As Halloween approaches, I was asked to contribute to another “Patheos challenge” and, in 100-words or less, answer the question, “Are Demons Real?”
My answer is as follows:
In our “enlightened” society, demons are the stuff of Halloween costumes and horror movies. But any glimpse at a newspaper leads me to concur that evil exists. Certainly it exists in the actions of countless individuals. But it extends beyond those individuals to a spiritual realm, across the cosmos and within my own being. Depression and hopelessness and rage and hatred and abuse and injustice all make their mark on human souls daily. Demons are real. But God, who is good, is also real. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it…
The problem with my answer, as I see it, is that it avoids the real theological issues at stake. For most of Christian history, theologians have been clear that evil does not exist as a power unto itself. It only exists as an absence or negation of the good. The only reality is God and God’s goodness. To give evil existence is to give it power that could overwhelm God’s power. But Christians insist that God’s power and goodness and love are the basis of reality.
But then, I read the Bible and I read about demons and Satan and spiritual battles and powers and principalities. And, again, I read the newspaper and the reports of civilian casualties in Iraq and sex scandals within the church and murder and rape and the like, and I am certain that the language of psychology and sociology is not enough. Words like demonic do a much better job of capturing the reality of evil out there, and even, sometimes, the reality within my own heart and soul.
So, I’d like to point you to a better answer than mine to this Patheos question. It comes from Frederick W. Schmidt. Click here to read his response and that of other Patheos bloggers.
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