When Demons Confess
On Tuesday of this week’s lectionary, the Gospel reading recounts Jesus’ encounter with the demoniac in the synagogue (Lk 4:31-37).
While I have read this account many a time, what jumped out at me in this reading was the segment in which the demon shouts through the possessed: “I know who you are, the holy one of God” (4:34).
Part of the reason why this passage stood out was that it came the day after a segment during my class in Fundamental Theology (I have written about aspects of these classes here, here and here), in which we talked about a person who expressed exasperation at non-Catholics or non-Christians who hold moral or intellectual positions consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church, but are not themselves Catholic. To this, three points become highly relevant.
First, the discussion that turned to the subject of the nature of assent and conversion. Though conversion is not inconsistent on our human nature and efforts, and though the exercise of human reason can be an aid to take steps towards assent and conversion, it is not ultimately not dependent on them. Instead, conversion is the fruit of a supernatural work, in which God perfects our use of intellect to turn our minds towards Him.
Second, in the course of the discussion I raised Lawrence Feingold’s text in Fundamental Theology entitled Faith Comes from What is Heard. In that that, Feingold made reference to the freedom that comes with the act of faith. Feingold made a distinction between seen things, in which the evidence of the seen thing is enough to compel intellectual assent, and faith, which the Letter to the Hebrews defines as the “evidence of things unseen (Heb 11:1), which leaves open the possibility of either accepting or rejecting that evidence.
Third, even if one were to intellectually accept the evidence of things unseen, that alone does not equate to automatic conversion. That requires another element, which was highlighted by the late Avery Dulles’ article “The Ecclesial Dimension of Faith”. In that article, Dulles noted that the movement of the intellect must be preceded by a movement of the heart and the will, saying that Faith is fundamentally a “loving assent” (429) and that “we do not decide to believe until we see the desirability of believing” (429). This desirability is manifested in a desire to be in communion with who the evidence points to.
These three elements need to work at the same time, if one is missing, the conditions for a meaningful confession that leads to conversion would not be met.
We can see evidence of this in the reading. The demon, being pure spirit, has the necessary intellect to acknowledge that Jesus was divine. The demon even has the intellect to acknowledge Jesus’ holiness. However, that assent meant nothing because the demons are marked by their desire to resist communion with God. The reading makes clear that even demons are able to make a confession concerning Christ and still, in keeping with the inherent freedom of faith, refuse to convert.
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