Perg,
I don't see why dramatic illustrations wouldn't be possible. That's one of the points I was trying to make by mentioning the fire from heaven and the great wind that Satan caused.
Personally, I don't see
why demons couldn't manifest bodily. But that's simply a personal opinion, and one that, I'm sure, is a very tiny minority on this board. For myself, I find it pretty clear that demons and unclean spirits are merely fallen, rebellious angels. In Scripture, angels often "assume" some type of "body" that can physically interact with this world. That seems to be a pretty common ability of angels; and fallen angels are, nonetheless, still angels. Athanasius said that demons often took physical forms to attack St. Anthony, FWIW.
As to the West: Who knows? I wouldn't even know how to judge the decline of a nation, the more I think about it. I certainly have a low opinion of this country, but over the past few months I've really been questioning how much of a "golden age" Christianity ever had in America. For myself, I'm not totally sure that abortion and the rise in the occult isn't that much different than black slavery, Unitarianism, spiritualism, and, most of all, the wholesale slaughter of many Native American tribes and the broken oaths encapsulated in treaties.
I incline to think that things are getting much worse, or, at the very least, evil is just much more open and accepted, privately and publicly. And in that respect, when Christ is explicitly rejected and mocked, and occult practices are embraced and sought after across the nation, then yes, I suppose one could expect an increase in open demonic activity. Who knows, though? I wouldn't be surprised if materialistic science and demonic belief became fused one day, a la C.S. Lewis and the "macrobes." It wouldn't surprise me at all if scientists announced ten years from now that they have received numerical messages from "quantum string observers" or some technobabbling term that decried belief in the Christian God as an impediment to genetic development.
That being said, I do think that one can "sense" evil spirits at times. Martin Luther clearly did. And even a conservative Presbyterian par excellence, namely, Frank Smith, mentions in one of his sermons how in seminary one night he felt an incredibly evil presence in his room that he still remembers to this day.
Anyhow, just my opinion, take care!
