Sadly many of our current conservative Christians go significantly too far in the area of the demonic, and begin to believe illogical and contradictory ideas that have more in common with Hollywood than they do with Christian reality. — quote from yesterday’s post.
Before I speak about the illogical ideas, let’s take one post to look at what Scripture says:
1. There is such a thing as relics that mediate God’s blessing to us. 2 Kings 13:21 — “Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.” For those who do not believe that the bones of a saint can be used by God to mediate a miracle, or can be especially blessed by God, this Scripture should give you pause.
2. God can ordain humans to bless items so that they become a source of God’s presence and power to others. “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.” Now, the typical response is that Saint Paul was so special that he was given a gift that no one else was. The trouble is that Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, and Pentecostal Church history says something different. Please look at Protestant missionary history and Pentecostal history and see how often an item touched and/or blessed by a missionary or a pastor is used by God for a miracle. Catholic and Orthodox history agrees with Protestant missionary and Pentecostal history on this issue.
3. God can use the presence of human being to be a source of blessing and miracle, even their shadows. “As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.” Please note that it says that all of them were healed.
4. God can touch an object in such a way that merely being involved with it can be a source of either blessing or curse:
a. 2 Samuel 6:6-7 — “When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.”
b. 1 Corinthian 11:27-30 — “Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.”
5. Have you ever noticed that angels manifest several times in Scripture? That is, they are not simply visible to the eye, they are actually incarnate. Other than the Garden of Eden and Jesus’ 40 day temptation, can you cite another example of a devil or demon being present in the same way?
OK, so now we now what is said about God in Scripture. Let me ask you a quick question. From where do we get some of our ideas about devils and demons? Can you cite me equal Scriptures concerning devils and demons?
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