Do demons believe or have knowledge?

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fisherman_carl

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“even the demons believe - and shudder.”
  • James 2:19
Demons are fallen angels. They chose evil over good. That means they must have knowlege about God so that they could make an informed decision. Otherwise would God count an uninformed or ignorant decision as valid? So my question is do they really believe or do they just have knowledge? It seems to me if you have direct knowledge about something you don’t need belief. But if you only have indirect knowledge of something then you need to make an act of belief in it.
 
““Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet! Come out of him!””
  • Lk 4:34
The demons statement above implies knowledge not belief. Contrast that with this statement of belief by the disciples.

" We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God. "
  • Jn 6:69
 
fisherman_carl said:
“even the demons believe - and shudder.”
  • James 2:19
Demons are fallen angels. They chose evil over good. That means they must have knowlege about God so that they could make an informed decision. Otherwise would God count an uninformed or ignorant decision as valid? So my question is do they really believe or do they just have knowledge? It seems to me if you have direct knowledge about something you don’t need belief. But if you only have indirect knowledge of something then you need to make an act of belief in it.
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Knowledge is a higher level of belief, which is a higher level of suspicion.

The demons believe in God because they KNOW God exists and know exactly what he’s about… they just don’t care.

It’s only in modern times that the idea of belief simply being a lower order of knowledge has fallen away. The validity of the verse remains: our faith, no matter how strong, even to the point of knowledge, is useless if we throw it away to live in sin.
 
Yes, they believe… it’s just that they believe in themselves & not God.
 
378

When a soul praises My goodness, Satan trembles before it and flees to the very bottom of hell.

Jesus Divine Mercy to Saint Faustina.
 
fisherman_carl said:
““Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet! Come out of him!””
  • Lk 4:34
The demons statement above implies knowledge not belief. Contrast that with this statement of belief by the disciples.

" We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God. "
  • Jn 6:69
Click to expand...
No. They believe. They believe (in the case of the protesting demons who proclaimed their belief that Jesus was the Holy One in your referenced passages), quite plainly in God.

What they lack is faith.

We often confuse belief with faith.

We need belief and faith for salvation.

Plenty of people (in addition to the demons) believe and have no faith.

Hebrews chapter 11 (I like verses 1 and 6) specifically address faith, and how it differs from mere belief.

When we belief in God we are acknowledging His existence.

When we have faith in God we are acknowledging not just our belief in His existance, but that the promises He offers are factual!

I read a reflection by a Jesuit priest a few weeks ago who noted:

When we believe, we believe in God; when we have faith, we believe God believes in us!

Amen, Peace and all good!
 
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