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REFORMED DEMONOLOGY: THE THEOLOGY AND PRACTICE OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE IN ENGLISH PURITANISM by Thomas Sweeney, BEng, MTS, MSc A thesis submitted to The Faculty of McMaster Divinity College In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Arts (Christian Studies) McMaster Divinity College Hamilton, Ontario 2011 Master of Arts (Christian Studies) McMASTER DIVNITY COLLEGE Hamilton, Ontario TITLE: Reformed Demonology: The Theology and Practice of Spiritual Warfare in English Puritanism AUTHOR: Thomas Sweeney SUPERVISOR(S): Gordon Heath NUMBER OF PAGES: vi+ 137 1l McMASTER DIVINITY COLLEGE upon the recommendation of an oral examining committee, this thesis by Thomas sweeney is hereby accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts <Christian Studies> Academic Dean Date: November 28, 2011 lll ABSTRACT "Reformed Demonology: The Theology and Practice of Spiritual Warfare in English Puritanism" Thomas Sweeney McMaster Divinity College Hamilton, Ontario Master of Theological Studies, 200 l The Puritan theology and practice of spiritual warfare differed in significant ways from that of their medieval precursors and their Roman Catholic contemporaries. These differences are primarily attributable to the Puritan doctrines of divine sovereignty and human depravity. Puritan theology and practice is categorized under four systematic headings of demonology: the origin and nature of Satan and his demons; demonic operations in history; how Satan assaults believers today; and how Christians can defend themselves from those assaults. Each chapter draws together the teaching found in Puritan spiritual warfare literature about that heading and demonstrates how the doctrines of divine sovereignty and human depravity undergird that teaching. The thesis concludes by proposing some historically responsible applications for modern-day spiritual warfare practitioners from the Puritans. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 The History of the History of Puritanism................................................................................... 2 Historical Works on Puritan Spiritual Warfare .......................................................................... 7 Practical Works on Puritan Spiritual Warfare .......................................................................... 19 Methodology ............................................................................................................................ 25 Primary Sources ....................................................................................................................... 27 CHAPTER ONE: ORIGIN AND NATURE ................................................................................ 33 Origin ....................................................................................................................................... 33 Nature ....................................................................................................................................... 35 1. Being and Character ...................................................................................................... 35 2. Power............................................................................................................................. 38 3. Limitations..................................................................................................................... 44 Conclusion................................................................................................................................ 52 CHAPTER TWO: OPERATIONS IN HISTORY ........................................................................ 54 The Fall of Humanity ............................................................................................................... 54 The Temptation of Christ ......................................................................................................... 57 Conclusion................................................................................................................................ 65 CHAPTER THREE: TYPES OF DEMONIC ASSAULTS ......................................................... 66 Temptations .............................................................................................................................. 66 1. Drawing Souls to Sin ..................................................................................................... 67 2. Diverting Souls from their Duties ................................................................................. 71 3. Diluting Pure Doctrine .................................................................................................. 75 4. Disguising a Soul's Spiritual State ................................................................................ 77 5. The Tactics of Temptation ............................................................................................ 82 Other Demonic Assaults .......................................................................................................... 87 Conclusion................................................................................................................................ 90 CHAPTER FOUR: CHRISTIAN RESISTANCE ........................................................................ 91 How Not to Resist .................................................................................................................... 91 Resisting Temptations .............................................................................................................. 97 1. Resisting Being Drawn to Sin ....................................................................................... 97 2. Resisting Diversions from Duty .................................................................................. 101 3. Resisting the Dilution of Pure Doctrine ...................................................................... 104 4. Resisting the Disguise of the Soul's Spiritual State .................................................... 108 5. Resisting Temptations in General ............................................................................... 113 Resisting Other Assaults ........................................................................................................ 117 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................. 119 CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................... 121 Application ............................................................................................................................. 125 1. General Uses ................................................................................................................ 126 2. Specific Uses ............................................................................................................... 127 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................. 130 BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................................... 132 Primary Sources ..................................................................................................................... 132 Secondary Sources ................................................................................................................. 133 v VI 1 INTRODUCTION The Western church has experienced an explosion of popular interest in spiritual warfare over the last forty years. 1 Unfortunately, the literature of this movement has typically neglected the hard-won insights the church has gathered over two millennia of reflection and praxis. Most deliverance methods are built from a mix of personal experience, anecdotal accounts and Biblical study, woven together with theological reflection of varying levels of sophistication. This approach neglects one of the critical building blocks found in other fields of practical theology: historical research. Even when spiritual warfare writers delve into the past, they often commit historical errors. For instance, in Peter Wagner's book on strategic-level spiritual warfare, one chapter purports to show historical examples of this practice. 2 However, his approach is an anachronistic effort to read modem situations back into the past, reducing the historical enterprise to a mere propaganda effort. 3 In an attempt to make the resources of the Christian past accessible to modem practitioners in a historically responsible way, this thesis will explore the theology and practice of spiritual warfare of the English Puritans. Renowned for being "without peer as diagnosticians of the human heart," the Puritans generated a rich body of literature on the machinations of the Devil and how Christians can successfully resist them.4 Furthermore, Puritan demonology avoids the extremes in modem demonology. On the one end of the continuum is a denial of the existence of Satan, whether formally or simply informally by acknowledging his existence in the abstract but 1 Powlinson has identified four distinct movements of "demon deliverance ministry,"' all of which have arisen "only since the late 1960s." See Powlison, "Deliverance Ministry in Historical Perspective,"
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