Who Believe in Wicked Spirits?
DO YOU believe that unseen spirits can influence your life? Many would answer with an emphatic no. While acknowledging the existence of God, they scoff at the notion of superhuman workers of evil.
Widespread disbelief in spirits in the Western world is partly due to the influence of Christendom, which for centuries taught that the earth was the center of the universe, located between heaven and an underground hell. According to this teaching, angels enjoyed the bliss of heaven while demons administered the affairs of hell.
As discoveries in science caused people to reject wrong ideas about the structure of the universe, belief in spirit creatures became unfashionable. The New Encyclopædia Britannica states: “In the aftermath of the 16th-century Copernican revolution (based on the theories of the Polish astronomer Copernicus), in which . . . the Earth was no longer seen as the centre of the cosmos but, instead, merely as a planet of a solar system that is a very small part of a galaxy in an apparently infinite universe—the concepts of angels and demons no longer seemed appropriate.”
While many do not believe in wicked spirits, there are millions who do. Fallen angels feature in many religions, both past and present. Apart from their role as corrupters of spirituality, these bad angels are seen as agents of disasters, such as war, famine, and earthquakes, as well as promoters of sickness, mental disorders, and death.
Satan the Devil, the principal evil spirit in Christianity and Judaism, is called Iblis by Muslims. In the ancient Persian religion of Zoroastrianism, he appears as Angra Mainyu. In the Gnostic religion, which flourished in the second and third centuries C.E., he was seen in the Demiurge, the term given to a jealous and inferior god to whom the bulk of humankind gave worship in ignorance.
Lesser spirits of evil feature prominently in Eastern religions. Hindus hold that the asuras (demons) oppose the devas (gods). Especially feared among the asuras are the rakshasas, hideous beings who haunt cemeteries.
Buddhists conceive of demons as personalized forces that prevent man from obtaining Nirvana, the extinction of desire. A chief tempter among them is Mara, with his three daughters Rati (Desire), Raga (Pleasure), and Tanha (Restlessness).
Chinese worshipers use bonfires, torches, and firecrackers to protect against the kuei, or nature demons. Japanese religions also hold that there are many demons, including the fearsome tengu, spirits that possess people until exorcised by a priest.
Among nonliterate religions of Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, spirit creatures are believed to be helpful or harmful according to circumstances and their prevailing mood. People venerate these spirits to ward off calamity and to receive favors.
Add to all of this the widespread interest in magic and spiritism, and it is clear that belief in wicked spirits has a long and pervasive history. But is it reasonable to believe that such creatures exist? The Bible says that they do. However, if they do exist, why does God allow them to influence man to his injury?