If we are in a Spiritual War (which we are), we need to know our Enemy. Going into a battle blindly, without proper planning and preparation, will most assuredly result in utter defeat.

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That is why we will take a look in the Enemy’s camp and discover the varied ways he plots to destroy our souls.

To do that, we will use many resources, but the primary text will be C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters. If you don’t own a copy, I highly encourage it. It was one of books that Saint John Paul II brought along on his wilderness excursions with young adults and they discussed the book around the campfire.  If you don’t like reading, I highly suggest buying the dramatization of the letters by Focus on the Family, called The Screwtape Letters: First Ever Full-cast Dramatization of the Diabolical Classic (Radio Theatre). It features Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and is well produced.

Before we start on such an endeavor, I ask for your prayers as it is not an easy topic to cover, one in which I am sure the Enemy does not want to happen. So please pray for me and my family throughout this series.

Do Demons Exist?

First of all, we must come to terms that yes, everyone has an Enemy and that Enemy is Satan and all his minions. The devil thoroughly enjoys the fact that most people do not believe he even exists. Additionally, most people either do not believe in him, or think he might exist, but has this image of a little man in a red suit with horns: hardly someone to be afraid of.

On the flip side, there are many who fully believe that demons exist and have an unhealthy attraction to them. These people go to the point of worshipping them and some even set up shop on street corners or in stores and claim they can tell you about your future.

C.S. Lewis put it this way in his preface:

There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with same delight. (IX)

So the devil rather enjoys that most people have no clue that he really and truly exists and plays an active role in the world. Peter Kreeft relates this same truth in the context of a spiritual battle:

Satan is equally pleased by our overestimating him and our underestimating him–as the commander of an enemy army in wartime would be equally pleased if your side greatly overestimated his strength and shook with superstitious fear when there was “nothing to fear by fear itself”, or if you greatly underestimated his strength, or even stopped believing in his very existence. Either will certainly lose battles and possibly lose the war. (Angels and Demons, 112)

At the very start, then, we need to assert that yes, the devil and demons do exist. This is a part of the whole “package” of Divine Revelation and we must not underscore this fact. Angels and demons are real and they are as real as the air we breathe. The Catechism states:

Satan or the devil and the other demons are fallen angels who have freely refused to serve God and his plan. Their choice against God is definitive. They try to associate man in their revolt against God. (CCC 414)

It is not a question of whether they exist, but how can we defeat them. However, in all things, we must also realize that Jesus Christ is the one who defeats the Enemy and has already defeated him. It is up to us to call upon His help in our daily battle against Satan and the demons who try to lure us away from God.

Let us be vigilant!

Check out the full series here!