What Is Spiritual Warfare?

I sometimes read articles on the website, Where Peter Is. I find the contributions interesting whether I agree or not. Mike Lewis is the founding managing editor there and has much experience in writing about and working with Catholic leadership. Lewis recently wrote an article, “Deception Day” (found HERE), about the current attention of many people concerning aliens and whether they exist as real creatures from other planets or are disguised demons, evil spiritual entities. As I understand it, one of his concerns is that some Catholic exorcists have become rather famous, mostly through social media, and promote the “aliens are demons” theory. In turn, questions lead to whether we are engaged in increasing spiritual warfare at this juncture.

To be truthful, I know little about alleged alien sightings. What I anyway say about aliens relates to probabilities of the random beginning of life and evolution. Adherents of the Intelligent Design movement have pointed out some of the known or estimated physical properties of the entire universe to prove mathematically the basically impossible chance of life starting anywhere by random movements of atoms. These factors include the total number of particles in the whole universe, the age of it assuming a Big Bang beginning (billions of years), and the possible amount of atomic interactions within each second. These numbers apply over the whole universe, and to any life where building blocks of molecular complexity are similar to ours, presumably in civilizations smart enough for vast space travel. When equations are applied correctly, they show the incredible improbability that functional biological structures, like our DNA and proteins, would form by chance. (If you are interested in details, see my post, “Exponents,” HERE.) I have similar thoughts about probabilities in any parallel universes.

Many people are unaware of these physical facts. They think the chances are good for real, intelligent civilizations to exist on other planets, formed by chance as it is often presumed humans are. But for any life to have started or evolved from random movements in any part of the universe, the probabilities are infinitesimally small to the point of impossible, water present or not. In any case, the whole world or worlds are under the sovereignty of the one and only Lord.

 

Now, Catholic exorcists are involved in expelling demons from people who are possessed by them. The devil, Satan, is an angel who rebelled against God, and is the leader of demons. The Catholic Church acknowledges the need for exorcists and bishops are in charge of assigning them. They usually have special training, and work with physical and mental health professionals to determine the best approach toward the affected person, who often has debilitating symptoms. Mr. Lewis is concerned that some exorcists are more interested in having a fan base than helping individuals. Yet if people are truly worried about demonic attacks, it is not surprising they seek information from those who are supposedly in a position to know about them and what to do.

Jesus Christ expelled many demons from individuals in His time on Earth, and since they seemed rather prevalent then, it's not hard to imagine they are still around. Pope Francis warned to never dialogue with the devil or seek him out (article HERE). I don't want to dwell on this subject, although just in discussing it we can't avoid it totally. The Holy Father reminded us that Christ used God's word, found in the Bible, to rebuke Satan in the desert. These Scriptures are inspired by the Holy Spirit, one of the three Persons of God, the same Essence as that of Christ Himself. One Bible verse from the letters of the disciple Paul tells us, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, for training in righteousness,” (2 Timothy 3:16). The Bible passes on the Lord’s truth to humans. May we immerse ourselves in this wisdom.

I've heard snippets from various sources which allude to the expulsion of demons from individuals as spiritual warfare. Though this practice holds a real need, I think it is perhaps a “branch” of spiritual warfare, something like hand-to-hand combat. 

From an Earthly, natural perspective, warfare infers fighting enemies, whether of a whole country or group such as terrorists. The conflicts might be over territory or in defense of unfair aggression. Some people do not like for Christians to use war terminology at all and want only references to peace. But there are differences between being a citizen of a physical political group and a member of Christ's spiritual Kingdom. Though each realm affects individuals, we also need to consider them separately.

 

Without doubt, for Earthly countries, peace is the best way. The current Pope, Leo XIV, is constantly reminding world leaders to dialogue and work out problems. At stake are the physical lives of their citizens and whether they can thrive.

Going from the physical to the spiritual, in Christ's Kingdom of Heaven, peace exists for believers who have died. But at some supernatural level, "good vs. bad" fluctuates, and interacts with the natural. Though Christ defeated Satan when He sacrificed Himself by living a perfect life and dying in our place on the cross, the devil is still “allowed” some power to try to influence living human beings. He wants to obtain as many souls as he can, perhaps to share his misery. 

Many persons ask why the Lord permits evil in the world. I think most Christians accept He created human beings to have free will for right and wrong. We should be sorry for bad choices and recognize that we need help to be worthy to live in God’s presence.

For the spiritual world as much as the physical, we must define what is at stake. Christians hold that humans have souls, whose everlasting happiness depends on being with the Lord in the afterlife. To obtain this bliss, we are called to have faith that Jesus Christ came from Heaven to live on Earth and redeem us from our sins. Christians need to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and help others find their way to the same. If persons die without faith in Jesus in this way, we believe he or she is doomed to eternal anguish. (As an aside, for those who never heard of Christ, it is for God to judge. Before Christ came, the Old Testament tells that the Lord required people to be just and merciful, but His followers often failed.)

There are evil ideas and notions which seemingly come from spiritual sources to humans, affecting the ultimate end of Non-Christian souls. The process is at least partly on the supernatural plane, which goes beyond full human understanding. But any forces that keep individuals from believing in Jesus Christ as their Savior, turning them away from the Truth of the Trinity, are enemies resisting God. They use lies as weapons, untruths which affect non-believers, such as doubt that the Lord loves them, or whether God even exists. These are lined against the armaments of Christians who believe in the Lord. The Bible describes the armor of God, such as the shield of faith to quench the flaming arrows of the evil one, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God (cf. Ephesians 6:10-17).

Christians are involved in spiritual warfare, but we do not succeed by driving non-believers away. We win by winning persons over. War takes courage, no matter the realm, and it's reasonable to be wary. “But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one” (2 Thess. 3:3).