Demons: What Are They?

I wanted to add this, and I feel the best place to do that is here, before showing the various theories. The study of demons like I have been doing is referred to as Demonology. Now, as intimidating as that sounds, know that it literally means the “study of demons.” I would call myself a ‘Christian Demonologist.’ This title is more fitting for me because the general term of Demonologist by itself can easily be associated with the occult.

What would be the use of this study? It depends on what you want out of it. If you consider yourself a Pagan Demonologist, you may take it down a path that I wouldn’t consider. In addition to learning about the demonic, you may begin the process of invoking the spirits, which I would never do. I consider all demonic creatures an enemy. With that being said, I like to know how the enemy thinks, and how the enemy strikes. Not to mention this is the same material exorcists must study. So now that we have knocked that scary word out of the way, we can continue.

I won’t lie, crazy things have happened since starting this book. But I know this material will benefit somebody out there, so this is something I do intend to finish.

According to the Bible, demons are spirits that attach themselves to items and/or people, breaking them down and eventually taking hold of their lives and quite possibly their bodies. Demons destroy. That is their objective. For reasons unknown, attachments, or parasitic spirits, are considered common—at least by the Catholic Church.

Generally, nothing else happens, which leads me to believe not all attachments are demonic. However, I do believe a ghostly attachment is still dangerous. This is comparable to demonic attachment. Symptoms of demonic attachment include a drained feeling, like something is sapping you of your energy. Sometimes it can be loss of sleep, appetite, and it can even give you depression–like symptoms in people with no history of depression.

According to my research, Demons are one of three things: hostile ghosts, fallen angels, or evil spirits.

Eventually, I came up with something I like to call the “hostile ghost theory.” This is a belief that my fiancé and I had been speculating for a long time. According to this theory, you would have a ghost stuck on this earth, and after a couple hundred years or so, the ghost would forget who they were, and begin acting somewhat senile. For many ghosts, this could mean experiencing anger and frustration, lashing out at those around them.

I don’t completely agree with this theory.

I do believe ghosts can be hostile, but I don’t believe they can forget who they are. We only have our human brain to remember and comprehend with. We can’t fathom the possible limitations, or the lack thereof. A ghost has no brain, but its memories could be on its own time span, seeing as a ghost isn't held to our physical laws.

Biblically, much of humanity will be judged during the White Throne Judgement. If someone forgot who they were, they’d forget the sins they committed. This to me throws everything out of proportion. There’s too little consistency for this theory to be true. So, where do demons fit into all of this?

There is another outlook on this theory. Many traditional Christians I know personally have explained their take on disembodied spirits. According to what they believe, when someone dies and goes to hell, they may try to escape. If that spirit succeeds and finds a way to Earth, they try to inhabit a body to stay on Earth to avoid going back to hell.

However, this is not only unbiblical, but gives the notion that souls can escape hell. Depending on your interpretation of what hell is, this might not even be plausible. But the biggest issue with this theory is that we would have to believe that people who go to hell turn into demented monsters. This sounds more like something out of a Spawn comic than the Bible. You’d have to assume those who die and go to hell automatically have this evil mindset. It seems highly unlikely to me that this would be the way demons come about.

The fallen angel theory is the most common among Christians. The most powerful angel by the name of Lucifer grew jealous of his creator, resulting in a rebellion which caused one third of heaven to follow him to Earth (see Revelation 12:4 and Jude 1:6). Some of the fallen angels fell below earth, speculated to be in a place called The Pit, or Tartarus.

Many Christians believe the angels that fell are now demons who influence us on a day to day basis. But, there’s a huge misconception here. The Bible doesn't depict Lucifer as red with horns and hooves. Yes, some angels look intimidating, and others look beautiful. However, the bible depicts Lucifer to be the most beautiful and the most powerful. So how can Lucifer “look” evil? Here’s a more important thing to think about. A fallen angel, in theory, would still have all the attributes it was created with.

My conclusion is that fallen angels are real, they can influence us with their false light, and they can deceive us on what’s good and evil, but I don’t agree that fallen angels are demons. There’s not enough scriptural evidence to support this either. Lucifer only influenced Peter one time in the New Testament. And Peter didn’t start acting like someone possessed (see Matthew 16:21-23). It was arrogance that was influenced by the fallen angel.

Fallen angels are intellectual. They still have a light that they will use for their own benefit, and they can deceive us. But fallen angels do not possess people. So, calling them a demon would not be appropriate.

Finally, we can look to the Book of Enoch and the Book of Genesis for more clarity on the theory of evil spirits. The following is what I have found to be biblically accurate, therefore I believe it to be true.

Genesis 6:4-6 KJV says: "There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart."

What are the Sons of God? The phrase Bene Elohim means Sons of God in Hebrew. Many historians and Hebrew scholars have concluded that it could reasonably refer to fallen angels, and there have been numerous studies on those words. Other scholars have different theories, but I believe there is more to suggest the “Sons of God” referred to by the phrase bene elohim aren't human.

Enoch 6:1-6 reads:

“And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: ‘Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.’ And Semjaza, who was their leader, said unto them: ‘I fear you will not indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.’ And they all answered him and said: ‘Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.’ Then swore they all together and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon, because they had sworn and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it.”

In other words, there was a group of two hundred angels who lusted after women, took them as wives, and had children with them. These children would later be referred to as the Nephilim. So, Nephilim are half angel, and half human.

Some people believe the Nephilim were giants, aliens, monsters, or even “normal” in appearance. Much of it is speculation, as there is so little information available, and it often conflicts.

We do know, however, that these beings must have been what caused God to flood the earth. This piece in Enoch demonstrates what the Nephilim did once they were born. Enoch 7:2-6 reads: “And they (the daughters) became pregnant, and they bore great giants, whose height was three thousand ells: Who consumed all the acquisitions of men. And when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against them and devoured mankind. And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and fish, and to devour one another’s flesh, and drink the blood. Then the earth laid accusation against the lawless ones.”

Depending on what you believe, you’ll begin seeing a correlation to some types of spirits you believe in or maybe spirits you have studied.

Enoch 15:8-9 reads: “And now, the giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh, shall be called evil spirits upon the earth, and on the earth shall be their dwelling. evil spirits have proceeded from their bodies; because they are born from men, and from the holy Watchers [the 200 angels] is their beginning and primal origin; they shall be evil spirits on earth, and evil spirits shall they be called.”

After some extensive research I had come across some names of evil spirits and fallen angels. According to the text Testament of Solomon. Abezithibod, a demon who claims to reside in the Red Sea, came to King Solomon. In a prideful manner, he claimed that he was of special heritage because his father is an archangel. What makes this even more interesting is this “archangel” is Beelzebub. It sounds like it was just a lie, but then I read on about Beelzebub, and discovered something. In the text Testament of Solomon, the demon refers to himself as Beelzeboul. Furthermore, he claims he’s of higher importance than the other demons because he is not the seed of an angel - he is an angel. His statement, even if false, provides further evidence to my theory. If the other demons are just “seeds of angels”, that makes them evil spirits. Evil spirits are the sons of fallen angels. And it appears they work together.

In conclusion, I believe ghosts are the disembodiment of humans, fallen angels had children with humans called Nephilim, and I believe demons (evil spirits) are the disembodiment of those Nephilim. The word “demon” can be traced back to many religions, and I feel the best way to understand this word is this: If it’s a spirit and it’s an enemy of God, it’s demonic. So, fallen angels and evil spirits both would be considered demonic.

Some of the sources I've gathered for my research in this chapter include the Testament of Solomon, the Bible, and The Book of Enoch. I feel it's important to always keep an open mind, and never immediately rule any theories out. Always do research, apply what you already know, and connect the dots. I hope you guys enjoyed this read. It was fun getting this information together and including it in my work. If you ever have any questions about my theories or stories, feel free to ask.