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In later Hebrew and in Christian belief, the supreme spirit of evil, who for immeasurable time has ruled over a kingdom of evil spirits and is in constant opposition to God. The word is derived, via the ecclesiastical Latin diabolus, from the Greek diabolos, an adjective meaning 'slanderous," used also in ancient Greek as a noun to identify a person as a slanderer. Perhaps the core of Christian teaching about the devil is that Jesus Christ came to break the grip he and his demons have on the whole of humanity (the "possession" of some is a symptom of the general domination of all), and that in the crucifixion the devil and his henchmen, working their worst, were doomed, paradoxically, to ultimate defeat. In the Middle Ages the devil played important roles in art and in folklore, being almost always seen as an evil, impulsive animal-human with a tail and horns, sometimes accompanied by subordinate devils. The thought that the latter could take up residence in human beings served more frequently to differentiate the possessed from the normal than to indicate something about the state of all humanity.
Demoniacal Possession
Demon possession - that is, a human who has become inhabited or "taken over" by a demon and who cannot, consequently, exercise his own will - is noted in the New Testament, specifically in Mark, Chapter 5, ver. 12.
Demons
Demon, supernatural being, spirit, or force capable of influencing human lives, usually by evil means. Basic Christian ideas about demons originated from references to evil beings or "unclean spirits" in the Old Testament of the Bible. By the Middle Ages, Christian theology had developed an elaborate hierarchy of angels, who were associated with God, and fallen angels, or demons, who were led by Satan. Satan himself was considered the original fallen angel. In most English versions of the Bible, the term demon is translated as devil, and in the New Testament, demon is identified with an evil spirit.
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