Good Omens satirizes many aspects of contemporary society, not the least of which is organized religion. This is apparent from the very first page when the demon Crawly (later Crowley) and the angel Aziraphale engage in a theological debate about good and evil. Why, Crawly wonders, would a god who created humanity want to keep them ignorant? In fact, why give humans a natural curiosity, place the temptation of knowledge right under their noses, and then make it forbidden? Aziraphale’s only response is the same one that devoted flocks have heard for millennia: have faith.

Asking people to trust blindly in a higher authority—God, the Pope, the Ayatollah, etc.—is to ask them to surrender that which their Creator has given them: rational thought. The Dark Ages was a notorious time for blind faith and cultural stagnation. The Inquisition, referenced sharply in the novel, was another dark page in the history of organized religion. Persecution in the name of religion is one of humanity’s most well-worn traditions.

Much has been written about the great tonal difference between the Old Testament and the New: wrath and punishment versus love and forgiveness, and the cognitive dissonance is evident here.