Against the Darkness: The Doctrine of Angels, Satan, and Demons (Foundations of Evangelical Theology)

by Graham A. Cole

Publisher:

Crossway

, 2019

Overview

Many Christians live as though they are effectively alone. However, there is another realm of intelligent life that plays a role in the world—angelic beings. This book explores the doctrine of angels and demons, answering key questions about their nature and the implications for Christians’ beliefs and behavior, helping readers see their place in the larger biblical plotline that includes supernatural beings. An understanding of the reality of angels and demons encourages believers to be vigilant in the light of spiritual warfare and to be confident in Christ’s victory on the cross.

Key Features

• Explores the doctrine of angels and demons
• Answers key questions about the implications for Christians’ beliefs
• Examines their place in the larger biblical plotline that includes supernatural beings

Contents

• Introduction
• Angels, Their Kinds, and Heavenly Activity
• Excursus: The Nature of Spirit
• Angels, Their Activity on Earth with Individuals and Nations
• Excursus: Angelophany
• Satan, the Malevolent Spoiler
• Demons, the Devil’s Entourage
• Excursus: Genesis 6:1-4 and the Methodological Question
• Jesus, Christus Victor
• Spiritual Warfare
• Excursus: How to Test the Spirits
• The Destiny of the Darkness and the Victory of the Light
• Excursus: The Archangel Michael and the Man of Lawlessness
• Conclusion
• Appendix I: The Creation Manifold
• Appendix II: Angels, Iblis and Jinn in Islam
• Appendix III: Creeds, Articles of Faith, Catechisms, and Confessions

Top Highlights

“Thus understood, Scripture is the final court of appeal in any contest between authorities, including reason or tradition or experience.” (Pages 19–20)

“So as a working definition, let me define spiritual warfare as that aspect of our common struggle as Christians against the machinations of malevolent spiritual creatures that are intent on thwarting God’s redemptive plan for his human creatures.” (Page 165)

“In biblical perspective, a rupture has taken place in the created order, and it is Satan who stands revealed in Scripture as the great spoiler.” (Page 80)

“To my mind, the presence of such exaggerated language in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28, the NT identification of pride as the devil’s sin, with the support of the majority of early church fathers, combine to strengthen the contention that Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 contain a double reference: earthly rulers and the devilish usurper.” (Page 93)

“The basic metaphysical distinction in Scripture is that between the Creator and the creature (Gen. 1:1), not that between being and becoming, or between the infinite and the finite.” (Pages 29–30)

Praise for the Print Edition

The structure of this book contributes to its appeal. The nine chapters cover the theological meat of the theme, the five excursuses address such sidebars as the meaning of Genesis 6:1–4 and how to test the spirits, and the three appendices survey adjacent but highly relevant themes (how these themes are treated in Islam on the one hand, and in various Christian creeds on the other). The book is comprehensive and edifying—and more important than one might initially think, in a culture that wants to be touched by an angel.

—D. A. Carson, Emeritus Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; Cofounder, The Gospel Coalitio

In a modern secular age, it is all too easy for Christians to overlook the major source of conflict in the drama of redemption: the devilish powers of darkness that seek to seduce hearts away from the truth of the gospel with glittering images and empty promises. Graham Cole rightly reminds us that, while angels and demons are not at the heart of biblical revelation, to ignore them is to risk being blindsided. Against the Darkness is a model of how to judiciously read Scripture and formulate Christian doctrine on matters that are both peripheral and essential to the Bible’s main storyline. This is theology for the twenty-first-century church, and Cole helpfully draws out the pastoral implications of angelology and demonology—all the while never losing sight of the centrality of Jesus Christ and his lordship over the angelic and earthly realms.

—Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Research Professor of Systematic Theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; author, The Drama of Doctrine; Hearers and Doers; Biblical Authority after Babel; and Faith Speaking Understanding

While the doctrine of angels and demons may be less central than doctrines such as the Trinity, the hypostatic union, and substitutionary atonement, nevertheless angels and demons play a role in nearly every other doctrine of the Christian faith. In fact, what Graham Cole successfully does in this volume is demonstrate just how important their role is to the outworking of God’s plans and purposes in creation, in providence, and in all of redemptive history. I am deeply grateful for the careful attention he has shown to biblical teaching, along with his fair and winsome interaction with scholarship throughout this volume. The Christian faith as well as the Christian life is affected by the role and activity of angels and demons in significant ways, and this volume goes a long way in informing us of just how much we may have been missing

—Bruce A. Ware, T. Rupert and Lucille Coleman Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Product Details

• Title: Against the Darkness: The Doctrine of Angels, Satan, and Demons
• Author: Graham A. Cole
• Editor: John S. Feinberg
• Series: Foundations of Evangelical Theology
• Publisher: Crossway
• Publication Date: 2019
• Pages: 272
• Resource Type: Systematic Theology
• Topic: Angelology/Demonology

About Graham A. Cole

Graham A. Cole is Anglican Professor of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School, Birmingham, Alabama. Previously he served as professor of biblical and systematic theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and principal of Ridley College, Melbourne. He is the author of God the Peacemaker (NSBT), Engaging with the Holy Spirit, He Who Gives Life and numerous articles in periodicals and books.