According to some Christians (generally within Charismatic and Pentecostal traditions, and especially Kingdom Now theology), Territorial Spirits are demons who rule over certain geographical areas in the world.
This belief has been popularized by the novel This Present Darkness, as well as by the ministry of C. Peter Wagner.
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The existence of territorial spirits has been seen to be significant in spiritual warfare, and forms a part of what C. Peter Wagner has called "Strategic-Level Spiritual Warfare" (SLSW). Wagner advocates the practice of learning the names and assignments of demonic spirits as the first step to effective spiritual warfare.[1]
In both the Septuagint and the Dead Sea Scrolls, Deuteronomy 32:8-9 refers a time when God divided the nations of the earth among the "sons of God" (Israel is excepted as the special possession of God Himself). Given the meaning of this phrase in the Book of Job, it is suggested that this is a reference to the origin of territorial spirits who were, at one time, angels administering the earth on God's behalf. The question remains, however, as to whether these spirits are malevolent.
Psalm 82 contains an episode in which God stands in the assembly of the "gods" and condemns them for their injustice. God declares that as a result of their wickedness these beings will "die" like men. The Psalm closes with the declaration that now all nations belong to the Lord. It has been suggested that God confronts the territorial angels he set over the nations of the earth, who have now fallen and become demons. As a result of their rebellion, God revokes their right to administer their territory in his name.
This passage concerns the visitation of a strange "man" to the prophet Daniel. This man explains to Daniel that he was delayed by the "Prince of Persia" (10:13), but was helped by "Michael, one of the chief princes" (a reference to the archangel Michael, who was recognized in Jewish literature to be a chief angel guarding over Israel). Later in the chapter, the man warns Daniel that soon the "Prince of Greece" (10:20) will join his Persian counterpart to make war upon them.
Considering the fact that Michael is generally recognized as an angel, it is likely that the "Princes" that Michael fights against from Greece and Persia are also spiritual beings. The fact that these spirits are given names in reference to location (Greece and Persia) suggests that these demonic spirits had a geographical oversight.
In Romans 8:38-9 Paul presents the reader with a number of polar opposites. In the midst of this Paul contrasts angels with "principalities" (Gr. αρχαι archai ). "Principalities" may be a synonym for "demons".
In Ephesians 6:12 Paul refers to the spiritual beings which oppose the work of God in the world as "rulers" (Gr. αρχαι archai ), "powers" (Gr. ἐξουσίας exousias ), and "world forces" (Gr. κοσμοκράτορας kosmokratoras ).
Revelation talks about multiple evil angels, who are currently "chained" in certain earthly locations, being released by God so that they will kill many on earth. There is no clue as to how much autonomy they currently possess.
Criticism of the concept of territorial spirits is twofold. The first line of criticism regards their existence, while the second regards the appropriate response from Christians.
Tinker argues that it is a misnomer to speak of territorial spirits, since the spirits referred to in the above biblical passages "are to be more associated with political and religious power and ideologies."[2]
Opponents of this theological construct and associated beliefs in "spiritual warfare" point out that while the Bible may describe some form of demonic control over geography, it does not prescribe many of the behaviors and teachings that proponents advocate in response. There is no mention in either the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament of believers banding together and praying a form of "spiritual warfare" against particular territorial demons. The battles occurring in the spiritual realms (as described in Daniel 10) have no Biblically identified link to the actions and prayers of God's people in the physical world.[3]
The concept of territorial spirits and the development of specific spiritual warfare techniques has generated much discussion in the Christian missions community. Critical exchanges of views may be found in periodicals like the Evangelical Missions Quarterly (such as in volume 31, number 2 published in 1995), and in conferences sponsored by the Evangelical Missions Society. Scholars such as Robert J. Priest, Paul Hiebert and A. Scott Moreau detect animist ideas in the arguments of supporters of the theory of territorial spirits. Robert Guelich of Fuller Theological Seminary does not find the concept of territorial spirits within the gospels, and has analyzed this problem in a critical review of Frank E. Peretti's novel This Present Darkness.
The question of territorial spirits and spiritual warfare was the topic of critical exchanges at the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization's conference in Nairobi, Kenya in 2000. Out of this conference came a consultation document, as well as many technical papers, that was published as the book Deliver Us From Evil.