What Is Spiritual Warfare? Invisible Demons, Visible Damage

If your god is all-powerful, why does he need backup? Somewhere between “not against flesh and blood” and organized christian exorcism, the idea of spiritual warfare turned a metaphor about personal temptation turned into a full-blown cosmic battle plan — complete with the Armor of God from Ephesians 6!

In this episode we trace how our old mate Paul’s language about “principalities and powers” evolved into demon panic, virtue cosplay, holy war rhetoric, and modern evangelical spiritual warfare and culture war politics. From Origen’s internal battle with sin to Bunyan’s allegorical demon politics to 17th-century Catholic exorcism manuals, we unpack how spiritual warfare became a theological Swiss army knife — used to explain temptation, demon possession, dissent, minorities, skepticism, and culture war Christianity. When the enemy is invisible, it could be anyone.

If this episode made you laugh, think, or quietly question reality, come join our little coalition of the reasonable at PATREON. Bonus content, early releases, and a community that prefers evidence over exorcism. 

Sauces: Ephesians 6, Origen’s inner battles, Prudentius’ virtue cosplay, a Vatican-approved exorcism handbook (1614), a Protestant demon engraving (1623), and John Bunyan naming his villains things like “Incredulity.”
(Full sources available on request.)
Email us!  satanismysuperhero@gmail.com  

Transcript

In this episode we will finally answer the question, what is Spiritual Warfare? 

[JUDE, ‘It’s nonsense. That’s what it is.’]

Spiritual Warfare actually has a theological definition and in this episode we’re going to give you an introductory course on just what that definition is. 

[JUDE, 'And we promise it won't sound like a bunch of nonsense made up by 8 year olds.']

We can't promise that at all!

01 [CHILD, 'Welcome to the Demon Warriors Club where we fight demons and girl cooties.'

(BEAT)

CHILD, 'We have a question from the back. Yes you with the tail and horns.'

DEMON, 'I'm sorry to be a pain. But did you say the Demon Warrior Club fight AGAINST demons?'

CHILD, 'Yes and girl cooties.'

DEMON, 'Oh dear, I have misread your club name. I'm completely covered from head to toe in girl cooties!']

Like all things theological the definition of Spiritual warfare can be pretty rubbery and malleable depending on which minority the user is intending to persecute in that moment. We’ve mostly come across it in the context of American Evangelicals using it to racism, sexism, homophobism etc. 

02 [BILLYHILL, ‘Jesus hates everyone I hate. It’s an amazing coincidence.’]

In the most basic terms Spiritual Warfare is the war against the Devil carried out by people who TOTALLY believe their chosen sky daddy is the omnipotent creator god of the whole entire universe. But is somehow impotent against the evil of Satan?

[SATAN, 'It's my good looks. YHWH'S like butter in my mouth. All I have to do is smile.']

So the omnipotent creator god of the whole entire universe requires some reinforcements on the battlefield. Reinforcements in the form of malicious, petty hate filled little monkeys.

03 [ANNOUNCER, 'Are you looking for glory in battle? But not particularly interested in actually being shot at? Do you want to go to war with evil? And when I say war, I mean be a bully. And when I say evil I mean minority. Well look no more piss stain. Join YHWH'S holy war against whatever some billionaire oligarch tells you to hate this week.'

DISCLAIMER GUY, 'YHWH'S Holy War against whatever some billionaire oligarch tells you to hate this week is brought to you by Christ Incorporated. Christ Incorporated is a subsidiary of YHWH International. Stay stupid and keep hating.'

COA, 'Stay stupid and keep hating.']

The concept of Spiritual Warfare can be traced in print right back to…

[CHOIR OF ANGELS, ‘Self proclaimed apostle Paul.’]

...in the letter he might or might not have written to the Ephesians.

04 [PAUL, ‘Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.’]

I’m just going to interrupt Paul mid Ephesians there…

05 [PAUL, ‘Hey!’]

...to point out, he does specify ‘NOT against flesh and blood’. And while he does go on to mention principalities and rulers, which you might think he means REAL things. He means invisible demons. That’s the ‘spiritual wickedness in high places’. It’s demons and demon possessed leaders.

06 [SPIRITUAL WARRIOR, 'What do you think of my armour?'

SKEP, 'What armour?'

SPIRITUAL WARRIOR, 'It's the Whole Armour of God so you can't see it.'

SKEP, 'Riiiight. And what does this armour protect you from?'

SPIRITUAL WARRIOR, 'Other invisible stuff.'

SKEP, 'That tracks.'] 

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul continues...

07 [PAUL, ‘Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:’]

[JUDE, ‘That is some Grade A LARPing going on right there.’]

Oh I’m totally girting my loins with the truth and attending THAT LARP.

08 [GENERAL, 'My lord an army of demons are assembling in front of the gates. It looks like they're going to storm our defences.'

KING, 'How are our troops armed?'

GENERAL, 'Their loins are  girt about with truth. They each have on the breastplate of righteousness. Their feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. They carry the shield of faith and wear the helmet of salvation. Their sword is the word of God.'

KING, 'So, no ACTUAL weapons then?'

GENERAL, 'No. We're completely fucked.']

This idea of Christians being mighty warriors in the eternal but not at all physically dangerous battle between good and evil was picked up and expanded upon by all the early Christian thinkers like Origen of Alexandria.

09 [NOVICE, 'Hey Origen it's the 3rd century where marshall valour is the pathway to glory for a man. How's a snivelling cowardly little weasel like you ever going to gain any social capital and status?'

ORIGEN, 'I'm glad you ask. I've leaned into my strengths of making up bullshit, disseminating lies and magical thinking. I've cast myself as a very brave warrior in a war against the most terrifying and ruthless enemy of all, the devil!'

NOVICE, 'But aren't you scared Satan will attack you?'

ORIGEN, 'The guy with the horns from the bible?'

(BEAT)

ORIGEN, 'I mean, oh yes very much so. But that's what makes me the very brave warrior that I am.'

NOVICE, 'You're so brave!'

ORIGEN, 'Yes. I just said that. But you know my real dream is that one day we'll live in a time, where the path to social capital and status will be through making up bullshit, disseminating lies and magical thinking.'

(BEAT)

ORIGEN, 'And only THEN the meek really will inherit the Earth. We'll call that the information age.']

Before we go making too much fun of poor old Origen of Alexandria, can I just say, he was easily the most prolific writer in the early Christian period and very much shaped what we know today as Christianity. AND he was a true believer. He was persecuted, tortured and eventually died from the wounds for his beliefs.

[JUDE, ‘Oh! So an ACTUAL Christian martyr!’]

I mean, it was OTHER Christians that murdered him, but sure! Let’s call it, Christian persecution!

[SATAN, ‘In both directions!’]

In his ‘Homilies on Joshua’  Origen of Alexandria wrote,

10 [ORIGEN, ‘The battle in which you are involved is within you. There is the building of evil which must be destroyed. May your enemy be kicked out from the depth of your heart!’]

[JUDE, 'Just like Jesus himself, it's all in your own head.'] 

4th century Roman, lawyer, Provincial Governor and Christian apologist poet Prudentius wrote a poem called Psychomachia. Which roughly translates to ‘Battle of Spirits or Soul War’

[JUDE, 'I had a soul PATCH for a while. It was the 90s.']

That's not an excuse.

[JUDE, 'And the Rev and I were involved in a Battle of Spirits one time. He was on rum and I was doing scotch.']

11 [JUDE AND REV DRUNK WITH LOTS OF

I love you

Nah bro I love you

Is the room spinning?

Oh dear...

Both Hoots fade out spewing.]

Teeteaz please give us a synopsis of Psychomachia.

[TTS, ‘Certainly Lexi. According to Wikipedia, the plot consists of the personified virtues of Hope, Sobriety, Chastity and Humility, fighting the personified vices of Pride, Wrath, Paganism and Avarice.’]

[JUDE, 'Are they like The Power Rangers?']

12 [HUMILITY, ‘It’s Morphing Time! Bible charger! Ready! Energise huh! Unleash the power! Bible rangers charged!’ 

HOPE, ‘Hope! Bible Ranger White!’

SOBRIETY, ‘Sobriety! Bible Ranger Beige!’

CHASTITY, ‘Chastity! Bible Ranger Grey!’

HUMILITY, ‘Humility! Bible Ranger Off White!’

ALL, ‘Bible might ready to fight Bible rangers bible charge!’]

An important theatre in this life or death struggle with nothing at all is exorcism. And here is our Roman Governor Prudentius writing about demonic possession all the way back in the 4th century, in terms we can easily recognise today.

13 [PRUDENTIUS, ‘let it hear the wild monster's demoniacal raving, the cries of the raging devil in the flesh he has taken captive," and let it, poor creature, believe its own! Apollo writhes when the name of Christ smites him, he cannot bear the lightnings of the Word, the lashing tongue torments him sorely whenever the praises of the God Christ's wonderful works are sounded.’]

[JUDE, 'I've always loved how seeing through Christian bullshit is a sure-fire sign you're demon possessed. It's the kind of 'gotcha' a five year old would come up with. Which is very on brand for Christianity.’] 

14 [CHILD, 'He who smelt it dealt it!'

ADULT, 'What?'

CHILD, 'I know you are you said you are but what am I?'

ADULT, 'I'm sorry I don't what's happening?'

CHILD, 'Checkmate atheist!']

And if exorcism is going to be a foundational theatre in this valiant cosmic struggle, it will need it’s heroes, it’s mighty warriors.

(BEAT)

Sans the working out and sleeping in tents. 

(BEAT)

The gallant knights of exorcism, are of course the exorcists.

15 [ANNOUNCER, 'Are you brave enough to pretend you're fighting ghosts? Are you tough enough to look into the faces of ignorant uneducated worried parents and directly lie to them about their teenager's mental health? Are you concerned no one knows how stoic you can be in the face of make believe enemies? Well worry no more piss stain. Exorcist franchises are available from Christ Incorporated. Exorcism, the only limit to perceived courage is your imagination. Christ Incorporated is a subsidiary of YHWH International. Stay stupid and keep hating.'

COA, 'Stay stupid and keep hating.'] 

In 1614, while not using the exact term ‘Spiritual Warfare’ the Catholic church published ‘Rituale Romanum’. This document attempted to standardize the sacramental and ritual practices of Catholicism.

16 [SCRIBE, ‘Hey guys, where do we stand on molesting children?’

SILENCE

SCRIBE, ‘You know what? We’ll just leave that out. I can already tell, we don’t all agree.’]

One chapter of the Rituale Romanum formalised Exorcism in a section titled De exorcizandis obsessis a daemonio which roughly translates to...

[JUDE, 'Ooh, let me translate that one. It's been a while since I did Latin but, let's see, 'De exorcizandis' 'obsessis' 'a daemonio'? Cross Fit is for obsessive arseholes!']

No. It's ‘Concerning the Exorcising of Those Possessed by a Demon’.

[JUDE, 'Agree to disagree.']

17 [EXORCIST, 'Concerning the Exorcising of Those Possessed by a Demon, step one - suspend disbelief.']

If you want to know more about Catholic Exorcism check out our episode ‘Catholic Exorcisms: Turning Trauma into Theater Since 1614’?

[ERIC SON OF A DUSTMAN, ‘Gratuitous back catalogue plug.’]

The earliest mention of the specific term Spiritual Warfare is found in a 1623 print by engraver Martin Droeshout (pronounced "DROO-showt’]. This print depicts a Christian soldier defending a fort from the forces of Satan. The soldier’s weapons are Christian Virtues.

[JUDE, ‘Just to clarify, not actual weapons and not actual enemies.’]

Correct.

[JUDE, 'And follow up question, while I understand they would have a list of lies to answer this question with, but between you and me, what would actual Christian virtues even be?

18 [SOLDIER, 'Stand down ye filthy agents of the devil lest I smite the with my mighty dogged refusal to let go of my childish magical thinking!'

SFX Demons attacking Soldier.

SOLDIER, 'Arrrggghhh! Come on guys! No fair! You're using actual weapons!']

Droeshout’s family had fled Flanders and settled in England to escape Catholic persecution for their Protestant beliefs. 

19 [POPE, ‘You’re doing the LARP wrong!’]

You might not have seen the ‘Spiritual Warfare’ print. But you have seen Droeshout’s work. The famous portrait of William Shakespeare, used on the cover of the ‘First Folio’. Refer to our ‘Witches of Shakespeare’ episodes to find out what the First Folio is.

[ERIC SON OF A DUSTMAN, ‘Gratuitous back catalogue plug.’]

Droeshout’s print is thought to have been an influence on the 1682 John Bunyan novel ‘The Holy War’ or if you like its full title complete with alternate full title, ‘The Holy War Made by King Shaddai Upon Diabolus, to Regain the Metropolis of the World, Or, The Losing and Taking Again of the Town of Mansoul’

[JUDE, 'The town of man's HOLE?']

No! Man SOUL.

[JUDE, 'Oh. Boring.']

Speaking of boring, let me know if you’ve seen this pattern already in this episode. Here’s some of Bunyan’s characters from Holy War: The bad guy, the ‘devil’ if you will, is called Diablous. 

[JUDE, ‘Nice!’]

Other character names include Conviction, Innocence, Judging, Lusting and my favourite antagonist, Incredulity! 

[JUDE, ‘Oh yeah, that’s a bad guy for sure. When making up bullshit is your thing, you don’t want incredulity hanging around.’]

20 [CON, 'You know it's true because he appeared to 500 eyewitnesses in Galilee! And there's no way you could get 500 strangers to all tell the same lie.'

INCREDULITY,'But you could easily get ONE liar to write down the words he appeared to 500 eyewitnesses in Galilee.'

CON, 'Incredulity! Could you just not?!']

Anyway as you can imagine from the character names and the story lines that have gone before, Bunyan’s Holy War is the story of the devil taking over a city with lies and deceit. And then the one true god of the universe sends his son Emmanuel to set the city free.

21 [SKEP, 'Emmanuel? Where the fuck is Jesus?'

EMMANUEL, 'Well the name Jesus means 'saviour' just one of many clues that the gospels and characters within are all literary constructs. It was only Matthew who thought to connect this Jesus character to a pre existing prophecy about a messiah called Emmanuel.'

SKEP, 'So YOU'RE the ACTUAL prophesied son of god and your name is an actual name, not a symbolic metaphor describing your role in the narrative?'

EMMANUEL LYING, 'Um.... yeah... yeah totally. I'm real.'

SKEP, 'Are you sure you're not also a literary construct? Emmanuel doesn't translate to some really on the nose plot point in your story does it?'

EMMANUEL, 'Ummmmm...…'

SKEP, 'What DOES Emmanuel mean?'

EMMANUEL HESITANT,'God with us.'

(BEAT)

EMMANUEL, 'I'll show myself out.'] 

Bunyan is most famous for ‘Pilgrams Progress’  or if you like its full title ‘The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come’.

[JUDE, ‘No alternate title for that one! You don’t mess with perfection.’]

Pilgrim's Progress is a spiritual warfare version of Lord of the Rings, with characters like Mr Worldly Wiseman, Lord Hate Good and Mrs Know Nothing.

[JUDE, 'It sounds more like the Christian version of the Mr Men series!']

22 [NARRATOR, 'Mr Worldly Wiseman found his car had been parked in my his next door neighbour Mrs. Inconsiderate. First he knocked on Mrs Eyes Always Closed door. She hadn't seen anything. Mr Brisk had no time. Mrs By Whatever Means thought it wasn’t a problem and Mr. Despondency didn't even seem to notice!'

INTRO 50 ILIWYPYFT

LEXI, ‘Don’t you be Mr Despondency. Let us know you’ve noticed us! Be like Mr … Joins… The … Patreon? Yeah that’s it! Be like Mr Joins The Patreon!

DEMON, ‘Go to www.patreon.com/satainismysuperhero.’

LEXI, ‘Or Mrs Joins the Patreon.. or you know whatever, Ms Joins the Pat.., or They Join The… you get it!’]

[JUDE, ‘What can we take away from this history of Spiritual Warfare?’]

As we’ve seen, for many centuries ‘Spiritual Warfare’ has been used in the context of an internal struggle with temptation. 

23 [GENERAL, 'My liege I bring news from the front lines.'

KING, 'How go our fortunes in this spiritual warfare?'

GENERAL, 'Badly. We masturbated again.'

KING, 'God damn it!'

GENERAL, 'We saw that dog food commercial again.'

(BEAT)

GENERAL, 'You know the one with the mum in a tank top…'

KING, 'Yes, yes! Of course I know the one.'

GENERAL, 'Couldn't help it.'] 

If it wasn’t obvious in the examples we’ve given from…

[CHOIR OF ANGELS, ‘Self proclaimed apostle Paul.’]

... Origen, Prudentius or Droeshout, Spiritual Warfare is very much a personal battle with sin.

24 [KING, 'God damn it! Why did we have to talk about the dog food commercial?!’] 

In our next episode we’ll meet a group of people who just can’t keep that personal battle with their temptations inside their own head. Yes it’s the Christians. And that’s why Satan is my Superhero.