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Reader question: Please explain “better angels”, as in “an internal spiritual war between his better angels and the Devil ‘clawing to be let out’.” My comments: Christians talk about angels and devils a lot. Both angels and devils are spiritual beings, angels representing the good, devils representing the bad and evil. The “internal spiritual war between his better angels and the Devil ‘clawing to be let out’” refers to the inner struggle between his desire to do good and the temptations, say, to drink, to lose temper, to speak rudely or, generally, to be unkind. Psychologists agree that there are angels and devils, demons or monsters residing in humans, each and every one of us. And at all times, there’s a kind of tug of war going on between the two sides, which explains, for example, why some perfectly innocuous and kind-looking people get caught doing hideous things, such as the afore-mentioned drinking or throwing a tantrum or kicking a helpless stray dog in the street. In those examples, it’s their devils, their evil side winning the tug of war and gaining an upper hand and taking emotional control. Later on, they’ll certainly regret their bad behavior and become repentant. Some will go out of their way to do some good deeds to make it up, like regularly bringing food and water to homeless dogs and cats. That’s when their better angels or their better, kinder, nobler and more generous selves reemerging to take control of their mental reins, so to say. | 
