Category Archives: Devil, Satan

Genesis 3 – traditional and revisionist readings

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I must admit that I’m not sure about where to place Genesis 3 on a scale between the two extremes of ‘literal history’ and ‘pure fiction’.  Here’s a summary of some the options:-

An historical account of a ‘Fall’

Traditionally, this account has been understood as a more or less literal description of an historical event in involving a ‘fall’ on the part of our first parents from a state of innocence.  According to Kreeft & Tacelli, for example,

‘there are three reasons why the Fall can’t be mere moral parable or fiction:-

First, if the Fall is not historical at all, then its effects—suffering and death—also are not historical.

…

Paul the villain

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Preaching recently in Curaçao, Diocese of Venezuela, The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori demonstrated just how far she has travelled from anything resembling a biblical and apostolic faith.

Pushing the familiar agenda of inclusion and diversity (changing attitudes and laws about same-sex relationships remind us that different is not the same as wrong), she informs her hearers of a particular blind spot that Paul had in this regard.  Schori refers to the incident involving a slave girl, recorded in Acts 16. …

Remedies against Satan’s devices

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William Spurstowe (1605-1666), along with other Puritan writers, catalogued many of Satan’s devices, and indicated the remedies that the Christian should take:-

Device 1 – Satan leads us from lesser sins to greater.

Remedy – ‘Do not give the devil a foothold’ (Eph 4:27).  If you let the serpent’s head into the house, the whole body will soon follow.  Do not trivialise ‘lesser’ sins: ‘the least sin is contrary to the law of God, the nature of God, the being of God, and the glory of God’ (Brooks).…

Demons, ghosts, and Jesus

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For those who accept the metaphysical reality of daimons (I’m using a straight transliteration of the Greek, in order to place at a bit of distance the baggage that tends to accompany the word ‘demons’) the conventional idea is that they belong to an order of created, malevolent, non-corporeal beings.

The popular conception a ghost is that it is the spirit of a dead human being.

Peter Bolt has provided solid documentary evidence to show that for many people living at the time of Jesus, ‘daimon’ would have been virtually synonymous with ‘ghost’.…

Isaiah 14:12 – Is Satan a fallen angel?

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Isaiah 14:12 Look how you have fallen from the sky,
O shining one, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the ground,
O conqueror of the nations!

Since God created everything, Gen 1:1, Jn 1:3, Col 1:16, and everything he created was good, Gen 1:3, Ps 104:24, 1 Tim 4:4, it seems reasonable to suppose that Satan was originally part of that good creation, but ‘fell’ into evil.

Many interpreters have seen in this prophecy (and also Eze 28) a cosmic dimension, although its primary reference is clearly to a man – the king of Babylon, Isa 14:4.…

Mk 9:9-32 – A demonised boy healed – sermon notes

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It had been a mountain-top experience to top the lot. Right there, in front of three of his disciples, Jesus had experienced a brief but amazing transformation. His face shone; even his clothes became dazzling white. Two godly men from long ago, Moses and Elijah, had put in personal appearances. And God himself had spoken: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”

As they come down the mountain, Jesus gave Peter, James and John a solemn instruction, v9: “Don’t tell anyone about what you have just seen until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”…

Lk 8:26-39 – The Gerasene demoniac – sermon notes

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What a day this is turning out to be! That really was the mother of all storms, a hurricane from hell.

The sheer violence of that storm…the way the Master spoke to it…the fact that it completely subsided as soon he did so…It was almost as if something (or someone) didn’t want us to get to the other side of that lake.

Anyway, it’s over now. I just hope the Master lets us turn the boat around, sail back the way we came, and change into some fresh dry clothes.…

Marxism, Fascism, and the Occult

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It’s a chilling thought, and one to which secular historians would be unlikely to give much credence.  But it is probable that Marxism, and certain that Fascism, were deeply involved in occult practices.

Take Marx.  In his early teens he was a keen Christian.  Although it cannot be proven that he became involved in a Satanist cult, there was certainly one operating near his home, and his early writings give some indication that he was involved with them. …

Our daily warfare

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We ought not to think that [the Devil’s] activity is primarily, or even mainly, to be seen in dramatic, extraordinary “power” encounters, where people are exorcised or delivered of demons. His warfare against us – and make no mistake it is real – takes place primarily at a far more frightening level: at the level of ordinary, everyday life.

We see this illustrated repeatedly in the Epistles when our battle with the Devil is mentioned. We keep him at bay when we deal promptly with anger and do not allow it to fracture relationships.…

Demonisation in Scripture and in history

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My present interest in the fascinating and yet sombre subject of demonology is due to the fact that I’m preparing to preach on Luke 8:26-39 – the Gerasene demoniac.  That passage (together with the parallel accounts in Matthew and Mark) present the most dramatic case of demonisation in the whole of Scripture, and therefore requires that particular attention to the subject of demons and their activities.

One of the seminal works on demonology is that by John L.…