Category Archives: Bible

The word familiar is from the Latin familiaris, meaning a “household servant,” and is intended to express the idea that sorcerers had spirits as their servants ready to obey their commands. Those attempting to contact the dead, even to this day, usually have some sort of spirit guide who communicates with them. These are familiarContinue reading “What are familiar spirits?”

In Mark 5, Jesus visits the region of the Gerasenes and is immediately confronted by a demon-possessed man who lived among the tombs, cut himself with stones, and could not be kept in captivity (Mark 5:1–5). When Jesus asked the demon what its name was, the demon replied, “My name is Legion . . .Continue reading “What does it mean that the name of the demon was Legion?”

Compare the “seven demons,” by whom Mary Magdalene was possessed (Luke 8:2), (ii) the “seven other spirits” “worse than the first,” which our Lord describes as taking up their abode in a man (Matthew 12:45). And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many—or, as in Luke (Lu 8:30) “because many devilsContinue reading “My name is Legion”

Many people have been puzzled by the appearance of “orbs”—spherical spots of light—in their photographs. These orbs can be various sizes, but usually they are small, white, and round. Most significantly, orbs are not apparent to the naked eye; they only show up in pictures and sometimes on video. Some people view orbs as evidenceContinue reading “How should a Christian understand orbs?”

Hades [N] [E] [S]Greek term widely used to denote the deity of the underworld and the abode of the dead. The New Testament use of Hades (hades [a&/dh”]) builds on its Hebrew parallel, Sheol (se’ol), which was the preferred translation in the Septuagint. The Old Testament. Sheol refers primarily to death and the abode ofContinue reading “Hades”