The Unseen World: Christian Reflections on Angels, Demons and the Heavenly Realm (Tyndale House Studies)

Rating:
Summary: re-examines contemporary view of daimons
Review: An immensely interesting collection of essays on a topic that is often neglected from the pulpit. The first few chapters are devoted to the history of both Christian and secular thought on the subject of angels. The next few deal with our concepts of heaven. Then, several more treat the topic of daimons (demons), and the last essay attempts to tie them all together into a cohesive doctrine.

The section that was by far the most interesting to me was Peter G. Bolt's essay on "Jesus, the Daimons, and the Dead." The writer argues that unlike today, where almost none of us would think of interpreting the word "daimon" to mean the spirit of a deceased person, to a first century audience, this would have almost automatically have been interpreted to mean just that.

Mr. Bolt cites numerous examples of this concept in Greco-Roman literature from before, during and after the New Testament period. He also shows how the view fits well when interpreting passages involving daimons throughout scripture. The exorcisms in the book of Mark are then analyzed from this point of view to show us what the implications would have been if the audience had indeed viewed daimons as the spirits of deceased humans. The ramifications of course would be far-ranging to say the least if Mr. Bolt's thesis is indeed correct. A lot of thought provoking reading here.

Rating:
Summary: re-examines contemporary view of daimons
Review: An immensely interesting collection of essays on a topic that is often neglected from the pulpit. The first few chapters are devoted to the history of both Christian and secular thought on the subject of angels. The next few deal with our concepts of heaven. Then, several more treat the topic of daimons (demons), and the last essay attempts to tie them all together into a cohesive doctrine.

The section that was by far the most interesting to me was Peter G. Bolt's essay on "Jesus, the Daimons, and the Dead." The writer argues that unlike today, where almost none of us would think of interpreting the word "daimon" to mean the spirit of a deceased person, to a first century audience, this would have almost automatically have been interpreted to mean just that.

Mr. Bolt cites numerous examples of this concept in Greco-Roman literature from before, during and after the New Testament period. He also shows how the view fits well when interpreting passages involving daimons throughout scripture. The exorcisms in the book of Mark are then analyzed from this point of view to show us what the implications would have been if the audience had indeed viewed daimons as the spirits of deceased humans. The ramifications of course would be far-ranging to say the least if Mr. Bolt's thesis is indeed correct. A lot of thought provoking reading here.