Satan and Demons

Most Americans don't believe in demons--not really anyway.

We might say we do, because we've heard the words in church or skimmed past them in the Bible. But functionally, we live as if the only real forces at work in the world are psychological, sociological, biological, or political. Evil, in this view, is either personal failure, chemical imbalance, or bad systems built by bad people.

There's truth in all of that. But it's not the whole truth.

The Bible assumes--without embarrassment or apology--that reality includes unseen spiritual forces, both good and evil. No cartoon villains with pitchforks and spandex. Not spooky horror-movie ghost tropes. But real, created beings whose influence can be subtle, structural, cultural, and sometimes terrifyingly personal.

For many modern Western Christians, this is uncomfortable territory. We either overreact and make it weird, or we under-react and quietly ignore large portions of Scripture. Both options leave us ill-equipped to understand the world we actually live in.

So let's try something different: Let's talk about Satan and demons carefully, biblically, and without theatrics.

Evil that's bigger than any one person

A good place to start is something we already know from experience. Some evils are more than the sum of their parts.

Addiction is a clear example. Yes, it involves brain chemistry, trauma, habits, and choices. But anyone who has walked closely with addiction--whether their own or someone they love--knows that it often feels personal. It lies. It coerces. It resists freedom with an almost intelligent persistence.

The same can be said of certain cultural movements, political systems, or corporate behaviors. No single person designs them to be monstrous, yet they grind people up all the same. Responsibility gets diffused. Accountability evaporates. People say things like, "That's just how the system works," even when the system is clearly producing widespread pain, poverty, destruction, and death.

The Bible is very comfortable naming this kind of evil.

Paul doesn't just talk about "bad ideas" or "immoral people." He talks about "powers," "authorities," and "rulers"--forces that influence human behavior at a level deeper than individual choice (Ephesians 6:12, Colossians 1:16, 2:15). These aren't merely metaphors for social structures, there is something adding an additional dimension and potency to broken systems and structures. They sit at the intersection of the spiritual and the structural. Paul specifically points out that the people aren't even the enemy; the enemy is the unseen spiritual forces that use them, manipulate them, and exploit them.

Modern language gives us phrases like groupthink, mob mentality, or even "the algorithm." None of these are people, but all of them shape people--often in ways no one fully controls.

The biblical worldview says: Yes, that's real and dangerous. There's more going on than we can see.

The Bible's strange but consistent worldview

If you read the Bible on its own terms--especially the Hebrew Bible--it becomes clear that spiritual beings are not an occasional add-on. They are baked into the story.

God is depicted as presiding over a divine council (Psalm 82; 1 Kings 22:19-23). Nations are associated with spiritual "princes" (Daniel 10) with authority, and they wage war against one another. Powerful spiritual beings deliver messages, oppose God's purposes, accuse humans, and sometimes rebel.

Importantly, Scripture never pauses to explain this unseen world. It assumes it.

This is one reason many modern readers struggle: we expect the Bible to answer our questions, when it was written within a worldview that already accepted spiritual realities as normal. America and the "enlightened West" more broadly, has largely rejected this worldview over the last few centuries. As a result, we often miss what the biblical authors are communicating because we don't share their assumptions. Many other cultures around the world have no trouble accepting these realities, because they never lost the worldview in the first place--spiritual beings are just part of how the world works.

A helpful modern guide here is Michael Heiser's book, The Unseen Realm. Whether you agree with all of his conclusions or not, he does an excellent job showing that much of what Christians find "weird" is actually just biblical--and that much of what we assume is biblical is actually tradition or merely inference. A word of caution: as someone who grew up in Indonesia with many personal experiences of spiritual interference, my reaction to Heiser's work was often, "Yes! That lines up with what I've seen!" However, I also spent an hour on the phone with a mature believer who was pretty shaken because Heiser's work challenged some of his long-held assumptions. Approach it prayerfully and with an open mind.

What we know, what we infer, and what we don't know

One of the most important disciplines in talking about Satan and demons is learning to distinguish between: - What Scripture explicitly says - What Scripture implies - What Scripture does not tell us at all

Most of what Christians confidently assert about spiritual beings lives in the second and third categories, not the first.

Here's what we do know fairly clearly: - There are created spiritual beings who oppose God and harm humans. - Some of them are referred to as demons, unclean spirits, or evil spirits. - Jesus treated them as real, personal, and morally responsible for the damage they caused. - They are not on equal footing with God and are ultimately subject to His authority. - Their power is real but limited, and their defeat is certain.

Here's what we don't get neat explanations for: - How many there are - How they are organized - Exactly how they interact with human psychology or broader social systems - Why some people seem more affected than others - Why some are expelled easily and others are not

The Bible is notably uninterested in giving us a satanic org chart. That should make us cautious about speaking more confidently than Scripture does. We can infer some things from Scripture, but we should always hold those in tension with the limits of what we actually know.

In the garden, Adam and Eve were given dominion over much of creation, but the spiritual beings were not among them. That suggests a level of authority and influence that humans do not fully understand or control. The New Testament describes Jesus' death and resurrection as disarming these powers (Colossians 2:15), indicating that their authority is both real and ultimately subordinate to God's plan.

Things we often get wrong (or oversimplify)

Because we like clean systems, Christians often turn complex biblical material into simple memorable boxes. That's where trouble starts.

"Satan" is a title, not a name

In Hebrew, ha-satan means "the accuser" or "the enemy." It's a role, not a personal name. It literally has the word "the" in front of it, indicating a function rather than a unique identity, and we as readers often give too much dignity to the term by treating it as a proper name.

In the Hebrew Bible, the enemy sometimes appears as a figure within God's court, accusing humans (Job 1–2; Zechariah 3). Over time, this role becomes associated with a particular enemy of God, but the development is gradual.

This matters because it reminds us that Scripture itself shows development and nuance, not a flat, frozen doctrine dropped from heaven. The enemy is real, and there is likely a chief enemy opposed to God's purposes, but we should be cautious about assuming too much certainty about his identity or characteristics. From here out, I'll refer to him as "the enemy" rather than "Satan" to keep the emphasis on the role rather than a singular personal identity.

The enemy is not omnipresent

Only God is everywhere.

Spiritual beings, including the enemy, are finite. Daniel 10 portrays spiritual conflict that takes time, involves location, and includes hierarchy--that alone should shatter the idea that the enemy personally tempts every Christian who has a bad thought on a Tuesday afternoon. There are many rebels in the spiritual realm, and they have to work through time and space just like we do. However, the chief enemy is not likely to be personally involved in your life--you're just not that important (unless these words somehow land in the hands of the most powerful people in the world, then you have different problems).

That doesn't mean temptation isn't real. It means the enemy works through systems, habits, cultural pressures, and lesser agents far more often than through direct confrontation.

"In the name of Jesus" is not a magic formula

I've been told by more than one well-meaning Christian that I should just command demons to leave "in the name of Jesus" and they will have to obey--it's simple! However, in the Gospels, some demons resist. Some do not leave immediately. In Acts, some people try to use Jesus' name without relationship or authority—and it goes very badly for them (Acts 19:13–16).

Jesus' authority is real. But Scripture never presents it as a formula we can deploy at will. Authority flows from relationship, obedience, and God's purposes--not formulas, volume, or confidence level.

It's also more complex than any formula. Jesus himself commanded a demon to leave, and it didn't (at first) (Luke 8:26-39). The disciples commanded demons to leave, and some did not (17:14-20). The New Testament shows that spiritual authority is real, but it is exercised within the context of God's will, timing, and purposes.

We do violence to the name of Jesus by treating it as a magic incantation rather than the representation of Yahweh's authority and character. There is more nuance here than many Christians give it credit for.

Demons are not just mental illness (but mental illness is real)

This is where Western Christians often swing too far in the opposite direction.

Mental illness is real. Trauma is real. Neurology matters. The Bible does not deny any of that.

But the Bible also refuses to collapse all spiritual affliction into psychological categories. Jesus distinguishes between sickness and demonic oppression in multiple instances. Sometimes the symptoms overlap. Sometimes they don't.

Which leads me to a story that still resists any non-nuanced explanation.

A real story of possession and deliverance

One "fact" that many Western Christians hold is that "if you believe in Jesus, demons won't bother you." I have had multiple instances where well-meaning people have un-prompted told me that "Christians can't be possessed." I don't now what would lead them to that conclusion, but it's simply not supported by either Scripture or experience. It can be inferred that faith in Jesus provides protection, but it is not an absolute shield.

Growing up in Indonesia, I was exposed to a worldview that accepted spiritual realities as normal. One of my friends, Budi (not his real name), was a young Christian and ran the local Christian radio station. I was in boarding school in Malaysia during the school year, but one summer, I even hosted a short radio program with him between Indonesian music segments--we were about a year apart in age, and I was in 7th grade.

Budi grew up like many in Palangkaraya, surrounded by strong spiritual belief in the unseen world. As an infant, his grandmother had dedicated him to the spirits with an oil sacrificial ritual to appease local spirits and protect him as a baby. My parents were surprised to find that everyone in the neighborhood knew of the "flying heads that ate infants" and the rituals enacted to appease them.

One day, Budi came by our house to practice his broken English and talk about his walk with Jesus with my parents after my dad preached about the authority Christians have in Jesus. During a conversation about his identity in Christ, Budi mentioned that "his spirits" often bothered him and suddenly drew himself up into the chair. An oppressive presence fell over the room, and he bellowed at my parents in perfect English, "He's mine! You can't have him! Leave him alone!"

My parents were stunned--even after 13 years in Indonesia, nothing quite prepared them for that moment. My mom described her thought process later: "Either he's a very very good actor, or there's a demon in my living room. Either way, it wants wants me to react in fear--and I won't." She look over at my dad, who seemed calm and unshaken by the sudden and oppressive presence.

Together, they calmly ignored this other voice that continued to yell and spoke to Budi, reminding him of his identity in Christ. Through a hail of yelling, my parents asked him who he was in Christ, and a thin voice--like it was under a blanket--replied, "I am a child of God." Again they asked, "Who are you in Christ?" and again Budi's real and muffled voice replied, "I am a child of God." The real voice of Budi grew in strength amidst the other shouting voice and finally, my mom said to this other presence, "You are not welcome in this house." The voice and the oppressive presence left as suddenly as it had come. Afterwards, they prayed with him, sang a few songs, and sent him home with some Scripture verses to meditate on.

I tell that story not to sensationalize it, but to illustrate that: - Demonic possession is a real phenomenon, even among professing Christians. - Inviting dark spiritual beings to have authority over your life takes time to reverse--much like trauma. Jesus' healing work often took time. - Faith in Jesus does not automatically prevent spiritual attack or possession. - Spiritual authority is exercised through relationship with Jesus, calmness, and truth--not fear or theatrics. - Possession is not simplistic or something to be taken lightly.

Jesus and the defeat of the powers

If all of this feels heavy or scary, that's understandable. The Bible never pretends the unseen world is safe or manageable on our own. For those who follow Jesus, there is good news.

The consistent New Testament story is that Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and ascension disarmed these powers (Colossians 2:15). They are still active, but they are living on borrowed time. The victory belongs to Jesus.

That means Christians don't need to obsess over demons--or ignore them. We live alert, grounded, humble, and dependent on Jesus. We resist evil where we see it. We ask Yahweh for wisdom. We pursue healing and justice. We trust that the same Jesus who confronted the powers directly is now advocating for us from heaven (Romans 8:34).

The goal is not to become demon experts--again, spiritual beings were not given to us in our domain to rule. The goal is to become Jesus-shaped people in a complicated world.