Demons in Abrahamic Religions

[TheScholar]

I have begun studying Demons in Abrahamic Religions, and I am only starting out, and my knowledge is not that great. Even with my lack of knowledge, I still want to talk about this, and this is probably the only venue I have to talk about Demons without looking like a fool.

Demons appear many times in Biblical texts. Are these Demons a literal malevolent force or are they symbolic?

Do Demons exist today?

What do you know about Demons in these religions?

 

[DawudTalut]

[AHMADIYYA MUSLIM EXPLANATION]
Jinns and Demons
"..........Generally what are called Jinns in the Muslim societies are called demons in the West, with some subtle differences in the detail..............In Hadith we find mention that Jinns also believed in the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace be on him, but, when we try to understand these Hadith in the light of the Quran, we have no choice, but to understand Jinns to be some hidden groups of men, who did not reveal their identity for different considerations. For example, in the Holy Quran we read,

“Say, ‘O mankind! truly I am a Messenger to you all from Allah.” (Al Quran 7:159 )

Khalifatul Masih II argues that if Jinns were a separate species, different from the humans the Holy Quran should have said,

“Say, ‘O mankind and Jinns! truly I am a Messenger to you all from Allah.” So, many a use of the term Jinn in the Quran is for humans of one description or the other.

Jinn according to the Islamic tradition may also mean bacteria, which may cause disease or even archaebacteria, which emerged at least 3.5 billion years ago and live in environments that resemble conditions existing when the earth was young, which may have role in evolution of life on our planet, but, that is a subject for another day.."
Jinns and Demons | The Muslim Times

 

[Pastek]

Demons appear many times in Biblical texts. Are these Demons a literal malevolent force or are they symbolic?

Do Demons exist today?

What do you know about Demons in these religions?

In Islam, Satan himself is a demon (jinn).
The demons can be bad or good, believers or not.
It's not symbolic at all as you can see in the different following verses.


God created them like us just to be believers :

51.56 And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.


They will be judged as us in the Day of Resurrection :

6.130 "O company of jinn and mankind, did there not come to you messengers from among you, relating to you My verses and warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours?"


They can see us but we can't see them :

7.27 O children of Adam, let not Satan tempt you as he removed your parents from Paradise, stripping them of their clothing to show them their private parts. Indeed, he sees you, he and his tribe, from where you do not see them.


They are also aware of the previous Scriptures :

46.29 And [mention, O Muhammad], when We directed to you a few of the jinn, listening to the Qur'an. And when they attended it, they said, "Listen quietly." And when it was concluded, they went back to their people as warners.

46.30 They said, "O our people, indeed we have heard a [recited] Book revealed after Moses confirming what was before it which guides to the truth and to a straight path.


Some believed God had a son (maybe Jesus) and that Satan exagerated (lied):

72.4 And [it teaches] that exalted is the nobleness of our Lord; He has not taken a wife or a son

72.5 And that our foolish one* has been saying about Allah an excessive transgression.

* Satan, their chief


Some of them are good and others are bad :

72.10 And we do not know [therefore] whether evil is intended for those on earth or whether their Lord intends for them a right course.

72.11 And among us are the righteous, and among us are [others] not so; we were [of] divided ways.

72.14 And among us are Muslims [in submission to Allah ], and among us are the unjust.


Some worked/work for humans like Solomon :


34.12 And among the jinn were those who worked for him by the permission of his Lord.

34.14 And when We decreed for Solomon death, nothing indicated to the jinn his death except a creature of the earth eating his staff. But when he fell, it became clear to the jinn that if they had known the unseen*, they would not have remained in humiliating punishment.

*In Islam the djinns help the soothsayers to know some things about the humans.

 

[Rainbow Mage]

y

I have begun studying Demons in AbrahamicReligions, and I am only starting out, and my knowledge is not that great. Even with my lack of knowledge, I still want to talk about this, and this is probably the only venue I have to talk about Demons without looking like a fool.

Demons appear many times in Biblical texts. Are these Demons a literal malevolent force or are they symbolic?

Do Demons exist today?

What do you know about Demons in these religions?

Coming from a Christian raising I was taught that demons are the third of the angels who left heaven to rebel along with Satan. According to Christian understanding demons and Satan continue this rebellion by corrupting the good creation of God and inciting man to do so.

Demonic possession stands out as an aspect of Christian belief. Orthodoxy holds that a person can be so greatly under demonic influence as to either willingly or unwillingly yield up their bodies as vessels to these demons. Christians understand that demons attempt to hurt God by this, in light of what they allege is God's deep love for humanity.

 

[BruceDLimber]

Are these Demons a literal malevolent force or are they symbolic?

God is One, Supreme, and has no rival or equal! There is thus no "devil" out there trying to "get us."

And "satan" is simply our own lower (animal) nature when we give it control instead of our higher (spiritual) nature.

BTW, please note the the Baha'i Faith is eminently Abrahamic, its founders being descendants of His.

Peace,

Bruce

 

[George-ananda]

Demons appear many times in Biblical texts. Are these Demons a literal malevolent force or are they symbolic?

I think both. Malevolent entities do exist that try to interfere. And there are personal demons like lust, greed, etc..

Do Demons exist today?

Yes, both kinds.

What do you know about Demons in these religions?

That we can kick their butts with upright mind and conduct.

 

[Susanpalli,JW]

After studying the Bible, one could conclude that the demons were originally good angels who like us were created with free will. They chose to do bad by rebelling against God. Satan was the first one, then many other angels followed this bad course. They are real beings who remain invisible in our day, but are the source of spiritism. In Revelation chapter 12, it explains that they have been hurled to the Earth and are no longer allowed to return to heaven. Revelation chapter 20 explains that they will be thrown into the abyss for 1000 years and unable to influence humanity during Christ's millennial reign.

 

[outhouse]

Do Demons exist today?

Nope.


Not in any aspect outside mythology and human perception.


The human mind is weak.

What do you know about Demons in these religions?

Enough to know they explained disease and mental health as "demons"

They were ignorant to the cause of disease, and thus it was those pesky demons that we must get rid of.

Even an infection was viewed as a demon.


These people literally believed little people ran around inside your body, [Dale B Martin. Yale]

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

y

Coming from a Christian raising I was taught that demons are the third of the angels who left heaven to rebel along with Satan. According to Christian understanding demons and Satan continue this rebellion by corrupting the good creation of God and inciting man to do so.

Demonic possession stands out as an aspect of Christian belief. Orthodoxy holds that a person can be so greatly under demonic influence as to either willingly or unwillingly yield up their bodies as vessels to these demons. Christians understand that demons attempt to hurt God by this, in light of what they allege is God's deep love for humanity.

^This.

Catholicism teaches that demons are literal beings with personalities. They are no metaphor.

 

[TheScholar]

In Islam, Satan himself is a demon (jinn).
The demons can be bad or good, believers or not.
It's not symbolic at all as you can see in the different following verses.


God created them like us just to be believers :

51.56 And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.


They will be judged as us in the Day of Resurrection :

6.130 "O company of jinn and mankind, did there not come to you messengers from among you, relating to you My verses and warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours?"


They can see us but we can't see them :

7.27 O children of Adam, let not Satan tempt you as he removed your parents from Paradise, stripping them of their clothing to show them their private parts. Indeed, he sees you, he and his tribe, from where you do not see them.


They are also aware of the previous Scriptures :

46.29 And [mention, O Muhammad], when We directed to you a few of the jinn, listening to the Qur'an. And when they attended it, they said, "Listen quietly." And when it was concluded, they went back to their people as warners.

46.30 They said, "O our people, indeed we have heard a [recited] Book revealed after Moses confirming what was before it which guides to the truth and to a straight path.


Some believed God had a son (maybe Jesus) and that Satan exagerated (lied):

72.4 And [it teaches] that exalted is the nobleness of our Lord; He has not taken a wife or a son

72.5 And that our foolish one* has been saying about Allah an excessive transgression.

* Satan, their chief


Some of them are good and others are bad :

72.10 And we do not know [therefore] whether evil is intended for those on earth or whether their Lord intends for them a right course.

72.11 And among us are the righteous, and among us are [others] not so; we were [of] divided ways.

72.14 And among us are Muslims [in submission to Allah ], and among us are the unjust.


Some worked/work for humans like Solomon :


34.12 And among the jinn were those who worked for him by the permission of his Lord.

34.14 And when We decreed for Solomon death, nothing indicated to the jinn his death except a creature of the earth eating his staff. But when he fell, it became clear to the jinn that if they had known the unseen*, they would not have remained in humiliating punishment.

*In Islam the djinns help the soothsayers to know some things about the humans.

I only new very, very basic details about Islam before I read this post. Thanks for teaching.

 

[arthra]

I have begun studying Demons in Abrahamic Religions, and I am only starting out, and my knowledge is not that great. Even with my lack of knowledge, I still want to talk about this, and this is probably the only venue I have to talk about Demons without looking like a fool.

Demons appear many times in Biblical texts. Are these Demons a literal malevolent force or are they symbolic?

Do Demons exist today?

What do you know about Demons in these religions?

The concept of "demons" developed before there were any psychiatric or psychological sciences ... so manifestations of various kinds were sometimes labelled demonic.

Abdul-Baha also indicated that "demons" found in the various scriptures should be understood in symbolic terms:

"As to the question of evil spirits, demons and monsters, any references made to them in the Holy Books have symbolic meaning. What is currently known among the public is but sheer superstition."

(From a Tablet of 'Abdu'l-Bahá: Spiritualism and psychic Phenomena, p. 3)

(Compilations, Lights of Guidance, p. 512)

 

[dantech]

Very briefly,

My background is from Morocco.

Moroccan Jews believe strongly in the existence of demons and our rabbis' scripture shows evidence of that.

As for their origins, there is a kabalistic teaching that explains that demons are created when we sin, whereas angels are created when we do good deeds.

We don't believe in rebellion of angels since we don't believe they have free will.