Materialism is the belief that all of reality is material and no spiritual beings exist like God, angels, nor human souls. In the book Metaphysics (Fifth Edition) by Peter van Inwagen, he states, “The only rational beings whose existence is uncontroversial are human beings. The following, if they exist, are rational beings: God, angels, [and] rational extra-terrestrial beings.”
Christian metaphysics maintains the belief that God exists. The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults further reminds us, “It is a truth of faith that God, the ‘maker of all that is seen and unseen,’ created a realm of spiritual beings who do not share the limitations of a physical body and yet exist as the result of his all-powerful, loving act of creation. We call these spiritual beings angels.”
The Catechism continues, “Some of the angels turned against God and were driven out of heaven and into hell. Their leader is called Satan, and they are referred to as devils or demons in Scripture. They tempt us to evil. But their power is limited and is never greater than God’s.”
“Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world – he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him” (Revelation 12: 7-9 ESV).
In the book Angels and Demons, the philosopher Peter Kreeft asks: Could angels be extraterrestrials? Kreeft answers, “Angels are more extraterrestrial than extraterrestrials are; they are extracosmic. Extraterrestrials come from other planets outside the earth; angels come not from another planet but from another universe, another order of creation entirely, one with no matter and therefore none of the space and time that are relative to matter.”
~ Boethius ~