Angels Among Us: Separating Fact from Fiction by Ron Rhodes (1994)

Ever since high school, when I read Frank Peretti‘s 1986 novel This Present Darkness, I’ve had a mild interest in angels and demons. It’s never become an unhealthy infatuation, mind you—my conservative, fundamentalist background wouldn’t allow it.

Still, it’s important to acknowledge that there’s great activity in the spiritual dimension that’s too often ignored by believers today. The New Testament shows us enough of the spiritual realm to warrant a little interest. It also warns us enough of the “principalities and powers” to warrant a little more vigilance.

I guess that’s the main reason I began writing my own short stories about angels and demons—because they’re real, and the concept I’ve laid out in those stories is both plausible and theological. After all, “some have entertained angels unawares” isn’t just a fairytale.

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Quick Summary of Angels Among Us

When I saw this book, I admit that I was initially skeptical. After all, I hadn’t yet heard of Ron Rhodes and assumed that anyone writing a whole book on angels in the 1990s had to be at least borderline wacko.

He’s definitely not. As President of a ministry called “Reasoning from the Scriptures,” Rhodes is a teacher who sticks strictly and faithfully to the Word. In this book, he first builds a case against some then-popular angle-worshipping wackos before presenting his own Scriptural reasoning for why and how we should believe in the existence of angels.

He splits the book up into four parts:

• “Close Encounters of the Celestial Kind”, where he share the multitudinous false and heretical teachings about angels.
• “What Angels Are Like”, where he delves into their origin, nature, organization, and titles—with a special emphasis on The Angel of the Lord.
• “What Angels Do”, where he relates to us their activities only as seen in Scriptures—with a small section on fallen angels.
• “Our Future with the Angels”, where he closes with a chapter anticipating eternity.

Some Lessons Learned from This Book

I approached this book as an educational tool which would help me better understand the spiritual characters in my stories. Although I had been aware that angel infatuation was dangerous, I guess I wasn’t aware of how demonic it could be as well! Rhodes says this explicitly late in the book:

I am convinced that many of the angels who are so popular among some of today’s angel enthusiasts are nothing less than demonic spirits—fallen angels. (144)

What he emphasized throughout the book is that angels are created spirits who serve God Almighty, and as such, their sole goal is the glory of Christ, their Master. Even if a human were ever to experience the presence of an angle (like Zechariah, Mark, Joseph, the Shepherds, or Peter had done in the New Testament), we must realize that they serve at the behest and for the glory of their Creator alone. About this, Rhodes writes:

Angles do not interact among humans to do their own bidding. Rather, they act under instruction from God. The only reason angels minister to believers during their earthly sojourns is because God has ordained them to. (86)

[Angels] are meant to serve His will, to contribute to His glory… So angels were created—as were all other things—to serve and glorify Christ, not to act according to their own wills or independently of God. (70)

This does not mean that angels are robots. They are, in fact, gifted with intelligence, emotions, and even a moral will (see p.79). Although they dwell in Heaven, they have access to the whole universe and conduct specific assignments in obedience to their Master (see p.73). They do not “possess” people as demons do—indwelling the believer is the Holy Spirit’s joy!— yet they do observe humans and have been doing so since Creation, and even today are still amazed that God would love us enough to become one of us and even to die for us (see p.131; 1Peter 1:12; 1Corinthians 4:9; 1Timothy 5:21).

Throughout the book, Rhodes shares from Scripture the various ministries that angels perform, and he also describes some of the fallen angels’ activities. If you’re interested in reading more about that, Part 3 would be an insightful study.

Conclusion

As a radio personality, Ron Rhodes has mastered the art of communicating quickly the bare bones of what must be said in an apologetic discussion like this. While I don’t yet know enough about him or his ministry from 30+ years ago, I can say that, if this one book is any indication, I’m sure I would love to read more targeted apologetics like this from him.

One quick look at his bibliography affirms that he’s one heck of a prolific writer. There may come another occasion when I need to delve into a particular doctrine like “angels” quickly yet thoroughly, and when that time comes, I think I’ll look Ron Rhodes up again. I really enjoyed this book.

©2026 E.T.

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