Doctrines of Demons—Denying Marriage And Restricting Diets
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries, September 22, 2026 (Donate)
There are good doctrines and bad doctrines…then
there are doctrines that are so bad that God simply calls them doctrines of
demons. At the heart of these demonic doctrines are lies and seared
consciences with attacks on marriage (thus permitting sexual immorality) and forbidding
diets with false authority.
The Holy Spirit in the New Testament gives a stark warning
that false doctrines can have a spiritual source. Paul, by the power of
the Holy Spirit, writes:
Now the Spirit expressly says that
in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving
spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own
conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding
to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by
those who believe and know the truth.
For every creature of God is
good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it
is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. (1 Timothy 4:1-5, NKJV).
Paul then identifies specific examples like forbidding people
to marry and commanding to abstain from certain foods (1 Timothy 4:3). These
teachings attack good things God created and replace His authority with
man-made rules. Before we dive into the specifics, let’s look a little closer
at demons and their influence from a biblical viewpoint.
What Are Demons According to the Bible?
According to the Bible, demons are evil spiritual beings who
oppose God and seek to deceive and harm mankind. They were originally part of
God’s very good and perfect creation (e.g., Genesis 1:31; Deuteronomy 32:4).
But they rebelled against God in sin and await their “fiery” judgment where the
infinite wrath of God will abide on them forever.
They are associated with Satan, who rebelled against God
too, and his fallen and broken kingdom (e.g., Matthew 12:24-26; Revelation
12:9). God’s Word distinguishes them from human beings and portrays them as
personal spiritual beings possessing knowledge, will, the power of contrite
choice, and the ability to communicate (e.g., Mark 1:23-26; James 2:19).
Demons can influence mankind in a lot of ways like
deception, temptation, false teaching, and opposition to God's truth. But in
some instances, they could possess and take over a person as shown in hosts of
places in the New Testament.
Satan is called the "father of lies" (John 8:44),
and his servants seek to disguise themselves as righteous (2 Corinthians
11:14-15). Sometimes the biggest deception comes from those who profess to be
godly—hence, why it is good to observe their fruits and compare it to God’s Sword
(His Word).
In regards to the cases of demonic possession (or oppression
in which demons afflicted individuals physically or mentally), this is a
possibility (e.g., Mark 5:1-20; Luke 9:37-42). However, Scripture doesn’t teach
that every illness, sinful action, or false belief is directly caused by demons
or Satan—as fallen individuals ourselves, we have a propensity to do bad things
anyway. Just remember that man also sins because of our own fallen desires or
sin nature (e.g., James 1:14-15).
Christ, being God, naturally has authority over demons and
Satan (Mark 1:27). They have no power next to God in the same way that we have
no power next to God. Christians are to resist the devil, remain alert, pray,
and stand firmly upon God's truth (e.g., James 4:7; Ephesians 6:10-18; 1 Peter
5:8-9).
Doctrines Of Demons
Denying Marriage
Paul specifically condemns those who push ideas like
"forbidding to marry." This doesn’t mean that everyone must marry.
Paul himself recognized singleness as a legitimate condition and even a
gift that can provide greater opportunity for ministry (e.g., 1 Corinthians
7:7-8, 32-35).
The error is teaching that marriage itself is
spiritually wrong, unclean, or forbidden to people whom God permits to marry.
In our culture, many refuse marriage and engage in sexual promiscuity outside
of marriage—to their detriment!
Sadly, others try to break the one
human race into evolutionary higher
and lower “races” and say that that you can’t marry outside of your Darwinian
“race”. In certain places (particularly of the past), one had to marry within
one’s rank of society (nobles or royalty and peasants were forbidden for
instance).
But a major point is that marriage
wasn't invented
by man or by governing authorities. God instituted it at creation when He
made the first woman and brought her to the first man (Genesis 2:18-24). Jesus
reaffirmed this creation ordinance in Matthew 19:4-6 and Mark
6:10. Scripture further says that marriage is to be honored and respected
by all (Hebrews 13:4).
Therefore, condemning what God calls honorable is an attack
on God's perfect standard.
The doctrine of marriage should be honored; Image requested by Bodie Hodge*
Diet And Forbidding Foods
The second example is commanding people to refrain from
foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving" (1 Timothy 4:3).
A prime example of that today is the movement that has affected many church
members with a vegan
diet.
Adam
and Eve had restriction, they were opened up with Noah
and then Israel had clean dietary restrictions under the Mosaic covenant
(Leviticus 11). With Christ declaring all foods clean, Christians are now open
to all foods (e.g., all meats that were used for food are now clean). So, imposing
certain restriction isn’t justified biblically. I understand temporary diets
or medical reasons or allergens or even staying away from some foods because of
our taste (I’m a picky eater!). But this is different from restricting diets.
Jesus taught that food entering the body doesn’t morally
defile the heart (Mark 7:15-23). Peter's vision in Acts 10 also used previously
unclean animals (from the Mosaic Law) to make an important point about what God
had cleansed.
Food can certainly be avoided for health, preference,
fasting, or concern for another person's conscience (Romans 14:1-3). The error
occurs when dietary rules are imposed or strongly pushed as
requirements for holiness or the “correct path”.
Consider how these doctrines of demons directly deviate
from the Apostles’ teachings. In the book of Acts, a number of the Apostles collectively
wrote:
but that we write to them to
abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from
things strangled, and from blood. (Acts 15:20, NKJV)
that you abstain from things
offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual
immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell. (Acts
15:29, NKJV)
Sadly, demonic teachings skew these into extremes. The Apostles
taught you not to eat blood particularly from animals strangled. Yet demonic doctrines
push beyond this for other dietary restrictions too. Notice the subtle distortion.
The Apostles taught that we are to avoid sexual immorality—the
primary means of avoidance is by proper marriage (1 Corinthians 7:8-9). Of
course, demons take this and skew it into ways that forbid marriage and thus
sexual immorality thrives—as observed in our own culture since the 1960s.
From the 60s forward, there has been the free-love movement,
homosexual movement, and the transgender movement. All of which are various
forms of sexual immorality which defy proper marriage. This brings me to a
point that needs to be addressed—the issue of false marriage or pseudo-marriage.
Pseudo-Marriage
Although the expression "pseudo-marriage" doesn’t
appear in 1 Timothy 4, it describes another way the marriage institution can be
distorted. Jesus defined marriage by returning to Genesis:
And He answered and said to them,
“Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them
male and female,’ “and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and
mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? “So
then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined
together, let not man separate.” (Matthew 19:4-6, NKJV; see also Genesis 1:27;
2:24).
Biblically, marriage is the covenantal union/relationship of
a man and a woman. Therefore, calling another type of sexual relationship
"marriage" doesn’t alter the biblical definition. Scripture repeatedly
condemns sexual relationships outside God's design for marriage (Matthew
19:4-6; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Hebrews 13:4).
Imagine if someone suggests that 1 Timothy 4 means that
Christians (and specifically God’s Word) would be wrong if they oppose things
like homosexual “marriage”, due to redefining marriage, then what gives? This
is another form of replacing God's authority with human authority via fictitious
definitions (e.g., homosexual “marriage”).
But homosexual “marriage” isn't a marriage in God’s eyes
and is sexual immorality that is ripe for judgment. So forbidding these types
of false “unions” as “marriages” isn't what is being discussed in 1 Timothy 4.
Conclusion: Rejecting God's Authority
These demonic errors share an important theme. Satanic and demonic
strategy from Genesis 3 onward has been to challenge God's Word: did God
really say? (e.g., Genesis 3:1).
God created food and made it clean. God created us as male
and female. God created the institution of marriage. Man, Satan, or demons, therefore, don’t have
the authority to declare God's good creation evil or to redefine His
institutions contrary to His revealed Word.
The biblical response should be to recognize that these false
doctrines of demons are just fallible human beliefs and sinful errors. But continuing
in this type of sin could have lasting and eternal consequences.
Christians are commanded to test all things and hold fast
what is good based on God’s absolute Word (1 Thessalonians 5:21). We should reject
teachings that contradicts what God has revealed—including these doctrines of
demons.
□
Bodie Hodge, Ken Ham's son in law, has been an apologist
defending 6-day creation and opposing evolution since 1998. He spent 21 years
working at Answers in Genesis as a speaker, writer, and
researcher as well as a founding news anchor for Answers News. He
was also head of the Oversight Council.
Bodie launched Biblical Authority Ministries in
2015 as a personal website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a
501(c)(3). He has spoken on multiple continents and hosts of US states in
churches, colleges, and universities. He is married with four children.
Mr. Hodge earned a Bachelor and Master of Science degrees
from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC). Then he taught
at SIUC for a couple of years as a Visiting Instructor teaching all levels of
undergraduate engineering and running a materials lab and a CAD lab. He did
research on advanced ceramic materials to develop a new method of production of
titanium diboride with a grant from Lockheed Martin. He worked as a Test
Engineer for Caterpillar, Inc., prior to entering full-time ministry.
His love of science was coupled with a love of history,
philosophy, and theology. For about one year of his life, Bodie was editing and
updating a theological, historical, and scientific dictionary/encyclopedia. Mr.
Hodge has over 25 years of experience in writing, speaking and researching in
these fields.
*Image by generative program as requested by Bodie Hodge
