Do Catholics believe in literal demons?

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Nonatheist said:
Also, the idea of mortal sin doesn’t exist in the Bible to my knowlage at least.
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1 John 5:16 – “If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray.”

“Deadly sin” is mortal sin.
Nonatheist said:
l don’t think priests have authority(although l find the concept of needing to confess to a priest rather than God a bit weird).
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Re-read John 20:23. Jesus gives that authority.
Nonatheist said:
l think Church in general, by what reason does Church have a power to hold a correct interpretation of the Bible?
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Re-read Matthew 16:19. Jesus gives that authority to Peter (and to the Church which Jesus will found).
 
Deadly sin and mortal sin may share similar name, but Catholic Church is the one that decides what is and what isn’t.

In John 20;23 Jesus gave the power to forgive sins to his disciples, not priests in general.

Matthew 16:19 doesn’t specify anything, it doesn’t say that Peter was the first Pope, nor that Catholic church has any authority
 
Angelic beings are spirits, disembodied intellects; demons, or wicked spirits of the dark are fallen angels who demonized themselves. Likewise the damned human souls demonized themselves on their earthly journey. In this life we are either sanctifying ourselves, or we are demonizing ourselves through the willful choices we make of cooperating or rejecting God’s sanctifying grace. When your body dies your eternal soul still exists, and it will either be in a permanent Eternal Union with God, who is the Source of Truth Goodness and Love—or it will be in rebellion against God, in a permanent state if mortal sin, separated from God. Thus any trace of truth, goodness and love in the person while on earth will vanish and the soul’s deformation becomes complete. St Faustina describes the demonization of the damned soul as it enters eternity this video:

 
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But you can plainly see that the concepts - forgiveness via church leaders aka confession, and the concept of a living church steered by one living person - are scripturally based.

With due respect, this whole thread is taking on the aspect of my conversations with anti-Catholics that I’ve referenced here and on other posts: it ceases to be a dialog (if it ever was one) and becomes a combination of 1) keep changing the goal posts and expect everyone else to answer a hodgepodge of confusing “how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?” questions; coupled with 2) hair-splitting, “I won’t be convinced!” Stubbornness in response to essentially every answer you’re given.

I’m out.
 
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Dont know if anyone else has mentioned this, but mortal and deadly are the same word! Deadly is English and mortal is Latin. So, they aren’t similar, they are the same!

Further, as to priests forgiving sin, the disciples were the first bishops, Jesus gave them the power of binding and losing. So in the local bishop who through the laying on of hands, unbrokenback to the apostles, Grant’s the power to hear confession to his priests, his assistants. Priests DO NOT FORGIVE ANYONE’S SINS! Only God forgives sin, the priest, acting in persona Cristi, is His minister.
 
I think you confuse “the idea of God” with “the understanding of God”. God is not necessarily invented just because our understanding of Him has changed. Just because archeologist haven’t yet found evidence of monotheism before polytheism doesn’t mean polytheism came first. It just means polytheism became so prevalent at some point that it has been easiest to find.

Also, the part of the gospel that speaks of demons is not in parables, but rather in record of what Jesus did.

What is to be gained in a metaphor describing that when the demons were cast out they went into a herd of swine and ran off a cliff?
 
Sorry, I didn’t leave yet.

Chet made an important point: only God forgives. Priests are merely His intermediary. That’s why my post above picked words carefully: forgiveness is via priests, but does not emanate from them. It comes from God.
 
Nonatheist said:
l get that it would be hard to prove, but there must be a way to do so, otherwise it would be just a dogma without anything to support it.
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Evil spirits operate in the shadows (metaphorically speaking). Like you said evil spirits seek to corrupt the will of human beings and drive them away from God. They don’t want you to know anymore than they are willing to reveal. There is no physical evidence of them. You either experience them personally operating in your life, or you have faith in the teaching of the church, or you believe the claims of exorcists.

In fact it’s easier to prove the existence of God than it is to prove the existence of fallen angels.

God created angels, but you wouldn’t know that such beings existed unless God had revealed it to you or because you had experienced them yourself. It’s like trying to prove that alien abductions happen; the evidence is just as lacking.
 
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Nonatheist said:
Because people feeling sick is a common occurrence, while alians are not in any way proven to exist, neither is anyone being kidnaped by them, making this possible but not probable.
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What happened to:
Nonatheist said:
l don’t trust stories like this, ever.
As, if l trust in one than l must trust in all. Which is not going to end well.
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Unless you personally witnessed it, it is a personal story. Even video evidence is not absolutely conclusive given this attitude as it could have been faked. So your statements are not consistent.
 
Very simple answer, yes.
Why? Because Scripture, Tradition and the Church affirm that demons are not metaphors, but real, evil spirits. Now, are they like in cartoons? No. But, are they real and evil spirits, most definitely and assuredly, yes.
 
Nonatheist said:
Deadly sin and mortal sin may share similar name, but Catholic Church is the one that decides what is and what isn’t.
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Here’s the thing though: Matthew 16:19 really does specify something rather significant! Jesus is giving Peter authority by proxy – in those days, they didn’t say the name of God or even the word “God” itself. So, they used certain euphemisms (you’ll find them all throughout the Bible!) – when you read of “of heaven”, what they really mean is “of God”. So, the “kingdom of heaven” is really the “kingdom of God”. So, when Jesus tells Peter that what he binds or looses on earth will be bound or loosed in heaven, Jesus means that God will honor the decisions made by Peter in the name of the Church that Jesus is founding! It’s literally a grant of authority!

Therefore, when Peter decides to pass on the papacy (and therefore, the authority given to him), it’s valid! When it’s decided that the authority to forgive sins in Jesus’ name applies to all clergy and not only the apostles, it’s valid!

The reason that, as you say, “the Catholic Church is the one who decides” is that… that’s the way that Jesus set it up and continues to approve of it !!!
Chet1 said:
Dont know if anyone else has mentioned this, but mortal and deadly are the same word! Deadly is English and mortal is Latin. So, they aren’t similar, they are the same!
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👍 Precisely! This!!!
 
I’ll repeat that spirits are being sold to people under the idea that they can help you. That they are good. They are never called demons but something else. They are demons but New Age sources will try to make you think it’s OK to have these ‘helpers’ in your life. Very dangerous.
 
gama232 said:
New Age sources will try to make you think it’s OK to have these ‘helpers’ in your life. Very dangerous.
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Not only them, but I cannot believe how many Christians, (mainly non-Catholics, I hope) think it is okay to address demons. My sister does this. They think that as long as they say, “in the name of Jesus”, before commanding a demon to buzz off, it is okay.

It is a perfect example of how easily people are tricked. These things have been watching us for who knows how long, and know how to trick us. They are pure intelligence, and that is not a compliment.

One comfort, however, is that they do have rules they have to obey.
 
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Binding & Rebuking (both at once) is not addressing a demon if you invoke Jesus’ name. It is even used in Scripture by a man who is not even a follower if Jesus.
I am a devout Catholic, and many devout Catholics I know also use this method of spiritual warfare. There is nothing in Catholic teaching that condemns this practice. In fact, more Catholics would do well to utilize the powerful name of Jesus.
 
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jofa said:
It is even used in Scripture by a man who is not even a follower if Jesus.
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Do you mean Acts 19, 13-20? Where people were attacked by a possessed man after a Jewish person attempted an exorcism? Even if you invoke the name of Jesus, you are directly speaking to demons, and why on earth would you want to do that? I don’t care if you and other Catholics you know do this, we do not talk to demons, period.

We pray to God and ask to be rid of evil in our lives, we have people pray for us, but we do not speak to demons. That is what they want. If they can start a dialogue with us, that is part of the victory for them. Ouiji Boards, Tarot Cards, Seances, all involve interacting with demons.

It is best to be avoided.
 
No, I’m referring to when the apostles complain to Jesus that a man is casting out demons in His name even though he’s not a follower.
 
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