The ManicaPost
Pastor Lee Fore Kingdom Matters
This is one of the most interesting topics in the history of the church since it equates to asking whether demons can inhabit the very temple of God Almighty. This is indeed difficult to believe, given Jesus’ insights on possession.
“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armour in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils” (Luke 11:21-22
The Greek verb daimonisomai to be translated “demonised” rather than “demon possessed” because possession implies ownership and Satan does not own anything; the verb is passive and pictures a demon controlling a passive person; and the verb’s root means a “demon-caused passivity.” It is obvious that “demonised” is a more attractive translation than “demon possessed” to those who believe a demon can invade and inhabit a believer’s body.
This avoids the emotive connotations associated with demon possession. One might take this translation to mean demonic influence from without.
But this would be misguided, since this is the main term used in the New Testament to describe people inhabited by demons along with variations of “have a demon”, and it is never used for anything less; and those who teach that a believer can be demonised also teach that wicked spirits can actually reside within a Christian.
These demons would then need to be cast out. Thus, the issue is not the translation of the verb, but the location of wicked spirits relative to the believer. In other words, one may ask: Can demons control Christians from within or only oppress them from without?
It is understood that the verb to mean “demon possessed” because the Greek lexicons and theological dictionaries all translate daimonissomai as “to be possessed by a demon”; and one of the English dictionary definitions for possess is “to gain or exert influence or control over; dominate” (American Heritage Dictionary), Thus, demon possession can be understood as “possession to control.” W. E. Vine translates the verb this way: “To be possessed of a demon, to act under the control of a demon.”
It is learnt that the etymological facts (i.e., the historical usage of the word) because the issue is not ownership but the location of a demon relative to the believer, for only if the demon is within the believer is it truly in a position to control (and thus possess) him or her.
According to scriptures Jesus’ parable of the strong man (Matt. 12.29; Luke 11:21-22), He compares His freeing the captives of demon invasion with someone first binding a strong man (i.e., Satan) and then plundering his possessions (Greek huparchõ, in Luke 11:21).
Since the possessions in the parable represent the people Jesus delivers from demons, there is a biblical sense in which Satan can possess people, in Greek the passive voice merely means that the subject is the recipient of the action, a fact perfectly consistent with the term demon possessed when properly defined as being inhabited, and thus controlled by a demon.
The Case of King Saul. Two passages say that an evil spirit from God came upon Saul. Both times he tried to pin David to the wall with his javelin (1 Sam. 18:10-11; 19:9-10).
The first question to be considered is whether Saul was a genuine believer. Although at the time of his anointing as king it appeared as though he were a man of God (1 Sam. 10, ff.), his subsequent behaviour was not consistent with an authentic conversion (James 2:14).
The fact that he was anointed and used by God does not prove he was a true believer: God used even pagan kings such as Cyrus as His anointed men to accomplish His purposes (Isa. 45:1). Even if we grant that Saul at one time was a genuine believer and later became possessed by a demon, it doesn’t follow that the same is possible for genuine believers today.
Although Scripture does not explicitly describe the nature of regeneration prior to Christ’s atonement, it would appear that believers in the Old Testament did not have the Holy Spirit as a permanent indwelling presence, as do New Testament believers (Psalm 51:11).
Thomas Ice and Robert Dean Jnr., alluded the reason for rejecting the example of King Saul in this regard: “The Hebrew text says that the evil spirit would come upon Saul or depart from upon him; it is never said to have entered into Saul, as would be expected if demon-possession was the intended idea.”
The Case of the Woman Bent Double. In Luke 13:10-17 we read of a “daughter of Abraham” who “had a spirit of infirmity” (KJV) which left her bent over, unable to straighten up. Satan is identified as the one who bound her for 18 years (v. 16). There is no question that this sickness was demonically instigated but is there enough evidence to suggest that the woman was a true believer indwelt by a demon?
In “Demon Possession and the Christian”, C. Fred Dickason, the dean of Moody Bible Institute’s theology department, affirms that the weight of the evidence points in the direction that she was a genuine believer. First, she worshiped at the synagogue. Second, she glorified God because of her healing (v. 13).
Third, the phrase “daughter of Abraham” implies salvation when taken with the passage about Zacchaeus (Luke 19:9). The phrase “daughter of Abraham,” however, doesn’t necessarily mean the woman was a true believer in God and Christ, for it was most likely used ethnically to mean she was a Jew.
Jesus’ statement about Zacchaeus being a “son of Abraham” means that Zacchaeus should from that point on be regarded as truly a Jew and a member of God’s covenant people, even though he was a hated tax-gatherer for a foreign power, namely Rome.
That she was a regular synagogue attender, and that she praised God for her healing, are beside the point. One could attend synagogue without being a true worshiper of God consider the scribes and Pharisees.
There is no mention of her coming to faith in Jesus. But if she did, it could easily have been a result of her deliverance rather than existing prior to it.
Furthermore, it is not at all clear that the woman bent double was demon possessed. Modern translations render the literal Greek phrase “spirit of infirmity” as “sickness caused by a spirit” (NAS), “crippled by a spirit” (NIV), and so forth.
This would seem to be the intended sense of the phrase, as Jesus did not perform an exorcism on her (as He consistently did in clear cases of demon possession) but simply pronounced her cured. However, we cannot conclusively say that the Bible clearly presents evidence that believers may be demonised.
The strongest passages in support of the view are unconvincing. Since the church historically has not held that Christians can be demon possessed, and since the idea of a demon cohabiting a body with the Holy Spirit is naturally repugnant, the burden of proof should be on those who say that a genuine believer can be inhabited by a demon.
Yet the most such scholars can say that the Bible does not clearly give evidence that believers cannot be demonised.
This is to argue from silence at precisely the point where we would expect clear biblical teaching.
Sources: Greek lexicons and theological dictionaries, Demon Possession and the Christian, C. Fred Dickason, the dean of Moody Bible Institute, American Heritage Dictionary.
Pastor Lee Fore: Religious Commentator: Email: [email protected], +263 773 469 191 or +263 712 314 734
