THE ANGELS THAT SINNED

[jeremiah1five]

In the business world, "attitude" is a bit of a buzzword. One's mental attitude, whether positive or negative, healthy or unhealthy, is said to be a key factor in the success of our work projects and professional relationships. You've probably seen the motivational posters.

"A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes." "A positive attitude is a powerful force." "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."

While all this seems to be helpful, it is not distinctively Christian. In fact, the emphasis on an internal positive attitude can devolve into mere selfism, since it doesn't require dependence on God or others.

On the other hand, at my high school church camp, someone would occasionally yell, "Attitude check!" and all of us would respond, "Praise the Lord!" In the Christian world, it's often assumed that the proper Christian attitude is one of always being happy or joyful in the Lord—sometimes in seeming denial of challenging realities. That view also seems somewhat insufficient. Attitude has to be more than just happy feelings.

Is attitude primarily an issue of one's temperament, personality, emotion, or cognitive thinking? Is it just a mood? Can we cheer up and have a better attitude—or is it something more than that?

Our modern notions of an attitude don't seem to show up very much in Scripture. Bible versions only have a handful of references to words that are translated as "attitude."

1) Phroneo – to be like-minded​

This is the most familiar, perhaps, and it occurs in Philippians 2:5, where Paul exhorts his readers that "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus" (NIV) or that "In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had" (TNIV). The Greek word used here is a form of the verb phroneo, which is translated in various contexts as "have in mind" or "being like-minded" with someone else. The root word usually relates to thinking and planning with an intellectual focus.

2) Ennoia – what takes place in the mind​

This word is also translated as attitude. Ennoia is in the same family as nous (meaning "mind" or "understanding") and noema ("thought"). You may be more familiar with the related Greek word metanoia, meaning "change of mind" or "repentance." Ennoia is en + noia, or "in the mind," referring to what takes place in the mind. This shows up in 1 Peter 4:1 ("Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourself also with the same attitude") and Hebrews 4:12 ("For the word of God . . . judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart").

3) Pneuma – the spirit of your mind​

Bible translators have sparingly rendered this word as "attitude." Pneuma is most frequently translated as "spirit." So in Ephesians 4:23, where Paul calls us to "be made new in the attitude of your minds," that "attitude" would more literally be rendered as "the spirit of your minds."

In each of these cases, the emphasis is more mental and cognitive rather than emotional. It is something we think, not merely something we feel. Furthermore, there seems to be a strong connection between one's mental thinking and one's moral character and activity. Our attitude should be like Christ's, not merely in being mentally humble, but in taking the nature of a servant and being obedient to death (Phil. 2:7-8). It's significant that both the Philippians 2 usage of phroneo and the 1 Peter 4 use of ennoia connect a Christian's attitude with Christ's suffering.

If anything, Scripture's discussion of attitude is less about projecting a positive outlook on life and much more concerned with having a willingness to suffer as Christ suffered. For the Christian, attitude is directly connected with action, especially in taking on service-oriented, sacrificial acts.

As Max De Pree said in Leadership Is an Art, leadership means bearing the pain of the organization. That's a more biblical sense of what it means to have a Christlike attitude. Having a good attitude doesn't mean that we are chipper and happy in the face of adversity. A Christlike attitude means that because Jesus suffered, we too are willing to suffer. We do not avoid pain and difficulty; rather, we resolve to face it and bear it on behalf of others, because we know that it will serve the common good.

For the Christian, attitude is more than singing "Don't Worry, Be Happy" or "Hakuna Matata." A biblical, Christian attitude is a commitment to being more like Christ—regardless of whether that generates "positive" results in our lives. And we have hope that the more Christlike our attitude, the more we will be able to live out God's calling in our lives.

Look deeper.

Demons or evil spirits can be evil attitudes.

15 And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. Mk 5:15.

Hakuna Matata.

 

[Wordsmith]

Demons or evil spirits can be evil attitudes.

False! Demons can cause evil attitudes but they are evil spirits that can actually possess an individual. Your proof text does not say what you claim. because the person was "in their right mind" after the demons were cast out does not mean they were only an attitude

Mark 5:7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.

Demons spoke not an attitude.

8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.

Jesus called them an "unclean spirt" not an attitude.

9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.

Attitudes don't have names and answer when addressed.

10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.

Attitudes do no ask for mercy or favorable consideration.

11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.

12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.

Devils not attitudes.

13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand and were choked in the sea.

Attitudes do not enter swine!

14 And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done.

15 And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.

He was possessed "with the devil" not an attitude.

What you are claiming here is NOT scriptural by any stretch.

 

[jeremiah1five]

False! Demons can cause evil attitudes but they are evil spirits that can actually possess an individual. Your proof text does not say what you claim. because the person was "in their right mind" after the demons were cast out does not mean they were only an attitude

Mark 5:7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.

Demons spoke not an attitude.

8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.

Jesus called them an "unclean spirt" not an attitude.

9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.

Attitudes don't have names and answer when addressed.

10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.

Attitudes do no ask for mercy or favorable consideration.

11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.

12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.

Devils not attitudes.

13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand and were choked in the sea.

Attitudes do not enter swine!

14 And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done.

15 And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.

He was possessed "with the devil" not an attitude.

What you are claiming here is NOT scriptural by any stretch.

Evil attitudes are evil spirits.
Jesus was addressing the man and the man was deranged and mentally troubled.
Attitudes are powerful. All you have to do to discern them for the most part is look upon the person's countenance.
The first thing Jesus did when ministering to a person is subdue their attitudes especially since these people, He dealt with all had some psychological malady or condition. They were ill. And Christ cured them all.
Why does the Holy Spirit speak of this person "in his right mind?" Because before his healing he was NOT in his right mind.
Who's to say that this person's name wasn't "Legion?" Wasn't one of Jacob's kids named "Troop?"
If Jesus cast out these attitudes, He sent them AMONG the swine which spooked them, NOT in them.
Attitudes, or the 'spirit' of a person is the root of all they do. Having the right spirit or attitude in prayer or worship is a given. Then there's the opposite which opposes God.
Repentance occurs in the mind. The mind is part of the soul. A healing of the mind and thought processes as well as the mental attitude of the person is the first thing Jesus did and if the person's attitude was to talk over Him then Christ commanded them to "Shut up!"
Legion KNEW who Jesus was. The whole of Israel talked nothing except this Rabbi that healed and cured many a sick folk.
Those that claim to be of God would tell Jesus, "We cast out demons in your name" which means they overcame the attitudes of people by doing what Jesus did and that was commanding people with bad attitudes to "Shut up!"
Jesus already said "Satan cannot cast out Satan because if Satan is a real angel that sinned at and from the beginning then they are ALL cast down to hell delivered in chains of darkness awaiting judgment (2 Pete 2:4.)
So, what are these "demons" all about? They are not angels fallen or otherwise. If they are supposed to be angels why didn't the Holy Spirit use the word "angelos" or the Hebrew "malak?"
No, no. Attitudes/spirits of people is very important in life. Either the attitude is controlled by God or controlled by man.
And what's up with your attitude/spirit?

 

[Wordsmith]

No, no. Attitudes/spirits of people is very important in life. Either the attitude is controlled by God or controlled by man.
And what's up with your attitude/spirit?

When a person is demon possessed the demon controls the person, that should be clear to you from the scriptural examples. That is why the person is in need of deliverance , having the demon cast out is necessary because they are no longer in control.

Enough with the personal insinuations!

 

[Wordsmith]

They are not angels fallen or otherwise.

You are right they are not fallen angels.I have tried to make that clear but you have rejected the only explanation I am aware of that makes any sense so you are left with the problem of explain this , that is why you fall back on the attitude false theory.

 

[jeremiah1five]

When a person is demon possessed the demon controls the person, that should be clear to you from the scriptural examples. That is why the person is in need of deliverance , having the demon cast out is necessary because they are no longer in control.

Enough with the personal insinuations!

Give me an Old Testament Scripture describing demon-possession.
You won't find one. The Greek word for 'demon' was coined because there is nothing in the OT to describe this thing in the Church today called "demon-possession."
There are only three spirits the gift of discerning of spirits discerns:
1. the spirit of good angels.
2. the spirit of man.
3. the Spirit of God.
The angels that sinned are all cast down to hell delivered in chains of darkness awaiting judgment.
(2 Pet. 2:4).
Whatever sin is in the world comes from man alone.

 

[jeremiah1five]

You are right they are not fallen angels.I have tried to make that clear but you have rejected the only explanation I am aware of that makes any sense so you are left with the problem of explain this , that is why you fall back on the attitude false theory.

There are only good angels, man, and God in creation.
That's all.
Demons originate in man.

 

[Wordsmith]

Give me an Old Testament Scripture describing demon-possession.

Every demon (evil spirit) Jesus encountered was in the OT economy the NT did not start until Jesus shed His Blood on the cross and rose from the dead!

Those who believed in God in the OT did not have the Holy Spirit within as do believers in the NT church. They had no power to deal with them.

The term "evil spirit" is used in both the Old and New Testament many times, it is only in the New Testament Church that believers in general were given authority over them.

Evil spirits were active in the Old Testament just the same as in the New Testament.

This false notion of yours has no basis in fact anywhere in the Holy Scriptures. The two passages in Mark and Luke you use to TRY to support this false doctrine that tells use the delivered main was in his right mind after the "devils departed" is in no way proof that demons or evil spirits are attitudes. Of course one who had previously been under the control of evil spirits and was delivered would be in his "right mind".

Exodus 7:8 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

9 When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent.

10 And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the Lord had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.

11 Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.

Now please explain to all of us by what power these magicians of Egypt turn a rod into a serpent?

12 For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.

There are many example of evil activity in the OT. Trust me, an attitude can not turn a rod into a serpent.

You still offer no explanation for how an "attitude" can be cast from a person into swine. Frankly I am perplexed that you are so adamant about this false notion that there are no evil spirits and no fallen angels at work in the world today. You are absolutely promoting unscriptural ideas here but why is my question.

I have a friend who had a situation in his church where a demon (evil spirit) was cast out of a young girl by the pastor. Actually you are the first and only person I have dealt with that has this unscriptural position.

 

[Wordsmith]

There are only good angels, man, and God in creation.
That's all.
Demons originate in man.

False! you can not back this up with scripture. Your use of Luke and Mark and the "right mind" defense is false as well.

 

[jeremiah1five]

False! you can not back this up with scripture. Your use of Luke and Mark and the "right mind" defense is false as well.

It's Scripture. Figure it out. I did.

 

[jeremiah1five]

There are places in the Old Testament where some English translations use the word "demon" or "devils" (for example, "demons": Deut 32:17, Psa 106:37; "goat-demons": Lev 17:7, Isa 13:21, NRSV; "devils": 2 Chron 11:15, AV). In other places, it is easy for people in the modern world who are accustomed to reading the New Testament to think "demons" when they read things like "an evil spirit," even though the text clearly says that the evil spirit is from God (for example, Jud 9:23, 1 Sam 16:14-23).

In spite of the translations, there is no word in Hebrew equivalent to the English word "demon," nor any word that communicates the same meaning that the term communicates in English as an malevolent being in the service of the devil out to destroy humans. That idea today has been shaped by the imagination of medieval writers and popularized in the modern church in terms of evil beings against which Christians need to wage "spiritual warfare." Yet, the ancient Israelites lived in a world in which that view of "demons" was not part of their culture or way of thinking.

This disparity between our own modern notions and what lies behind the Hebrew terms and concepts often leads to misunderstanding the point of the biblical text and what it communicates. It is always a good idea to read what the biblical text actually says about a topic, and understand the passage against the social and cultural background of ancient Israel and the early church before we impose too many of our modern assumptions and preconceptions about meaning onto Scripture.

Idols and Demons​

A good place to begin is Deuteronomy 32:16-17:

16 They made him jealous with strange gods, with abhorrent things they provoked him. 17 They sacrificed to demons, not God, to deities they had never known, to new ones recently arrived, whom your ancestors had not feared. (NRSV)

The Hebrew word translated "demons" in verse 17 (שׁד, seed) occurs here in the plural with the preposition "to" and vocalized with the definite article "the" (לשּׁדים, lassedim), which gives us "to the demons."

It is important to be aware that translation is not a matter of finding a single word in one language that translates another word in another language. Translation is more often the translation of ideas and concepts rather than merely words, and there is rarely a one-to-one correspondence of single words between languages. This is especially true of languages that are separated by 3,000 years of history and culture.

Also, there are other features of language besides just the words that affect translation. Words do not have fixed or inherent meaning in any language. The historical and cultural context in which they are used, the literary features that accompany them, the topics they are used to address, even who is speaking or writing the words can all affect "meaning," what a term communicates and how it is to be understood. There are many words in English that can take on different meanings in different circumstances, or that can be used as technical terms in one context and yet take on a more common meaning in another context.

Take for example the simple English verb "run." It has a fairly simple meaning in most contexts, referring to a human action, "to go faster than a walk." However, in different contexts it can refer to what a candidate does in a political campaign, to play a musical passage quickly, to go back and forth or spread out between two points, to melt, to remain constant, to penetrate or slip through, etc. It is usually a context or contexts, as well as other terms in that context, that give us clues to which meaning is meant.

Rather than complicating the meaning, in many places in Hebrew Scriptures some of these features actually help us better understand the meaning of a term no matter what English word we use to translate it. There is one unique and prominent feature of Hebrew writing that is especially helpful in providing a context for the meaning of words. It is known as parallelism, in which ideas are related and emphasized by the grouping of synonyms or antonyms.

Along with the term translated "demons," in the Hebrew of Deuteronomy 32:16-17 there are a whole series of terms with similar meaning that will help us understand how the writer is using the term שׁד (seed). In these two verses, there are four other parallel terms and phrases that are used with the word translated as "demons":

strange or foreign gods (זרים, zariym)
abhorrent things (תועבת, to‘eybot)
demons (לשּׁדים, lashshediym)
gods [they did not know] (אלהים, elohiym)
new ones [recently come {of whom} your fathers were not afraid] (חדשים, chadashim,)

The first of these parallel terms is simply the word "strange" (or "stranger") or "foreign" ("foreigner"). It is most often used of things that present a threat to the community, such as foreign people who are enemies (Hos 7:9, Isa 1:7, Jer 5:19, etc.), prostitutes ("strange women," Prov 2:16), or things that violate custom or law ("strange fire," Lev 10:1, Num 3:4; "strange incense," Ex 30:9). In this sense it is also used to refer to the gods of foreign peoples that present a threat to the proper worship of God (Psa 44:21, Isa 43:12, Jer 2:25, etc.).

The same is true of the second term, "abhorrent things." This term is often used to refer generally to the whole practice of Baal worship that included cult objects like household idols, images, sacred poles, trees, and high places, as well as sexual practices of the fertility religion, which were all "abhorrent" or "offensive" to Israelites (Lev. 18:22, Deut 7:25, 1 King 14:24, etc).

The final two terms also refer to the gods of Canaan with which the Israelites had come into contact only after their entry into the land (for the time frame of Deuteronomy; the "golden calf" or bull in Exodus 32 may have reflected Egyptian religious beliefs). In this sense they were "new" gods that the people "did not know" before.

It seems obvious in this context from these parallel terms that the term translated "demons" also refers to the gods of the surrounding peoples that posed a threat to Israel’s worship of Yahweh. In this passage in Deuteronomy, the wider context is an appeal, in the form of recounting Israel’s failure to worship God and their practice of worshipping the idols of Canaan, to worship God properly as the only God.

The immediate context of the use of שׁד(seed) here is also important. Just a few verses later in this passage, there is a clear statement that these "demons" or "strange gods" or "abhorrent things" that the people are so tempted to elevate to deity and use to replace Yahweh are really no gods at all (Deut 32:21):

32:21 They made me jealous with what is no god, provoked me with their idols.

This leads to the conclusion that the word translated as "demons" does not refer to anything close to what we moderns think of as demons, but is a pejorative term to refer to the idols of Baal worship that are declared to be nothing at all (compare Isa 44:6-20, where the writer pokes fun at the gods of Canaan as nothing but wood and stone). What is emphasized is that they are "no god."

 

[Wordsmith]

There are places in the Old Testament where some English translations use the word "demon" or "devils" (for example, "demons": Deut 32:17, Psa 106:37; "goat-demons": Lev 17:7, Isa 13:21, NRSV; "devils": 2 Chron 11:15, AV). In other places, it is easy for people in the modern world who are accustomed to reading the New Testament to think "demons" when they read things like "an evil spirit," even though the text clearly says that the evil spirit is from God (for example, Jud 9:23, 1 Sam 16:14-23).

In spite of the translations, there is no word in Hebrew equivalent to the English word "demon," nor any word that communicates the same meaning that the term communicates in English as an malevolent being in the service of the devil out to destroy humans. That idea today has been shaped by the imagination of medieval writers and popularized in the modern church in terms of evil beings against which Christians need to wage "spiritual warfare." Yet, the ancient Israelites lived in a world in which that view of "demons" was not part of their culture or way of thinking.

This disparity between our own modern notions and what lies behind the Hebrew terms and concepts often leads to misunderstanding the point of the biblical text and what it communicates. It is always a good idea to read what the biblical text actually says about a topic, and understand the passage against the social and cultural background of ancient Israel and the early church before we impose too many of our modern assumptions and preconceptions about meaning onto Scripture.

Idols and Demons​

A good place to begin is Deuteronomy 32:16-17:

16 They made him jealous with strange gods, with abhorrent things they provoked him. 17 They sacrificed to demons, not God, to deities they had never known, to new ones recently arrived, whom your ancestors had not feared. (NRSV)

The Hebrew word translated "demons" in verse 17 (שׁד, seed) occurs here in the plural with the preposition "to" and vocalized with the definite article "the" (לשּׁדים, lassedim), which gives us "to the demons."

It is important to be aware that translation is not a matter of finding a single word in one language that translates another word in another language. Translation is more often the translation of ideas and concepts rather than merely words, and there is rarely a one-to-one correspondence of single words between languages. This is especially true of languages that are separated by 3,000 years of history and culture.

Also, there are other features of language besides just the words that affect translation. Words do not have fixed or inherent meaning in any language. The historical and cultural context in which they are used, the literary features that accompany them, the topics they are used to address, even who is speaking or writing the words can all affect "meaning," what a term communicates and how it is to be understood. There are many words in English that can take on different meanings in different circumstances, or that can be used as technical terms in one context and yet take on a more common meaning in another context.

Take for example the simple English verb "run." It has a fairly simple meaning in most contexts, referring to a human action, "to go faster than a walk." However, in different contexts it can refer to what a candidate does in a political campaign, to play a musical passage quickly, to go back and forth or spread out between two points, to melt, to remain constant, to penetrate or slip through, etc. It is usually a context or contexts, as well as other terms in that context, that give us clues to which meaning is meant.

Rather than complicating the meaning, in many places in Hebrew Scriptures some of these features actually help us better understand the meaning of a term no matter what English word we use to translate it. There is one unique and prominent feature of Hebrew writing that is especially helpful in providing a context for the meaning of words. It is known as parallelism, in which ideas are related and emphasized by the grouping of synonyms or antonyms.

Along with the term translated "demons," in the Hebrew of Deuteronomy 32:16-17 there are a whole series of terms with similar meaning that will help us understand how the writer is using the term שׁד (seed). In these two verses, there are four other parallel terms and phrases that are used with the word translated as "demons":

strange or foreign gods (זרים, zariym)
abhorrent things (תועבת, to‘eybot)
demons (לשּׁדים, lashshediym)
gods [they did not know] (אלהים, elohiym)
new ones [recently come {of whom} your fathers were not afraid] (חדשים, chadashim,)

The first of these parallel terms is simply the word "strange" (or "stranger") or "foreign" ("foreigner"). It is most often used of things that present a threat to the community, such as foreign people who are enemies (Hos 7:9, Isa 1:7, Jer 5:19, etc.), prostitutes ("strange women," Prov 2:16), or things that violate custom or law ("strange fire," Lev 10:1, Num 3:4; "strange incense," Ex 30:9). In this sense it is also used to refer to the gods of foreign peoples that present a threat to the proper worship of God (Psa 44:21, Isa 43:12, Jer 2:25, etc.).

The same is true of the second term, "abhorrent things." This term is often used to refer generally to the whole practice of Baal worship that included cult objects like household idols, images, sacred poles, trees, and high places, as well as sexual practices of the fertility religion, which were all "abhorrent" or "offensive" to Israelites (Lev. 18:22, Deut 7:25, 1 King 14:24, etc).

The final two terms also refer to the gods of Canaan with which the Israelites had come into contact only after their entry into the land (for the time frame of Deuteronomy; the "golden calf" or bull in Exodus 32 may have reflected Egyptian religious beliefs). In this sense they were "new" gods that the people "did not know" before.

It seems obvious in this context from these parallel terms that the term translated "demons" also refers to the gods of the surrounding peoples that posed a threat to Israel’s worship of Yahweh. In this passage in Deuteronomy, the wider context is an appeal, in the form of recounting Israel’s failure to worship God and their practice of worshipping the idols of Canaan, to worship God properly as the only God.

The immediate context of the use of שׁד(seed) here is also important. Just a few verses later in this passage, there is a clear statement that these "demons" or "strange gods" or "abhorrent things" that the people are so tempted to elevate to deity and use to replace Yahweh are really no gods at all (Deut 32:21):

32:21 They made me jealous with what is no god, provoked me with their idols.

This leads to the conclusion that the word translated as "demons" does not refer to anything close to what we moderns think of as demons, but is a pejorative term to refer to the idols of Baal worship that are declared to be nothing at all (compare Isa 44:6-20, where the writer pokes fun at the gods of Canaan as nothing but wood and stone). What is emphasized is that they are "no god."

Where did you copy and past this from? Try answering my simple question.

"You still offer no explanation for how an "attitude" can be cast from a person into swine."

You seem hung up on the word "demon" I am totally fine with "evil spirit" since that is what scriptures uses.

 

[jeremiah1five]

Where did you copy and past this from? Try answering my simple question.

"You still offer no explanation for how an "attitude" can be cast from a person into swine."

You seem hung up on the word "demon" I am totally fine with "evil spirit" since that is what scriptures uses.

Attitudes are spirit. You can't see them, they are immaterial, and they are powerful.
Jesus cast out the sinful attitude and among the swine. They didn't go into the swine per se.
The swine were spooked and ran.
Have you ever walked into a room and sense an oppression or heaviness? That's someone's attitude and it is a negative force. All you have to do is look into a person's countenance to see who's got the attitude.
Same with these two persons in Mark. They had evil attitudes.
Attitudes are important. You have to have a good and right attitude for prayer and worship and interacting with other people.
Attitudes originate in the mind along with repentance. Salvation occurs in the mind.
When Jesus was done with this person it says he was "in his right mind."
I found it significant.
Why haven't you?
I've already responded on the question of "demons" in another post.
They are not fallen angels and there is no mention of "demons" in the Old Testament. The Greek word for "demons" had to be coined because there is no corresponding Hebrew word for what Christians today take for this mindful phenomenon.

 

[Wordsmith]

It is always a good idea to read what the biblical text actually says about a topic, and understand the passage against the social and cultural background of ancient Israel and the early church before we impose too many of our modern assumptions and preconceptions about meaning onto Scripture.

Psalm 82:1 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.

How would you explain this verse?

Try chewing on this video.

 

[Wordsmith]

@jeremiah1five

Here is the whole passage. You have a lot of explaining to do , Have fun with this passage.


Psalm 82: 1 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.

2 How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.

3 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.

4 Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

5 They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.

6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

7 But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.

 

[Wordsmith]

Jesus cast out the sinful attitude and among the swine. They didn't go into the swine per se.
The swine were spooked and ran

​

Mark 5:11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.
12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand and were choked in the sea.

HMMMMMM ? Mark 5:13 directly contradicts you. You have more explaining to do.

These unclean spirits are not attitudes! You are on unscriptural shifting sand and about to sink.

 

[EarlyActs]

​

Mark 5:11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.
12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand and were choked in the sea.

HMMMMMM ? Mark 5:13 directly contradicts you. You have more explaining to do.

These unclean spirits are not attitudes! You are on unscriptural shifting sand and about to sink.

Right, the spirits entered those animals. As a corollary, the problem in Gen 6 was that there was experimentation going on--trying to create new creatures by insemination or cross-breeding, or possession, directing 'spells' 'incantations'. Compare also the witches in MACBETH. These demons went into a person to make a new horrible creature, just like back then.

 

[jeremiah1five]

@jeremiah1five

Here is the whole passage. You have a lot of explaining to do , Have fun with this passage.


Psalm 82: 1 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.

2 How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.

3 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.

4 Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

5 They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.

6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

7 But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.

A superlative is a word that describes the highest degree of something or someone. It is used to compare three or more things or people. For example, "best" is the superlative form of "good," and "worst" is the superlative for of "bad."

Since there is only ONE God the word means "magistrate" as per Strong.
Same in the NT.
But it is never said they are Yahweh.
I had the same confusion years ago. Now knowing what I know the only way to take it is "magistrate" which refers to men/man.

 

[jeremiah1five]

Mark 5:11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.
12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand and were choked in the sea.

HMMMMMM ? Mark 5:13 directly contradicts you. You have more explaining to do.

These unclean spirits are not attitudes! You are on unscriptural shifting sand and about to sink.

Since all the angels that sinned are locked up and there is no mention of "demons" in the Old Testament in the same way "demons" are understood today in the Church (and unbelieving world), and there is no creative act of God in which He made "demons" or "evil spirits" to me these evil "spirits" which you can't see and have no body (immaterial) can only originate with man in his sinful mind with its evil attitudes towards things good and holy and thoughts and attitudes of evil and sin.
A person can have a good attitude or a bad/sinful attitude depending on the subject.
I have a good "spirit" towards God and have a bad attitude towards people who condemn Judas to hell and then turn and pray God save their mother of young daughter. That disgusts me.
But it's a good attitude because I think the thoughts of God towards one of His apostles, and someone the blood and body of Christ was shed for symbolized at the Passover supper.
So, these attitudes were cast out of the man/men and entered AMONG the swine, and they got spooked and ran down into the water and drowned.
Attitudes are powerful. But attitudes are betrayed by the countenance.

 

[jeremiah1five]

Psalm 82:1 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.

How would you explain this verse?

Try chewing on this video.

He most likely doesn't believe what Peter said:

4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; 2 Pe 2:4.

They're all locked up.
God is dealing with man and only man with his sinful nature is on the planet.
There is no such thing as "the devil made me do it," for if this is true then God has no basis to judge man since it was someone else that made him sin.
Bull.