I am a two-time graduate of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. My PhD was done under the supervision of Chuck Lawless, and my dissertation focused on Paul’s view of the “principalities and powers.” The research for that project involved many books on angels and demons. What follows is a recommended reading list of books about angels and / or demons offered by a reformed Baptist.

TIER ONE BOOKS

Bill Cook and Chuck Lawless, Spiritual Warfare … Chuck Lawless was my PhD supervisor, and Bill Cook was my pastor. This book is a sane, biblical, practical treatment of spiritual warfare, touching on many questions relating to angels and demons.

Clinton Arnold, Power and Magic … Clint Arnold is a world-class scholar, and this book focuses on issues of demonic and occultic power in Ephesians.

Clinton Arnold, Powers of Darkness … This volume is broader than Power and Magic, and it focuses on the “principalities and powers” in Paul’s letters. Arnold holds to the view that the rulers and authorities are personal, evil, spiritual beings who wage war against believers and the church.

Duane Garrett, Angels and the New Spirituality … Duane Garrett was my Old Testament professor at Southern, and this book on angels is a helpful work. Garrett specifically thinks about the role angels might play in various expressions of new age spirtuality.

Sidney Page, Powers of Evil … Page’s book is a classic treatment of Satan and demons as presented in the Bible. This is an essential work for those wanting a solid treatment of biblical demonology.

TIER TWO BOOKS

CS Lewis, The Screwtape Letters … Lewis’ book is a classic, and the first book I quoted in my dissertation. While fictional, it gives great insight into the nature of demonic temptation.

Robert Lightener, Angels, Satan, and Demons … This is a very helpful and faithfully biblical treatment of angels and demons.

Tremper Longman, God Is a Warrior … Longman is a Old Testament scholar, and this book presents the biblical picture of God as the one who fights for his people against the spiritual forces of evil.

Merrill Unger, Biblical Demonology … Unger’s classic work focuses on demons as they relate to topics like possession, magic, divination, heresy, and deliverance.

Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm … As much as any author, Heiser popularized the idea of the “divine council.” While there are parts of Heiser’s work that I disagree with (eschatology, soteriology, anthropology), the broad scope of his work is helpful in seeing the supernatural worldview of the Bible.

TIER NEVER BOOKS

Anything written by Walter Wink. His books were written from a liberal, anti-supernatural perspective.

Anything written by Peter Wagner. His books were heavily shaped by his involvement in the New Apostolic Reformation and the excesses of the charismatic movement.

Anything written by Greg Boyd. His books are birthed from the perspective of “open theism” and a denial of the sovereignty of God.

Anything written about near-death-experiences or trips to heaven and hell. These books are experiential in nature, rather than biblical.