Christians: the Bible says angels can assume human form. Do demons posess the same ability?

Question

There are a number of Bible references to angels assuming human form (be it messengers, guardians, etc).

Do demons (fallen angels) have this same ability, to appear in human guise?

Just wondering.

(and please, people in general, no jokes about mother-in-laws)

Answer 1

Demons are not able to assume human form but they once were able to do this at the time of Noah's day.

They would materialize as humans and lusted after the daughters of the men in the earth. Their offspring became bullies, and after the bad angels mated with the daughters of the earth, the daughters became pregnant and gave birth to giants, men of old called "Nephilim" (bullies):

The Bible account describing Jehovah’s displeasure with men in the days of Noah before the Flood relates that “the sons of the true God” took for themselves wives from among the attractive daughters of men. It then mentions the presence of “Nephilim,” saying: “The Nephilim proved to be in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of the true God continued to have relations with the daughters of men and they bore sons to them, they were the mighty ones who were of old, the men of fame.” Genesis 6:1-4.

The sons of God mentioned at Genesis 6:2, were angels, spirit “sons of God.” See angels at Job 1:6; 38:7. This view is supported by Peter, who speaks of “the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient when the patience of God was waiting in Noah’s days.” (1Peter 3:19, 20)

Also Jude writes of “the angels that did not keep their original position but forsook their own proper dwelling place.” (Jude 6) Angels had the power to materialize in human form, and some angels did so to bring messages from God. (Genesis 18:1, 2, 8, 20-22; 19:1-11; Joshua 5:13-15) But heaven is the proper abode of spirit persons, and the angels there have positions of service under Jehovah. (Daniel 7:9, 10) To leave this abode to dwell on earth and to forsake their assigned service to have fleshly relations would be rebellion against God’s laws, and perversion.

The Bible states that the disobedient angels are now “spirits in prison,” having been ‘thrown into Tartarus’ and “reserved with eternal bonds under dense darkness for the judgment of the great day.” This seems to indicate that they are greatly restricted, unable again to materialize as they did prior to the Flood. (1Peter 3:19; 2Peter 2:4; Jude 6)

Increased Wickedness. “The mighty ones who were of old, the men of fame” that were produced by these marriages, were not men of fame with God, for they did not survive the Flood, as did Noah and his family. They were “Nephilim,” bullies, tyrants, who no doubt helped to make conditions worse. Their angelic fathers, knowing the construction of the human body and being able to materialize, were not creating life, but lived in these human bodies and, cohabiting with women, brought forth children. Their children, “mighty ones,” were therefore unauthorized hybrids. Apparently the Nephilim did not, in turn, have children.

Now all those angels that were materializing as humans in the earth lusting after the daughters of men in the earth, have been hurled out of the heavens in 1914 when Jehovah God cleansed the heavens throwing out Satan and his demons here to earth. "Woe to the earth for he has been cast down to you having great anger".

And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels battled with the dragon, and the dragon and its angels battled but it did not prevail, neither was a place found for them any longer in heaven. So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

“Now have come to pass the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, because the accuser of our brothers has been hurled down, who accuses them day and night before our God!  And they conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their witnessing, and they did not love their souls even in the face of death. On this account be glad, YOU heavens and YOU who reside in them! Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to YOU, having great anger, knowing he has a short period of time. (Revelation 12: 7 - 12)

Answer 2

reading that JW's comment above, was very interesting. trouble is, although I believe and agree with the Bible, about the fallen angels trapped in Tartarus, 'in prison', nothing is said in the Bible about exactly what powers they have lost, and there is no scripture I've yet found that says a fallen angel cannot materialise a human or animal body. I'm not talking possession. Not owning someone elses body, but creating something to live in as in Genesis. Genesis just says the fallen angel fathers returned to heaven at the flood, the nephilim children were drowned, and when the heavens were cleansed and satan and the fallen angels thrown to earth, they were put in that Tartarus 'prison'. Believe the Bible or not, but if a black dog or hell hound ever scratched you, you'd know about it. what do you call that if not materialised demon? I'll probably cause a stir, but i just want the truth.

Answer 3

I am not christian, but if you look through the demonic heirarchy based from the bible used in things like the goetian lesser keys of solomon, each demon has a different thing that humanity craves/lusts for. It is possible that demons are just a metaphor to describe the things which we crave for or hunt after, which only set our life in a destructive spiral. I believe there are different dimensions of existence however, in which situation there must be things which would appear quite demonic to us. Edit: Also note, in the demonic heirarchy Satan and Beelzebub are not one in the same, Beelzebub is the lord of the flies, Lucifer is the morning star and Satan is the king of hell otherwise known as Baal or Abaddon. There are many different dukes/princes and so on who each rule over hells legions. Some of these are known as Stolas and Valefor. If your interested in knowing more look up the Lesser Keys of Solomon which includes ancient rituals which are supposed to use the seals/sigils of both angels and demons as protective/destructive roots. Remember, as much as people may believe angels are the nice ones and demons the evil, both have the ability to appear as beautiful and each grotesque. It depends on the nature of what they were sent for. If you see the Arch Angel Michael on the day of reckoning i am pretty sure he will not be as nice as the depictions.

Answer 4

Well, I'm not sure whether they have the power to become human by flicking a switch (or something like that). If assuming a human form requires command of creation then I would think that only angels of God would have that power (or, more accurately, that only he has that power)...but I do believe demons can take possession of a human body and control it...so in that sense, yes!

Answer 5

Demons cannot "assume" a human form, they must "inhabit" a human.
If a person dabbles in the occult, or
witchcraft, or any underworld activity
(such as animal mutilation, etc.) that
person is inviting one or more demons
to inhabit his/her body and brain. It
then takes a very holy pereson to perform an exhorcision to remove said
demon. I personally believe that a lot
of mental problems are caused by
demonic activity.

Answer 6

Yes, both can appear in human guise.The only difference is that a demon has no problem masquerading as an angel of light--but an angel of light will NEVER take the form of a demon.

If you are interested you might want to check out The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis--a book about letters a senior devil writes to his underling. It's all about the ways the enemy tries to sabatoge who we are.

Answer 7

Nope. Angels can assume human form but demons need a host (i.e. possession).

God gives angels the power to do anything he needs them to do. Satan doesn't have that kind of power, so he needs to find a humans to torment and do his will.

Satan is nothing more than a parasite, feeding on the souls of mankind.

Answer 8

Angels Taking Human Form

Answer 9

Demons are fallen angels, so yes they can.

Answer 10

Demons are not fallen angels.

Angels are made of Light and Demons are made of Fire (Jinns).

Angels by nature have never been able to disobey.

Jinns by nature are given the choice to obey or disobey.

.

Answer 11

demons can possess. there are many examples of this in the bible.