Are Demons to Be Praised?

Religion is a subject that gives birth to many questions, and one could say more arguments than answers to these questions.

One item lacking in the search for theological resolution, no matter the religion, is both a search into the "experts" in each particular field of theology for a religion, but also a thorough, deep, and sober reflection on what has been written with the intent to not only understand, but to see if there is validity to the theology proposed.

The fault of those of us who adhere to a religion or who ask questions of those who do is not the lack of expertise in theology, but a lack of motivation to seek out the answers from those experts who can provide what we seek. As the saying goes, where there's a will there's a way. Without this it is impossible to understand anything about theology and the questions will linger long after we have passed into oblivion while giving birth to arguments for generations to come.

One type of religious theology that gives birth to many questions and even more disagreement is that of Christian theology. Many questions have been asked, and some of them reasonably answered. However due to the lack of turning to the experts in Christian theology - indeed one could say the lack of knowing such experts exist - most of the answers are unsatisfying to the thinking questioner.

One question that has been asked, and which is the subject of this article, is over the goodness of demons. The question is commonly phrased, "Since demons cause temptation, and in overcoming temptation we are saved, then demons do God's work for our salvation and should be viewed as good, otherwise God is not fair."

It is easy and tempting to dismiss such a question as lacking in substance or seriousness. Again, it is easy as well to provide a simple answer such as, "Demons make their own decision as do we all." However these approaches will not satisfy. For the modern person with an advanced education based on a society conducive to rationalism, the desire to know - even more to understand - leads the questioner to want something deeper.

The answer to this question is found in an expert of Christian theology, in the writings of St. Dionysius the Areopagite (Acts 17:34).

His writings are commonly referred to as Pseudo-Dionysius, and the text I am using as the basis of this article bears that exact name, Pseudo-Dionysius: The Complete Works (Paulist Press). The name "pseudo" is often added since a number of scholars believe the works could not have been written until at least the fifth or sixth century. I am going to avoid this discussion for now, and move straight to the heart of the question. I am going to be providing summations of St. Dionysius' work, On the Divine Names, from the several pages wherein he touches on the nature of evil.

It must be understood that God's essence, that is, what makes God who He is, is hidden from us (cf. Ps 18:11). However, from within Himself and His essence, He pours forth His love to us. This love is also called grace and providence, and is equated with good, beauty, life, being and other worthy epithets. Yet we do not distinguish these names of God's action in the world as being distinctions of His divine nature, but merely we use such terms for the purpose of our limited understanding. In essence God transcends all that we name or can name concerning Him.

This outpouring of God we call God's energy. It is distinct from His essence in the manner that it is this energy we partake of for revelation, for knowledge, for goodness, and even of life itself. Thus we can say God's energy is the essence of all creation. If any created thing did not partake of this energy it would cease to exist.

Since this energy comes from God and from His essence, we can say the energies of God are also God like the essence. And in giving of Himself through His energies, they are intended to return to Him in the sense of completion of all that is. The Apostle Paul speaks of this when he says, "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together," (Col 1:17) and also, "For from Him and through Him and in Him and to Him are all things," (Rom 11:36).

Evil to the contrary of the goodness of God's energy is destructive. Whereas good is likened with life, health, benefit, etc we say that which is evil is opposed to these, otherwise it would not be considered evil and the opposite of good. If evil had its own existence, being as it is opposed to Good and also life and health, it would be self-destructive and eventually make itself cease to exist.

We assume that demons exist and that demons are evil according to the basic ideas of Christian theology. And since they exist and are evil we can say first of all that they partake of God's energy, and secondly that they are by nature good.

With this in mind it becomes obvious that evil has no existence, but becomes a measurement of the distortion of that which is good within creation. Demons have the energy of God in them, and thus they have good and the ability to be good, yet we say the do evil in that they do that which is opposed their created nature. The ability to do this is even a sign of the energy of God, for created with His energy they have just like man the ability of self-determination, which can be equated with good. Thus nature when used as it is intended is good, but when used as unintended is evil though its essence is good.

Since God's energy is in all things including demons (though the measure of His energy in each is different due to the use of the power of self-determination or free will), and since God is the source and goal of all of created nature's essence in the perfect completion of all that is, one can say the evil that demons do falls under God's providence or God's control of His energies, so that evil is used for good for those disposed to respond positively to God. However, by their own choice the demons determine whether or not they will be evil or good and so determine their own fitness for either punishment or reward, as do all of us in the race of humankind.

To summarize, it can be said since demons exist they partake of the energy of God. This energy is God Himself, though distinct from creation, and God returns His energy to Himself for the sake of completing and finishing all that is. The evil that demons do then, is turned to a good purpose by God's control of His energies, though the original act of the demon is itself wrong and a matter of their self-determination. Demons therefore do not do the will of God in tempting man, and are not to be praised for what they do.

The next question to follow this is no doubt, "If God knows everything, then why did He even allow those that would choose evil to exist, seeing as how they will eventually suffer."

This question can be answered with a simple, "God knows everything we do but does not cause everything we do," and combine it with, "Free will and self-determination are the goodness of God, otherwise we would be slaves," and other similar answers. Yet it does not seem these brief answers will satisfy the thinking questioner of modern day without some explanation.

I will not discuss or explain the answer or question here, and would rather suggest to those who read this that seeking the answers from the experts of theology (in this case Christian theology) would be more conducive to obtaining a clear answer, reason for the answer, and understanding of it all.

After all I am not an expert (and any mistakes or unclear items above are my fault alone).