Do angels know the future?

By CopticBot.ai (Coptic Space Inc.) · Last reviewed 2026-10-10

In Orthodox theology, neither the holy angels nor the fallen spirits (demons) inherently know the future. Foreknowledge of all things belongs exclusively to God, who is the sole uncreated, omniscient Lord outside of time.

Created beings, by virtue of being finite intellects, do not possess the divine attribute of omniscience. However, the ways holy angels and demons relate to future events differ completely:

1. The Holy Angels

The holy angels know future events only when God reveals them to them and commands them to proclaim them.

• When God dispatches an angel with a prophetic message—such as the Archangel Gabriel announcing the Incarnation of our Lord to the Virgin Mary, or the angelic revelations given to the Prophets and the Holy Apostles—the angel speaks with absolute certainty and truth because the revelation originates from God Himself.
• Outside of what God directly discloses to them by grace according to His divine dispensation, holy angels do not possess independent knowledge of the future. As our Lord Jesus Christ said regarding the Day of Judgment: "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only" (Matthew 24:36).

2. The Fallen Spirits (Demons)

Demons have no foreknowledge of the future whatsoever, despite often attempting to convince humanity that they possess prophetic power. When demons appear to "foretell" events, they do so through deception and natural inference:

• Conjecture and Guesswork: Demons have observed human nature, history, and behavior for thousands of years. Being keen observers, they can make educated guesses about what an individual or nation is likely to do, much like an experienced physician might predict the course of an illness.
• Rapid Observation and Speed: As bodiless spirits, demons move and communicate across physical distances almost instantaneously compared to humans. As the Church Fathers (such as St. John Climacus in The Ladder of Divine Ascent) explain, a demon may observe an event occurring far away—such as someone nearing death or an army marching—and swiftly relay that information to people through dreams, mediums, or sorcerers, falsely presenting it as a prediction of the future.
• Knowledge of the Scriptures: Demons know the Holy Scriptures thoroughly. They attempt to anticipate how divine prophecies might unfold or mimic scriptural promises to mislead people.
• Fabricated Fulfillment: Sometimes, demons "foretell" an evil deed that they themselves intend to incite or carry out, assuming God permits it.

Because of this, the Church strictly warns against paying heed to dreams, soothsayers, fortunetellers, or any demonic attempts at divination. Demons are liars by nature (John 8:44), and any partial truth they mix into their prognostications is intended only to lure the soul into pride, fear, and separation from God.

Summary

Foreknowledge is an uncreated, divine attribute belonging to the Holy Trinity alone. Holy angels speak of the future only as faithful messengers of divine revelation, while evil spirits merely guess, deduce, or deceive.