{"id":14412,"date":"2026-01-15T14:51:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T19:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=14412"},"modified":"2026-01-15T14:51:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T19:51:10","slug":"are-christians-becoming-too-enamored-of-demons-nt-wright-sounds-a-caution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2026\/01\/are-christians-becoming-too-enamored-of-demons-nt-wright-sounds-a-caution.html","title":{"rendered":"Are Christians Becoming Too Enamored of Demons? NT Wright Sounds a Caution"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Left: Adobe Stock | Right: Premier Unbelievable \/ YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Christian theologian NT Wright offered a warning against focusing on demons too much. He was speaking on his program \u201cAsk Me Anything<\/a>\u201d when he received a question that asked, \u201cDid Jesus\u2019 arrival trigger a surge in demonic activity, and should Christians today expect to encounter the demonic?\u201d Wright rejected the idea that Jesus\u2019s arrival on Earth inspired more demonic activity, but that it did reveal it. \u201cWhen Jesus comes into Galilee and starts saying, \u2018The Kingdom of God is at hand,\u2019 it\u2019s as though suddenly all the furniture starts flying around the room. The dark powers realize, if He does everything that He looks as if He\u2019s going to do, then we\u2019re in deep trouble,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He acknowledged the reality of \u201cnon-human dark forces\u201d and pushed back against a common view that puts Satan and his demons at the same level as God and his angels. \u201cWe have to get away from any sense that there is God on one side of the page and Satan on the other, locked in endless struggle. That\u2019s not the biblical picture.\u201d Biblical scholars understand Satan to have formerly been the angel Lucifer before he turned against God. This makes him a created being under God\u2019s authority. \u201cThese forces are not the \u2018real gods.\u2019 But they seek to spoil God\u2019s creation and pull it down,\u201d warned Wright.<\/p>\n

He encouraged Christians to understand that demonic forces still continue today, but also warned against developing an unhealthy fascination. \u201cIt\u2019s good to be alert to the spiritual texture of the world. But there\u2019s always the danger of wanting to find the demonic under every stone,\u201d he said, warning against practices that encourage Christians to see visions. He also warned against romanticizing the role of those who are called to drive out demons. \u201cOne of them said, \u2018It\u2019s like cleaning out toilets,\u2019\u201d he said of one such individual gifted with discernment, the ability to distinguish demonic activity. \u201cIt\u2019s a messy, murky world involving poor human beings trapped in destructive patterns.\u201d<\/p>\n

The subject of demons has become a hot topic lately, especially with the success of K Pop Demon Hunters. <\/em>Many Christians felt encouraged by the film\u2019s portrayal of demons as evil rather than romanticized versions of demons with varying moralities such as in the popular Demon Slayer<\/em>. Others, However, cautioned against a film that displayed demons apart from the powerful sovereignty of God. \u201cIf there is no capital-G God around, who defines what is good and what is evil? Humanity is no longer intimately tethered to a divine, external being who is far more powerful and all-knowing than our finite selves can ever be,\u201d Isabel Ong, writing about K-Pop<\/em>, wrote for Christianity Today<\/em><\/a>.<\/em> She urged Christians to discernment. \u201cChristians can be more aware of the misconceptions and assumptions that popular culture brings to our notions of God and the self while remaining spiritually sensitive and aware of how Scripture can affirm or challenge them. As my colleague Kate Lucky\u00a0wrote, \u2018Our job is not to justify our taste in culture but to explain what we see from a vantage point oriented to Christ.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christian theologian NT Wright offered a warning against focusing on demons too much. He was speaking on his program \u201cAsk Me Anything\u201d when he received a question that asked, \u201cDid Jesus\u2019 arrival trigger a surge in demonic activity, and should Christians today expect to encounter the demonic?\u201d Wright rejected the idea that Jesus\u2019s arrival on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":14415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAre Christians Becoming Too Enamored of Demons? NT Wright Sounds a Caution<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"NT Wright warns Christians against unhealthy fascination with demons, urging discernment and reminding believers of God\u2019s ultimate authority.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2026\/01\/are-christians-becoming-too-enamored-of-demons-nt-wright-sounds-a-caution.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are Christians Becoming Too Enamored of Demons? 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