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[Demon]

I am a Christian, I have been my whole life. My girlfriend (we will call her M) wasn't one when she was a kid, found God for a while, but wasn't very "committed" to it, then became a devout Christian about a year and half ago when I took her to church. This is just background knowledge.

When M was a little girl, she had quite a few "demonic" experiences. They have scared her to this day, and I know for a fact she is telling the truth. They have consisted of things that are somewhat stereotypical—black beings with red eyes in her basement in an unlit corner, old women in old family homes, and similar things. The thing that has convinced me that these were real experiences and not made up or in her head, was that...

1. Her grandmother, whom she lives with, wholeheartedly confirms these were real and had also experienced these first-hand.

2. She has had physical contact with these "things": scratches. broken skin, bloody scratches that happened in the moment when she had contact with these things. Nothing can explain these.

They had tormented her in only two houses, but mainly her mom's. When she wasn't a Christian, she and her two sisters held a seance in that basement. Her sister was deep into witchcraft, but that stuff was BS. But during this seance, M broke the circle or whatever, and when she did, that's when she first saw this stuff. It got worse, but then her best friend took her to church. This is when she first found God, but was still horrified because of everything going on. These "demons" went away once she started praying, and sleeping with a Bible under her bed. There's no way this was psychological or anything else. Could this truly have been demons? The bible is so fuzzy on this when I read about it, I'm having a hard time trying to explain it to her and rationalize it for myself.
I have never done anything similar to a seance, I don't mess with the dead, won't go near an Ouija board, none of it. I don't know if I believe how effective it is, but I know the Bible says stay away so I am.

Can someone give me verses to read, tell me what this was, and how do I know it won't happen again? I haven't had a chance to talk to my pastor yet, and I don't know when I will. I just want to know, for her sake and mine. Thank you for taking the time to read this, I appreciate it a lot.

[jimwalton]

The New Testament speaks of demon activity and demon possession as real. Sometimes we read about the demons inflicting harm on the people with whom they come in contact (Lk. 9.39; Mk. 5.5; 9.18). I have also read and heard reliable stories from trustworthy people about similar things.

The only people we know from the Bible who were able to cast out demons were Jesus, the disciples, and Paul. But since then there are many stories about Catholic rituals, missionaries, and pastors who perform exorcisms. I have heard rituals pertaining to salt, holy water, and the like. None of these things are in the Bible, but there are stories about their effectiveness (as well as stories about their ineffectiveness). And of course Hollywood has messed all of this up, adding all kinds of fantastical things that have nothing to do with reality, but people don't put them in different categories or bother to separate truth from fiction.

> Could this truly have been Demons?

My experience and reading says yes, it could have been.

> The bible is so fuzzy on this when I read about it

Yes, it is, but the Bible speaks strongly about the reality of spiritual powers (Eph. 6.12 and the NT stories about demon possession and exorcism). What the Bible doesn't give us is a formula for exorcism, rules about how to do it, or even concrete ways to distinguish demon possession from some mental illnesses. So it is fuzzy, at least to some extent, as you say.

> Verses to read?

Ephesians 6.10-18
Romans 8.26-39
Isaiah 54.17

[Demon]

Thank you so very much. I really appreciate it, this is exactly what I wanted in an answer. I will be sure to do some of that reading!