Michael S. Heiser on Spiritual warfare
None of the stances fits without misdescribing the figure
Every listed stance was tested against the sources, and each asserts something the figure does not. The reasoning is recorded in full, and it is the content.
"Those who are in Christ, members of his body, cannot be owned by the lord of darkness, Satan, or any lesser dark power."
THE POSITION
The powers of darkness are not one united realm: demons, the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim, are distinct from the territorial gods set over the nations. Spiritual warfare belongs with the Great Commission, the gospel reclaiming the nations, rather than with a Hollywood picture of exorcism and shouting at demons. A believer cannot be owned by Satan, because Christ has nullified his claim, but can be demonized, meaning harassed or oppressed.
8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.
WHAT OTHERS HOLD HERE
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
Old Testament and Semitic languages scholar (PhD, Wisconsin, 2004), Scholar-in-Residence at Faithlife/Logos, and host of the Naked Bible Podcast. Argued that the Hebrew Bible assumes a real divine council of lesser elohim under Yahweh, and held that this reading defends rather than threatens the deity of Christ.
Cite this page
"Michael S. Heiser on Spiritual warfare", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/heiser/spiritual-warfare (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/heiser/spiritual-warfare).