Exactly what it says on the (dramatic) title.
We always hear about Biblically accurate angels: the burning wheels with tons of eyes, the strange looking creatures that sound like they come from the anime “Evangelion”, the cherubim with 4 faces, but I had a thought while watching The Exorcist: Believer (it was…not good for anyone wondering. At all. The disrespect Regan’s mom had towards Merrin and Karras after they died saving her daughter was baffling to listen to, especially…but i digress) a couple of days ago, specifically, if that’s how the demonically possessed are said to more or less act in the Judeo-Christian scriptures, or if they’re they completely different to what we see in movies and games. I’m guessing it’s more than likely the second one, right, but I’m curious about the details like the signs someone’s possessed, the demon’s endgoal, and what they look like, basically everything you can gimme to sate this curiosity or to send me on a rabbit hole, if you’d be so kind?
Metatron has done a video on this ( https://youtu.be/-Mx6TtkgugU?si=7SS7s9JpMupmmpKl ). I don’t think he’s religious, but he knows his stuff when it comes to classical history. I haven’t watched this video in a while, but I think it’s more about the demons in the Bible that are close to modern pop culture demons (horns, big bat wings, etc), rather than the sorts of demons that actually possess people.
If you’re asking what Christians think demonic possession is like today, it’s far more subtle than it is in the Bible. The goal of any demon is to lead people away from God, so openly showing themselves to a secular culture that believes they’re fake is unhelpful. All of the stories I’ve heard of demonic activity have been where three demons imitate actual medical conditions like asthma, migranes, or epilepsy. The way to tell between purely medical conditions and demonic activity is with prayer and God helping you discern what it is. The only tell apart from this would be doctors doing everything they can and the problem only getting worse.
If you want to know more about demons, I recommend the Screwtape letters by C.S. Lewis.
Hmm…so the main targets of possessions would be the Faithful, whereas skeptics and those who don’t follow the Teachings of Christ would be…safe, i guess is the word? They wouldn’t be singled out, for sure.
I imagined they were subtle regardless of it being today or back in the days of Jesus since being bombastic or OTT would likely unnerve people and draw them back towards God…or, well, I know I’d go back to mass if a demon started raving to me like Pazuzu does in The Exorcist lol
Thanks for the rec, I’ll check him out later
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/-Mx6TtkgugU?si=7SS7s9JpMupmmpKl
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Screwtape letters is excellent, but hardly an authoritative resource on demons. Nor was it intended to be.