Demons

[Mandy]

Okay so I have a quick question.  Demons in the Bible are supposedly fallen angels.  My question is this, were there any instances of murderous acts being directly attributed to demons?  There are plenty of instances in both the Old and New Testament of god’s angels murdering people.  I just found this alarming.  I can’t find any instances and I want to know if I am missing something here. Thanks. 

[Mandy]

If I put this in the wrong place I am sorry.  It may should have gone under Christian Theological questions.  I haven’t fully familiarized myself with the forum setup yet.  

[sdelsolray]

Often, authors of fiction and mythology leave things out of the narrative.  If they didn't, the literature would lengthen appreciably, beyond the patience of the reader.

[LogicalFallacy]

1 hour ago, Mandy said:

Okay so I have a quick question.  Demons in the Bible are supposedly fallen angels.  My question is this, were there any instances of murderous acts being directly attributed to demons?  There are plenty of instances in both the Old and New Testament of god’s angels murdering people.  I just found this alarming.  I can’t find any instances and I want to know if I am missing something here. Thanks. 

 

I think in Christian theology at least demons don't kill people as much as tempts them to sin. According to the bible only God can give life and take life so the idea of a demon being able to kill at will kind of presents a challenge to Gods omnipotence. Thus as far as I'm aware, is not an accepted idea in both Christianity and Judaism that demons can kill.

[Mandy]

I don’t mean to speak of any of this as real or ever actually happening.  Sorry if the way I am conveying it comes off as so. I just find that fascinating.  I wish I had noticed this sooner.  It doesn’t really make a big difference to me as I don’t believe in demons.  I just like to dissect the whole narrative.  I think the Bible says something to the effect that Satan comes to kill, steal, and destroy.  Was Satan ever demonstrated to have done any of this though?  The book of Job attributes 10 deaths to Satan however this was prompted by a bet with god and god allowed Satan to do this so truly I attribute those to god because he allowed the deaths.  There was no reason for these deaths either other than to prove how awesome he found himself to be. 

[LogicalFallacy]

36 minutes ago, Mandy said:

I don’t mean to speak of any of this as real or ever actually happening.  Sorry if the way I am conveying it comes off as so. I just find that fascinating.  I wish I had noticed this sooner.  It doesn’t really make a big difference to me as I don’t believe in demons.  I just like to dissect the whole narrative.  I think the Bible says something to the effect that Satan comes to kill, steal, and destroy.  Was Satan ever demonstrated to have done any of this though?  The book of Job attributes 10 deaths to Satan however this was prompted by a bet with god and god allowed Satan to do this so truly I attribute those to god because he allowed the deaths.  There was no reason for these deaths either other than to prove how awesome he found himself to be. 

 

I realise this. I was speaking purely from the 'theology' stand point.

 

Re Job: In this case God is directly authorising Satan to kill these people so as you point out the deaths are attributable to God. Much like how Hitler probably didn't kill many Jews, but we say Hitler killed 6 million - its the factor of authority and where the commands came from.

 

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Examples_of_Satan_personally_killing_people

 

So two examples, both of which end up not being Satan, or not in the bible so... yeah... Satan or the guy who wiped all living things in a flood - take ya pick.  

[Mandy]

1 minute ago, LogicalFallacy said:

 

I realise this. I was speaking purely from the 'theology' stand point.

 

Re Job: In this case God is directly authorising Satan to kill these people so as you point out the deaths are attributable to God. Much like how Hitler probably didn't kill many Jews, but we say Hitler killed 6 million - its the factor of authority and where the commands came from.

 

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Examples_of_Satan_personally_killing_people

 

So two examples, both of which end up not being Satan, or not in the bible so... yeah... Satan or the guy who wiped all living things in a flood - take ya pick.  

Nice!  And thank you for that link.  I shut myself off from even thinking about this subject for years so that I could attempt to hold onto what little faith in it all I had left.  I was literally the person with my fingers in my ears.  I didn’t want to hear the truth or think about it.  I didn’t want to analyze critically the belief I was desperately barely hanging onto.  So with that said I don’t know about many resources that are now available online like rational wiki.  I will have to check that out.  I am just glad that 15 or 16 years ago I found myself here and that now I have found my way back!  Thank you.

[Mandy]

It is literally amazing to me, to be able to go on YouTube and see people like Seth Andrews, Matt Dillahunty, and AronRa.  All of those years ago when I first even considered examining my beliefs and came to exchristian then got pulled away I would have never imagined people coming out in droves like they have and walking away from their belief systems so publicly.  It’s amazing to have such information and encouragement available.