Satan and the Demons | A Crash Course Under Christ’s Feet with Fr. Serge-Thomas Bonino, OP

Introduction

Let’s face it—mention the devil, and people either roll their eyes or start Googling exorcisms. But in a great course taught at the Angelicum, Fr. Serge-Thomas Bonino, OP, reminds us that Christian demonology—the study of Satan and the fallen angels—isn’t medieval superstition. It’s theology that is central to understanding Christ’s redemptive mission.

Based on his book, Angels and Demons: A Catholic Introduction—highly recommended (get it on Amazon),—Fr. Bonino’s course offers a clear, balanced, and spiritually grounded look at who Satan is—and why it matters. This blog post is my personal summary and theological integration of Fr. Bonino’s teaching. I occasionally depart from his presentation for clarity or emphasis, so any errors or imprecisions are mine—not his.

Q. So why study demonology at all?

⚔️ (1) To Fight Smarter—Spiritual Combat and the Real Enemy

Christianity isn’t a self-help journey. It’s a battlefield. And demonology isn’t scary trivia—it’s basic training. By studying demonology, we can be equipped to fight the “real enemy”—not with fear, but with freedom, clarity, and confidence.

🧠 (2) To Think Deeper—Sin, Salvation, and the Mystery of Evil

Demonology isn’t just about devils. It’s a window into the biggest questions of life:

1. What is sin? The fall of the angels reveals pride at its purest—free, deliberate, destructive
2. What is salvation? Demons recognized Jesus, but without love. Truth without love isn’t enough.
3. What is society without God? The medieval image of a “City of Evil” imagines what happens when the common good collapses. Spoiler: it looks a lot like us.

Studying demonology doesn’t solve the problem of evil. But it shines a light in the darkness—and points us to the One who’s already won. The Catechism (nn. 391–395) affirms Satan’s reality but keeps the spotlight where it belongs: on Jesus Christ, who crushed the serpent’s head. As Bonino says, “Satan’s place in the Christian faith is precisely under the feet of the risen Christ” (cf. Eph 1:22).

Ch. 1: Satan in the Bible: A Biblical-Theological Journey

🪐 1. Evil in the Old Testament: From Chaos to Clarity

• The Old Testament acknowledges the reality of evil powers—but insists that God is always in control. While ancient cultures were filled with spirits, omens, and rival deities, Israel’s revelation insisted on strict monotheism—where even destructive forces are servants, not rivals, of the one God. As Bonino puts it, “the demonic world is a chaos, a conglomerate, without unity”—but it is never a true rival to God. Evil exists, but it does not challenge the supremacy of the Creator.

🕵️ 2. The Rise of Satan: From Prosecutor to Rebel

• Satan first appears not as a villain, but as a heavenly prosecutor—a shadowy figure who tests human virtue under divine permission (Job 1; Zech 3). Bonino calls him “a shady character… a type of secret agent.” But after the Babylonian exile, influenced by Persian dualism, Satan begins to emerge as a personal adversary with his own malicious will. A key turning point comes in Scripture: what God initiates in 2 Samuel 24:1 is later attributed to Satan in 1 Chronicles 21:1. The tempter is no longer an agent—he’s become an enemy.

👑 3. Satan in the New Testament: The Prince of This World

• By the time of the New Testament, Satan is no longer peripheral. He is called the “prince of this world”, dominating a fallen creation and distorting human life. As Bonino notes, “the air is unhealthy”—a world where light and darkness visibly clash. This is not metaphysical dualism, but a moral polarization: the world is enslaved, deceived, and disfigured. Possessions, lies, and alienation testify to human misery without God. Into this arena steps Christ—not just to preach truth, but to wage war against real evil.

✝️ 4. Christ’s Victory: The Fall of Satan

• Christ didn’t come merely to instruct—He came to “destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn 3:8). Bonino describes His mission as “a gigantic exorcism… a merciless fight against the unclean spirits that disfigure the image of God.” From His first public act to the Cross, “Jesus cannot take a step forward without crushing a demon.” What appeared to be Satan’s triumph—the Passion—was in fact his downfall. As Bonino explains, “Satan’s kairos is actually Jesus’ kairos.” The accuser is thrown down (John 12:31; Rev 12), and in his place stands the Paraclete, our divine defender.

⚔️ 5. Paul’s Powers: Angels, Demons, or Both?

• St. Paul speaks of “Principalities and Powers”—spiritual beings created by Christ (Col 1:16), some of whom now oppose Him. Bonino suggests that Paul may refer to the same entities in different states: neutral when seen in their origin, hostile in their current rebellion. These Powers work behind idolatry, injustice, and sin. Yet Paul is firm: Christ has disarmed them and made a public spectacle of their defeat (Col 2:15). They may still operate—but they no longer rule.

📚 6. From the Fathers to Aquinas: The Battle Becomes Doctrine

• The Church Fathers viewed demonology as a call to spiritual vigilance and a defense of God’s oneness. Against paganism, they insisted: demons are not rival gods, but fallen angels who freely rejected God. Augustine rooted the conflict between the City of God and the City of Man in the angels’ original choice. Aquinas later formalized this tradition: demons retain their angelic nature and intelligence, but their wills are fixed in opposition to grace. As Lateran IV solemnly teaches: “The devil and the other demons were created by God naturally good, but they by themselves have made themselves evil.”

Chapter 2: Demons: Myth or Reality?

🧨 1. Why Demons became Myth

• In the pre-modern world, belief in angels and demons was simply part of everyday reality. As Bonino puts it, “Our ancestors would have been less surprised to meet a flesh-and-blood devil in a dark alley than we are to be caught by the police hidden behind the highway bridge.” But with the rise of modern techno-scientific culture, the world has been disenchanted—truth is now limited to what can be observed and measured.
• Ironically, the modern fascination with “spirits” often reflects not renewed faith, but a reactionary hunger for mystery in a secularized world. As Bonino notes, belief in spirits is “a reaction (erroneous although understandable) against the totalitarian hegemony of the prevailing techno-scientific culture.”
• In this context, theology must begin by reasserting that demons exist, before discussing what they are: “It is useless to speculate on the quid sit (‘what is it?’) if the answer to the an sit (‘does it exist?’) were to be negative.”

🕵️‍♂️ 2. Reason Suggests, But Faith Sees

• Reason alone cannot prove the existence of demons, though it may raise credible questions. Bonino distinguishes two approaches: (1) The a priori approach argues from divine governance or cosmic hierarchy, suggesting spiritual beings exist—but not their fall, since sin is free and contingent; (2) The a posteriori approach, drawing from extreme evils or phenomena like possession, may hint at dark intelligences, but lacks certainty without faith.
• Writers like Brunner and Bernanos have intuited a personal structure behind evil—“Who would dare to affirm that evil is not organized…?”—but for Bonino, such insights remain philosophically inconclusive. In the end, “the existence of demons… is not the object of philosophical demonstration… it is only through faith that we hold the existence of demons.” Faith completes reason, allowing us to perceive the spiritual realities beneath the surface of visible evil.

✝️ 3. Why the Church Still Believes

• Modern thinkers—from Hobbes to Bultmann—have attempted to reduce demons to mythical leftovers of an outdated worldview. But Catholic theology resists this reduction, not through fundamentalism, but through a faithful and critical biblical hermeneutic. Bonino emphasizes the need to interpret Scripture according to literary genre and context—acknowledging cultural elements without dismissing divine revelation.
• The key question is this: Is belief in demons merely culturally conditioned, or is it divinely revealed?
• The Church answers with conviction, grounded in three pillars: (1) Jesus’ exorcisms demonstrate real confrontation with personal evil; (2) The cosmic scope of Scripture’s spiritual warfare cannot be explained by metaphor alone; (3) The baptismal liturgy, with its renunciation of Satan, presupposes a real adversary—echoing Ratzinger’s principle that liturgy expresses doctrine (lex orandi, lex credendi).
• Thus, the Church’s belief in demons is not marginal—it is essential to understanding Christ’s mission to redeem and liberate.

Chapter 3: The Sin of the Angel and the Emergence of the Demonic World

😇 1. Created Good, Fallen Freely

• Christian teaching holds that demons were created good by God but became evil by their own free choice (Council of Braga, Lateran IV). This affirms both the goodness of creation and the sovereignty of God, rejecting all forms of dualism. Demons are not anti-gods or eternal forces of darkness—they are fallen creatures who misused the freedom given to them. As Bonino puts it, “The Christian faith cannot admit an evil principle equal and opposite to God.”

🔥 2. Pride Before the Fall

• The angels’ sin was not lust or envy, but pride—a refusal to receive beatitude as a gift. Enamored with their own excellence, some angels sought to be their own end, rejecting grace and divine communion. As Bonino writes, “The angel refused the humility of receiving beatitude as a gift and instead claimed mastery over his destiny.”
• Their pride became a form of spiritual narcissism: rather than returning glory to God, they turned inward—like Narcissus before his reflection or a black hole that swallows light. Their fall was not a slip of passion, but a deliberate and lucid act of self-exaltation.

🖤 3. Irrevocable Rejection and Darkened Intellect

• The fall of the angels is irrevocable, not because God denies mercy, but because their choice was made with full clarity and freedom, leaving no room for repentance. Unlike humans, angels decide in a single, instant act of the will, which once fixed, cannot be undone. Though they retain their natural intelligence, their rebellious will darkens the intellect, twisting it away from truth and love. Bonino explains: “Sin does not destroy the angelic intellect, but it perverts its orientation”—like mirrors turned inward, they absorb divine light but refuse to reflect it back.

Chapter 4: Divine Government and Demons

👑 1. God Governs Even Demons

• Even the demonic realm is subordinated to God’s providence—not by their will, but by His wisdom. Though their intent is always evil, God orders their malice into His plan as instruments of justice and sanctification. The demons may tempt, accuse, or oppress, but their actions—without removing human freedom—serve a higher purpose: punishing the wicked and purifying the just. As Bonino writes, “mutatis mutandis, the same thing happens with God with respect to demons”—as with a surgeon who draws healing from pain.
• No evil is wasted in God’s universe. Even the most perverse rebellion becomes part of His symphony of grace. “Everything…, including the wickedness of demons,” serves the glory of God. He brings a double good: justice revealed and saints perfected. Omnia in bonum—“all things work together for good to those who love Him” (Rom 8:28).

🪓 2. The Demonic Society Is Real and Ordered

• Demons are not pure chaos—they form a distorted mirror of the angelic hierarchy, retaining their natural ontological order even after falling as viatores in the state of imperfect grace. Bonino notes: “Evil does not exist except in good… anarchy is a parasite on order.”
• Satan leads this infernal society not through grace, but through pride, natural superiority, and calculated submission imposed on lesser demons. Though fallen, they still act in a warped structure: “a certain order remains which, amid disaster, continues to bear witness to the goodness and wisdom of the Creator.” Their society is like a ruined cathedral—its structure still visible, but its purpose grotesquely inverted. As Bonino says, “The unity of the society of demons is… a caricature of the common good”—not sustained by love, but by hatred, rivalry, and self-interest.

⚔️ 3. Unity in Hate, Not in Love

• What unites the demons is not communion—but common hatred. Bonino puts it bluntly: “The concord of the demons does not arise from mutual love, but from their common wickedness… their ‘common’ concern to wage an effective war against men.” Their unity is tactical, not personal—a shared rebellion, not a shared mission.
• They imitate angelic ministries, but only for destruction: “Because of their pride, the demons usurp a semblance of the power of God.” Their communication is not illumination, but manipulation—not truth shared in love, but information exchanged for harm. The demonic world is a mockery of the Church: a hollow confederation of hate, not a Mystical Body of grace.

Chapter 5: The Actions of Demons

⚔️ 1. Spiritual Combat: The Ordinary Battlefield

• Christian life is a spiritual battle. From Scripture and monastic tradition to St. Thomas and the Catechism (nn. 394–395), the Church teaches that each soul is caught in a war between grace and malice, angels and demons. Every person is accompanied by a good angel and a demon, each urging opposite directions. The devil cannot read hearts—only God can—but he tempts by observing behavior, manipulating passions, and influencing imagination. Bonino writes: “The devil does not know the secrets of the heart—he observes, manipulates, and deduces. He weighs on the imagination and the passions, but he cannot force the will.” His power is real, but always limited, and temptation always requires our consent. The believer is never powerless—spiritual combat is difficult, but grace is stronger.

🌍 2. Ordinary and Extraordinary Influence

• Demons act not only on souls but through the physical world, psychological conditioning, and social structures. According to Bonino, “The action of angels and demons inserts itself into the world not by magic, but by intelligent coordination of natural causes—especially through local motion and psychological influence.” Following St. Thomas (ST I, q. 110–111), demons can influence the visible world by subtly redirecting matter, imagination, and passions—never by direct creation. This includes false signs, visions, and social systems that normalize sin. Demons often mimic the divine order: “They ape the providence of God, causing everything to work toward evil (omnia in malum), just as grace causes all things to work toward good.” Their influence extends even into structures of sin, which depersonalize man and create cultures of manipulation.

👹 3. Possession and Christ’s Victory

• Beyond temptation lie extraordinary manifestations like obsession and possession, in which demons seize a person’s body and senses to display blasphemy or hatred of the sacred. Bonino explains: “Possession is the devil’s parody of the Incarnation—he takes hold of the human body not to save, but to enslave.” Yet even this evil is permitted by God to awaken us to spiritual reality, the gravity of sin, and the urgency of conversion. Bonino warns: “In the modern world, the devil’s greatest trick is to disappear—to act without being noticed, to reduce evil to a psychological or cultural defect.” But Christians need not fear: Christ has already triumphed. Through faith, sacraments, and the armor of God, “the believer participates in Christ’s definitive victory over the devil.”

Chapter 6: Demons and the History of Salvation

👿 1. Satan’s Role in Original Sin and Human Slavery

• Bonino explains that while the serpent in Genesis 3 is not explicitly called Satan, later tradition legitimately identifies it as such, especially through Wisdom 2:24: “By the envy of the devil, death entered the world.” Drawing from Aquinas (ST II-II, q. 165), he emphasizes that the devil’s temptation was not necessary for sin, but was permitted by God’s providence: “Divine Wisdom… disposes all things sweetly.” Human nature, by design, could be “helped or hindered” by other creatures. After the Fall, the devil does not gain a right over man, but abuses him, pushing him toward his own perverse will. This enslavement is one of the punishments of sin: the weakened will now yields more easily to diabolical suggestion, creating a state of humiliating spiritual subjection.

🧬 2. Physical Evils and the Limits of Demonic Causality

• Bonino clarifies that demons can act on the physical world—as shown in the Book of Job—but never without God’s permission. While death is the consequence of sin and linked to the devil’s envy (Wis 2:24), Bonino insists we must not over-attribute all physical evil to demonic causality. He critiques Alvin Plantinga’s theory that natural evil is due to demonic freedom—stating this is not Thomistic. According to Aquinas, many physical evils—such as disease, disasters, and animal suffering—belong to the natural order and are part of the world’s good and harmonious structure. After losing original justice, man lost God’s preternatural protection and is now exposed to natural decay. This is a return to the normal laws of creation, not a direct work of demons.

✝️ 3. Demons and the Mystery of the Cross

• Bonino explains that after their fall, demons lost the beatific vision and supernatural faith. What remains is a confused, natural knowledge of God’s plans, distorted by pride. Though they recognized Jesus’ holiness—“I know who you are: the Holy One of God!” (Mk 1:24)—they lacked certainty about His identity and the effects of the Passion. Bonino, citing Aquinas (ST I, q. 64, a. 1, ad 4), notes: “If they had known perfectly… they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” Their ignorance, caused by Christ’s kenosis and their own arrogance, led them to attack, unwittingly fulfilling the divine plan. In a paradox of providence, “Jesus Christ deceived the devil… who swallowed the hook”. As Bonino beautifully puts it: “On the Cross, the wisdom and omnipotence of God were manifested in the fact of making Satan the instrument of the redeeming will.” What demons intended for destruction became their undoing—omnia in bonum.

Final Review

This was a great course—rigorous, balanced, and deeply rooted in Scripture and Tradition. Fr. Bonino’s Angels and Demons: A Catholic Introduction is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the true nature of spiritual combat without falling into fear or fantasy. His clarity of thought and theological depth are a gift to the Church. If we want to fight smarter and think deeper, his book shows us how—under the victorious feet of Christ.