What are demons?

This Sunday I will be preaching on Luke 8:26-39, which retells the story of Jesus saving a man possessed by a “legion” of demons. Sitting down to work on my sermon at the start of the week, I felt the same way about this passage as I did my desk. It was covered with all kinds of books and binders and papers and knick-knacks and trash. A mess like that makes it hard to focus on what I’m supposed to be doing. 

My church is a few weeks into our sermon series titled “Jesus Meets Us.” We are looking at all the different kinds of people Jesus met in all kinds of scenarios to see that Jesus is here to meet with each of us exactly where we are. But that theme is hard to focus on in this passage because of the other stuff going on—and really, the biggest clutter is right  at the start of the passage. Luke 8:27 which says “there met him a man who had demons.” 

How in the world are we supposed to think about demons? I know the people in my church come from different backgrounds with different thoughts about demons. Some come from a Western culture where demons are in the same category as the easter bunny, and all we know about them comes from movies and TV shows. Others come from cultures where demons are real and ever-present, whether from India or South Africa or even rural parts of our own state (I’ve got kin from West Virginia who are keenly aware of the spiritual realm). Some come from churches that have never once addressed the existence of demons, while others come from churches who are entirely consumed by a focus on spiritual warfare. 

What are we supposed to do about all this? 

I thought it best to tackle the matter head-on. In a topic so riddled with confusion, the only suitable solution is to provide clarity—at least, as much clarity as can be found. I set out on clearing away the clutter around demons according to what God reveals in Scripture. That framework would help us understand spiritual realities so that we could focus on the main thing in this passage, which is truly astounding: Jesus meets us, of all people, in the midst of our spiritual affliction to save us from the enemy of our souls. 

Unsurprisingly, I bit off more theology than I could chew in one sermon. The first draft of my first point clocked in at 20 minutes, and I hadn’t even addressed the passage yet! Following wise counsel, I decided to cut that first point to a few summary remarks and “show my work” elsewhere. That’s what this article is. No longer constrained to a 30-minute sermon, I’ve taken the space to be a thorough and systematic as I’d like.  

I’ve decided to categorize my research under the following four questions: 

1. What do we mean when we talk about “spirits” or refer to something as “spiritual”? 
2. What are demons? 
3. How do demons interact with humans? 
4. What do we do with this information? 

 

1. What do we mean when we talk about “spirits” or refer to something as “spiritual”? 

The words “spirit” and “spiritual” are used in more than one way in Scripture. In much of Paul’s writing, “spirit” and “spiritual” are specifically related to the Holy Spirit and his work in establishing the new creation order of God’s kingdom following Christ’s resurrection.¹ The branch of theology which covers the work of the Holy Spirit in redemptive history is known as pneumatology. But that is not the question at hand. The question is, what is the nature of a spirit? What manner of being or existence is meant when we speak of something or someone as “spiritual”? In John 4:24 Jesus said “God is spirit.” What does that mean? 

At the most basic level, “spiritual” describes immaterial reality. Material reality would be the parts of creation we’re most familiar with: physical stuff, earth, mass, matter, energy; all the things we can study in physics that exist within the boundaries of time and space. 

In the Western world, it’s widely taught that reality is only material, that we’re fully reducible to atoms and neurons and things we can observe. It’s important to note: that’s a very small minority view, not just across all human history, but even across all human cultures in the world today. What most people recognize is that there is more to reality than what we can see and touch and study. That’s exactly what the Bible says. 

Scripture teaches that all of creation originates in the work of a spiritual being—that is, God. God is a spirit in the sense that God does not have a physical body and is not bound to time and space. Psalm 90:2 says “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” It’s not just that God is the first created being, or that God is the summation of all existence. He is the Creator of it all. Think about the relationship of JRR Tolkien to Middle Earth. Tolkien isn’t just a character in the story. He’s not Eru Ilúvatar, the Creator God of Middle Earth. He is the author of the story. In the same way, God is the Author of creation. 

God’s creation includes the whole physical, material world we see and touch—all the plants and animals, all matter and energy, and even the parts of the material world we don’t understand yet like dark matter and dark energy. The spiritual world is not just the shadows of the physical world we don’t yet understand. It is its own sort of created realm. 

 

2. What are demons? 

Scripture tells us that God has created a whole “spiritual reality” with beings who are immaterial. Like God, they do not have physical bodies and are not bound to time and space in the same way we are. This is exactly what Col 1:16 says “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” 

To summarize, a spirit is an immaterial being, a creature whose existence is not bound to the physical world. God is a spirit insofar as he is not material, but God is uniquely transcendent in that he alone is uncreated. This Creator God made both the heavens (spiritual creation) and the earth (physical creation). Spiritual creation includes “spirits,” which are immaterial persons. Sometimes the word “angel” is used as an umbrella term for all kinds of spiritual beings. And Scripture does indicate there are different kinds of angels. 

Genesis, Ezekiel, and other Old Testament books speak of cherubim (the plural of cherub) who guard the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:24), the Ark of the Covenant (Ex 37:7), and the temple of the Lord (Ez 41:18-25). Isaiah 6 introduces the seraphim (plural of seraph) who worship God without ceasing (Isa 6:2-3). In the verse from Colossians, those “thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities” are referring to different kinds or ranks of angels. 

The Bible also tells us that some angels have chosen to rebel against God. Following the biblical narrative, it seems as though the categories of “angels” and “demons” do not describe two distinct species of spiritual creatures; rather, it seems as though these categories describe either allegiance with or rebellion against God. We’re not told when this happened or what led to their choice, all we know is that they rejected the glory and beauty and love of their Creator and are now determined to oppose all that he has made. Following the biblical narrative, it seems as though the categories of “angels” and “demons” do not describe two distinct species of spiritual creatures; rather, it seems as though these categories describe either allegiance with or rebellion against God.

So demons are really just evil angels, or in other words, spiritual beings who have chosen to oppose God. Scripture indicates that there is one demon chief among the rest. This creature is never explicitly named, but is given titled including Satan (meaning “the accuser”) and the devil. Later Christians added the name “Lucifer,” but Biblical scholars believe this is not an explicit name or title for the devil in Scripture.² 

Jesus calls this being “a murderer from the beginning” and “the father of lies” (Jn 8:44). Revelation identifies Satan as the same being as the serpent who tempted Adam and Eve in the garden (Rev 12:9). Ephesians 2:4 describes the devil as “the prince of the power of the air.” Earth is said to be the devil’s dominion which will one day be freed from his tyranny when Christ crushes him under his heel. In a real sense, Christ has already accomplished this in his resurrection. But all creation anticipates a day when the devil and all other fallen angels will be vanquished at last (Rev 20:7-10). 

 

EXCURSUS: What is evil? 

In order to better understand demons as “evil angels,” it may be worth taking a minute to clarify the nature of evil according to Christian theology. 

Properly speaking, “evil” is not a noun. By that, I mean that evil is not an entity or a force or a substance. Evil is a verb—it is rebellion against, or defiance of, that which is Good. Unlike evil, Good is a noun. It is a real entity; more specifically, God is good. Goodness is not merely a description of God’s character. Goodness is not accidental to God, as if he can choose to be good sometimes and at other times choose to not be good. Rather, “goodness” is by definition equal to who, what, and how God is. Scripture manifoldly testifies to this equality of God and goodness. Jesus makes this explicitly clear when he answers the rich young ruler “No one is good but God alone” (Lk 18:19). 

Good as an adjective describes any thing or action which originates in or reflects God. Anyone who opposes God can properly be described as evil (adjective) because they are guilty of committing evil (verb). 

So in short, “Good” is a real thing because God is good, and God is real. It is even right to say that God is Reality itself, and all other reality—created reality—exists contingently upon God its Creator. “Evil” is not a thing, it is not a substance or an entity or a force. It is a relationship status. It is an orientation a creature can have toward God which manifests in attitudes and actions. In that sense, “evil” is in a similar category to “grace.” Grace is not a substance which can be held or distributed or quantified. it is a relationship status, an orientation God can have toward a creatures. Grace is like the contrapositive of evil: in evil, creatures hate and rebel against God; in grace, God loves and redeems evil creatures. 

So in a very real and ontological sense, there is no such thing as “pure evil.” Even the devil is not evil by nature—and by that I mean, the devil as a created being originates in God. Existence itself is a gracious gift of our Creator. Evil is entirely self-defeating. It is a rebellion not only against Goodness, but against Reality himself. This is why the goal of all evil creatures is to pull creation down as much as possible toward nonexistence. But the task is futile. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” God’s creatures did not create themselves or each other. In the end, they cannot uncreate themselves. 

 

3. How do demons interact with humans? 

Humans are persons who are both physical and spiritual. We have bodies and spirits or souls (these two words are mostly interchangeable in this context). These two natures are so closely intertwined in life we cannot clearly separate them. Things we do to our bodies can effect our spirits, and vice versa. It would be improper to refer to “my true self” as only my spirit and not my body or only my body to the denial of my soul. 

Traditionally, the human soul has been attributed with three “faculties,” or powers of operation: memory, intellect, and will.³ Memory is not only a person’s thoughts of the past, but the sense of continuity of their own personhood through time. Intellect is one’s capacity to know and perceive truth, including the awareness of oneself as an individual, and the ability to reason. Will is the desire to act in a certain way, and the capacity to have agency in one’s choice. 

Both angels and humans share these faculties of the soul. This is why both are moral agents who can either obey or rebel. Both are personal beings, capable of praise, service, or rebellion. Scripture indicates that the will of every angel is fixed after their first moral choice: the good angels confirmed in righteousness, the demons confirmed in rebellion (2 Pt 2:4, Jude 6). Again, it is not revealed in Scripture when or how the angels made their choice. 

Humans’ faculties are mediated through the body. Our brains seem to be the primary biological “house of the soul” but it would be wrong to say the soul “exclusively resides” in the brain. Angels, as pure spirits, exercise intellect and will immediately, without bodily mediation. Angels do not grow in knowledge the way humans do by sense-experience, but it is clear they still have limitations as created beings.  

Angels are spiritual, so they do not occupy space in the same way bodies do (physics teaches us of impenetrability—that two bodies of mass cannot occupy the same space at the same time). But they are not omnipresent—their person can only be in one place at a time. Christian theologians describe them as “being somewhere,” though in a different manner than bodies. It is more like “acting upon” a place rather than “taking up” a location. 

Angels have great knowledge, but it is finite and derived, not innate or infinite. They do not know the future apart from what God reveals (Mt 24:36, 1 Pt 1:12). Demons, likewise, know much (James 2:19) but not exhaustively. 

Additionally, angels are limited in their power. Angels are mighty (Ps 103:20; 2 Pt 2:11), but not almighty. Their strength is creaturely, subject to God’s decree. Demons can afflict, tempt, and oppress, but they are restrained (Job 1:12, Lk 22:31–32). Their power is never independent; it is permitted, not ultimate.

While angels are spiritual by nature and are not tied to physical bodies, it is still clear that they can interact with the material world. Angels can take on physical forms, or at least the appearance of a physical form. In Genesis 18, three beings appear to Abraham in the likeness of noble lords but are identified as angels. The seraphim in Isaiah 6 are described as having six wings: “with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew” (Isa 6:2). Ezekiel was introduced to four chimeric beastlike creatures inexplicably intermixed with blinding, flashing light (Eze 1:4-14). 

Angels can cause natural disasters and plagues. Exodus 12:23 describes the “destroyer” (הַמַּשְׁחִ֔ית, hammashît) who inflicts the tenth plague. The plague in 2 Sam 24 is carried out by an angel, whose “hand” is stayed by the Lord before striking Jerusalem. 

Finally, Scripture shows that demons can possess humans. The Bible is not totally clear on what demon possession actually is. The mechanics of how the spiritual world and the material world interact is not defined. What is clear in demon possession is that these evil spirits impose themselves so forcefully on humans that they lose their sense of self. They are completely enslaved to the demons and influenced by them, even to the point of being crippled (Lk 13:10-17), muted (Lk 11:14), given superhuman strength (Lk 8:29; Ac 19:16), or even supernatural insight (Lk 8:28; Ac 16:16). 

Jesus makes it clear what demons are after in afflicting humans: “The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy” (Jn 10:10). First Peter 5:8 says that the devil “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Jesus describes the intent of demons in several different places, all which point to the same general vision. Demons seek to drag humans down into the deepest state of living misery, to death, and ultimately to hell. If demons cannot defeat God or de-create themselves, they can at least deface God’s image. 

 

4. What do we do with this information? 

At least four pastoral observations are worth making in light of all we’ve covered. 

First: it is difficult but important to distinguish between “mental illness” of modern psychology and spiritual affliction. We live in a culture which is increasingly aware of mental health. I believe that is a good thing! I have been greatly helped by counseling, I have many friends and loved ones who have benefitted from medication to help with anxiety, depression, ADHD, and other conditions. It would be a mistake to dismiss all mental illness as demonic affliction. 

But it would be just as dire a mistake to dismiss all demonic affliction as pure neurochemistry. When it comes to the man in Luke 8, we need to be clear on the problem. And the problem is not just him. It’s not just his own struggles. It’s not just poor coping with trauma, or an anti-social predisposition, or deeply entrenched neural pathways which push him toward self-destructive behavior. There are outside forces involved in his problems. Evil spiritual persons are choosing to afflict this man. They have so entirely overwhelmed him that it’s hard for us to tell where he ends and the demons begin. And then as soon as the demons are driven away, the man is in his right mind. 

It is fair to say that the man, at the end of our story, needs counseling. He would certainly benefit from having a licensed professional help him process the hell on earth he’s survived. But what the man needed at the start of the passage wasn’t good therapy. He needed God to rescue him. 

Second, but more obviously: demons are real. They can and do afflict people, even today. I hope you take that seriously. This is not fun. This is not entertainment—even though our culture has created a whole entertainment industry around demons. 

If you consider demon possession to be entertainment, that is a grossly inhumane form of entertainment, even if fictional. This is the most immediate confrontation with spiritual evil we can encounter in our world. Horror movies and ouija boards prick our hearts just enough to trigger a fear of something we innately know is real, but in a small and controlled enough dose that we can pretend it’s not. 

Let me warn you: at best, you are mocking the enemy of your soul (wisdom would tell us “don’t poke a sleeping bear”). At worst, you are opening the door to real spiritual affliction. Don’t make peace with the enemy. Don’t desensitize yourself to spiritual warfare. This isn’t a game. This isn’t pretend. This is real. 

Does that mean it demons have no place in our books, TV shows, songs, and other media? Certainly C.S. Lewis and JRR Tolkien would object. Their works had their fair share of demonic forces, but always for the purpose of illustrating the great spiritual conflict our world is engaged in. Tolkien in particular used the characters of Morgoth and Sauron to show the innate futility behind demonic power which inevitably collapses upon itself. Such stories avoid using demons as spectacle for a cheap scare or for a small sense of power over them. They instead act as parables or myths to ultimately point us back to the God who conquers all evil. 

Third: if you are a Christian, you cannot be possessed by a demon. While there is ambiguity about what demon possession fully constitutes, this much is clear. Think about that word “possession.” What does it mean when someone talks about your personal possessions? I think about my phone, my car keys, my wallet—these are things I own, I have full control over, I do with them as I so choose. 

When it comes to demon possession, we’re saying that evil spirits have claimed ownership of a human being. If you are a Christian, you can say with full conviction “I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ” (Heidelberg Confession 1). This comes straight from 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 which says “your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God…You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.” 

Demons cannot claim ownership on you. They may strive to afflict you, but they cannot possess you. Paul addresses something similar in Romans 6. He writes “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?” (Ro 6:16) 

As Christians, we have been set free from the domain of darkness and the sin which entangles our hearts. In the state of sin, our wills are not free. We can do nothing but sin. When Christ claims us as his own, washing us with his blood and filling us with his spirit, our will is set free to choose to follow Christ. But Christians are still in a place where they can choose to not follow Christ. If they so choose, they can submit again to their old tyrant master. Paul diversely calls this master “sin” (here in Romans), “the law” (in Galatians), “the prince of the power of the air” or the devil (in Ephesians and Colossians). 

Does this mean that demons literally rule over us when we choose to sin? No, though demonic influence should not be immediately dismissed. Rather, it is the simple recognition that when we choose to sin, we make the exact same decision that the devil and the demons made. We make ourselves allies to the same kingdom of rebellion against God—we join forces with the enemy. Scripture is clear that those who choose to keep on sinning and willfully return to evil’s yoke of slavery, they prove themselves to be seeds sown among thorns (Mk 4:7,18-19). Hebrews 10 warns such believers “if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries” (Heb 10:26–27). First John 3:4-10 elaborates further: 

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. (1 Jn 3:4–10)

But Paul reassures the Christians in Rome that they have been set free from sin and are now empowered by the Holy Spirit to live in their freedom. 

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. (Ro 6:17–19) 

Believers can rest in the promises of Scripture, that “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 Jn 4:4) and “he who began a good work in you shall bring it to completion in the day of Jesus Christ” (Php 1:6). We do well to take Paul’s exhortation to heart: “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Ro 13:14). By our faith in Christ, reliance on his Holy Spirit, willful obedience to his law, and genuine repentance for our sin, we shall not again fall into the slavery of sin. 

Fourth: even if you are the subject of demonic attack, Jesus can save you. In John 10, Jesus says “I am the good shepherd…My sheep hear my voice…I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand…and I lay down my life for the sheep.” (Jn 10:11, 27, 15). Jesus rescues straying, afflicted sheep. 

Very few people in human history have suffered demon possession. Perhaps none else has been as afflicted as the man in Luke 8. But the truth is, we all have suffered spiritual affliction. Ephesians 2 makes this clear. “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air [that is, the devil], the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience…But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved,” (Eph 2:1–2, 4–5). 

Jesus stepped in between you and the enemy of your soul. See the lengths to which Jesus went to save you. Jesus, God himself, came from the spiritual to the material—the Word took on flesh. He came from the glory of heaven to the last place on earth you’d expect to meet a pure and holy God: a cradle in a manger, a cross on a hill, and he’d go to another cemetery to rescue you. 

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For further study…

Classic Reformed sources 

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion

• Book I, Chapter 14: The Creation of the World and of Angels, sections 3-19 

Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, Vol. 1

• Topic VII: Angels 
• Topic IX: Sin in General and Particular, Question V. “What was the sin of the angels by which they are said to have rebelled against God?” 

Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, Vol. 3: Sin and Salvation in Christ

• Part IV, Chapter 9 “Heaven: The Spiritual World” 

 

Modern Reformed sources 

John Frame, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief

• Part XI, Chapter 33 “Angels and Demons” 

Vern S. Poythress, “Territorial Spirits: Some Biblical Perspectives.” URBAN MISSION 13/2 (Dec., 1995) 37-49.

David Powlison, Power Encounters: Reclaiming Spiritual Warfare

 

Illustrative fiction by C.S. Lewis 

The Screwtape Letters 

Perelandra (Space Trilogy, Book 2) 

The Great Divorce 

 

Accessible content on YouTube 

The Bible Project, “Angels, Cherubim, Demons, and Other Spiritual Beings in the Bible Explained” playlist

R.C. Sproul, “Angels and Demons” playlist

Desiring God on YouTube

• Search for “demons” or similar terms

 

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¹ See Richard Gaffin, “Chapter 12: The Resurrection (Part 2) – Christ and the Holy Spirit,” from In the Fullness of Time: An Introduction to the Biblical Theology of Acts and Paul (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2022)

² For a quick explanation of the origin of the name Lucifer, see the top response on this StackExchange post. 

³ Bonaventure, Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, III. 5. Most Reformed scholars consider memory to be an aspect of the intellect, but I find value in addressing it as its own faculty.