Demons - real or not?

[mcarans]

An article on whether demons are superstition or real. What do you think? Are they real?

Demons - real or not? : cruciformity

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Jesus cast demons out everywhere He went.

He still does today, where there is faith.

 

[mcarans]

Jesus cast demons out everywhere He went.

He still does today, where there is faith.

Have you tried to cast out demons in his name?

 

[Jonaitis]

Jesus cast out demons, the apostles cast out demons. Scripture affirms there is demons.

The real question is...do you believe the Scriptures?

 

[mcarans]

Jesus cast out demons, the apostles cast out demons. Scripture affirms there is demons.

The real question is...do you believe the Scriptures?

Have you tried to cast out demons in Jesus name? Mark Karris makes the point that while people are happy to say they believe in them, they do not act as if they believe by actually trying to cast them out.

 

[Tomm]

An article on whether demons are superstition or real. What do you think? Are they real?

Demons - real or not? : cruciformity

Please see: The devil and Father Amorth

 

[Danielwright2311]

An article on whether demons are superstition or real. What do you think? Are they real?

Demons - real or not? : cruciformity

If Jesus says there real, then there real.

 

[Jonaitis]

Have you tried to cast out demons in Jesus name? Mark Karris makes the point that while people are happy to say they believe in them, they do not act as if they believe by actually trying to cast them out.

I don't believe demon-possession still exists today. We read in Hebrews 2:3-4 that the God used signs and wonders and various miracles to testify to the apostolic ministry, affirming that the message they spoke really came from God. Since it is no longer needed, demon possession has since ceased, as well as other various miracles that they use to perform in the Holy Spirit.

 

[Serving Zion]

"If the blind leads the blind they will both fall into a pit" (Jesus Christ).

Do not believe those who have no experience, their knowledge is invented by their imagination.

Yes, demons come out by the power of God, and some do not simply depart with a command, rather they are "driven" out.

Jesus said in John 15 "you have been made clean by the word I have spoken to you", which means to say that their spirit was no longer "unclean" as a result of the things He had been telling them.

Look at this search of the scriptures for the expression "unclean spirit", it is insightful:

BibleGateway - Keyword Search: Unclean spirit

 

[Radagast]

Jesus cast out demons, the apostles cast out demons. Scripture affirms there is demons.

True, and true.

But this does not mean that demonic possession still occurs today.

 

[Lost4words]

True, and true.

But this does not mean that demonic possession still occurs today.

I believe they do. The Catholic church has specialy trained priests for casting them out.

 

[(° ͡ ͜ ͡ʖ ͡ °) (ᵔᴥᵔʋ)]

I don't believe demon-possession still exists today. We read in Hebrews 2:3-4 that the God used signs and wonders and various miracles to testify to the apostolic ministry, affirming that the message they spoke really came from God. Since it is no longer needed, demon possession has since ceased, as well as other various miracles that they use to perform in the Holy Spirit.

I am not sure if I agree. According to Hebrews 2:3-4, the Lord used signs, wonders, and miracles to testify and confirm the message of the Gospel. Just because He used them for a purpose doesn't necessarily mean that that is the only time it was used.

 

[Cement]

its kinda funny about how much media like movies shows games and videos not to mention the litany of personal experiences there are of demons yet people continue to scoff or ignore entirely at the idea of there being such a thing. honestly i dont understand how you can be a seasoned Christian and not know there exists a spiritual world with spiritual beings that live alongside us. regarding demonic possession that is almost always a result of dabbling in the occult and/or drug use.

 

[Radagast]

I believe they do.

I didn't say that demonic possession didn't happen; I said that the two given statements didn't imply that it did.

The Catholic church has specialy trained priests for casting them out.

Indeed. But the Catholic church sees demonic possession as something rare, and those exorcists don't generally get much work. This is in part because, as I understand the Catholic view, baptism itself is an exorcism.

 

[SinoBen]

An article on whether demons are superstition or real. What do you think? Are they real?

Demons - real or not? : cruciformity

Certainly, we are waging spiritual warfare (not with humans).

 

[Petros2015]

Yes, they are real in my experience.

People are kind of like cars, our personalities are largely in the passenger seat, moreso than we think.

You want Christ to be the driver, no one else.

 

[.Iona.]

Of course they do. Just look at the world.

 

[JackRT]

But the Catholic church sees demonic possession as something rare, and those exorcists don't generally get much work. This is in part because, as I understand the Catholic view, baptism itself is an exorcism.

Quite a while back I read an interview with the RCC's chief exorcist based in the Vatican. He is an extremely busy man travelling widely in Europe examining cases. Most of his time is spent getting the person in touch with competent medical and/or psychiatric help. If I remember correctly, he conducts very few actual exorcisms.

 

[Radagast]

Quite a while back I read an interview with the RCC's chief exorcist based in the Vatican. He is an extremely busy man travelling widely in Europe examining cases. Most of his time is spent getting the person in touch with competent medical and/or psychiatric help. If I remember correctly, he conducts very few actual exorcisms.

If I understand the Catholic view, Christians have to do something unusual (such as getting heavily involved in the occult) for demonic possession to become possible.

 

[Miss Babbit]

I can see why you put it in the controversial section but I don't think it should be a controversial issue but a very important one.
It's a funny sign of the times that it is.

We have lost our sense of the spiritual world. We have become very much embedded in materialism. You can thank science for that and that it has become a religion and philosophy in its own right which has in turn encouraged atheism and scepticism to go on unchecked.

Personally, I have never experienced possession. I am a born again believer in Jesus so I know that the Holy Spirit resides in me and all believers. When you have the Holy Spirit in you then you cannot have any other spirit in you (i.e. demon possession)

Petros2015's analogy is a perfect one. When we don't have Jesus/ Holy Spirit in our car then we are an empty car (in the spiritual realm).

I watched a video the other day that really made me think. The lady who made it said that in the spiritual realm, you have to invite the spirit in. You must open the door and invite them in.
When you become a believer in Jesus Christ then you are inviting the Holy Spirit into you.
Similarly if you play around with the occult or other non-Christian faiths then you are opening the door and inviting another type of spirit, a demon. After all, demons are fallen angels. They were once part of the heavenly host but one third of them rebelled against God.
Jacob saw a stairway whereby angels were travelling between heaven and earth. In the Book of Job, Satan told God that he had been busy moving about on earth and ostensibly "working".

It is interesting that my Pastor (for want of a better term, he runs an online bible study group) believes that age of demons and casting them out has finished.

My experience has been otherwise. I have had experienced something that I would describe as demon oppression. Demon oppression and spiritual warfare are the same thing. I have noticed that I have had more oppression since becoming a Christian (and many people agree on this is the case)
Then again maybe I had it all my life on and off but not been aware of it. We use our own free will to sin but I do believe that demons can tempt us to sin. Remember that Satan tried to tempt Jesus himself!

Personal experiences with demons-
1) I have been demonically oppressed in my sleep a few times. Saying Jesus' name immediately stops it all.
2) My sister's step daughter has seen a cloaked figure sitting on the end of her bed a few times during the night. Personally I think that her preoccupation with Harry Potter and new age stuff has made her vulnerable. It's interesting that the demon was sitting close by. Was it waiting to be invited in?
3) This girl's father works at a stately home. He has seen a "ghost" there with his own eyes. I'm not sure about ghosts but I think they are probably just demons taking human form. I have seen a "ghost" myself a few months ago. This is the first time I have ever seen such a thing in forty years.

I am now coming around to the controversial belief that a lot of things that are now explained away by psychiatry are actually connected to the spiritual realm.

I'm starting to wonder whether extreme personality disorders such as psychopathy are not demon possession.
I know this all sounds crazy but I have spent years researching one particular disorder which is called "narcissism". There are many, many aspects to this disorder that science cannot explain. They cannot explain how it occurs (people are not born with it) and it cannot be treated.
What is incredible about this disorder is the "hive mind". What this means is that two people from opposite corners of the world who have never met each other and are not related can have identical behaviour and even speech patterns. They can't understand how the hive mind works. I think that the really simple answer to it is that these two people are possessed by the same type of demon. Yes, I think these people are possessed.
It isn't foaming at the mouth possession, it's more subtle.

I think there are different types of demons that have different "aptitudes".

I think things like alcoholism are facilitated by demonic oppression. How else do you explain how faith alone can cure alcoholism?

What I would say is that casting out demons is a risky business. I believe it can be done still to this day but I wouldn't know how to go about it as I am a baby Christian. I think you would need to really know what you're doing.

To sum it all up, yes demons are still amongst us. They can oppress us and even possess us but we cannot be possessed by them when we have the Holy Spirit.

We are living in a spiritual battlefield but this should not make you afraid. We know who wins this battle in the end. It is written.
Jesus has already overcome the world. All we need to do is believe in Him.