Stokes, in my opinion, was far wiser than Guthrie. Peter Guthrie was a great character, but why on earth would he....
[spoiler]flat out tell Laura, a powerful and dangerous supernatural being, that he is going to basically "out" her to everyone. Any time he confronted Laura, he took NO precautions whatsoever, even though he knew how dangerous she was. Despite his intelligence and knowledge of the paranormal, his obvious lack of common sense cost him his life.[/spoiler]
Otherwise, he was a neat character to have around. Still, I'd much rather have Professor Stokes on my side than Guthrie.