Can the Devil Read Your Mind Catholic

Study of demons from a Christian point of view

Christian demonology is the study of demons from a Christian point of view. It is primarily based on the Bible (Old and New Testaments), the estimation of these scriptures, the writings of early Christianity philosophers, hermits and the associated traditions and legends incorporated from other beliefs.

Origins [edit]

In some Christian traditions, the deities of other religions are interpreted as demons.^[one] The development of the Devil in Christianity is such an instance of early ritual and imagery that showcase evil qualities, as seen by the Christian churches.

Since Early on Christianity, demonology has developed from a simple acceptance of the existence of demons to a complex written report that has grown from the original ideas taken from Jewish demonology and Christian scriptures. Christian demonology is studied in depth inside the Roman Catholic Church building,^[2] although many other Christian churches assert and discuss the existence of demons.^{[three] [4]}

Albertus Magnus, aware of the many faux behavior and erroneous teachings on the subject,^[5] said of demonology, "A daemonibus docetur, de daemonibus docet, et advertizing daemones ducit" ("It is taught past the demons, it teaches about the demons, and it leads to the demons").^{[half dozen]}

According to the Volume of Enoch (which is currently only canonical in the Eritrean and Ethiopian Orthodox Churches only was referred to by the early Church fathers), the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim are demons. Enoch explains:

And now, the giants, who are produced from the spirits (Angels) and flesh, shall be called evil spirits upon the earth, and on the earth shall exist their dwelling. Evil spirits have proceeded from their bodies; considering they are born from men and from the holy Watchers is their outset and primal origin; they shall be evil spirits on world, and evil spirits shall they be called. [As for the spirits of heaven, in heaven shall be their abode, but as for the spirits of the globe which were born upon the earth, on the earth shall be their dwelling.] And the spirits of the giants afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle, and piece of work destruction on the earth, and cause trouble: they accept no food, but nevertheless hunger and thirst, and cause offences. And these spirits shall rise up against the children of men and against the women, because they take proceeded from them. From the days of the slaughter and destruction and death of the giants, from the souls of whose mankind the spirits, having gone forth, shall destroy without incurring judgement.

—I Enoch 15:8–12, 16:1 R.H. Charles

Number [edit]

In 1467, Alfonso de Spina asserted that the number of demons was 133,316,666. This idea that ane third of the angels turned into demons seems to be due to an exegesis of the Book of Revelation 12:3–ix.^{[ citation needed ]}

Johann Weyer, in his Pseudomonarchia Daemonum (1583), after a complicated system of hierarchies and calculations, estimated the number of demons as 4,439,622, divided into 666 legions, each legion composed of half-dozen,666 demons, and all of them ruled by 66 hellish dukes, princes, kings, etc. The Lesser Central of Solomon (17th century) copied the division into legions from Pseudomonarchia Daemonum but added more demons, so more legions. It is suggestive that both Spina and Weyer used 666 and other numbers equanimous past more than than one 6 to calculate the number of demons (133,316,666 demons, 666 legions, half-dozen,666 demons in each legion, 66 rulers).^{[ citation needed ]} Therefore the demonic number was 666.

Gregory of Nyssa, in the 4th century, believed in the existence of male person and female demons and supported the idea that demons procreated with other demons and with human women. Other scholars supported the idea that they could not procreate and that the number of demons was constant.^{[ commendation needed ]}

Characteristics [edit]

In Christian tradition, demons are fallen angels^[vii] and have the same characteristics as their good angel counterparts: spirituality, immutability and immortality.^{[ citation needed ]} Demons are not omniscient, but each one has a specific knowledge (sometimes on more than than i field of study). Their power is limited to that which God allows, and then they are not omnipotent. No reference has been made about omnipresence, so information technology is unclear if they tin be in different places at the same time, only according to the tradition of the medieval witches' Sabbath, two conclusions can be reached: either the Devil tin be in different places at the aforementioned fourth dimension,^[eight] or he sends an emissary in his proper name.^[9]

Christian demonology states that the mission of the demons is to induce humans to sin.^[10] Demons are also believed to endeavor to tempt people into abandoning the religion, commiting heresy or apostasy, remaining or turning into Pagans, or venerating idols (the Christian term for cult images).^{[ citation needed ]} It is besides believed that demons torment people during their life or through demonic possession^[11] or merely past showing themselves before persons to affright them or past provoking visions that could induce people to sin or to be afraid.

In the Gospel of Luke, information technology is stated that demons walk "barren places", and finding no residual return to their previous home.

When an impure spirit comes out of a person, information technology goes through arid places seeking residue and does not notice it. Then information technology says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When information technology arrives, it finds the house swept make clean and put in society. Then it goes and takes 7 other spirits more than wicked than itself, and they go in and live at that place. And the concluding status of that person is worse than the first.^[12]

Appearance [edit]

Demons can take any desired appearance, even that of an "angel of light".

For such men are imitation apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an affections of lite. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve

Nevertheless, they were mostly described as ugly and monstrous beings by Christian demonologists. Many of these descriptions accept inspired famous painters like Luca Signorelli, Hieronymus Bosch, Francisco Goya, the artist that fabricated the drawings for the Dictionnaire Infernal, and others.^{[ citation needed ]} Incubi and succubi are described as looking attractive in club to accomplish their mission of seduction.^{[ citation needed ]} The Devil in particular has been popularly symbolized as various animals, including the serpent, the goat and the dragon.^{[ citation needed ]}

The thought that demons have horns seems to have been taken from affiliate 13 of the Book of Revelation.^{[14] [ demand quotation to verify ]} This idea has as well been associated with the delineation of certain ancient gods like Moloch and the shedu, etc., which were portrayed as bulls, as men with the head of a bull, or wearing bull horns as a crown.^{[ citation needed ]}

In Malleus Maleficarum, Heinrich Kramer wrote that demons can take the course of children, and that in this class, they are very heavy, constantly ill and do not abound.^[15]

Poets such as Geoffrey Chaucer associated the colour green with the Devil, although in modernistic times the color is red.^[sixteen]

Henry Boguet and some English demonologists of the aforementioned epoch asserted that witches and warlocks confessed (under torture) that demons' bodies were icy.^{[ citation needed ]} During the 17th century, this belief prevailed.

Sexuality [edit]

Demons are generally considered sexless equally they take no physical bodies, simply different kinds are generally associated with 1 gender or some other. Many theologians agreed that demons acted first as succubi to collect sperm from men and then as incubi to put it into a woman's vagina.^[17]

Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas wrote that demons and the hierarchy of angels are created by God with the same non–material substance.^{[ commendation needed ]} Considering they take no bodies they take no sexual identity and tin can non generate man beings or other angels.^{[ citation needed ]} The incorporeality is related to their nature, eternal and unchangeable across the centuries.

Ulrich Molitor and Nicholas Remy disagreed whether women could exist impregnated by demons. Remy thought that a woman could never exist fecundated by any beingness other than a man. Heinrich Kramer (author of the Malleus Maleficarum) adopted an intermediate position; he wrote that demons acted showtime as succubi and then as incubi,^[18] but added the possibility that incubi could receive semen from succubi, merely he considered that this sperm could not fecundate women.

Peter of Paluda and Martin of Arles among others supported the thought that demons could take sperm from dead men and impregnate women. Some demonologists thought that demons could have semen from dying or recently deceased men, and thus dead men should be buried as soon as possible to avoid it.^{[ citation needed ]}

Possession [edit]

The incarnation of the demons has been a problem in Christian demonology and theology since early times. A very early form of the incarnation of demons was the idea of demonic possession, trying to explain that a demon entered the trunk of a person with some purpose or only to punish that one for some allegedly committed sin.^{[ citation needed ]} This soon acquired greater proportions, trying to explain how demons could seduce people to have sexual relationships with them or induce them to commit other sins. To Christian scholars, demons didn't e'er have to manifest themselves in a visible and possible tangible class, sometimes information technology was through possession.^{[ citation needed ]}

According to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke demons could be seen and heard, as well as banished.

That evening they brought to him many who were possessed with demons; and he bandage out the spirits with a give-and-take, and cured all who were ill.

—Matthew 8:16^[19]

Just then in that location was in their synagogue a homo with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, "What take you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Take you come up to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God." But Jesus rebuked him, proverb, "Be silent, and come out of him!" And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud vocalisation, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, "What is this? A new educational activity—with potency! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him."

—Mark one:23–27^[20]

When he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs coming out of the tombs met him. They were and then trigger-happy that no one could pass that way. All of a sudden they shouted, "What have you to do with us, Son of God? Accept y'all come here to torment the states earlier the time?" Now a large herd of swine was feeding at some distance from them. The demons begged him, "If you lot cast us out, send us into the herd of swine." And he said to them, "Go!" So they came out and entered the swine; and suddenly, the whole herd rushed down the steep banking concern into the ocean and perished in the h2o.

—Matthew 8:28–33^[21]

Basil of Caesarea also wrote on this subject. He believed that demons, to materialize, had to condense vapors and with them class the body of a person or animal, and so entering that body every bit if information technology were a puppet to which they gave life. Henry More supported this idea, saying that their bodies were cold due to the solidification of water vapor to form them. Many authors believed that demons could presume the shape of an animal.^{[ citation needed ]}

Raoul Glaber, a monk of Saint-Léger, Kingdom of belgium, seems to have been the first in writing about the visit of a demon of horrible aspect in his Historiarum sui temporis, Libri quinque (History of his Time in V Books).^{[ commendation needed ]}

Augustine thought that demons often were imaginary, but sometimes could enter human bodies, but after accepted the idea of the materialization of demons. Thomas Aquinas followed Augustine'southward idea, but added that demonic materialization had sexual connotations because demons tried to seduce people to commit sexual sins.^{[ citation needed ]}

Ambrogio de Vignati, disagreeing with other authors, asserted that demons, too not having a textile trunk, could non create one, and all what they seemed to do was a mere hallucination provoked past them in the mind of those who had made a diabolical pact or were "victims" of a succubus or incubus, including the sexual act.^{[ citation needed ]}

Diabolical symbols [edit]

Inspired by the Revelation 13:xviii, the number 666 (the number of the second beast) was attributed to the Antichrist and to the Devil.

Co-ordinate to medieval grimoires, demons each have a diabolical signature or seal with which they sign diabolical pacts. These seals tin also be used by a conjurer to summon and command the demons. The seals of a multifariousness of demons are given in grimoires such as The Great Book of Saint Cyprian, Le Dragon Rouge and The Lesser Key of Solomon.

The pentagram, which has been used with diverse meanings in many cultures (including Christianity, in which it denoted the five wounds of Christ), is usually considered a diabolical sign when inverted (1 point downwards, two points upwardly). Such a symbol may announced with or without a surrounding circle, and sometimes contains the head of a male goat, with the horns fitting into the upper points of the star, the ears into the side points, the beard into the lowest i, and the face into the primal pentagon.

An inverted (upside-down) cantankerous (particularly the crucifix) has also been considered a symbol of both the Devil and the Antichrist, although in Catholic tradition a plain inverted cross (without the corpus or figure of Christ) is a symbol of Saint Peter.

Other views [edit]

Not all Christians believe that demons be in the literal sense. There is the view that the New Testament linguistic communication of exorcism is an case of the language of the day being employed to describe the healings of what today would be classified every bit epilepsy, mental illness etc.^{[22] [ unreliable source? ]}

See also [edit]

• Christian angelology
• Nomenclature of demons
• Deliverance ministry
• Demons and animals
• Exorcism
• Fall of homo
• Necromancy
• Richalmus
• Vii princes of Hell
• Unclean spirit

Literature [edit]

Demonologies from Christian and Occultist perspectives

• Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica (1274)
• Nicholas Magni, Tractatus de superstitionibus (1405)
• The Sworn Book of Honorius (13th century)
• Johannes Hartlieb, Buch aller verpoten kunst (1456)
• Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger, Malleus Maleficarum (1486)
• Martin of Arles, Tractatus de superstitionibus (1515)
• Nicholas Remy, Daemonolatreiae libri tres (1595)
• King James Half dozen and I. Daemonologie (1597)
• Key of Solomon (16th century)
• Ludovico Maria Sinistrari - De Daemonialitate et Incubis et Succubis (1680)
• The Book of Abramelin (Show points to the 18th century, although some claim it to be from the 1450s)
• Augustin Calmet, Treatise on the Apparitions of Spirits and on Vampires or Revenants (1749)

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References [edit]

1. ^ van der Toorn, Becking, van der Horst (1999), Dictionary of Deities and Demons in The Bible, Second Extensively Revised Edition, Entry: Demon, pp. 235-240, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, ISBN 0-8028-2491-9
2. ^ Exorcism Archived 2019-03-25 at the Wayback Automobile, Sancta Missa - Rituale Romanum, 1962, at sanctamissa.org, Copyright © 2007. Canons Regular of St. John Cantius
3. ^ Hansen, Chadwick (1970), Witchcraft at Salem, p. 132, Signet Classics, Library of Congress Itemize Card Number: 69-15825
4. ^ Modica, Terry Ann (1996), Overcoming The Power of The Occult, p. 31, Faith Publishing Visitor, ISBN ane-880033-24-0
5. ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Demonology". www.newadvent.org.
6. ^ "Cosmic ENCYCLOPEDIA: Demonology". www.newadvent.org.
7. ^ Revelation 12:7-ix
8. ^ Malleus Maleficarum Part 2, Chapter II, "Now the method of profession is twofold. One is a solemn ceremony, like a solemn vow. The other is private, and tin can be made to the devil at whatsoever hour alone", hosted on the Internet Sacred Text Archive.
9. ^ The Witch Persecutions, ed. George L. Burr, p. 3, hosted on the Internet Sacred Text Archive.
10. ^ "Malleus Maleficarum Role one Question V". www.sacred-texts.com. a human begins to be influenced towards and wills to commit sin, there must likewise exist some extrinsic cause of this. And this can be no other than the devil
11. ^ Matthew 17:15-16
12. ^ Luke xi:24–26
13. ^ Corinthians 11:xiv-15
14. ^ J. Hampton Keathley, The Beast and the False Prophet (Rev 13:ane-18)
15. ^ Malleus Maleficarum, Function 2, Chapter VIII, "But all three kinds have this in common, that though they are very heavy," hosted on the Net Sacred Text Archive
16. ^ "Pigments through the Ages - Colour of power". www.webexhibits.org.
17. ^ Lewis, James R., Oliver, Evelyn Dorothy, Sisung Kelle South. (Editor) (1996), Angels A to Z, Entry: "Incubi and Succubi", pp. 218, 219, Visible Ink Press, ISBN 0-7876-0652-ix
18. ^ Kramer, Heinrich and Sprenger, James (1486), Summers, Montague (translator; 1928), The Malleus Maleficarum, Role 2, Chapter Eight, "Certain Remedies prescribed against those Nighttime and Horrid Harms with which Devils may Agonize Men", at sacred-texts.com
19. ^ Matthew 8:16
20. ^ Mark 1:23–27
21. ^ Matthew viii:28–33
22. ^ "The Devil, Satan And Demons". www.realdevil.info.

External links [edit]

• Media related to Demons in Christianity at Wikimedia Commons

westmagnstowiter1963.blogspot.com

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_demonology

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