Archives for July 2016

One of our modern problems with the Devil is the inconsistency of the images of the Devil or Satan in the Bible. Was the serpent that tempted Eve in Genesis 3 the Devil in disguise or just a talking snake? The identification of the serpent with evil is seen in the medieval image of the […]

Try as I might, I can’t find anything to say, or even really believe, about the Devil and the demons as such. Whether they can be said to exist in a way that we say anything else exists, and if so what they are, how they originate, and what their powers–I have no idea. In […]

Richard Beck Reviving Old Scratch: Demons and the Devil for Doubters and the Disenchanted Fortress Press, Minneapolis: 2016 In his contribution to Fortress Press’ “Theology for the People” series, author and professor of psychology Richard Beck makes an argument for Christians of all theological persuasions to reclaim language for the devil and spiritual warfare. Beck […]

“That b**** is gonna haunt us.” The sister coaxed a laugh out from behind her tissue, snorting through tears. The three women in the room gazed down at the youngest of the them and smiled at the inside joke passing just beyond the reach of the chaplain’s ears. The dead woman was covered in homemade […]

As one would expect, the New Testament treats the subject of demons in concert with some of the contemporary thought of the day. Demons were “unclean spirits” believed to have personalities with the ability to inhabit waste places and possess individuals where the afflicted individual’s personality was perverted and sickness could be inflicted (Matt.10:25; Luke.11:15-19).1 […]

What is Baptismal Exorcism? I adjure thee, thou unclean spirit, by the name of the Father † and of the Son † and of the Holy Ghost † that thou come out of and depart from this servant of Jesus Christ, (name), Amen.1 With those words, Martin Luther in his revised baptismal rite of 1526 […]