They have a thousand noxious devices at their disposal.
One interesting thing was "Angels are actually from Persia." "There is no record of them in Judaism prior to the Babylonian captivity, in the the oral tradition."
I was really curious to ask "how do you know the oral tradition?"
I was trying to figure out if he was trying to explain Eastern theology to me at first. But then came an explanation of the Trinity, the Incarnation and Salvation. And eventually the "poetry" of it all was leading to a denial of virtually everything.
I finally got a foothold of where he was coming from when I asked for recommendations to read and follow up.
He said, "Karl Rahner."
Ah, Karl Rahner, S.J. ...
The "existence of the angels cannot be disputed by a sincere Christian. They are mere creatures and like man, they are created for a supernatural goal. Their saving grace came from Christ, who is their Head too, and round the Word they form a true society of persons. They are a part of the Christian Message." (Karl Rahner, Encyclopedia of Theology, from the EWTN website)
Perhaps you can quote that to him next time you see him - the priest, I mean. The whole thing about "Angels are actually from Persia" is specious, anyway. Even if the explicit idea was, how would that disprove their existence? Are they not testified to us in Scripture, even if their existence was not known to the Jews before the Captivity? The whole matter is because of a denial of the authority of revealed truth, without which the entire edifice of the Christian religion tumbles, since religion becomes a matter of private opinion - in short, the imaginary fantasy of each man, to be determined as he pleases.