Why the demons don't reveal themselves to the world?

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devonsams

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Hello, First of all I’d like to apologize for my english cause I’m brazilian and I don’t speak english very well.
I was talking to a friend, and I didn’t know how to answer this question, so I would like to ask anyone here who understands better of theology than me.

He asked: “I think it is okay to believe that God and the Angels are hidden, because of the question of free-will, and God wants us to freely believe on him and God wants us to believe on him by faith and so on… It is understandable that God is hidden. But what about the demons? Why demons don’t reveal themselves to the world? I mean, making miracles, making more demonic possessions and so on? The main characteristic of demons is that they are egocentric and proud, so it is likely to believe that some of them would want to rebel themselves and want to “cause” in this world, so why the demons don’t reveal themselves to the world? I mean making more possessions, or even possessing great leaders and so on? They would have all reasons to explicit show themselves to the world and interferring the free-will of people. Why demons don’t publicy reveal themselves and ruin this free-will plan of God?”

So I didn’t know how to answer that, the best answer that came in my mind is that Demons would like us to disbelieve on them better than to believe, so what do you have to say to help me guys? ;/
 
Demons do not have authority to impinge upon free will - God would not permit that. If you look to Job 1:12, for example, God has to grant authority to Satan to cause the devastation that he does to Job - and God does not permit meaningless suffering, as Job’s faith is affirmed and perhaps even strengthened.

As for possessing great leaders, who is to say they’re not? The way Hollywood conceives demons is not quite how they should be perceived. Demons are incorporeal, so I don’t think, firstly, they could just pop into material existence. Secondly, temptation and propensity towards sin could be a result to demonic influence - hence why we should ask (as traditional prayers do, such as the Maronite offices or the Prayer of St. Michael) for God and His servants to eliminate demonic influence in our lives. Satan tried to tempt even God when He was incarnate, so his power is definitely present even when we don’t think so. The Adversary’s main tool is deception, and if people don’t believe he exists than they’ll think they have nothing to guard against.
 
The simple answer is that God places limitations on their powers and frequency of their attacks on us. If God didn’t, they are so much stronger by nature, that we would be at a great disadvantage.

The story of Job in the Old Testiment reveals that the devil had to ask God’s permission to attack Job, which God gave.

However there are ordinary ways in which they attack us everyday, and that is thru the everyday temptations we experience in renouncing the capitol sins.

May God our Father give you grace and peace.
 
devonsams said:
So I didn’t know how to answer that, the best answer that came in my mind is that Demons would like us to disbelieve on them better than to believe, so what do you have to say to help me guys? ;/
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Your answer was a very good one.

Another thing to keep in mind is that demons can only do as much as God allows them to do.
(For example: Job 1:12 And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only upon himself do not put forth your hand.” So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.)
 
Two Possibilities:
  1. God would not allow the demons to fully reveal themselves, thus preserving the
    free will plan.
    OR
  2. Demons are not stupid ( setting aside their choice of evil ), so I cannot imagine
    demons wanting to make themselves TOO obvious, thereby proving the existence
    of God.
The most demons get, I believe, from possessing people is enjoyment in
tormenting us, nothing more. You might hate your big, strong, and nasty
neighbor, but you don’t want to fight him. I might kick his dog though, so
that is one imperfect comparison to what demons do.

Demons cannot fight God, but still wish to offend God by hurting us.
 
Who says the dont?

They actually do so, even more than in the past. But these possessions and exorcisms never get to the media.

Despite this fact, satan biggest trick was to make the world believe he does no exist.

Also, world leaders are possessed by many demons, and have made deals with satan to get where they are. Same as many music artists. You can see that in their symbolism, in their lyrics, their worship to satan is not hidden at all, but people, flooded with tv and movies assume they just do it to cause controversy, as a publicity medium. Thats what hollywood does, make satan seem as a fantastical creature, a character created to entertain. The work of satan is really in front of our eyes. But most have them closed, its our job to open those eyes. God bless you and your friend.
 
devonsams said:
Why the demons don’t reveal themselves to the world?
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Demons are angels. Like all angels, they have no corporeal (physical) form. They could not reveal themselves to us even if they wanted to.

Like all angels (and Saints), they may “appear” to us in some manner. This is always accomplished by a miracle of God (even when it comes to demons). Saints, angels, and demons cannot reveal themselves to us by their will alone.
 
DavidFilmer said:
Demons are angels. Like all angels, they have no corporeal (physical) form. They could not reveal themselves to us even if they wanted to.

Like all angels (and Saints), they may “appear” to us in some manner. This is always accomplished by a miracle of God (even when it comes to demons). Saints, angels, and demons cannot reveal themselves to us by their will alone.
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They can if you let them in, such as satanists do.
 
devonsams said:
So I didn’t know how to answer that, the best answer that came in my mind is that Demons would like us to disbelieve on them better than to believe, so what do you have to say to help me guys? ;/
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True.
And they can’t reveal themselves to anyone nor harm anyone without the permission of God.
 
It is not a good deal for the demons. First they will lose a lot of club members. If demons exists, therefore God exists or there is no reason for God not to exist. Atheists will come in from the cold as well as agnostics. Given a choice between demons and God, I presume they will choose God over the demons after knowing how charming these demons are.

For those who already believe in God, the faith strengthens even more especially for those whose faith are not so strong especially those Christians who thought the devil was an invention to frighten little children.

Given this potential outcome, it is better for demons to adopt the don’t ask don’t tell version of hide and seek. For those who need an excuse to commit sins, such as those hiding behind the skirt of science in order to have a reasonable defense to ignore God, now all those opportunities are no longer available. Creationism will now triumph over evolution in school textbooks which will deprive the demons of potential source of recruits.

All in all, not a lot of benefits to the demons.
 
Judas_Thaddeus said:
  1. Demons are not stupid ( setting aside their choice of evil )
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Yes, this is true, in fact they are said to be much more intelligent than mankind, this makes me wonder, since this is more than likely true, why did Satan think he could gain anything in rebelling against God? Also strange is that he was able to convince 1/3 of the other angels to follow him!!! Satan must have been one heck of a manipulator to influence that many angels…what did they know that mankind does not, that even made them choose this path?

If the bible is correct (and we believe it is here), God is all powerful and all knowing, satan and the angels KNEW this, they did not need faith, they saw with their own eyes and knew God was this powerful, Keeping that in mind, how could ANY angel think they would stand a chance against God? They would know this is impossible, so either the bible exaggerates God and his abilities OR satan and any other angels are not as intelligent as they are made out to be? It has to be one or the other.
 
mikekle said:
Yes, this is true, in fact they are said to be much more intelligent than mankind, this makes me wonder, since this is more than likely true, why did Satan think he could gain anything in rebelling against God? Also strange is that he was able to convince 1/3 of the other angels to follow him!!! Satan must have been one heck of a manipulator to influence that many angels…what did they know that mankind does not, that even made them choose this path?

If the bible is correct (and we believe it is here), God is all powerful and all knowing, satan and the angels KNEW this, they did not need faith, they saw with their own eyes and knew God was this powerful, Keeping that in mind, how could ANY angel think they would stand a chance against God? They would know this is impossible, so either the bible exaggerates God and his abilities OR satan and any other angels are not as intelligent as they are made out to be? It has to be one or the other.
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Its neither.

First of all, angels are not all knowing. Independently of if they knew or not about God’s omnipotence, they question this power. Maybe in their rage and hate against him, they got blinded, and ignorantly believed they had a chance against God. Moreover, suppose they knew they do not stand a chance, filled with hate they are willing to spend eternity in hell in exchange of taking MANY souls with them, destroying God’s creation and causing him a lot of pain and suffering.

Anyways, if you start questioning these things, you will find out that you can start questioning other things such as:

How God created everything out of nothing. And all the bases of FAITH. Somethings are just beyond our comprehension and are not meant to be understood.
 
ShynSup said:
Nothing happens without the permission of God. Still this does not mean its always his will.
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If I gave my vicious dog permission to run about the neighborhood – knowing without a doubt that it would attack the nearest child – I think it would be very difficult to convince an injured child’s parent that I didn’t want my dog to injure their child.
 
cornbread_r2 said:
If I gave my vicious dog permission to run about the neighborhood – knowing without a doubt that it would attack the nearest child – I think it would be very difficult to convince an injured child’s parent that I didn’t want my dog to injure their child.
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Sorry I am not following, please explain.
 
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