I keep running into believers who have never given much thought to the reality of demons or the spiritual realm and yet are frequently overcome with emotional pain and addictions for which they have found no lasting solutions. Their view seems to be that we only encounter the spiritual realm after we die and do to heaven. They like the notion of guardian angels but push back against the idea of demons operating in the world. When I bring up the possibility of demonic afflictions, all kinds of questions arise.

• Are demons real or just superstitious echoes from the past when we didn’t understand human psychology and physiology as we do today?
• Is the demonic real or just an emotional, hyper – spiritual response to the normal struggles of life?
• Is demonic affliction real or is it just a rationalization for bad behavior like saying, “The devil made me do it?”
• Is “demon possession,” like we see in the movies, a real thing and can it even happen to believers?
• Why would some people be oppressed by demons but not others?
• Does that stuff still happen today?

Those are questions frequently asked by those new to the arena of spiritual warfare. Serious, Bible-believing Christians are also sometimes uncertain of how far to go with a theology that embraces the activity of demons in the lives of believers. Since these seem to be “standard questions,” which I also had at one time, I think I will take a few blogs to respond to those questions and maybe a few more that come to mind as we consider these topics.

Let me just begin by saying that scripture is very clear about the reality of a spiritual realm in which angels and demons operate. It is an eternal realm that contains more power than anything we experience in the natural realm. Speaking of the spiritual realm, Paul said, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor.4:18). A realm that is eternal is a greater and more powerful reality than that which is temporary.

Paul also declared, “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm” (Eph.6:11-13). Again, Paul points to a spiritual realm where the real battles take place, where Satan (and those that serve him) scheme against us, where we need to put on spiritual armor, and where we will have to take a stand on days when the enemy launches attacks against us. Some people think that the cross took all power away from the enemy but Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is written decades after the cross.

Scripture isn’t clear about the origin of demons, but is very clear about the reality and activity of demons. Some commentators believe that they are the fallen angels cast down from heaven when they joined Satan in the rebellion. Others say that demons are the spirits of wicked men looking for a body to inhabit so that they can express their wickedness once more. Others say they are something else.

The most common belief seems to be that demons are the fallen angels cast out of heaven with Satan.       “Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth” (Rev.12:3-4).   Many commentators believe that “a third of the stars” refers to a third of the angels and that those angels joined Satan in his rebellion and were cast down to the earth with him. “And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him” (Rev. 12:7-9). Those who hold this view believe that these angels still serve Satan by tempting, oppressing, and afflicting the human race. They will even make some humans a habitation in which they take up residence and constantly afflict those individuals – even through generational lines.

The problem with this view is suggested by the apostle Peter. “…God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment” (2 Pet.2:4). Jude also says, “And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day” (Jude 6). If these angels are bound in chains and gloomy dungeons until judgment, then they cannot be wandering around afflicting people. It is possible that chains and dungeons are metaphorical but these verses seem to be fairly straightforward.

The theory that demons are the spirits of wicked men comes from the idea that departed spirits would be uncomfortable without bodies so they seek to enter bodies so that they can satisfy their wickedness once again. Of course, this view must also maintain that spirits wander the earth after death. Word studies in Greek find that the word “daemon” (demon) in Greek culture originally meant the spirits of the dead (righteous or unrighteous) and later took on the meaning of the departed spirits of wicked men.

However, scripture suggests that the dead go to holding or waiting places until Judgment Day – the righteous rest in Paradise, the wicked wait in torment. That view is reflected in Luke 16 in the story of the rich man and Lazarus where Lazarus is in a place of comfort while the rich man is in a place of torment wishing that someone could go back to the earth and warn his brothers about judgment. There are also passages that speak of Jesus preaching to spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago and of, apparently, visiting those “holding places” and moving the righteous souls from a place akin to Hades to Paradise as they await the judgment (See 1 Peter 3:18-20; Eph.4:8-10). These verses suggest that all spirits go to an intermediate waiting place as they wait for judgment rather than wandering the earth.

I find no theory about the origin of demons to be totally satisfactory. I asked a former satanic priest what he thought about it and he was confident that demons come into existence from the creative force and influence of the wicked thoughts and actions of men. I don’t know but scripture is clear that they exist and have a profound impact on people – even those in a covenant relationship with God. I also know that scripture clearly commands believers to stay away from things that open the door to demonic spirits in our lives: sorcery, mediums, psychics, fortunetellers, séances, and so forth. The demonic realm, like the angelic, is very real and is presented as an ever-present reality in scripture.

More about the demonic in my next blog.