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Are demons fallen angels?



    
    

Clarify Share Report Asked July 01 2013 Mini Anonymous (via GotQuestions)

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14
Shea S. Michael Houdmann Supporter Got Questions Ministries
When exactly God created angels is open for debate, but what is known for sure is that God created everything good because God, in His holiness, cannot create something sinful. So when Satan, who w...

July 01 2013 1 response Vote Up Share Report


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Data Steven Best Supporter Former mil intel analyst, chiropractor & Bible Teacher
Demons are not fallen angels, and no Scripture supports this idea. One third of the Angels in heaven, those who followed Satan (Is 14; Ez 28; Rev 12:3-4, 9) are in chains, while Satan and his demons remain active and free (I Pe 5:8; II Cor 11:14; Eph 6:12-13). According to Scripture(Gen 6:1-10, Jud 1:1-7), the early church fathers (Athenagoras, Tertullian, Iranaeus, Papius, Origen, Justin Martyr…), and ancient Jewish apocalyptic tradition (Flavius Josephus: "Antiquities of the Jews" 1.3.1, Dead Sea manuscripts: Enoch 6:1-7:2: Jubilees 5:1; 7:21-23), they are the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim (Giants), who killed each other off in what the Greeks referred to as the battles of the Titans. This was part of God's judgment, prior to the flood (I Pe 3:18-20. Possessing a soul with both human and angelic elements, God forbade their entrance to Heaven or Sheol and they are doomed to wander the earth until the day of judgment. 

Jude 1:3 declares the fate of the fallen Angels: "for the blackest darkness has been reserved for ever," which is echoed by II Pe 2:4: "delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment…." Jud: 6 adds that the angels who did not keep their "first estate, but left their own habitation," are "reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment." Thus, fallen angels cannot possibly be the demons which roam the earth, in the manner that Jesus described (Mt 12:43-50, Lu 11:19-26). However, Jesus language of the disembodied demon roaming from one dry place to another," appears to be a direct quotation from the apocryphal literature, as does much of I Peter 3, II Peter 2, and Jude. Finally the Bible clearly links the activity of these "fallen" angels with the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah – "giving themselves over to fornication" and "strange flesh," (Jud: 7) which obviously corroborates Gen 6:2 as interpreted by the early church fathers, and the apocryphal traditions.

It is important though, to note, that Scripture also tells us that our 1st and greatest defense against demonic influence is to live godly lives in Christ, resisting the devil's temptations in all forms – especially those of a sexual nature. He also gave authority to his followers to cast out demons from those who were possessed or oppressed by them (Mt 10:7-11, Mk 16:15-20, Mt 28:18-20). It is still hotly debated as to whether this gift ceased by the end of the 2nd century, but many faiths still practice exorcism. 

Source: INTERVIEW WITH A GIANT: Ethanol Historical Notes on the Nephilim by Judd H Burton, MA, copyright 2009 by Burton beyond Press

July 24 2016 1 response Vote Up Share Report


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