Demons: Fallen Angels

If you believe in Modernism or what is called "Scientific Rationalism", you probably do not believe in demons. You believe science has proven there is no way they could be real and have interaction with humanity in daily life. You disregard the doctrine of demonology completely. The only problem with this view, is the Bible speaks of demons, demon possession, and demonic activity in the physical world. If you embrace the content of scripture, you have to believe in demons. There is no way around it, it is there and it is clear. Even those who do believe in it, have created some twisted views and beliefs about Satan and demons. So, in this comprehensive article, I will do my best to give a biblical lesson on demonology, and all that the doctrine entails.

It is very important to have a good understanding of angels before you can fully understand demons since demons are fallen angels, but I will do my best to explain the the doctrine of demonology without first explaining angelology. Perhaps I will even write about angels after this, so you can have a greater understanding of the origin of demons, but I will cover their origin in this post as well.

Ghosts: NOT REAL

I would like to make it very clear, before I get in to demons, that although it is very common for ghosts to be closely affiliated with demons in Hollywood, stories, myths, etc.. there is nothing biblical about ghosts. Ghosts are the spirits of people who have died and are remaining in some sort of limbo stage of the after life and harassing or tormenting the lives of those still alive. That is very quickly refuted in the Bible. Everyone has an appointed time to die, and when they die they go to one of two places: heaven or hell. There is no limbo, intermediate state after death. Plain and simple, ghosts do NOT exist, demons do. That being said, I will now discuss demons.

The Existence of Demons

According to the Bible, Demons are very real, and are very much involved in our lives today. In the Old Testament we see an example of those who “sacrificed to demons that were no gods” (Deut. 32:17) and others who “sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons” (Psalm 106:37). Demons are mentioned in nineteen out of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. More than that, Jesus frequently claimed to “cast out demons” (Matt. 12:27). A great evangelist, apologist, and author, John Blanchard said, "Demons are not the product of hyperactive religious imagination, nor the disembodied spirits of a prehistoric race, nor the long-existent result of antediluvian sex between angels and human women (all these theories have been advanced). The Bible never questions their existence." Very clearly, the only way you could not believe in demons, is if you completely deny the scriptures. The Bible proves the existence of demons.

The Origin of Demons

When God created the world, He "saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was good" (Genesis 1:31). “All things were made through him and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). So, clearly God created everything in existence outside of Himself, there is no way around that fact. Yet, because God cannot and was not directly involved with the creation of sin and evil, reason and scripture cohesively state that while all angels were created to be holy, some fell from their original state. James Myers describes the creation of angels as such, "This vast host of rational, spirit beings was composed of various orders. Some were messengers, some served God in relation to His worship, others were involved in the activities of the heavenly temple. Two of the highest angelic orders are called seraphim and cherubim (Gen. 3:24; Ezekiel 10:1-15; Hebrews 9:5; Isaiah 6:2, 6). But the highest of all the angels, the most intelligent, beautiful, talented, and powerful is called Lucifer." Lucifer was the first to rebel, causing a great war in heaven. The war was between the archangel Michael and Lucifer, who then became Satan.

Satan, now the "Prince of Demons", was then thrown out of heaven along with his demons, making up 1/3 of all the angels. The Bible says they “did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling” (Jude 6) in contrast to “the elect angels” (1 Timothy 5:21) who were given grace to remain sinless. We must note, that unlike humanity, each apostate angel fell by his own choice, whereas all of humanity fell solely based on the imputed unrighteousness that came from Adam. It is very clear in scripture that the fallen angels were not given the hope of redemption, rather God condemned them to hell and put them in chains of "gloomy darkness" until judgement day (1 Peter 2:4), but are still able to influence, torment, and possess humans in the world. Therefore, demons: began as angels, fell from their original state, were cast out of heaven, torment and possess humans on earth, and will one day be judged.

The Activity and Power of Demons

Demonic power, contrary to popular belief, is very limited. In the book of Job, it is made very clear that Satan was limited to what he could do, based on what God gave him permission to do and absolutely nothing more (Job 1:12, 2:6). As we discussed earlier, demons are kept in eternal chains (also Jude 6) and can be resisted by Christians through the power and authority that Christ gives them (James 4:7). However, they are still very active in our daily lives and do have powers that they use against God's elect. Dr. John Blanchard writes, "Simply put, demons are involved in every part of Satan’s program — opposing God, preventing people from understanding the Gospel, opposing God’s people, attacking the church, tempting people to sin and thwarting the spread of the Gospel." So, the sole purpose of demons is to oppose the work of God. If angels exist solely to glorify God, then fallen angels would exist solely to destroy everything God has willed to happen.

We see in Luke 13:11, a woman who has a "disabling spirit" and cannot straighten her back because of it. In verse 12 and 13, Jesus comes along and heals her by laying hands on her, but what is interesting is in verse 16, Jesus describes her to the ruler of the synagogue as "...this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years..." Jesus was attributing the cause of her disability to the demonic power of Satan. Also, this woman is a daughter of Abraham, meaning she belongs to God. So, even in the church, Satan has power to physically harm a person, or to come as an illness, or some sort of pain.

We also see in 2 Corinthians 12, Paul describes his "thorn in his side" as a "messenger of Satan", that God gave Paul to keep him humble. Even Paul was tormented by physical pain and illness throughout his life. Now, we have to be careful. We must not blame Satan for every physical illness that we have. We cannot presume to believe that every illness or pain or disability comes from the devil, because to do that is to have a unhealthy obsession with demons and demonology. Augustus Strong, an American theologian, wrote "We are to attribute disease and natural calamity to their agency only when this is a matter of special revelation." So, to say that every illness or disability is a result of Satan is simply ignorant and silly.

It is also very important that we understand that it is possible for demons to influence areas like government, society, philosophy, and really any kind of ideology or influential system. Also, God could use demons to bring His Sovereign plan in to effect. For instance, Adolf Hitler's rise to power. It happened very quickly, and there was a lot of evidence that he was possessed or influenced by demons. After his power subsided, people were confused as to how he rose so quickly. Some say it was because he spoke so well, he could give a good speech. He persuaded many people to fall for his lies. Someone else was very good at this too, his name is Satan and he persuaded Adam and Eve to break God's law through using lies. There were many unknowns and questions about Hitler's demonic influence. Even, many non-Christian historians suspect there was some sort of "spiritual" influence controlling him.

Also, take into consideration, abortion. It is very likely that there are demonic forces or spirits influencing the political leaders, the abortionists, and the women who get abortions, to hold the position they do, and to act the way they do. Abortion is murder and murder hurts God's heart, and demons are constantly trying to hurt God or to oppose God's will (even though it is impossible). Somewhere down the line of history, America abandoned some of the simple moral truths we, at one time used to stand firm on. Now, in today's world, we have to fight for the right to life! Why has America drifted so far from the truth? Could it be demonic activity and influence in government and possibly even our monetary system? I think so.

 We see in John 12:31, that Satan is "the ruler of this world", so that is more evidence of the fact that demons can and do have a strong influence in government and social issues. It would be foolish to think that there was no spiritual influence in government or society, and that it all happened based on chance. It is very plausible to believe there is a spiritual or demonic influence in areas that greatly affect us, our lives, and this world overall.

Demonic Possession

Demon possession/oppression is seen multiple times in the New Testament (Matt. 4:24, Mark 1:23, Luke 13). It is made very clear that demon possession occurred then, and no indication has ever been given in scripture, that it has ceased. There is no evidence that it has digressed in intensity through the centuries, actually, quite the opposite thesis/argument could be made.

The question now becomes, "what is demon possession?". Demon possession is when the personality of the possessed individual is eclipsed by the demon, so the demonic personality is revealed through the person, and all control is in the hands of the demon, not the person being possessed.

Below, is a documented case of an exorcism for a woman named Julia [her last name is omitted for her and her family's protection], done by Dr. Richard E. Gallagher. All of this was documented in the February issue of the New Oxford Review.

"Sometimes objects around her would fly off the shelves, the rare phenomenon of psychokinesis known to parapsychologists," reports Gallagher. "Julia was also in possession of knowledge of facts and occurrences beyond any possibility of their natural acquisition."

"Julia requested a Roman Catholic exorcism ritual, convinced from the beginning of her consultations that she was under demonic attack."

"The exorcism began on a warm day in June," Gallagher recollects. 

"Despite the weather, the room where the rite was being conducted grew distinctly cold. Later, however, as the entity in Julia began to spout vitriol and make strange noises, members of the team felt themselves profusely sweating due to a stifling emanation of heat. The participants all said they found the heat unbearable."

"Julia at first had gone into a quiet trance-like state. After the prayers and invocations of the Roman Ritual had been going on for a while, however, multiple voices and sounds came out of her. One set consisted of loud growls and animal-like noises, which seemed to the group impossible for any human to mimic. At one point, the voices spoke in foreign languages, including recognizable Latin and Spanish (Julia herself only speaks English, as she later verified to us)."

"The voices were noticeably attacking in nature, and often insolent, blasphemous and highly scatological. They cursed and insulted the participants in the crudest way. They were frequently threatening – trying, it appeared, to fight back – 'Leave her alone,' 'Stop, you whores' (to the nuns), 'You'll be sorry,' and the like."

This is a very real, very frightening case of a legitimate, documented exorcism. Now I will move on to a biblical case for demon possession.

In Matthew 8:28-33, we see Jesus exorcising demons from two men. In verse 28, we find that they were so fierce that no one could go near them. The people avoided the road these two possessed men were on. That is very explicitly telling us that demons can possess people and are very powerful, and can do real damage in this world. However, there is someone more powerful, His name is Jesus Christ. In verse 31, the demons beg Jesus not to destroy them, but to send them into a heard of pigs. They BEGGED to Jesus. Obviously, they are aware of the power of Christ. In verse 32, Jesus commands them out of the two men, and into the heard of pigs. The pigs then drowned in a nearby body of water. So, from this, we can see that Jesus is in control of demons and has authority over them. He commands them, and they listen. In Mark 3:14-15, we see that Jesus has given that power to His apostles. They can command demons in His name. Also, after Pentecost (Acts 2), every Christian has the Holy Spirit in them, and possesses the power to cast out demons in Jesus' name.

Now, we must understand that it is impossible for a Christian to be demon possessed. They can be oppressed, meaning they can be tormented, physically injured, or haunted by demons, but never can a demon exercise control or authority over a Christian. That is because, after Pentecost, every Christian is possessed by the Holy Spirit. So, Christians are already possessed by a spirit, the Spirit of God. We read in 1 John 5:18, "the evil one does not touch him", him referring to the Christian, chosen by God. This word "touch" actually means "to grasp, so as to detain", and it is mirrored in John 10:29, "no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand." Essentially, Christians are protected by God in the matter of possession, and are unable to be possessed because they are already possessed by the Spirit of the same God that is holding them, and keeping them safe in His hand.

So, demon possession is very real and very much still active to this day. We have seen this in scripture. We have also learned that a Christian cannot be possessed and also has power over demons by the power given to them in the Holy Spirit (James 4:7).

I hope this post has educated you on the topic of demons. Demonology is a very intense doctrine to study and can sometimes be frightening, but we must recall that the Christian has authority and power over the demon through the Holy Spirit, and by the name of Christ. I will hopefully write about angels, giving an even fuller understanding of demons and their origin.