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Letters of Saint Paul

What Paul wrote, usually with the help of his secretaries, is extremely rich in both doctrine and personal experience. At the same time, they contain some problems that are difficult to resolve, especially some of the words he uses and their meaning. When his terminology refers to evil spirits, it is relatively changeable. This is due to several factors, especially the mysterious nature of these spiritual beings, the sources that he uses and the persons he is writing to.

In the first place, Paul uses traditional Hebrew terminology put into its Greek equivalents. For example, he uses the title, “Satan.” In Paul’s first and most authentic letters, he frequently uses “Satan” to refer to the demons,23 as he also does in later letters, complaining, “Some have already turned away to follow Satan” (1 Tim 5:15). In these later letters, however, he most often uses “the Devil,” such as when he refers to future bishops or other members of the Church, “He must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace and the snare of the Devil.”24 “Demon” is used twice by Paul, once as those whom pagans worship (1 Cor 10:20-21) and the other time as those whose teachings the heretics follow (1 Tim 4:1).

Only once does Paul use the Hebrew term for Satan, Beliar, literally “nothingness, the one of no value”: “What fellowship is there between light and darkness? What agreement does Christ have with Beliar?” (2 Cor 6:15). Elsewhere he uses different titles: the Evil One (Eph 5:16), the Tempter (1 Thes 3:5) and the God of this World (2 Cor 4:4).

Paul also uses other expressions, above all in the letters to the Ephesians and the Colossians. These titles come from the Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament and the Jewish apocryphal writings, especially the Dead Sea scrolls of Qumran. Two general terms he uses are “Powers” and “Spirits of the universe.” The first of these expressions refers to various names that are interchangeable: Principalities (arxai), Forces (dynameis), Rulers (thronoi) and Cosmic powers (cosmocratopas). The best opinion is that all these expressions refer to fallen angels or demons.

Harder to understand is the term, “elemental spirits” (stoiceia), used in Galatians 4:3 and Colossians 2:20. In the world of Greek mythology and of some Jewish apocryphal writings the term referred to stars and the personalized forces that govern them. In the Jewish world of the time, it meant the demonic powers that try to dominate humans.

On two occasions, Paul tries to give the members of the communities he had established some type of explanation for these evil spirits. For the Christians of Corinth he makes it clear that the idols are nothing, even though people call them “gods”, so that believers can eat what has been sacrificed to idols, with the only limit being that of charity, so as not to scandalize any of the Christians less instructed in their faith. Later, however, he adds that a Christian should not enter into communion with them, “What pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons” (1 Cor 10:20-21). We can see that Paul differentiates three different terms: gods, idols and demons. Demons hide behind idols and are clearly not gods.

Paul also instruct the community at Ephesus about their spiritual combat:

Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one (Eph 6:11-16).

We are dealing here with a combat against many enemies full of evil venom, who are constantly on the attack. They are difficult to identify, since they do not have their own name but live “in the heavenly places”, which, in this context, does not mean in heaven, but in space, in the air above us mortals. That is why the struggle is both inhuman and super-human. They are like the vanguards of a power that is at war with God and his kingdom. Their leader is the Devil, Satan.

Paul explains to the Colossians that all these enemies were created in relation to Christ, “Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers, all things have been created through him and for him” (Col 1:16). Since they are co-responsible for the Cross of Christ, through his Cross and Resurrection “he disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them” (Col 2:15).

Once we have seen the words that Paul uses and their meaning, we can look at his personal experience and his teaching on demons. He knows what it is like to be tempted and to fight against Satan: “A thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness’” (2 Cor 12:8-9).

This experience made him able to understand the experience of others and advise his many disciples. There are many examples of this, but we can look at some of the outstanding ones that can be useful to us. For instance, Paul had learned that Satan often lays a trap for believers in Christ, so he tells the faithful in Rome, “I want you to be wise in what is good and guileless in what is evil. The God of peace will shortly crush Satan under your feet” (Rom 16:19-20). For the same reason, he is afraid that some Corinthian Christians might be tempted in matters that seem good, such as a married couple not having sexual relations for a time by mutual agreement in order to devote themselves more to prayer. So he tells them, “Come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control” (1 Cor 7:5), because Paul is “afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by its cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Cor 11:3). The result is that Paul advises a general attitude of vigilance, keeping the weapons of the Spirit always ready: “Do not make room for the Devil!” (Eph 4:27).

All Paul’s personal experience was not kept in a closet, but reflected on in the light of his Christian faith, which led him to a solid, consistent teaching on the subject, a doctrine on demonology based on the history of salvation. Its most important point is that the rejection of the Good News of the Gospel “is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor 4:4).

Paul clarifies this somewhat enigmatic statement when he writes to the Thessalonians and tells them how the “lawless one” will be destroyed when the Lord comes. At the end, there will be a radical combat between this intractable person and the Lord, but meanwhile his actions reveal that he is an instrument of Satan: “That day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God” (2 Thess 2:3-4).

Paul thus confirms what Jesus himself had prophesized, “Because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold” (Mt 24:12), but he adds:

The lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying wonders, and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved (2 Thess 8-10).

Paul’s hope is in God, who has made Christ to be the Conqueror.

You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:1-6).

This is why Paul stresses the absolute dominion of Christ over all reality, from the time of creation until the end of history. He knows by his faith in divine revelation that Christ will triumph over the powerlessness of the world of demons and over all his enemies: “Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Cor 15:24-26). And so he makes the final proclamation, “I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38-39).

Johannine Writings

These writings attributed to the disciple John consist of three texts that are different from each other as regards their literary genre, namely a Gospel, three letters and an apocalyptic revelation. Their difference of style, however, does not prevent them from teaching a common doctrine and sharing the same original source and its tradition. Here are their respective references to evil spirits:

Texts	Devil	Satan	Demon	Evil One	Prince of this world
Fourth Gospel	6:70; 8:44; 13:12	13:27	7:20;8:48-49, 52;10:20, 21	17:15	12:31; 14:30; 16:11
Letters(1 John)	3:8, 10			2:13, 14; 3:12; 5:18, 19
Apocalypse	2:10; 12:9, 12; 20:2, 10	2:9, 13, 24; 3:9; 12:9; 20:2, 7	9:20; 16:4;18:2

Interestingly enough, the Gospel of John does not contain a single exorcism practiced by Jesus. The reason for this is very simple: John concentrates Christ’s victory over Satan in the one unique event of the saving Cross. However, a careful reading of the entire Gospel shows two opposing poles of influence, one coming from the Father who creates and gives life. The other influence comes from the Devil: “He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (8:44).

John’s Gospel constantly opposes God to Satan in terms of life and death, truth and falsehood, light and darkness, justice and injustice, above and below, heaven and hell, spirit and flesh. It is essentially an opposition between love and hate,25 and more specifically, between the eternal Creator and the contingent creature.

Satan has a certain power over the world, which is why John calls him “the ruler of this world”, but he has no power over Jesus, who is not from this world. Satan’s victory in the death of Jesus is only apparent, since “the ruler of this world will be driven out and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (12:31-32).

Satan is thought of in terms of “judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned” (16:11), which is why Jesus can say, “I have conquered the world” (16:33). The Jewish religious leaders and enemies of Jesus do not understand him as a conqueror, so they can only bring discredit on him and say, “You are a Samaritan and have a demon” (8:48).

The Letters of John, for their part, show that Satan maintains a certain degree of power and continues to battle against the disciples of Jesus through the calumnies he instigates against his Conqueror even after this Conqueror rises from the dead and sends the Holy Spirit. In this sense, the Letters of John, above all the first Letter, agree with Paul’s experience of the evil one: “You son of the Devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?” (Acts 13:10).

In the Johannine communities, however, the son of the Devil has found a proper name, namely “Antichrist,” the one who is against the Messiah and against the kingdom of God, the one who is opposed to the divine plan of salvation. Furious at the Incarnation of the Son of God and at war against every sincere Christian, the antichrist fights against the believer’s divine life: “Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son” (1 Jn 2:22). John concludes that the final combat has begun, “It is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour” (1 Jn 2:18).

From the teaching on this subject in the Letters of John, we can conclude that Satan uses liars to conquer Christians. John calls these lying seducers “Antichrist,” because they want to provoke the apostasy of all believers at this moment of the final combat. The Antichrist’s apparent success disappears in the final victory of Jesus Christ and of those who belong to him, “for you have overcome the Evil One” (2:14).

The Apocalypse, the Book of Revelation, tells us from its very beginning that God will reveal the reason for present and future tragedies. The entire book refers to the first century in the life of the Church, which becomes the key for interpreting what will happen in future centuries. Christ the Spouse is conquering, and will conquer, all enemies.

The principle revelation that John wants to share with us is that the Church’s combat against Satan began outside human time: “War broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him” (Rev 12:7-9).

The prophetic writer calls the Evil One a dragon so that there will be no doubt what kind of a being he is. Once on earth, the dragon continues the combat that he had lost in heaven. Thrown out of eternity, he thrashes around in historic time even though he knows it will be brief. So woe to us! “Woe to the earth and the sea, for the Devil has come down to you with great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” (v.12).

The dragon fights in a special way against the Woman, who “gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne” (v.5), which made the dragon all the more furious: “From his mouth the serpent poured water like a river after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood. But the earth came to the help of the woman” (vv.15-16). This resulted in the dragon attacking the Church: “The dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus” (v.17).

The dragon fights a losing battle, since the Woman, who represents both the Church of Christ and the Mother of Christ, is greater and more important than the dragon. She is the great prophetic sign of the future: “A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth” (12:1-3).

In sharp contrast to the woman, the dragon is only active in earthly time and history. He uses two beasts to carry on his war, one of them “rising out of the sea” (13:1) and the other “that rose out of the earth” (13:11). The beast from the sea stands for totalitarian leaders and dictators who falsely dazzle their followers: “In amazement the whole earth followed the beast. They worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast” (13:3-4).

The beast from the earth represents the first beast’s seductive propaganda: “It spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and it makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast” (13:11-12). The author of the Apocalypse tells his readers that they should understand whom he is referring to: “This calls for wisdom: let anyone with understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person. Its number is six hundred sixty-six” (13:18).26

Both beasts are the incarnation in human history of the dragon, that is, Satan, the liar and “murderer from the beginning” (Jn 8:44). However, God’s angel “threw him into the pit, and locked and sealed it over him, so that he would deceive the nations no more” (Rev 20:2-3). For a time, however, “Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth” (20:7-8). At the end, however, “Fire came down from heaven and consumed them. And the Devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (vv.9-10).

As the Gospels say, “Let the reader understand.”27 Between Christ’s first victory over Satan and his final one, there is persecution by those who have political, military or economic power, and who use prophets with their fake news, so that everyone worship the beast. The Devil is the hidden instigator of this persecution that represent the final preparation for God’s kingdom and for those who belong to Christ. It is the way used by the Risen Christ to purify his Spouse, the Church.

The purification of the Church and its members will continue until that day when there comes “the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, ‘Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power to our God, for his judgments are true and just; he has judged the great whore who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he has avenged on her the blood of his servants’” (19:1-2). The same great multitude announces, “Rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready” (19:7), with which the history of humanity ends.