Origin of demons

[Esaias]

What is the origin of demons? What exactly are they?

I do not see any evidence they are 'fallen angels', a theory which seems more at home in the Silmarillion than in Christian doctrine. Assuming for the moment there WAS an ancient angelic rebellion, Scripture speaks of 'the angels which left their first estate' as being 'reserved under chains' until Judgement, not roaming around possessing people.

Angels are beings of immense power, scripture is clear on that. An evil angel would not be limited to bodily possession of an individual making them act lunatic.

Seems demons in scripture are what modern man calls 'mental disease' of the psychosis kind. Schizophrenia, dementia, MPD, psychotic states, etc seem to be more along the lines of demonic possession.

Some have concluded that 'demon possession' in scripture is simply an archaic and ignorant superstitious reference to mental illness, and that Jesus accomodated the ignorance of the times by using their terminology.

This seems implausible however. A mere mental disorder does not declare its own name, demand not to be tormented prior to Judgement Day, or request to be transferred into a herd of swine, for example.

Interestingly, the Bible teaches two things clearly - the gods of paganism are demons, and the gods of paganism are 'nothing'. The word 'daimon' or 'daemon' or 'daimonion' in the Greek are related to the mind. They were viewed as little gods by the common people but the technical and philosophical meaning had to do with 'Genius', ie the subconscious source of inspiration in a person's mind.

So it's all your head, right? Yes... and yet no. Unclean spirits/demons are spoken of in Scripture as really spirits of some kind. They seem to use the brain/mind of whatever they are inhabiting - thus a demon in a human is able to speak, has the gist of a personality, etc... but in a herd of swine simply act out as a horde of deranged animals. Perhaps demons are not 'persons', or personalities per se, but take on the personality or adopt the mental capacity or intelligence of whatever they possess, whether of humans, or pigs.

In any case, whatever they are, where did they come from?

ALL things were made by God - that would include evil spirits, unclean spirits, demons, etc.

Is there a scripture I have missed or overlooked that explains their origin and purpose?

Your thoughts?

(And no, I do not accept that they are the souls of the people killed in the Flood, wandering around trying to get back into a body, lol.)

[Praxeas]

Could "darkness" refer to a blindness?

[Dordrecht]

ALL things were made by God - that would include evil spirits, unclean spirits, demons, etc.

I don't think they were created that way.
They were not created as being evil.
They decided to become evil.

[shazeep]

plus, it seems Esaias has mingled the spirits cast from heaven for rebellion with the Nephilim?

[Moonlightpixel]

This is unrelated but I have a question.
What can a person do with the gift of discernment?
I thought of one: Become a therapist.

[BrotherEastman]

Originally Posted by Esaias

What is the origin of demons? What exactly are they?

I do not see any evidence they are 'fallen angels', a theory which seems more at home in the Silmarillion than in Christian doctrine. Assuming for the moment there WAS an ancient angelic rebellion, Scripture speaks of 'the angels which left their first estate' as being 'reserved under chains' until Judgement, not roaming around possessing people.

Angels are beings of immense power, scripture is clear on that. An evil angel would not be limited to bodily possession of an individual making them act lunatic.

Seems demons in scripture are what modern man calls 'mental disease' of the psychosis kind. Schizophrenia, dementia, MPD, psychotic states, etc seem to be more along the lines of demonic possession.

Some have concluded that 'demon possession' in scripture is simply an archaic and ignorant superstitious reference to mental illness, and that Jesus accomodated the ignorance of the times by using their terminology.

This seems implausible however. A mere mental disorder does not declare its own name, demand not to be tormented prior to Judgement Day, or request to be transferred into a herd of swine, for example.

Interestingly, the Bible teaches two things clearly - the gods of paganism are demons, and the gods of paganism are 'nothing'. The word 'daimon' or 'daemon' or 'daimonion' in the Greek are related to the mind. They were viewed as little gods by the common people but the technical and philosophical meaning had to do with 'Genius', ie the subconscious source of inspiration in a person's mind.

So it's all your head, right? Yes... and yet no. Unclean spirits/demons are spoken of in Scripture as really spirits of some kind. They seem to use the brain/mind of whatever they are inhabiting - thus a demon in a human is able to speak, has the gist of a personality, etc... but in a herd of swine simply act out as a horde of deranged animals. Perhaps demons are not 'persons', or personalities per se, but take on the personality or adopt the mental capacity or intelligence of whatever they possess, whether of humans, or pigs.

In any case, whatever they are, where did they come from?

ALL things were made by God - that would include evil spirits, unclean spirits, demons, etc.

Is there a scripture I have missed or overlooked that explains their origin and purpose?

Your thoughts?

(And no, I do not accept that they are the souls of the people killed in the Flood, wandering around trying to get back into a body, lol.)

Don't know whether or not you read non canonized scripture or not, but the book of Enoch sheds some pretty good light on your question. Just a thought.

[mizpeh]

Originally Posted by Dordrecht

I don't think they were created that way.
They were not created as being evil.
They decided to become evil.

God made all things good.

[mizpeh]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

Could "darkness" refer to a blindness?

I think it is a term to contrast with "light". Esaias should consider doing a study of the word, darkness, in the NT.

I think of the 'chains of darkness' as the fallen angels being bound up so that their minds are absolutely darkened that they can no longer do good.

[justlookin]

It does seem there's a difference between a fallen angel and a demon, but where and when demons originated is anyone's guess. If they are Nephilim, this would mean there was no demonic activity until after the sons of God/daughters of men interaction which immediately preceded the flood. Maybe so.

[Moonlightpixel]

Do people with the gift of discernment travel on mission trips?
If they do, then I need to tell people what my gift is!