Wrested Scriptures

Satan, Devil and Demons


Common
Trinity
Soul
Heaven
Hell
Satan/Demons
  The Truth
   About Satan
  Every Satan
  Every Devil
  Edenic Covenant
  Satan Prelim
  Demon Prelim
  Genesis 3:4-5
  Genesis 6:2
  Job 1:6
  Isaiah 14:12-14
  Ezekiel 28:13-16
  Matthew 4:1-11
  Matt. 12:43-45
  Luke 10:18
  Luke 22:3,31
  John 12:31
   14:30; 16:11
  John 13:2,27
  2 Cor. 11:14
  James 2:19
  1 Peter 5:8
  2 Peter 2:4
  Jude 6
  Jude 9
  Rev. 12:7-9
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Inspiration
Partial
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& Inaccuracies

James 2:19
"Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils {Grk, daimonia, 'demons', R.S.V.} also believe, and tremble."

Problem:
This passage is quoted by J.W.'s to prove the existence of demons1 - as emissaries of Satan.

Solution:
  1. This passage appears to be an allusion by James to the demons cast out by Christ and the disciples. (Mark 3:11; Luke 4:34, 41).

  2. The context of this passage in James indicates a concern for the relationship between faith and works. (vs. 14-18). The demoniacs or demon possessed persons had sufficient sanity to acknowledge "trembling", that Jesus was the Son of God, but this faith was not demonstrated in acceptable works. The Gadarene demoniacs were, for example, "exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way". (Matt. 8:28). Unless believers to whom James addressed his epistle, demonstrated their faith in appropriate works, their professions of faith were in effect no better than those of a demoniac.

  3. There is no indication elsewhere in Scripture that demons literally believed and trembled. It was the individual "possessed with demons" who did the speaking. (See Mark 5:9 - "And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.") To be "possessed of demons" is equivalent to madness. (John 8:48; 10:20). Similarly, "demon possession" described infirmities of the body. (E.g. blindness - Matt. 12:22; epilepsy - Mark 9:17-22; dumbness - Matt. 9:32, 33).

Footnotes:
  1. "The Watchtower", (Aug. 1962), No. 15, Vol. LXXXIII, p. 477. Return