Cultural Practices and Theological Tensions in Ancient Beliefs

Demons and ghosts have specific, sometimes ambiguous, places in the modern imagination - demons tempt people to wickedness, but their incredible power can be harnessed by someone brave (or stupid) enough to bargain with them. Ghosts envy the living and can haunt and harm you, but can also be the comforting presence of a long-dead loved one. What role, though, did demons and ghosts take in early Christianity, and are those roles linked at all to our modern understandings of them? When you get right down to it, just who is Satan, and is God's adversary really a fallen angel? Dr. Travis Proctor joins me today to talk about all of this, and so much more!