he occasionally refers to or quotes from Scripture, he could do more of that even though Scripture is relatively vague on the subject. Perhaps more directly relevant to the details he discusses, more quotations from the Early Church Fathers and St Thomas Aquinas would be helpful as this would provide a glimpse of the history and Tradition.

In any case, it is a good, concise text. To those who already have studied the subject, they probably wouldn’t learn too much. To those who have not and are looking for a primer, this is an excellent text that serves as a primer and more. In a qualitative sense, it generally covers what needs to be covered but it is brief. So, in a quantitative sense, it deliberately lacks depth; as already mentioned, Kreeft does not provide quotes from the Early Church Fathers and there can be more details, historic or otherwise.

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