What are demons?
Question 08119
Demons are not the invention of medieval imagination or the projection of pre-scientific superstition onto medical conditions people did not yet understand. They are real, personal, spiritual beings whose existence Scripture affirms and whose activity Jesus took with complete seriousness. The Gospels record more encounters between Jesus and demons than between Jesus and the Pharisees on the subject of the law. Getting this right matters, because a church that does not believe in demons is a church unprepared for a dimension of reality that its Lord took as a given.
What Demons Are
Demons are fallen angels. They are the spiritual beings who joined Satan in his rebellion against God and were cast out of their original position of honour and service. This is the consistent teaching of Scripture, even though no single passage provides a comprehensive systematic account. Jesus refers to “the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41), directly associating the demonic host with Satan’s leadership. Revelation 12:4 describes the dragon drawing a third of the stars of heaven after him, which is understood as a symbolic description of the angels who fell with Satan. The demons are not independent agents; they belong to a kingdom, they serve under authority, and that authority is Satan’s.
An alternative view has circulated in some theological traditions: that demons are the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim described in Genesis 6, the offspring of the “sons of God” and human women who perished in the Flood and now wander the earth as spirits. While this view has a long history, particularly in certain strands of Jewish intertestamental literature such as 1 Enoch, it lacks clear biblical support. Scripture does not make this connection explicitly, and the simpler explanation, that demons are the fallen angels who followed Satan, accounts for the biblical data without requiring speculation beyond what the text provides.
What Demons Do
The activity of demons in Scripture is varied but consistent in its purpose: to oppose God’s work, to deceive humanity, and to destroy human beings wherever possible. In the Gospels, demons are shown afflicting people physically (the boy with seizures in Matthew 17:14-18), psychologically (the Gerasene demoniac living among the tombs in Mark 5:1-20), and spiritually (the spirit of divination in Acts 16:16-18). They promote false teaching (1 Timothy 4:1 warns of “teachings of demons”) and stand behind idolatrous worship (1 Corinthians 10:20 states that “what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God”).
Demons recognise Jesus. This is one of the most striking features of the Gospel accounts. When confronted by Christ, demons consistently identify Him accurately. “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” (Matthew 8:29). They know who He is, they know their own judgement is certain, and they know the timing of that judgement is fixed. James 2:19 adds the sobering observation that “even the demons believe, and shudder.” Intellectual recognition of God’s existence and Christ’s identity is not saving faith. The demons possess perfect theological knowledge and remain in rebellion.
What Demons Cannot Do
Demons are powerful, but they are finite creatures operating under the permission and restraint of God. They cannot act beyond what God allows. The book of Job illustrates this with particular clarity: Satan must request permission before afflicting Job, and God sets explicit boundaries that Satan cannot cross (Job 1:12; 2:6). Demons cannot read minds, though their long observation of human behaviour gives them considerable insight into human weakness. They cannot be in more than one place at a time. They cannot override the will of a believer indwelt by the Holy Spirit. They are subject to Christ’s authority without exception, and the New Testament records no instance in which a demon successfully resisted a command given in Jesus’ name by someone genuinely acting in His authority.
The Imprisoned Angels
Two passages refer to a specific group of fallen angels who are not currently free to operate in the world. 2 Peter 2:4 states that “God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgement.” Jude 6 adds that “the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgement of the great day.” These imprisoned beings appear to represent a distinct category within the fallen angelic host, perhaps those whose transgression in Genesis 6 was of such severity that God confined them immediately rather than permitting continued activity. This is a reasonable inference, though the text does not state the connection in so many words.
So, now what?
The reality of demons calls for neither obsession nor indifference. The believer who sees a demon behind every difficulty has elevated the enemy beyond what Scripture warrants. The believer who dismisses demonic activity as irrelevant to modern life has ignored what Jesus took seriously and what the apostles addressed repeatedly. The balanced position is awareness without anxiety: knowing that the enemy is real, that his forces are active, and that the victory of Christ over them is complete and decisive. Colossians 2:15 states that God “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them” in Christ. The demons are defeated enemies. They are dangerous, but they are not triumphant, and the believer’s confidence rests not in understanding every detail of the demonic realm but in belonging to the One who has conquered it.
“He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” Colossians 2:15