At the end of the seventeenth century, changes in ‘natural philosophy’ ostensibly represented the biggest menace to angelology since the Reformation. The development of experimental science and the application of reason to theology threatened to undermine the fundamentals of belief in angels and raised questions about their very existence. However, contemporary evidence does not support a paradigm whereby the educated gradually lost their faith in these supernatural creatures because their belief was eroded and destabilized by broader intellectual developments. Similarly, the continuing importance of angels in eighteenth-century England gives the lie to any idea of the earlier collapse of belief, and casts doubt on Max Weber's notion that the ‘disenchantment of the world’ occurred at this juncture. Historians no longer accept that the Reformation provided the impetus for a process of secularization and the elimination of magic and superstition from human action and behaviour.

This chapter will investigate the broad intellectual trends in natural and mechanical philosophy, placing them in the context of other writings and works relating to angels that took a more ‘traditional’ approach to the topic. Section one will outline the implications of the new thinking, seeking to uncover what kind of challenge was presented to belief about angels by the growing emphasis (in certain circles) on reason and experiment as a means to ascertain truth.