What are demons and where do they come from?

Question

There seems to be a lot you can infer about angels in the bible but what about demons..........There are many casting outs by Jesus and some by early church figures - what can one infer?.......
They are invisible which is really annoying.
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I have heard some (whacko?) idea that they came from some pre-Homo Sapiens race of creatures that got corrupted by Satan, and whose spirits are condemned to roam the earth until God makes a new heavens and Earth.
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That they long to experience passions such as lust, greed and so on again and so try to influence people and to control them ultimately if possible.
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What do you think?
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Atheists - is everything I'm asking about whacko?

Answer 1

Whacko - angels, demons, Santa Claus !! There is absolutely no evidence for any of the above, of course they are invisible otherwise how could the church control you all ?

Satan, God etc. are constructs that relate to behaviours - don't believe everything you read, think for yourself.

Answer 2

We're talking about two different kinds of beings. Demons are fallen angels.

The "whacko" idea you heard about is probably a reference to the nephilim.

The strange events recorded in Genesis 6 were understood by the ancient rabbinical sources, as well as the Septuagint translators, as referring to fallen angels procreating weird hybrid offspring with human women-known as the "Nephilim." So it was also understood by the early church fathers. These bizarre events are also echoed in the legends and myths of every ancient culture upon the earth: the ancient Greeks, the Egyptians, the Hindus, the South Sea Islanders, the American Indians, and virtually all the others.

The strange offspring also continued after the flood: "There were Nephilim in the earth in those days, and also after that..."
This unnatural union produced a race of very large people; Goliath was "six cubits and a span" which translates to about 9 feet 6 inches. If this sounds unbelievable, then consider the modern case of Robert Pershing Wadlow 1918-1940 from Alton, Illinois. Guinness records his height at 8 foot 11 inches.

One of the disturbing aspects of the Old Testament record was God's instructions, upon entering the land of Canaan, to wipe out every man, woman, and child of certain tribes inhabiting the land. This is difficult to justify without the insight of a "gene pool problem" from the remaining Nephilim, Rephaim, et al., which seems to illuminate the difficulty.

Answer 3

Atheists, am I nuts ? To any Atheist, or indeed, any person educated in the basics of logic, supportable evidence, and scientific realism, you are a lost cause. You are most likely a resident of the USA, where superstitious ignorance stands alongside superb space technology and scientific advancement. Devil dodgers and Astronauts - the ultimate anachronism. I shall say nothing about demons and devils ,such childish fiction is an insult to educational values !

Answer 4

Demons come from inside you. "Casting them out" is one of the more descriptive phrases the bible uses. Casting them into a herd of pigs, on the other hand, is whacko.

Counselors - psychiatrists, psychologists, pastors, priests, and just concerned friends - can often help people cast out their inner demons. It is a process of understanding what drives you in bad directions and taking control of it.

It becomes whacko when you start to believe that demons are beings of some sort. It becomes downright dangerous when you think that homegrown exorcism is required.

Answer 5

Demons are real. They're rebellious spirit creatures that have turned away from following God and follow Satan. Just as God has an organization so does Satan, thus all the turmoil in the world to day.

Answer 6

I think its a legitimate question. The answers are in the bible, but its a long answer.
Satan was cast out of heaven with 1/3 of the angels. The fallen angels are demons.
Luke 10:18
He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.15Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol (Hades), to the innermost recesses of the pit (the region of the dead).Isiah 14:15

Answer 7

when Satan fell, he took a third of the angels with him. They are evil and corrupt, and their whole purpose is to throw humans off course so that we will never find the way to God. They have to have a body to reside in to operate. Why do you think there some people out there who have killed there children by putting them in ovens, or drowning them. They were under a demonic spirit, then they will say God told me to drown my child, or put them in the oven. Knowing God didnt' say it, but it was a voice who told them. The voice of the demons. They talk and they know your name, and if you're a threat to there kingdom, they really wanna tear you down. But how many of you know that the Blood of Jesus protects and cover you. That's why they can try to throw weapons but they won't prosper, because greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world. Satan gives them assignments and they do it. Only the power of God can knock them down. But you have to know it and believe it. That's why Christ is so important. It's more than Him just coming ot Earth to die for us, but He came so that we may have power. When He rose, He rose with all power, meaning power of the devil, though he has no power, but power to withstand the enemy and his demon angels

Answer 8

Good and evil are things that Christianity created as a way to control the masses. If you have a person who does "Evil" and there is the threat of damnation it is a way to scare people to do what you want. Because you can't see God or what happens, it is a way to control how you act, there is no way to prove God to refute this.

There is not anyone who is pure evil or pure good. Just like Ying and Yang.

Answer 9

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demons

In religion, folklore, and mythology a demon (or daemon, dæmon, or even daimon) is a supernatural being that has generally been described as a malevolent spirit, and in Christian terms is the opposite of an Angel. A demon is frequently depicted as a force that may be conjured and insecurely controlled. The "good" demon in recent use is largely a literary device (e.g., Maxwell's demon), though references to good demons can be found in Hesiod and Shakespeare. In common language, to "demonize" a person means to characterize or portay them as evil, or as the source of evil.

As the Iranian Avestan and Vedic traditions as well as other branches of Indo-European mythologies show, the notion of 'demons' has existed for many millennia.

Ancient Egyptians also believed in demonic monsters that might devour living souls while they traveled towards the afterlife, although demons per se did not exist in Ancient Egyptian belief.

The Greek conception of a daemon (< δαίμων daimōn) appears in the works of Plato and many other ancient authors, but without the evil connotations which are apparent in the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible and in the Greek originals of the New Testament. The medieval and neo-medieval conception of a "demon" in Western civilization (see the Medieval grimoire called the Ars Goetia) derives seamlessly from the ambient popular culture of Late (Roman) Antiquity: Greco-Roman concepts of daemons that passed into Christian culture are discussed in the entry daemon, though it should be duly noted that the term referred only to a spiritual force, not a malevolent supernatural being. The Hellenistic "daemon" eventually came to include many Semitic and Near Eastern gods as evaluated by Christianity.

The supposed existence of demons is an important concept in many modern religions and occultist traditions. In some present-day cultures, demons are still feared in popular superstition, largely due to their alleged power to possess living creatures.

In the contemporary Western occultist tradition (perhaps epitomized by the work of Aleister Crowley), a demon, such as Choronzon, the "Demon of the Abyss", is a useful metaphor for certain inner psychological processes, though some may also regard it as an objectively real phenomenon. Aleister Crowley also contacted the abyssmal demon Kokomo through the use of a Ouija board and had nightly conversations[citation needed]. Crowley often said his "pet demon" Kokomo threatened death upon mockery and destroying the board[citation needed]. Crowley died shortly after burning his ouiji board in attempt to become possessed by demons[citation needed].

Some scholars[1] believe that large portions of the demonology (see Asmodai) of Judaism, a key influence on Christianity and Islam, originated in Zoroastrianism, and were transferred to Judaism during the Babylonian captivity (apparently 100 years before the emergence of monotheistic Zoroastrianism) and the Persian era.

Answer 10

demons are fallen angels, believe it or not. when Satan tried to take over heaven there was a great war in heaven, the good- lead by archangel Gabriel vs. the evil- lead by Satan. 1/3 of all the angels in heaven sided with the devil and when the war was over and Satan was of course defeated he and all of his followers (fallen angels) were cast out of heaven. it is in the bible some where, I can't remember which book.