word `demon'. It will therefore be necessary - before we can assess the instruments in the apostasy foretold by Paul

- to become better acquainted with the original conception of a `demon'. First we discover that such a man as

Josephus, a Jew, a member of the priestly caste and a Pharisee, does not hesitate to use the word in the sense of

Deity. In the `Wars of the Jews' he says that the `successes of John and of his sons' in the days of Maccabees,

included three `of the most desirable things in the world', which he enumerates, the third being `the gift of prophecy',

adding `for the Deity conversed with him', and `he was not ignorant of anything that was to come afterwards'. Now

had the translators of the A.V. found this passage in the N.T. they could hardly have said `for demons or devils

conversed with him', yet `demon' is the word employed by Josephus. In the next place we find Ignatius says that

Christ after His resurrection said to His disciples ouk eimi daimonion asomaton `I am not a disembodied demon'.

This use of the word, so strange to our ears, was in current use in the days of the apostles. Plato and most of the

philosophers spoke of demons as `an inferior sort of deified powers as a middle between the sovereign gods and

mortal men' (Mede), and Apuleius speaking of the demon of Socrates, says that it was `immortal, without any end or

beginning, and altogether eternal'. Plato in his `Symposium' says `God is not approached by men, but all commune

and intercourse between God and man is performed by the mediations of demons'. Plutarch speaks of them as `the

natures which interpret and minister', `attendants, recorders, overseers of sacred rites and mysteries'. For a further

confirmation let us come to the writings of Saint Augustine (A.D. 354-430). In his book `The City of God' the

following headings speak volumes:

Chapter 18 of Book 8. `What a religion is it that teaches men to use good demons for their messengers and

Chapter 21 of Book 8. `Whether the gods do use demons for their messengers and interpreters'.

Chapter 9 of Book 9. `Whether the friendship and favour of the celestial gods may be procured for men by the

intercession of demons'.

Chapter 17 of Book 9. `To the attaining of blessedness, man hath no need for a demon for his mediator, but of

Christ alone'.

Here it will be seen that four hundred years after Christ, it could be a matter of solemn discussion by a `father' of

the Church as to the place that `demons' could hold as `intercessors', `mediators' and `advocates'. We are relieved to

read at the last, that no mediator but Christ is needed; but who today would ever think of such an argument? To

these so-called mediators between mortal and the celestial gods, the apostle refers when he says in 1 Corinthians 8:5

and 6: `Though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, as there be gods many' that is Dii c -

lestes sovereign deities `and lords many' that is demons, presidents of earthly things, `but to us there is but one God,

the Father, of Whom are all things, and we in Him', or better, unto Him, to Whom as Supreme, we are to direct all

our services `and one Lord Jesus Christ' instead of their many mediators and demons, `by Whom are all things'

which come from the Father to us, and `through Whom alone we find access unto Him'.

`Had the apostle said "there be gods many and demons many" to keep up the apposition, he would have been

obliged to say, "to us, there is but one God, and one demon". But this he could not do as it would pollute the

name of Christ, with the appellation of an idol' (Mede, `Apostasy').

The reader will have observed that in the different references to demons cited above, such words as `immortal',

`mystery', `mediation', `messengers', and `intercession' are used. Heaven's messengers, we learn from the first

chapter of Hebrews, are `angels'. These indeed are ministering spirits but are entirely set aside as mediators or

intercessors, this place being the prerogative of `The Son' only.

In the first epistle to Timothy where the prophetic warning occurs that we are studying, God is revealed as

immortal and incorruptible; Christ is revealed as `the One Mediator between God and man'; the mystery that is

revealed is `the mystery of godliness' which reaches its climax in the words `received up in glory'. These words are

placed at the end of the list, out of their true historical sequence, in order to emphasise the Mediatorial position of

the Ascended Christ, which is the point of departure next revealed in 1 Timothy 4:1. However great is this mystery,

nevertheless, the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times men would depart from the faith and the mediation

of demons take the place of the work of the One Mediator Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh.

The Church at Colosse suffered much in the same way.