Angels and Demons / Ángeles y demonios

Explore the Thomistic argument for angels and demons, detailing immaterial intellect and will, universals, and how mathematics reveals metaphysical realities beyond matter.

Explore the nature of angels and how it shapes the study of demons as fallen angels in Aquinas's Summa Theologica, from medical and psychological perspectives.

The lecture asserts that God is the sole principle of all existence, distinct from creation, opposing Persian dualism and the idea of two gods, good and evil.

Explore creed's claim that God the Father Almighty is the creator of heaven and earth. See that God creates things visible and invisible from nothing, and nothing exists without Him.

Affirm that everything created by God is good and ordered toward goodness, grounded in the metaphysical claim that being, brought from nothing, is good.

Explore the metaphysical justification of evil within a creation that is fundamentally good, drawing on Augustine and Aquinas while noting evil as a privation that presupposes good.

Explain that absolute evil cannot exist because nothingness cannot be evil, clarifying angels and demons. Affirm there are not two gods, and that dualism is a crude contradiction, per Aquinas.

Explore Saint Thomas Aquinas’ view of physical evil as misperception within divine plans toward a greater good, and moral evil as free beings choosing not to seek perfection.

Explore how reality extends beyond what senses perceive, from visible light to ultraviolet, illustrating electromagnetic activity around the sun and the invisible data captured by space telescope.

Explore whether humans can know angels, using theology, Christian philosophy, and the First Vatican Council's claim that reason enables knowing God with certainty and the existence of angels.

Explore angels as complete, intelligent beings created above humans but below God, invisible unless they manifest by divine permission, contrasted with humans pursuing perfection on a material plane.

Angels originate from the Greek meaning messenger or envoy. Scripture uses angels in two senses: celestial spirits sent by God and figures like Christ or John the Baptist as messengers.

Discover how angels serve humanity as ministering spirits, guiding souls toward salvation and perfection, protecting prophets, and accompanying the people toward monotheism and the coming Messiah.

examines how the Fourth Lateran Council declares that God created angels and humans from nothing, affirming angels and demons against dualistic heresies of the Cathars and Albigenses.

Grasp how angels, as pure spirits, directly seize the essence of things, understand the nature of creation with error-free intuition, and embody serene understanding beyond sensory limits.

Explore angels from a philosophical and theological perspective, guided by Saint Thomas Aquinas as interpreted by Professor Philippi, who adds his own carefully considered conclusions.

Explore whether angels are pure spirits or possess corporeality, examining Aquinas's incorporeality, Duns Scotus's positions, Suarez's views, and the debate on energy versus matter.

Angels, incorporeal beings, act at a single point in space; several angels may contribute at the same point, moving continuously or discontinuously (even instantaneously), beyond time and physics.

Know that angels possess knowledge of nature and laws, grasp essences and causes, and conjecture about future scenarios, yet cannot know the future of things in themselves.

Explore how angels exercise free will to accept or reject the supernatural order, the fall of demons, and the relation of grace and eternal damnation.

Explain the angelic, intelligent nature of demons and their rebellion against the supernatural order. Show that demons retain angelic characteristics yet are not the souls of the damned.

Explore how the Hebrews navigate monotheism amid polytheistic empires, from idol worship and demonology to exile under the Babylonians.

Trace the evolution of demons in Hebrew thought from ancient beings like the seigrin, ijim, and edim to Lilith and Azazel, through apocryphal writings and the Day of Atonement ritual.

Explore appearances of Satan in the Old Testament, from Zechariah's accuser and Job's trials to Genesis's serpent temptation, Isaiah's fall of Lucifer, and the Hebrew concept of Sheol.

Trace the demon's mastery of sacred scripture, his three tests of Jesus from baptism to the passion, and how divine intervention leads to redemption and humanity's salvation.

Explore official church declarations on the existence of demons, the history of Satanism and witchcraft, and the nature and earthly power of demons.

Trace historical declarations from multiple councils that demons have eternal punishment, that devils were once angels, and that salvation unfolds through faith, baptism, and liturgical sacraments.

Explore the nature of demons as fallen angels who retain knowledge of creation, while the fall clouds knowledge, and how they assume visible forms and cause possession in sacred scripture.

Angels and demons cannot directly know thoughts; they infer the will from behavior. Mental prayer to an angel is understood by divine permission, and neither can interfere.

Angels and demons cannot suspend natural laws; miracles belong to God alone, yet angels can exert natural power over corporeal things, including possessions and haunted houses.

Resurging in developed countries, satanism spreads from England to the United States and Europe. Highlighting ritualistic murders and belief in demonic intercession, the lecture reveals tensions between faith and skepticism.

Examine diabolic theology surrounding satanic cults, including the prodigal son reinterpretation with Lucifer as the returning younger son and gnostic ideas of light and matter.

Angels surround Christians, are present by our side in daily life and spiritual matters, never abandoning us, guiding with divine grace against temptation.

Examine Mesopotamian religion and its gods, from Uruk and Sumerian origins to the epic Gilgamesh, the great pantheon, temple life, and mythical demons like Humbaba and Tiamat.

Examine Benedict XVI's reflections on Jesus facing temptation in the desert. Connect the temptation narrative to humanity's fall, creation's reconciliation, and the kingdom of God.

Explore angels and demons through a curated reading list of Spanish and English works on demonology, exorcism, possession, and the angelic world.

Explore how demonology, brain science, and thomistic theology shape our understanding of angels and possession, examining exorcists, psychiatry, and cross-cultural belief in possession.