Satanology and Demonology
by James F. Myers
Satanology and demonology (subcategories of
Angelology) are the two branches of systematic theology that investigate,
classify, and categorize the biblical teaching in relation to Satan and his followers,
the fallen angels. This aspect of theology has been frequently overlooked or
distorted to the detriment of the modern church. In the nineteenth and much of
the twentieth centuries, this neglect was a consequence of the undue influence
of anti‑supernatural rationalism on theology. Under this subtle pressure, aspects of the supernatural were
either downplayed or ignored, especially when the existence of a personal devil
or demons was the subject. By the late twentieth century, the bankruptcy of
rationalist modernism led to its replacement by postmodernism in Western
culture as a whole. Accompanying this
postmodern shift is a renewed interest in the so‑called “spiritual”, but
this new spirituality is frequently divorced from a Judeo‑Christian
heritage or biblical base.
Also, by the late twentieth century, a
resurgent interest in angels, spirits, and demons, swept through the culture at
large, having a related impact on the evangelical church as well, often
creating more confusion than certainty. In many churches, blame for personal
problems, failures, and sin was placed on some oppressing or possessing spirit
rather than on wrong individual choices and the influence of the sin
nature. By the latter half of the
twentieth century, teaching about Satan, demons, and spiritual warfare was
largely erected on personal experiences and anecdotes rather than exegesis of
biblical passages. Only an emphasis on
a biblically derived theology of Satan and the demons can supply the believer
with sound answers to questions about the origin of evil and suffering, the
presence of sin in the human race, the role of the human race in the broader
conflict among the angels, and a correct understanding of the unseen spiritual
warfare which rages around mankind, and of its ultimate resolution.
In the course of this study, we will first
examine the personality of Satan, his creation and fall, and then investigate
his role in human history, his power, strategy, and limitations. Subsequently, we will analyze the biblical
teaching on the demons, their origin, fall, role, and ultimate destiny. At the conclusion, we will pay close
attention to the nature of spiritual warfare and to the believer’s protection
against the demonic.
I. IS SATAN A REAL PERSON?
The existence of a real, personal devil was
challenged by nineteenth-century liberal protestant theology. Having been cut
loose from accepting the Bible as the infallible and inerrant revelation of God
to man, these rational theologians sought the explanation for Satan in an
evolution of religious ideas ultimately rooted in Persian dualism. The attempt was made to reduce Satan to the
level of human myth, a primitive explanation for the existence of evil and
suffering.
The existence of Satan is attested throughout
Scripture: he is mentioned by at least one of his numerous titles in five Old
Testament books and 19 New Testament books of the Bible, and Jesus himself
always discusses Satan as a distinct individual. All of the attributes of
personality are attributed to Satan. He
reasons, plans, deceives, expresses emotion, develops strategy, chooses between
alternatives, and has organized his demonic troops into a rigorous hierarchy
(Eph. 6:12; Col. 1:16).
Historical evangelical Protestant theology
has always accepted the existence of a real personal being who is the
originator of evil in the universe. His personality is evidenced by his
description as a creature (Ezek. 28:15), his classification as an angel,
specifically of the order of cherubs (Ezek. 28:14), and to his elevation to the highest position
among the angels: he is designated “the
anointed cherub” and the “cherub that covers”. His original sin evidences that
he has both rational and volitional capacities, and the divine judgment upon
him reveals his personal responsibility for his decisions and culpability for
rebellion. Further, Scripture states he
has intelligence, cunning, anger, and pride (2 Cor. 11:3, 13-15, Matt.
4:1ff). Ryrie notes:
“If Satan were merely a personification that people have devised to
express their ideas of evil, then such a personification could scarcely be held
morally responsible for his actions, since, in reality, there is no being who
can be held accountable.”
Names in Scripture are more than mere labels
or tags. Names were designed to describe a person or something about his
essence or character. Much can be
learned about Satan from these various designations.
The English word “devil” derives from
the Greek word diabolos, which means “slanderer” or “accuser”
(Luke 4:2, 13; Rev. 12:9). In Revelation 12:10, Satan is called “the accuser of
our brothers”. A slanderer brings false
charges or lies against another with the intent to defame and damage his
reputation. Satan translates the Hebrew satan,
which means “adversary, accuser, opponent”. This designation suggests a legal
aspect to Satan’s role as he seeks to arraign believers before the Court of
Heaven. He is portrayed in this role as the prosecuting attorney who seeks to
win his case against the human race.
Satan opposes God’s people in two ways:
he charges believers before God as unworthy because of sin (Zechariah
3:1; Romans 8:33); Satan accuses believers to their own consciences. His goal
is to have the believer focus on personal sins and failures, to distract him by
guilt and by attempts to resolve sin through human works, ritual, and
self-righteousness. Such self‑absorption begins the slippery decline into
the self‑destruction of arrogance. By focusing on personal failures, man
forgets that the sin problem is resolved by Christ’s substitutionary atonement
on the cross.
In the Garden of Eden, a serpent
appeared to Eve and tempted her to disobey the command of God. Genesis 3:1
reveals that “the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the
Lord God had made”. The identity of this serpent is disclosed in Revelation
12:9: “The great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the
devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world.
. . .” This reveals something about his character. In the creation
account of man (Gen. 1:26) God created man to rule over
the birds and over the cattle and over
all the earth and over every creeping thing. Man was to rule
over
the serpent, yet the serpent was crafty enough to subvert this authority by
getting the woman to listen to and submit to him. We must remember that Satan
was created “full of wisdom” (Ezek. 28:12). His guile and cunning is so vast he
is able to confuse and deceive man to do his bidding, unless man trusts
exclusively in God’s Word.
|
Twice our Lord Jesus Christ refers to Satan in this manner
(John 12:31; 14:30). The word “world” translates the Greek word kosmos,
which encompasses the entire world system, including all the ideas,
religions, and philosophies Satan promotes among mankind to establish his
kingdom on the earth. Some of the more popular of these ideas today are
secular humanism, postmodernism, situation ethics, evolution, psychology,
socialism, materialism, Marxism, moral relativism, pragmatism, and New Age
mysticism. Each human culture has its
own philosophies promoted by Satan’s world system. |
This title is ascribed to Satan in
Ephesians 2:2. It is related to the title “ruler of this world” and refers to
the atmosphere of the earth. Within God’s sovereign permission, Satan has
temporary control of man’s physical environment, he is still in operational
control of planet earth. His limited kingdom includes all fallen angels and the
unsaved segment of the human race. This verse also emphasizes that he is the
personal intelligence who is now working in the “sons of disobedience” (all
unbelievers). Every person is first born physically under the authority of
Satan as the ruler of this world, and is therefore influenced by him directly
and indirectly because he is the controller of the physical and ideological
environment of the earth. Since
unbelievers are subjects in his domain, they may still be utilized by him to
gain his nefarious ends.
This title is closely tied to the two
previous ones, and is found in 2 Corinthians 4:4. During post Fall human
history, between the fall of Adam and Eve and the future Second coming of
Christ, Satan has been given the freedom by God to propagate his worldly system
during “this present evil age” (Gal. 1:4). Satan is attempting to demonstrate
his ability to rule the planet to validate his ambition “to be like the most
High”. This verse goes on to say that as part of this function he is blinding
the unsaved to the truth. He does this not through physical blinders, nor
through reaching in and controlling the volition of the individual, but through
the deceptive schemes, false religions, and intriguing philosophies of the cosmos diabolicus
which delude and beguile unsuspecting humanity. Only the Holy Spirit overcomes
this deception by making the gospel lucid to every unbeliever at the moment of
gospel hearing (John 16:8-9). Unfortunately, most are comfortable in
their blindness and continue to “suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom.
1:18).
Satan is referred to by this title in
Matthew 6:13; John 17:15; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 1 John 5:19. These verses inform
us that despite his beauty, intelligence, and power, Satan is the embodiment of
all evil. Often his evil is a deceptively beautiful evil, attractive to
mankind, and not merely an ugly, harsh one, as is often portrayed in fiction
and films. His evil pervades the whole world because the whole world lies in
his power. Yet believers who oppose this incredibly wicked personage have the
protection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ, in His present role as our
intercessor, prays that believers be kept from the evil one (John 17:15).
Christians are also promised that they will always be strengthened and
protected from the evil one because of His faithfulness (2 Thessalonians 3:3).
This title is given to Satan in
Matthew 4:3, when our Lord Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness
to be tempted by the devil. Temptation may have two senses. The first, may be
called objective
temptation. Satan entices and lures people to perform his will. He sets the
trap and baits it with an attractive lure, but he does not have the power to
force anyone to step into it. A person may only fall prey to external
temptation by choosing to do so. The reason man so chooses, and Jesus did not,
is because fallen humanity usually succumbs to the indwelling sin nature which
is inherently drawn to external temptation. This internal attraction and desire
for the bait in the trap is the internal or subjective
side of temptation as described in James 1:14: “Each one is tempted when he is
carried away and enticed by his own lust.” Thus, Satan is not only the master
counterfeiter and master deceiver but the master of temptation.
1 Peter 5:8 warns every Christian to
be of sober spirit, which means to have clear, objective thinking based on the
principles revealed in God’s Word; not to be distracted, but to be constantly
alert, because “your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion,
seeking someone to devour”. Satan is not omnipresent, but continuously seeks
opportunities to prevent Christians from advancing to spiritual maturity and
glorifying God.
Paul referred to the deceptiveness of
Satan and warned the Corinthians about it (2 Cor. 11:3). If Eve, who did not
possess a sin nature, was deceived by the craftiness of Satan, how much easier
must it be for believers who do possess a sin nature! This deception
may take any variety of forms, but one approach Paul describes is religious deception.
He warns us that, in his role as deceiver, Satan disguises himself as an “angel
of light” and as a “servant of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). Satan
has the power to deceive even through miracles and signs and wonders. This is the very tool he will use to beguile
many into following the coming Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12; Rev. 12:9).
Jesus also warned that many who claim to be Christians and who even healed
people, cast out demons, and performed many miracles in His name
will be told by our Lord at the last judgment to depart because He never knew
them (Matthew 7:21-23). The only way Christians can avoid the subtle deception
of Satan is through a detailed knowledge of God’s Word.
This picture Scripture
paints of Satan should cause every one of us to recognize the incredible danger
that Satan presents to every human being.
At some unknown time in eternity past God
created the angels. This vast host of rational, spirit beings was composed of
various orders. Some were messengers,
some served God in relation to His worship, others were involved in the
activities of the heavenly temple. Two of the highest angelic orders are called
seraphim and cherubim (Gen. 3:24; Ezekiel 10:1-15; Heb. 9:5; Isa. 6:2,
6). But the highest of all the angels, the most intelligent, beautiful,
talented, and powerful is called Lucifer. How long the angels existed before
sin disrupted their unity is unknown. But the angelic Fall did not occur until
after the creation of the universe, for “all the sons of God shouted for joy”
(Job 38:4-7) at the time of the original creation.
Every
creature, including the angels, was created by God through the Lord Jesus
Christ (John 1:3; Col. 1:16). Since God
is perfect and cannot create anything less than perfection, because of His
absolute righteousness, He cannot be involved in the creation of evil (Hab.
1:13a). Thus, all the angels were originally created
perfect, holy, and righteous. In the New Testament, we are told that many of
these angels rebelled against God at some unspecified time in the past. Though Karl Barth rejected the idea that the
demons were fallen angels, their connection with Satan during the Tribulation
(Rev. 12:7, “the dragon and his angels”), and the identification of Satan with
the demons as their leader Beelzebub (Matt. 12:24, 27) establishes the
creaturely category of Satan and the demons as angels. These fallen angels are allies and agents of
the devil (Rev. 12:7) and share his destiny in the lake of fire (Matt 25:41).
At some unrevealed time in eternity past, there had been a revolt among the
angels led by Lucifer, with one‑third of the angels following him in this
rebellion. Subsequently, these angels become known as “evil” or “unclean
spirits”.
Two passages (Is. 14:12-17; Ezek 28:12-19)
reveal the conditions of Satan’s original state and fall into sin. Since controversy over the interpretation of
these passages and the identification of them with the fall of Satan has
recently become more pronounced among evangelicals, the issues must be
identified and evaluated.
Until the nineteenth century, the personages
described in these two passages were identified with either 1) a historical
figure, 2) the future Antichrist, or 3) the fall of Satan. By the mid nineteenth century and the
development of the higher critical methods of Protestant liberalism, the
attempt to identify the passages with some Canaanite or other pagan myth came
into vogue. As contemporary evangelical scholars become more influenced by the
liberal historical criticism, they, too are replacing the biblical
Satan with interpretations based on the assumptions of liberal
scholarship.
To apply these passages to only a human
figure presents several exegetical problems as well as theological
difficulties. The exegetical problems
will be noted in the analysis of each verse.
Theologically, these passages provide the only Scriptural information
regarding the origin of evil in the universe. If these passages do not address
such an origin, then the Bible would be unexpectedly silent about such a
momentous event, and the door to dualism, the eternal coexistence of both good
and evil, would be left open. One distinctive of Christianity is that evil is
restricted in time in the universe.
Evil had a beginning, originating with the free choice of a creature,
and it will have a permanent termination at the end of history and be confined
for eternity to a place of judgment. All nonchristian religions and
philosophies run aground on the shoals of the problem of evil and cannot
explain its origin, purpose, or destiny. If these passages do not speak to the
origin of evil in the universe, then the Christian has no biblical revelation
to support the claim that evil is not eternal, and therefore has a weakened
defense against dualism.
Exegetically
there are eight major difficulties with identifying the figures in either
Isaiah 14 or Ezekiel 28 with either a human or a mythological figure.