It was hockey heaven. In February 2025, four nations faced off against each other to decide which country was the supreme hockey power in the world. Sweden, Finland, Canada and the US all sent their best players to Montreal to play for hockey glory. And it was glorious. It was fast. It was offense. It was defense. It was unbelievable goaltending. It was physical. It was everything they had versus everything the other team had, and it was breathtaking. There was not a minute that disappointed. And at the end, it all came down to who had the biggest heart, who had the indomitable will to win and who refused to give up. And it all came down to overtime in the gold-medal game between Canada and the US. And it was absolutely spectacular. Why? Because we all love a great finish (even if the Finns weren’t in the game!).
Today, we want to finish up our series on Second Temple period Judaism. I’m hoping that it will also be a great finish. I am also hoping that you have found this study as engaging as I have. Before I read Matthias Henze’s book, Mind the Gap: How the Jewish Writings between the Old and New Testament Help Us Understand Jesus, I had little understanding of how important the apocryphal books of the Second Temple period were to understand Jesus and his cognitive environment. But since reading Henze, I have a huge appreciation for those writings. But I also have a lot of questions, and we’ve been looking at one of the most puzzling cases, that of demons.
Last week, we gave seven reasons to doubt demons exist today. If we consider those seven arguments by themselves, I think we would agree they were very compelling. However, there is another side to the argument; and today, we need to look at that other side and present why we should believe in demons today. And since we looked at seven reasons against demons last week, I figured we ought to look at seven reasons to believe in demons this week. Here are my top arguments for believing in the existence of demons today.
- Jesus spoke to demons. Had Jesus just cast something out (blindness, deafness, mental illness), we could not be sure what they were. However, Jesus spoke to these demons. He asked them their names. He sidestepped their attempts to gain the upper hand. He listened to their pleas. He even engaged them in negotiations. In Mark 5, when Jesus asks the name of the one who is speaking, it is not a person who responds (his name is not James, Saul or Philip). Instead, the voice says, “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many” (Mk. 5:9). And Jesus speaks to Legion and quickly dispatches him/them out of the man. These conversations sure make it sound like these demons were actual spiritual beings that had taken up residence within a human being. Since Jesus spoke to these demons, I would want to argue that there is no accommodation taking place here.
- When Jesus performs an exorcism, the “host” often responds violently as if whatever it is that is inside of him does not want to leave. Viruses, when they are being attacked by antibiotics, do not throw the patient into convulsions. Since the “demon” fights to remain in the “host,” this would argue that we are not seeing viruses and human diseases being addressed here.
- While we can assign almost all maladies (blindness, deafness, mental illness, etc.) to natural causes, certain sicknesses seem so bad, that they scream for a demonic cause. I have a hard time believing that a serial killer or a school shooter is not possessed by a demonic force, a spirit that moves in a person’s mental illness and contorts the already high levels of paranoia and hatred to levels of darkness way beyond what a person is normally capable of. I mentioned last week, that I had never seen signs of demonic activity in my world, but perhaps I spoke too soon. Maybe all horrific crimes are inspired by demonic activity.
- It is also possible that the reason we don’t see demons at work in our world today is because they have become far more sophisticated over the course of time. In the ancient world, they wanted the publicity and fed off the fear. Today, perhaps, they want to stay hidden and feed off our refusal to believe in the supernatural world. Maybe C.S. Lewis’ account of demons in The Screwtape Letters is more on target then we normally acknowledge.
- If we believe in angels who remain faithful to God and do his bidding, then it should not be too difficult to believe in fallen angels (aka, demons) who stand against God and do the bidding of the Evil One.
- It seems odd that the demons were the first to identify who Jesus was (again and again, we read lines like, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?”). Why would the evangelists emphasize that unless it was true and the demons had insight into Jesus’ true identity? And if they had that ability, it must only be because they were spiritual beings and could see into the spiritual world.
- It sure looks like Jesus believed in demons; and if that is the case (and it sure looks like he does), we should feel compelled to believe in them, too. And since the New Testament mentions demons nine times, perhaps we ought to trust those writers, too. One example may help. Romans 8:38-39 says:
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Paul, apparently, believed in demons (but he believed in the power of God’s love more!).
We now have seven good reasons to doubt the existence of demons and seven good reasons to believe in them. And that is how it should be because this is not an easy question to answer. So, what should we do? When in doubt, quote Matthias Henze. He writes:
“For today’s progressive Christians, the fact that Jesus conversed with demons and spirits is a source of embarrassment. ‘That’s what people thought back then’ is the modern response of those for whom stories about demons and unclean spirits merely reflect a naïve misunderstanding of what actually are physical disabilities and mental illnesses. But there is more to these stories than a primitive, premodern misperception of human diseases. The belief in the existence of demons and unclean spirits is predicated on the assumption—offensive to many modern believers and nonbelievers alike, no doubt—that human beings are not the center of all things. Humans are part of a larger reality that consists of more than just themselves. It includes other powers and forces, as well as spiritual beings, some of them friendly and others hostile.”
That is a great insight. This world is not all there is. There is a spiritual reality that we often do not see or take into account. And since this is so, perhaps believing in demons should not be too difficult.
The time has come. We’ve looked at a fair amount of material, but at the end of regulation time (as it’s known in the hockey world), we are still tied. We need to come to a conclusion. We need to finish on solid ground and be crowned the winner. So, what should we do? How should we move forward? Let me conclude with five points.
- We must realize that almost all Jews and Christians, from the Second Temple period until just recently, never doubted the existence of demons. They simply took their existence for granted. Maybe we should humble ourselves and trust in the wisdom and spiritual insights of our forefathers and mothers. Yes, we will still have questions, but maybe the spirit of the age has blinded us to truths that previous generations could see with clarity. There comes a time to give up your objections and move on.
- We also must admit that the whole question about demons is, in part, an exercise in missing the point. The focus on all of the exorcism stories in the Gospels is never on the healing of the individual (who is always anonymous) and never on the demon (who is always powerless), but always on Jesus’ power (who always moves in complete victory). This must be our focus, as well. If demons exist in our world today, then we do not have to worry. Jesus is the victor. He has conquered all his enemies and left no doubt about his power or superiority. The question about demons existing today falls into that same category. To focus on, to worry about, to become obsessed with demons is to miss the point of the Gospels. Jesus is the victor and his power protects us, so we do not have to fear.
- Interestingly, we never find a list of things in the New Testament to ward off impure spirits like we find in the Dead Sea Scrolls. This tells me again, that we do not need to worry about such spirits or even pay much attention to them. Our calling is to walk in the Spirit, clothe ourselves in the fruit of the Spirit and refuse to grieve the Spirit. No other defense seems to be necessary. If we feel other steps are beneficial, perhaps we need to see them more as a means to comfort our own fears and little faith than to actually ward off any demonic activity.
- Also, however we choose to view demons today, the fact is that they are a defeated group. The exorcisms were not simple miracles, but cosmic victories. Whether we are reading the Gospels, the epistles or the Book of Revelation, the message is always the same. Jesus is Lord of lords, King of kings and Victor over all the powers of darkness. And while we do not see that full victory now, we know it is sure. Demons, unclean spirits and Satan himself will one day be dispatched forever. We should not be foolish, but we should not be overly concerned either. We ought to live each day in the joy of Jesus’ victory over all his enemies, not in fear.
- For me, the best argument for demons existing today is found in the fact that Jesus spoke to them. That makes these stories real and not merely tales using warfare imagery. But I hate it that demons have no origin story and mysteriously appear in the Gospels. Again, for me, if I put both arguments on a scale with the reasons to believe in demons today on the right and the reasons not to believe in them on the left, I believe the difference would be almost negligible (although I would say that believing in demons would have a slight advantage). I need to live with that picture. Because both sides have compelling arguments, I should not treat those who believe in demons with scorn, but neither should I demonize those who don’t believe. The arguments on both sides compel me to be kind to those on the other side of the debate because the evidence is not nearly as conclusive as I would want.
In closing, let me just say that I will always be frustrated that demons just show up in my New Testament (just like Radio Host Reggie Rust from last week’s post), and that the only origin story they have is from Babylon (Babylon!); but since Jesus seemed to believe in demons, I will, as well. However, I am going to believe in the demons in the Gospel accounts, the demons who cower when Jesus approaches and who are dispatched quickly by his voice. And I am going to take comfort in the fact that Jesus never went hunting for demons to expel them, as if they were a force to contend with, but they always came seeking him because they knew they were powerless. And if I have to choose who my real enemy is, I will never choose Satan or his demonic hordes, but I will always confess that I am my own worst enemy and that my heart is deceitful above all things. And if I have to predict who will win this “cosmic battle,” I will say without hesitation or doubt, God will win. In fact, I will go one step further: The battle was over before it began. God has won the victory, and he is our shield and defender.
