Kryten

Recently I was reading the 700 Club and in particular, Pat Robertson. He kept warning people about the dangers of demons. I had to wonder, "What demons?" I have never seen one. Nor are there any photos of demons. So where are they? What do they look like? And how do I find them?

Eldarion Lathria

Marion was merely trying to frighten his flock. There are no demons, no hell, no devil, no big, bad boogeyman in the closet. He was lying

Eldarion Lathria

Ellis14

This is typical of the sort of bile Pat Roberton usually spews.

Here is what Wikipedia has to say on him. Check out his Quotes section:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Robertson

Whenever this guy's name gets mentioned, I weep for the species.

DarkBronzePlant

I used to just figure that Xtians were speaking metaphorically when they talked about demons. But in the recent past, I'd met some otherwise normal-seeming Jesus-freaks who literally believe that physical demons exist (and that, of course, said demons have it in for them.)

KnightWhoSaysNi

We did have one poster here, whom many of us veterans remember quite well, who apparently dealt with those pitchfork wielding buggers firsthand. :devil3:

Dougie's demons

Wyrdsmyth

Unsurprisingly, the range of beliefs about demons varies about as much as the range of beliefs as things like gods, leprechauns, aliens, and so forth. But most Christians I have spoken to assert demons are spiritual in nature rather than physical, and these same Christians are quick to scoff at the image of physical monsters (i.e. the pitchfork wielding devils of Medieval folklore) as being "ridiculous."

The important thing about the demons being spiritual in nature, rather than physical, is that (like so much of this kind of stuff) they don't leave any physical evidence.

newtype_alpha

For the most part, the "demons" belief in Christianity is where religion ends and superstition begins (not that the line between them was ever that well defined to begin with). In Islam, I'm told, it's more a folk-legend sort of thing. You're not likely to run into too many Muslims who are afraid to open glass bottles for fear that a Jinn while fly out of it and eat them alive.

From a purely theological standpoint, Demons are pretty much any spirit of any kind that doesn't belong to the Judeo-Christian godhead. In most other pantheons this doesn't mean a whole lot, since any demon can be either helpful or harmful. Socrates, for instance, claimed to have had a life-long Demon as a protector whose predictions were often more reliable than any forms of divinination of the time.

"Demons" are probably the mythological personification of "instinct." In that case (for Christians) any instinct that tends to lead people toward a Church or the Bible or God or whatever would be called an angel, while any instinct that leads in the opposite direction would be called a demon.

Godless Wonder

I recently (in the last few weeks) found out that several people I work with believe that demons exist.

What the fuck??? Is this the dark ages???

Morons. The more I learn about humanity, the dumber humans become. I'm sorry, but if you believe in demons in this day and age, I am forced to conclude that you are fucking retarded.

Naked Ape

Well, no more retarded than the nutbars who believe in angels. :angel:

Cheers,

Naked Ape

Patcher

[QUOTE]Actually, many Christians believe that demons ARE angels that Satan took with him after he left heaven! Reluctantly I'll admit (no slamming me afterwards) that when I use to pray to god that I wouldn't pray out loud for fear a demon would hear me. Then he would know how best to "get to me". Wow, that is so dumb! I was SO serious at the time, though, and it was VERY real to me!