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Summary
- Scripture says God alone knows the human heart: “you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind” (1 Kings 8:39). No passage says angels know what a person is thinking.
- Angels are not omniscient. Jesus said not even the angels know the day of his return (Matthew 24:36), and Peter says they “long to look” into the gospel (1 Peter 1:12).
- Thomas Aquinas taught that angels and demons can infer thoughts from outward signs such as the face or pulse, but that “God alone can know the thoughts of hearts.”
- In the Bible, prayers go to God and angels come as his messengers, as with Daniel, Zechariah and Cornelius.
- The Catholic Church invokes the help of angels and teaches that an angel stands beside each believer; the Westminster Confession directs worship, including prayer, to God alone.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations from the English Standard Version (1 Kings 8:39; 2 Chronicles 6:30; Jeremiah 17:10; Psalm 139:2, 4; Acts 1:24; 10:3–4; Hebrews 1:14; 4:13; 1 Corinthians 2:11; 4:9; Matthew 1:20; 18:10; 24:36; 1 Peter 1:12; Ephesians 3:10; Daniel 10:12; Luke 1:13, 19, 29; 2:13; 15:10; Revelation 22:9; Job 38:7; Psalm 91:11) and the New International Version (Job 38:7).
- Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, part I, question 57, article 4, “Whether angels know secret thoughts?” https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1057.htm
- John Cassian, Conferences, Conference 7 (Abba Serenus), chapters 15–16, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series, vol. 11. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/350807.htm
- John of Damascus, Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, book 2, chapters 3–4, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series, vol. 9. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/33042.htm
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 330, 335 and 336. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1A.HTM
- Westminster Larger Catechism, Question 16. https://www.opc.org/lc.html
- Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 21, sections 2–3. https://www.opc.org/wcf.html
- John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, book 1, chapter 14, section 4. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.iii.xv.html
- “John Cassian,” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cassian
