Question about Spiritual Warfare

[Strefanash]

Wnat is one third of X? WE do not know, for X is an unknown quantity. Put it this way: one third of the heavenly host fell and became demons, but how many angels are there? We do not know.

Now let us look at pentecostal theology. Are there demons lurking behind every bush? Are every compulsion and habitual sins proof of demon possession? Are curses real supernatural entities floating around out there making reality a veritable pea soup of excessive entities, not just matter spirit and personality?

If so then demons number in the BILLIONS, they haunt rings, amulets, sacred groves, and are behind every bush. And every human being who ever lived wirth the exception of JEsus was possessed by them .

But I doubt thast there are simply that many demons in existence, and given that the human population is exploding what did all the unemployed demons do when there were only about 600 million people in the whole earth as in Roman times.

So there are not that many demons, and those who hallucinate an atmosphere thick with them (they call it seeing in the Spirit) are simply religious crazies

I hold that the bulk of demon stories are pure superstition. After all one preacher I heard of in this country cast out a demon of Jezebel (showing his hatred of women); and in another case he cast out the demon of "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" and the eldxerly man being so freed was gravely flapping his arms (this showing the absolute stupidity of the man who yet claims to have a mission of spiritual deliverance in matters of spiritual warfare).

Of course those who do not want to repent of their unbelief etc will want to believe that the devil made them do it, but one of the biggest heresies of the pentecostal demon chasers is that the earth is satans, as it was given to Adam by God but that when Adam fell the dominion passed (note the passive here: passed) to Satan. But last time i looked the Bible said THE EARTH IS THE LORD'S AND EVERYTHING IN IT.

They want to believe that the devil is so powerful that every evil thought they have comes from Satan, yet it says in the Book that the heart of man is evil and that evil thoughts come out of that. Which is all very well but it makes Satan nigh on All powerful and last time i looked there was only one all powerful deity in existence.

I do not deny the exiestence of Satan and his demons, but still hold that most reports of his activites are pure superstition, which pleases him greatly, after all it helps to cover ones strategy by having the enemy believe falsehoods and go haring off after those.

But it does make them closet satanists, after all that is who gets most of the attention from them.

I have never experienced anything satanic in this direct sense. Oh, I have had mood swings and panic attacks and fits of doubt, but I am long past holding them to be demonic attacks.

It is very interesting thjat they hold that faith is not a feeling (it is but that is another story), yet whenever they *feel* anything odd that is proof of Satan

I told some of these demon chasers that I was protected by the power of God. You know the verse. And you know what? THEY DENIED IT.

I doubt any of us are even remotely qualified to deal with the real satanic supernatural, which is rare but real. If we do not have the fruit of the spirit (another thread here) then we do not even know God, for it says in I John 4:8 he who does not love does not know God for God is love, and love is the fruit of the Spirit. So how are we qualified?

In this general issue i think the Catholic church has the most sensible outlook, garnered from over 1000 years of experience: exhaust all the natural possibilities first then what remains may in fact be a demon