Aquinas’ description of the angels in the Summa Theologica does indeed bear a striking resemblance to the contemporary concept of forces in physics. This thesis is based on Aquinas’ view of angels being immaterial and intangible beings that act as agents in the physical world, exerting control over natural phenomena. As such, they can be compared to modern-day forces, which are also invisible yet known by their effects.

The most direct comparison between Aquinas’ description of angels and modern-day forces is found in his emphasis on their immateriality. While Aquinas did not explicitly state that angels were made up of energy or particles like those studied by physicists today, he did recognize them as spiritual entities beyond traditional corporeal forms. In other words, he viewed them as being composed entirely of spirit or a “formless” substance — something that cannot be seen with human eyes but still manifests its influence through actions upon physical objects and people around it. This idea is strikingly similar to how physicists perceive forces today; although we cannot see them directly either, we are able to observe their effects on matter and use mathematics to describe how they interact with each other (i.e., Newton’s third law). As such, both angelic beings and various types of forces share an intangible quality that makes them difficult for humans to comprehend without relying on evidence from observation or theory building.