Dr Paul Allen

Thinking and writing about the devil is strange. I would argue that teaching about the devil has been largely neglected in the church. While there may be the more obvious danger of the devil’s being blamed for all sorts of our sins and living lives in fear of the evil one, in my experience that hasn’t been our great temptation as a church.  Our danger is being unaware of the devil’s schemes and being very naive in our thinking about his role and place. One of the reasons that I think it’s important for us to think these issues through is that it again reminds us that we are dealing with the supernatural. I fear that even in our proclamation of the gospel, we shy away from the spiritual realities of our faith. Christianity at its heart is unashamedly supernatural.  Even a cursory reading of the Gospels demonstrates this with angels, healings, demons, miracles, and resurrection. In seeking to make the gospel more palatable, we may easily downplay the supernatural.  Ephesian...

Among the countless nuggets of wisdom I have received over the years from my father is this bit of gold—when you are reading your Bible and you come across something that makes you uncomfortable, resist the temptation to simply move on to something else. Where the Bible makes us uncomfortable is precisely where we need to slow down. It is compelling evidence of a specific weakness. When our thoughts or feelings bristle under God’s Word, He is right and we wrong. That said, it is understandable that so many would recoil from God’s command that every living person in Canaan be put to death as His people conquer the land. No mercy for those women and children, no compassion on the aged, God’s instructions were as clear as they were brutal. Many outside the faith have planted their flag here, arguing that our God is immoral, monstrous. Many on the fringes of the faith perform sundry exegetical gymnastics to wiggle out from under the account. Many faithful believers are simply puzzled an...

Destruction of the bodies and souls of men is another major area of demonic activity. Physical problems that demons can inflict include dumbness (Matt. 9:33), blindness (Matt. 12:22), crookedness of limbs, paralysis, and torturous diseases (Mark 3:10; Acts 8:7; Luke 13:11, 16). Mental derangement is also within their power (Mark 5:4–5; Luke 9:37–42). The moral impurities of the Canaanites seem to have been traceable to demon activity (Lev. 18:6–30; see also Deut. 18:9–14), and we know that Satan can tempt believers to immorality (1 Cor. 7:5). The war against the souls of men was illustrated by our Lord in His teaching about the worthlessness of self-reformation (Matt. 12:43–45). The believer is in a constant spiritual warfare, his enemies being Satan and his demons (Eph. 6:12). Notice that this verse teaches the organization and ranking of demons and “their world-wide way over the present … spiritual and moral darkness.”59 In the Tribulation period, the destructive power of demo...

Many people fear the holy war passages of the Old Testament make him out to be. "Show no mercy." "Utterly destroy them." "Do not leave alive anything that breathes." Those are some pretty drastic marching orders. At first glance, God can look like an ancient military commander who's lost his marbles in war, suddenly unleashing rapid machine-gun fire on a conquered village of unarmed civilians. Do these passages depict genocide? Are Jesus' grandparents carrying out vicious massacres at his Father's command? How do we reconcile these tough passages with the goodness of God and help our people understand them well? How do we preach on holy war? Here are a few angles I've found helpful. Military cities The cities Israel takes out are military strongholds, not civilian population centers. Say the wordcity today and most of us think of metropolitan centers flooded with civilians: houses, restaurants, businesses, hospitals, and schools. But ...