Satan, Devil and Demons
Trinity
Soul
Heaven
Hell
Satan/Demons
The Truth
About Satan
Every Satan
Every Devil
Edenic Covenant
Satan Prelim
Demon Prelim
Genesis 3:4-5
Genesis 6:2
Job 1:6
Isaiah 14:12-14
Ezekiel 28:13-16
Matthew 4:1-11
Matt. 12:43-45
Luke 10:18
Luke 22:3,31
John 12:31
14:30; 16:11
John 13:2,27
2 Cor. 11:14
James 2:19
1 Peter 5:8
2 Peter 2:4
Jude 6
Jude 9
Rev. 12:7-9
"Saved"
Baptism
Resurrection
Antichrist
Unique
Catholic
Mormon
SDA
JW
British Israel
Church
of Christ
Pentecostal
Islam
Science
Miracles
Evolution
Creation
Carbon Dating
Inspiration
Partial
Contradictions
& Inaccuracies
- Matthew 12:43-45
- "Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first . . ."
- Problem:
- This verse is cited to prove the existence of unclean spirits or demons. Unclean spirits are said to be emissaries of Satan the Devil, "the god of this system of things."1
- Solution:
- Why should a powerful angel (angels excel in strength - Psa. 103:20) walk through dry places seeking rest? (vs. 43).
- The narrative concerning the unclean spirit concludes: "Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation." (vs. 45). This conclusion indicates that the preceding is a parable of comparison and not to be taken literally.
- The nation of Israel had experienced a cleansing by the teaching of John the Baptist. There "went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins." (Matt. 3:5, 6). The house was "cleaned" - "swept and garnished" (Matt. 12:44), but it was without its real occupant - the Messiah. "He came unto his own, {house , R.S.V.}, and his own received him not." (John 1:11). The refusal of Israel to respond to the teaching of the Christ merited the description: "and the last state of that man {Israel} is worse than the first {prior to the cleansing of John's teaching}". (Matt. 12:45). Jesus said: "The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and behold, a greater than Jonas is here." (Matt. 12:41). The parable was also in effect, a prophecy. In A.D. 70 the frenzied ("demonized") resistance of the Jews to the Roman invasion resulted in their national destruction.
Footnotes:
- All manner of evil has been wrought by the teaching that demons are invisible spirit-creatures. Augustine, revered by the Roman Church taught that "all diseases of Christians are to be ascribed to demons, chiefly do they torment the fresh baptized, yes, even the guiltless new-born infant". Gregory the Great solemnly related that a nun, having eaten some lettuce without making the sign of the cross, swallowed a devil, and that when the devil was commanded to come forth by a "holy man" it did so and is reported to have said: "How am I to blame? I was sitting on the lettuce, and this woman, not having made the sign of the cross, ate me along with it." Men who then cast out devils were very careful to keep their mouths closed while carrying out their exorcism, lest the devil should jump from the mouth of the patient into their own mouth. See Howard W. Haggard, M.D., Devils, Drugs, & Doctors: The Story of the Science of Healing from Medicine-Man to Doctor, (New York: Pocket Books, Inc., 1959), pp. 310-311. Under the belief that possession by devils causes disease, the sick during epidemics were carried to churches (often bound a dozen at a time), and thrown upon the floor of the church where they remained until they died or the devils expelled. Needless to say, recoveries were not frequent under this treatment, but the patient and not the treatment bore the blame. Projection of blame has also resulted. In France, during the Middle Ages, male demons were blamed for violating women, most of whom were nuns. "Pope" Innocent VIII issued a bull to provide the faithful with an efficacious formula for exorcising incubuses (these demons). In 1637 a formal public discussion took place in Paris on the subject. More recently, in Ontario Canada, (Jan. 1969) a woman convicted of driving on the wrong side of a highway attributed the blame to "unseen forces" which placed the car in the opposite lane. She was fined and lost her driver's license. Return