If you do not already know, this is a post that helps you the reader to become more acquainted with where I – the author of this site – stand on various topics and theological points. Keep reading to see where I stand on today’s topic.
Aren’t they the same thing?
It may be considered common today to say that demons and angels are the same. However, I do not believe they are the same.
Why?
- The demons of Scripture are consistently described as without bodies of their own–always possessing humans.
- Angels have bodies of their own that they can hide from our eyes or even make themselves look differently to us. This is seen in multiple examples throughout Scripture (ex. Hebrews 13:2).
There are, of course, other reasons but this isn’t meant to be a systematic defense. What I want to get to next drives at the heart of how I see fallen angels and demons.
In Genesis 6:4 , we see an event before the flood in which the “sons of God” had relations with the women of man and produced children.
I realize there are those today who view the “sons of God” as referring to believing men who then intermarried with unbelieving women. I do not think the scriptural evidence truly matches this interpretation but I can understand why people would see it that way.
When you compare the use of the “sons of God” with the rest of Scripture, it commonly refers to angels or is in the context thereof. With that in mind, I think it was truly angels impregnating human women, thereby creating this third “what” that we call the Nephilim. The angels involved became fallen angels as a result of their actions.
So what about the demons?
The Nephilim were what I called this third “what.” They are neither human nor angel but a combination of the two.
These beings did not make it onto the ark and therefore perished in the flood. However, these beings were very much physical like you and me but inherently had supernatural ability because of their angelic heritage.
The Nephilim were neither human nor angel which has implications to the nature of their souls. They are not human so they cannot be treated as one in death but they have some level of eternality as the angels.
Because of the flood, the Nephilim became disembodied beings that could no longer interact with the physical realm and were doomed to be stuck on Earth until the final judgment day. This would make sense even more when you see the instances of possession and how the possessed seemed to be consumed by the fact that they could even feel anything as they murdered, threw themselves in fire, and generally reveled in all that they could do with a body again.
Now, I realize people think that this is too little evidenced–again this is merely me presenting my view, not providing a full defense–or to fantastical or something of the sort. However, it was a common belief in the early Christian church. Justin Marty is an example of one recorded talking about this.
In Summary
- The angels who slept with mortal women are the fallen angels and are currently bound.
- Demons are the disembodied spirits of the fallen angels’ offspring (Nephilim).
Note: I do these posts not because I think I’m somehow superior in my views or anything absurd like that but out of a desire to be up-front and honest with my readers as to where I stand. Otherwise, you’d be left to figure things out by reading between the lines and/or guessing.
Note 2: I do intend to write a thorough defense of this position in the future. Once it is written, I will put a link here for convenience.
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Updated 3.5.2021
Monergist Gratia 