Demonology
By Jerry Batson, Th.D.
Special to The Alabama Baptist
As we noted in an earlier installment of Theology 101, Jesus encountered numerous persons whom evil spirits had overtaken and thus controlled. In the most severe cases the unclean spirits had come to possess those individuals, hence the common expression “demon possessed.” At this point we do well to observe that Satan or evil spirits cannot in this sense possess a genuine Christian in whom Christ dwells by His Spirit, since “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). On one occasion, Jesus made the observation, “No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man” (Mark 3:27). We may think of Christ indwelling believers as ‘the strong man’ whom Satan and his emissaries cannot bind in order to take over or possess the house. But what about a Christian’s encounters with the devil or demonic powers that fall short of total possession? The Bible refers to this as spiritual warfare.
The expression “spiritual warfare” refers to the view that all Christians share in common an ongoing struggle between competing forces of good and evil. Galatians 5:17 gives one expression to this conflict by declaring, “The flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you wish.” The Bible everywhere assumes that such a struggle is the common experience of all believers. However, the flesh or our sinful nature is not the only enemy in this warfare. We also contend with the devil and his minions.
The underlying observation is that Christians are caught up in the cosmic warfare between the forces of God the forces of evil. At the heart of the forces of evil are Satan and his angels. Satan’s emissaries, the demon spirits, employ a variety of means in seeking to oppose God’s forces for good. On the personal level, evil spirits employ human agents. The Bible warns us that Satan is crafty, even coming against us by means of human agents, even agents that are not aware that they are being used or who are not themselves evil persons.
Such was an experience of one of Jesus’ disciples. Peter’s thoughts found expression on an occasion when Jesus was speaking of His approaching death. Upon hearing Jesus’ words, Peter vehemently objected, taking Jesus aside and daring to rebuke Him (Mark 8:32). Jesus rebuked Peter with the words, “Get behind Me, Satan. For you are not mindful of the things of God but the things of men” (Mark 8:33). We are not to understand that Satan had taken possession of Peter, but was influencing Peter’s thoughts so that the expression of those thoughts played into Satan’s strategy opposing Jesus’ saving mission.
Satan’s emissaries
In the warfare between good and evil, Satan’s emissaries may seek to work through other channels. They may work by means of physical or natural occurrences such as illnesses or natural calamities, seeking to persuade believers to become critical and complaining, even beginning to distrust God. When such as this happens the light of our witness in the world is dimmed. Evil spirits may work by making use of political and social institutions, using processes of the world as channels through which to oppose God and harm people. The constant challenge for God’s people is to stay aware of demonic strategies and stand against them as one would oppose human enemies in warfare. More about confronting demonic opposition next week.
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Jerry Batson is a retired Alabama Baptist pastor who also has served as associate dean of Beeson Divinity School at Samford University and professor of several schools of religion during his career.
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