Argumentative Essay
The Devil is in the Details
If asked, a large portion of people would declare themselves to be Christian, or Muslim. These are Abrahamic faiths, two religions that believe in one God, and believe that their religion started with Abraham. More than a few books have been written about their beliefs as time went on—so many books, in fact, that they had to be compiled. This compilation became what we call a Testament. The Old Testament was basically the Hebrew Bible, and the New Testament was added to the old one and created the Catholic Bible. The Moslems also had their “Bible” in the form of the Qur’an, their holy book.
But no matter how loyal one can be to his/her religion, there is a big lack of attention to specifics in the books themselves. No exact time and date was given for the birth of the Messiah, for example, or how he would act. No exact time and date is given as well for the end of the world. The result would be people assuming facts. For instance, nowhere in the Bible is there a literal description of Hell. Jesus’ description of an “eternal fire” was a metaphor. The most literal description was only given by the poet Dante, in his Divine Comedy. Same goes with the Devil, the tempter. No exact description. And over the course of history, its meaning would be wrongly construed with the word “demon”.
However, a closer look at the stories in the Bible would reveal that the devil is in the details, which means that the meaning is hidden between the lines. Devils are not demons. As said in our extended definition essay, fallen angels are technically what we call as devils. Fallen angels, being celestial in orgin, are different from and more powerful than demons, who are merely evil spirits in comparsion.
Let’s start at what is already written in the extended definition, and go from there. We know that devils are basically fallen angels, angels that have rebelled against God in the beginning of time and were cast down to Hell as punishment. Being angels, they can change their appearance at will, or take none at all. The word “demon” meanwhile came from the Greek daio, which means “to divide” (Monstrous). They referred to pagan spirits lower than gods. The word eventually morphed into demon over the course of time.
But aside from their etymology, there is a few other things that separate demons and devils. First is that, based on the origins of their words, we can assume at least that fallen angels are very powerful, because they can have bodies, compared to spirits, who can only possess bodies. Jesus confirms this assumption, telling us to cast out demons, but cautioning us in our confrontations with devils.
In the very same way, these dreamers...slander celestial beings. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you".
— Jude 8-9
Devils can take the shape of anything, and that is how Satan tempts us continually. Remember? Fallen angels begat the Nephilim, the giants who roamed the Earth during Noah’s time? (Genesis 6) When these Nephilim got swept in the flood, their earthly bodies were destroyed, but their celestial spirits remained. They are what we call demons. These demons can only hope to be within a body. They will even settle for the bodies of animals, as in Mark 5:12-13 when they told Jesus to cast them out into bodies of pigs.
Even St. Paul differentiates between these two kinds of beings.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
— Ephesians 6:12.
Therefore fallen angels are not the same as demons. Fallen angels begat demons.
Demons, meanwhile, are just spirits wandering the Earth, possessing living things. This is parallel to the pagan belief of spirits, and the Islamic belief of djinn, or malevolent spirits with free will. It is for this reason that the term demonic possession exists, but devilish possession does not (N. Litherland, 2011). Demons are the powers of this dark world, while fallen angels are the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Brown, 2010)
Many ministers have understood the difference between fallen angels and demons, but they haven’t figured out where they came from. Most of them have speculated that demons are the disembodied spirits of a pre-adamic race, although they can't prove this from the Bible or from tradition.
I believe since demons are evil spirits that we must confront, God must have told us about them. Surely, He doesn't leave us without telling us where they come from. I believe the Bible definitely informs us as to the origins of demon spirits.
The devil is in the details.