By Rev. Hunnemann
The story is told of a preacher who would write notes in the margin of his sermon outline; one said: "Logic weak here...raise your voice." he he-that is one way to get a point across...raise the decibel level. Long on attention grabbing ,but short on actual persuasion. I mention this because I want to keep the decibel level low, while trying to explain a familiar topic. All of us have wondered if demons can read our minds, and most
of us would say "No, they can't" What I have not seen, other than a rather loudish, "Only God can read minds!", is a systematic attempt to explain WHY...so here goes.
What nudged me to do some musings (I dig musing :) ) on this topic was a comment made in the Paranormal Church blog. A woman raised this issue and then said, :"Angels read each others minds now, and when we die our souls will do the same with each other.So, why can't demons read them...".Now, so mesmerized was I at this point, you could have driven a steamroller through my living room and I would not have noticed! When really engrossed in thought, I fly away to a different world...inaccessible.Upon return to semi-sanity, here are some thought re: demons reading our minds.
1.True mind reading is a divine perogative--an extension of His omniscience..see #7
2.In Mark' gospel, and scripture in general, the miracles of Christ are given as a validation of His divinity (divine Messiah) In Mark 2: 1-12 is a wonderful story of where four friends of a paralytic lowered him from the roof so that Jesus might heal him--it was so crowded they could not get in otherwise. Jesus was delighted with their faith and told the paralyzed man that his sins were forgiven.In v 7 it says that the scribes were thinking to themselves that Jesus was blaspheming because only God can forgive sin. v.8 Immediately, we are told that Jesus knew what they were thinking (real mind reading) and He then asked them which was easier: to forgive a man's sins or to heal a paralytic. Since the process of sin forgiveness is invisible Jesus gives them empirical evidence of ability to forgive sins, and therefore is God...and he does this by healing the paralyzed man. The miracle proved his deity,but note that central to this whole divine validation is Jesus reading their minds.It is the first of three miracles designed to show He is God: he reads minds, he forgives sins, he heals a paralytic. So, to say that only God can read minds is actually an integral part of this text.
3. Nowhere in the bible is Satan or his demons said to read minds...BIG omission if true
4. What appears to be demonic mind reading is really demonic influence. They project thoughts into your mind, which sounds like your "mind-voice"...no raspy voices and hisses in the mind. Then they turn around and tell you what you were thinking about, trying to seem like they have the ability to read your mind. But all they have done is parrot back what they projected in there. So simple...so crafty...so persuasive to the undiscerning.
5. In my opinion, mind reading by another creature would be tantamount to mind-rape...an unnerving access or forced entry into our most secret, sacred, private place. God's goodness would not allow this unwarranted intrusion.
6. As a corollary to #5, Satan tries to convince us he can read our minds because it instills fear.
7. "The Lord knows the thought of man" (Ps.94:11);"You percieve my thoughts from afar" (Ps.139:2) there are many verses in the bible which speak of God knowing what is in our minds or hearts.In Ps.139:1-6 David is worshiping God for His omniscience--in that context His knowledge of our thoughts is stated. Though intelligent, filthy spirits are not all-knowing.
8. In a section that is dealing with this very issue of who is privy to our thoughts, we read ..."No one can know a person's thoughts except that person's own spirit, and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit." (1 Cor.2:11) The stress is on inability...Inaccessibility to our thoughts by anyone but God is similar to the fact that only God Himself knows what He is thinking.Nobody has the ability to know our thoughts, or God's thoughts.It is as if Paul said. "Only a person;s own consciousness is aware of his secret thoughts, just like nobody but God is privy to His own unrevealed thoughts." The Holy Spirit, as part of the Trinity, knows and reveals to us God's thoughts...or some of them. Do you see the force of this argument....Only God knows His own thoughts, and only we know our own thoughts.If you question the latter then, you must question God as well...and we are all in agreement that demons cannot (inability) read God's mind.To me, this text is conclusive...BUT...
9. What of the point that angels read each others minds now, that we will read each others minds in heaven, and that must mean that demons can read our minds now.....Well, do angels really read each others minds....NO! Let me explain, and I admit of using some conjecture. Unfettered mind reading is a mind-rape as we said. Angelic communication, as well as soul-to-soul communication in heaven, will be achieved via passive receiving and active transmitting.The angel or soul that is "talking" is the active transmitter of thought, and the one listening is the passive receiver of that information.Then the roles are reversed when the receiver wants to answer--he then actively transmits his thoughts to the others mind, while the others mind receives it.But, and this is crucial, at no point is the angel or soul having their mind "read".There is not involuntary or forced access to our minds, even in heaven. The problem arose when this person wrongly assumed that, for mind-to-mind communication to happen, we must "get into another person's head or mind".That assumption is a non-sequitur...meaning, it does not folllw (wrong conclusion) The back and forth of mind-to-mind communication does not entail accessing the contents of the other's mind...just transmission and reception.There must be some form of mental telepathy between angels now, and our naked souls in heaven (before we get our glorified bodies).
A body-less soul, even in heaven,is incomplete.. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. (2Cor.5:3) It is a fascinating paragraph, which speaks of our desire to be clothed with our glorified bodies. These "spiritual" bodies will be physical in nature, but perfected and endowed with new powers...much like Jesus's post-resurrection body in which He was able to walk through walls or just appeared, but He ate fish as well (yeeaa!) (Luke 24:43) "And they gave Him a piece of broiled fish, and He ate it as they watched." No vaporous apparition was He! He HAS a glorified human body now, and will for all eternity. But in this state, His communication was NOT telepathic...it was voice to eardrums. The purpose of salvation is not to free us from the prison house of the soul--the physical body--which is what Plato taught...and Gnostics. Rather, the gloriously grand sweep of redemption is to restore to us the fullness of our perfected humanness. Only a gloriously excellent Savior could bring about such a glorious salvation!
