Does the devil know our thoughts?

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No, he cannot.

However, he can read our body language, hear what we’re saying, etc.
 
It’s not that hard to know what someone is thinking or occupied with. Especially when you can observe them unseen 🤔

Creepy 😟
 
We must still be cautious. We shouldn’t become foolhardy or underestimate our foe. He is quite cunning.
 
Maximilian75 said:
No, he cannot.
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I’ve always her this…but is it revealed truth that the devil (and demons) can’t read our thoughts? Or just the Church’s general assumption down through the ages. …because we are told that angels (including fallen angels) are extremely powerful beings of pure spirit and reading human thoughts really doesn’t seem that difficult. We’re already close to doing as mere mortals…with devices that can interpret thoughts into electronic commands that can be interpreted by a computer.
 
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twf said:
I’ve always heard this…but is it revealed truth that the devil (and demons) can’t read our thoughts? Or just the Church’s general assumption down through the ages
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It is an assumption only, not a dogma. But if you ask exorcists, many will say that the devil can indeed hear our thoughts. This is why it’s good to have what is referred to as “custody of your thoughts.” Don’t let your nasty thoughts rage all over the place. The adversary is waiting like a hungry lion.

They are powerful spirits with amazing abilities far beyond ours. It is very naive to assume that knowing our thoughts is not one of their abilities.
 
Fr. Gabriele Amorth exorcist…

Can the Devil Read Our Thoughts?​

We have now arrived at the specific action of the devil, and we begin with the first question: Can the devil know our thoughts; is he able to understand what we are thinking at a certain moment in our life? The response is simple: absolutely not. Theology is agreed on this question. Only God — who is omniscient, who intimately possesses the secrets of created reality, that of men and angels, and that of uncreated reality, which is His own essence — knows in depth the thoughts of each man. Although a spiritual creature, the demon does not understand what is in our mind and in our heart; he can only surmise it through observing our behavior. It is not a complicated operation for him, having an extremely fine intelligence. If a young person smokes marijuana, for example, the demon can deduce that in the future he will also use stronger drugs. In a word: from what we read, see, say, and experience, and from the companions we choose, even from our glances — from all this he can discern where he will tempt us and at which particular moment. And that is what he does.
 
Even if he did, at the end of the day, he still must bow to the Triune Godhead; therefore, any inconvenience he offers can be nullified with prayer, fasting, and vigilance.
 
This is why I usually say my prayers verbally instead of just in my mind:
I want Satan to know what I am doing…what I am thinking…of Whom I am thinking
 
Yes he does. So what? He is just a worker. Not important at all.
The problem is God knows all about us and does He like what He sees?
 
I agree with Mary888, yes it can read our thoughts.

If we align ourselves with God and holiness we become anathema to it and those like it. We can defend ourselves by orienting our thoughts towards God and our faith. It was once an angel and a priveledged one but remember Jesus said

Luke 22:31 “Simon, Simon, behold, satan* demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,“

This implies it had to ask for permission.

*my lower case.
 
KevinK said:
How can you possibly know this?
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In the Church’s angelology, it’s understood that angels are not omniscient or mind readers but that they are intellectually superior to humans. I suppose one could say there’s an impression that they can read minds, but not truly, only that they can better intuit what’s going on in a person by observing outside behavior.
 
No, I don’t think so.

But he does have a lot of intuition, having observed mankind since the Garden, so he really doesn’t need it to have a real good idea of what people are thinking.
 
So are you saying that our thoughts can’t and never have been influenced by external evil?

If they can influence our thoughts then surely this is a two way process, thought goes in both directions surely, which is why prayer works.
 
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I’ll confess the study of angels isn’t my forte. It’s conceivable that they could stimulate neural activity to make suggestions and the like.

A Thomist perspective… God isn’t omniscient because he has some type of sixth sense, or any sensory perceptions. He’s omniscient because God is the primary cause of all things (not just events, but the cause of a thing’s continued act of existence), and being fully knowledgeable of himself is also fully knowledgeable of his action/causing. Angels are the cause of their own actions, true, but they’re not the primary cause of you, the matter that makes you up, or the natural things you interact with, so they don’t have omniscience. Maybe they can (?) perceive brain activity but that doesn’t translate one-to-one with thoughts.
 
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Thank you, that’s an interesting perspective.
 
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Pretty sure the Church has said that demons can’t read our thoughts directly but they find it easy to predict our future actions based on past behavior. I think it’s also not beyond their powers to suggest thoughts and emotions to us as a means of leading us to sin. That’s why we must be discerning in our thoughts.
 
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