What is a demon?

Vivificat - From Contemplation to Action ^ | 11 January 2012 | TDJ

[Teófilo]

Blunders. Typos. Mine.

[Teófilo]

PING!

[evets]

Michelangelo's first painting: The Torment of Saint Anthony

[knarf]

A religious liberal

[Old Sarge]

What is a demon?

There are two of them occupying the White Hut right now.

[Salvation]

In Scripture, it is so strange, that the demons (fallen angels) recognize Jesus Christ for who he really is, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Meanwhile the Pharisees, scribes, etc. do NOT recognize Jesus.

[Salvation]

From Father John Hardon's Dictionary:

DEMON

Originally a spirit between the gods and men. In the New Testament a demon is the same as an evil spirit, which may be translated as "devil." It consequently means a malevolent, invisible being, which the pre-Christian word "demon" did not imply. (Etym. Latin daemon, evil spirit; Greek daim_n, a god, genius, spirit.)

All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

[surroundedbyblue]

‘Tis a shame & a great error that many no longer believe in the existence of demons, satan, or Hell.

I pray that they will open their eyes. This stuff is for real & we are under constant attack from these buggers.

[ModelBreaker]

How does the author know all this detail?

[G Larry]

do we face a moment ourselves in which God stops granting graces of repentance and leaves us to our choices? What would that moment be?
1-The moment of our death.
2-none shall enter Heaven until the last penny is paid. Those souls spend time in Purgatory, before going to Heaven.
3-Ignores the power of Temptation and people that succumb to it, do not necessarily produce a “good”.

[plain talk]

He doesn’t. However much of what what he wrote does make sense. Food for thought. It’s only when people pass off these speculations that go beyond what is clearly revealed in scripture that I get troubled.

[G Larry]

In “The Screwtape Letters”, C.S. Lewis dialog between a senior devil and his nephew in training, makes clear, the most important deception is to convince humans that the devils don’t exist.
Thus, nothing to be warry of....

[dartuser]

There is almost nothing in this treatise that can be supported from the Biblical text.

The Bible simply provides little information on this topic, the author is making it all up, speculating with his own vain imagination.

[surroundedbyblue]

He knows this because he’s an exorcist.

[Future Snake Eater]

How is it that angels can fight among themselves? Since they lack a material body, what kind of weapons can be used? An angel is a spirit, therefore the only combat they can engage in is of an intellectual kind.

I would ask for a Biblical source for this assertion, but I know I'd never get it.

[ZULU]

Interesting read. Will read later.

[Campion]

the author is making it all up, speculating with his own vain imagination.

I think it's speculating with your own "vain imagination" to assume that he's using only his imagination. He's an experienced exorcist. That means he has more than just imagination to go on.

And why would you limit yourself to the words of Scripture? Demons are real, therefore our experience of them is real, therefore it stands to reason that there is evidence for them that comes from our own experience, and from the application of the wisdom of holy men, in addition to that found in Scripture.

Scripture has nothing to say about the hazards of being a careless pedestrian in automobile traffic. Nevertheless, I think you're probably aware of those hazards and take steps to mitigate them in your own life. Why? Because you have actual, lived, experience of those hazards. Exorcists have actual, lived, experience of demons and their behavior patterns.

[Campion]

What are you disputing? That angels are pure spirit, or that pure spirits can only engage in intellectual combat?

[Talisker]

What is a demon?

[Claud]

Do you need a Biblical source to draw inferences? What is so hard to understand about what he said there? Does an angel have a body? And if not, how can it possibly be said to fight?

Sheesh, it’s a wonder some of you put your pants on in the morning without a Bible in your other hand.