By Rev. Mark Hunnemann
I want to deal with some issues that concern the nature and activity of demons. Why? Because a lot of unbiblical ideas are being spread via fiction and non-fiction books. In one fictional book, written by a man claiming to be a theologian, and who had sought out the advice of a demonologist, stated or implied the following: demons can die (nope), can be summoned from the Pit (nope), drink blood to get stronger (nope), some are older than others (nope).Not bad for one book…sheesh. I understand the concept of fictional creativity, but never at the expense of biblical accuracy. I am appalled at how easily many writers reject the wisdom of classical Christianity, and creatively come up with the most bizarre notions of the origin and nature of demons. They ARE fallen angels, which Lucifer (now Satan) led in a rebellion; God then threw them down to earth. Though they have considerable power, they drag God’s chains wherever they go. At Judgment, they will be slung into hell where God will punish them for all eternity. Amen.
Well, can demons go through walls? Of course they can! They aren’t just invisible, they are spiritual beings. Then why do so many demonologists insist that the front door be open during a cleansing? Hehe good question!
Since I actually do cleanse houses on a fairly regular basis, this is a very practical question to me and others in the same field. Some folks absolutely insist on keeping the front door open, or the demons will get trapped inside. Umm…really?! With a house full of kids and animals on the inside, and flies and mosquitoes on the outside, this becomes a major issue during a two hour cleansing/blessing! Haha..I’m sorry but I can’t help laughing at this. I’ve been working on this for three days and I still am laughing! Do we really think a demon cannot zip through a wall? How did they get in, walk in with the groceries? I have done it both ways and it made no difference. Demonologists tend to be a pig-headed lot (we are!)..we are utterly certain about things the bible is utterly uncertain about! Now, if it will make the family feel better, I will open the door. Another example would be the rigid rules regarding which direction the demonologist must face when cleansing a room. I guess demons are hard of hearing! As a relative newcomer, I realized early on that this directional mumbo-jumbo is actually a carry-over from magick! Lol.
And this may sound heretical to some, but if entering the tight crawl-space means possibly being bitten by poisonous spiders, then sticking your head in and hollering is just fine. Again, it has worked fine for me and others. Please don’t mistake my levity for lack of seriousness regarding this holy work. I choose to be joyful in spite of the increasing attacks on me and those I love. One final point here: I have adopted a phrase which has served me well in this work—better safe than sorry. Since we can never know the full history of a home, I always bless the property—including the vehicles. I learned that one the hard way. I don’t go out of my way to do any research (other than what the family can dig up) because it would not effect the approach I take; which is the same for every location. If you cover all the bases in a cleansing, why all the fuss about research? And the fact that a suicide took place in the home is going to effect my approach how? Once you start research where do you stop? How can we know about a slaughter that happened there 4,000 years ago? It is ALL trumped by the blood of Jesus! And again, this lack of research has not adversely affected the success in cleansing dozens of houses;
Demons cannot physically indwell or possess a Christian, and to say otherwise is a heresy. I don’t use that word lightly because it is a serious charge. Some issues are inherently more important than others, and few are more important than this one. We are indwelt by the Trinity by the agency of the Holy Spirit. At the moment of conversion, the Holy Spirit comes in and the Trinity makes His home inside of us.(John 14:23 ;Rom. 8:9) The Holy Spirit is THE Homemaker. The bible uses other images (e.g. temple) but surely it is preposterous to think that the Third Person of the Holy Trinity will co-dwell with an unholy spirit!
A former guest on The Paranormal Christian radio show (which I left), Dr Payne, brings in this heresy through the back door. To oppression and possession, he adds a third, unbiblical category known as being demonized. At the risk of sounding simplistic, the thinking goes: the Holy Spirit maintains legal ownership of the Christian, but the demon indwells them—or part of them. The reason for adopting this category was that he did not think the classical categories did justice to the phenomena—some Christians are severely under demonic influence; hence the demon must be inside. That is a non-sequitor (it does not follow) I agree that some cases are quite severe (I have seen them), but why not simply say that oppression has gradations to it? There is no need to place a demon inside a person to explain the bizarre behavior. A demon outside of us, can project inside of us, all manner of horrible thoughts and feelings—but the demon is still outside of us. The Greek word topos (Eph.4:27), which is used to support the notion of demonization, simply means a place..or opportunity—there is no suggestion of inside place..or inside anything. There is no need to add the category of demonization, and every reason to reject it. Frankly, it puzzles me that otherwise bright and godly folks, feel constrained to allow a filthy spirit entrance to one of God’s saints. Did not the Son of Man die in order to free us from being indwelt by darkness? How can Light and darkness co-exist in the same person?
Can demons murder people? In Mark 9:22 a dad tells Jesus that a possessing demon had often tried to kill his son by fire or by water. Clearly, that is a case of attempted murder..(Liddell and Scott’s Greek dictionary define the term…to destroy utterly, kill, slay) John 10:10 “…to kill, steal, and destroy.” is a summation of Satan’s/demon’s job description. Elsewhere the demonic batter people, cause illness, and even storms and so on.. I am convinced the answer is “yes”, demons can kill or murder. It has happened too many times now to throw out the anecdotal evidence—it needs to be faced head-on. Nobody believes in the absolute sovereignty of God more than I do, but it is that very sovereignty that has given the demonic considerable temporary power. They have the power to not just kill mediately …using a “mediator”…. like influencing people to kill. No, they can kill immediately—by direct force…constricting a heart, beating someone to death, and so on. Please, I beg of you, do not see this as far-fetched. See if this makes any sense…suppose someone wrote a book that exposed one of Satan’s most successful deceptions. A moment’s communion with common sense would indicate that Satan would surely put this person on his hit list. As I write, my book is the only book that exposes the fallacies in basic ghost theory from a biblical worldview. I am convinced my youngest child was the target of attempted murder two weeks ago in a bizarre car accident. On that exact same night, I had a radio interview scheduled; it was cancelled because the producer was almost killed in a car wreck the same day as my daughter. Since then, attacks on me and those I love have accelerated. In a fallen world, life happens; but diabolical death is stalking those dear to me. Please pray…thank you.
There are two reasons why I believe more people have not been killed by demons (these are in addition to the believer’s special protection): God’s mysterious common grace that shields us to some extent, and Satanic strategy—it would be bad PR to murder Zak Bagan’s on prime time TV. Please…I am not being sarcastic, mean, or exaggerating at all. I fear, not just for Zak, but for all investigators who don’t take this seriously, or who provoke, or who are not properly protected. Frankly, I fear for anyone who believes in trapped human spirits, and especially if you solicit EVP’s. I say this with tears, but at this point, I don’t think it is a question of if, but when, will the killing start on a larger scale in the paranormal community? It is a horrible thought, but it has already started. and we need to take the threat seriously.
