Afflatus: Is it God or the Devil?
- Ken Kalis
- 7 days ago
- 8 min read
I am on my feet, arms held high, singing with my church, "There is Power in the Name of Jesus, to break every chain, break every chain, break every chain."
Am I with the crowd when Taylor Swift sings "But Daddy I Love Him" or Mick Jagger singing "Sympathy of the Devil" or "It's Only Rock and Roll"?
What should I do when the stadium reacts to Kate Smith singing "God Bless America" or Bob Dylan singing "Blowing in the Wind?"
What is it about these songs that generates such energy and power?
These are common examples of the power of emotion, which Plato identified as Afflatus, as inspiration or the breath of life.
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Afflatus is a Latin term used by Cicero in De Natura Deorum, ("The Nature of the Gods") and has been translated as "inspiration". I couldn't find it there (my Latin is not so good) but I did find Plato's definition of Afflatus as the breath of God. Plato*(424-348 BC) elected to step away from Socrates (c.470-399 BC) rational questioning and opted for the emotional understanding of beauty and the good, which he attributed to God.
An asterisk* after a name means that person is in SPIRITUAL LIVES.
Plato attributed Homer's poetry to the divine Afflatus because of its beauty and recognition of the gods and goddesses of ancient Greece. At the same time, there was a devilish Afflatus among the witches at Delphi who used that oracle for prophecy and fortune telling.
While all of this was before St. Paul'*s (5-67) time, there is a connection via the slave girl at Philippi who followed him around announcing, "These men are servants of the Most High God! They announce to you how you can be saved!" - Acts 16:17
Paul rebuked her and cast the demon out of her, and she lost her divination power. This cost her masters their income and spurred them to throw Paul and Silas into prison. This is the last instance of devilish afflatus we find in the Bible, but it has a long history there.
How do we as Christians know whether this powerful emtion-stirring energy is from God or the devil? The apostle Jesus* (4BC-30 AD) loved gives us a litmus test:
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. -- 1 John 4:1-3
That's a long way of asking, "Do you believe that Jesus came in the flesh?" Someone may ask, "What do you mean by 'the flesh?" Answer: He came as a human being.
The whole purpose of this test and of this article as a whole is to protect us from false worship, which is the devil's primary goal for us, as it was for Jesus.
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” - Matthew 4:8-10
False worship began when Cain* offered a sacrifice that the LORD refused, and he fled from the LORD's presence.
He set up opposition to the sons of God, and false worship began. The end result?
And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them from the earth. -Genesis 6:12-13
The LORD saved Noah and his family, and at that time, they all worshipped the LORD. This was in 2478 BC (Ussher), before Abram* was born in 1996 BC (=2478-1996). What happened in those 482 years?
In 2234, Nimrod (23rd century BC) built the Tower of Babel, which caused language confusion. Josephus (37-100) says Nimrod founded Babylon, where the study of the stars and astrology began.
The Bible first mentions other gods in Joshua* (1553-1443) where he records this: ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods. (Joshua 24:2)
Where these other gods came from is unclear, but Genesis 10 describes where the sons and grandsons of Noah settled. Among them, Egypt, Canaan, and Cush (Babylon), the idol worshippers, God's people were to destroy..
This worship was well established when Moses* (1571-1451 BC) wrote the Torah in 1500 BC, and the first idols appear in Jacob's family when he was escaping Laban. (1745 BC). Jacob* (1836-1689 BC) got them all out of his household, but entered in their realm, where in 1715 his son Joseph* (1755-1645 BC) had married the daughter of a priest of On, the city that was a center of Sun worship,
While Jacob's descendants were slaves in Egypt for 144 years, they grew familiar with the host of Egyptian idols, and Moses wrote this after the Exodus in 1491 BC.
Deu_7:25 The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God.
Deu_12:3 And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.
(The principal people identified as figures of Divine Afflatus were selected from The Divine Afflatus: A Force in History published by the United Society, Shirley, Mass. 1875.)
This is a turning point in history, as we see here the first Divine Afflatus recorded in the Bible. Exodus 19 tells the story of how God's people prepared themselves to worship the LORD when He came down from Mt. Sinai to give them the Law. Moses was His instrument here, turning this divine energy into the Law, setting up a moral code, and establishing institutions that would last three thousand years.
Almost immediately, a Satanic Afflatus followed with the very same people creating their graven image, a golden calf, and insanely crying, These be thy gods, O Israel that brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. Exodus 32:4
This resulted in them rejoicing in their sin, offering sacrifices to their golden god, and they"rose up to pay." Moses came down from the mountain where he was with the LORD and commanded the Levites to kill the offenders. and they slew three thousand men.
A similar Afflatus duel occurred in 896 BC when the Prophet Elijah* (938 - 896 translated to heaven) and King Ahab* (938-896 BC) called all Israel to Mt. Carmel to choose who to worship. 850 prophets of Baal faced off against Elijah as they set up sacrifices to be consumed by fire from heaven. All day, the prophets of Baal called to him, cutting themselves and prophesying, but no fire came. Elijah prayed to the LORD to turn His people's hearts back to Him again, and fire came down from heaven and burned up the sacrifice.
When the people saw it, they fell on their faces and acknowledged, The LORD, He is the God.
Elijah then commanded them to slay all the prophets of Baal. This made it clear that the LORD was God, but the people soon fell from their commitment to Him.
The same was the case in Nineveh in 760 BC. Jonah preached a simple message Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be destroyed. The Afflatus here was so powerful that the king and everyone else in the city repented in sackcloth, and God spared them. But they soon forgot the LORD and returned to their historical conquests, taking Sammaria in 721 BC.
The Old Testament ends in judgment for God's people but with clear and present hope in Daniel's* (623 - 538 BC) prophecy, whose personal Afflatus was strong yet limited to a narrow circle in Babylon and Persia.
A fuller and more enduring Divine Afflatus comes with the man who links the Old and New Testaments, John the Baptist* (5 BC - 26 AD). John lived under the power and vitality of the Divine Afflatus his whole life. He was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb and was the promised Elijah to announce the coming of the Messiah.
The Afflatus was so great that people flocked out of the country to be baptized by John in the Jordan River, a baptism of repentance. Among those who came was Jesus, for whom the heavens opened, the Holy Ghost came down as a dove, and God the Father announced:This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. - Matthew 3:17
After His Resurrection, He was glorified and now occupies on earth the same central position as He does in heaven. One of His last acts on earth was to breathe on His disciples the Divine Afflatus, saying, Receive the Holy Ghost. - John 20:22
This was exponential on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost fell on 120 brothers and sisters who received the Divine Afflatus themselves and then turned the world upside down. This outflow became a force in history, so that ever since, our civilization has felt the benefits.
At the same time another church grew without the Divine Afflatus. This pagan church held private property, married, and held slave. "The churches of to-day are the lineal descendants of the pagan Christian Church and composed of the same materials, "foolish Galatians and carnal Corinthians. ""
The Divine Afflatus was absent from the pagan church, although present in those independent churches that honored and clung to the word of God. The Reformation was a great movement primarily driven by mental activity, but in 1646, George Fox (1624-1691) became an instrument of Divine Afflatus. The early Friends practiced the supernatural gifts of Pentecost in holy separation from the church of the world.
These gifts and the Divine Afflatus passed through Fox to the Shakers to whom the rest of the 1875 book is dedicated.
How the Shirley Society would rejoice to see the Divine Afflatus operating in the healing ministry of John Alexander Dowie :(1847-1907) and in the 20th Century Pentecostal revival at Azuza Street, and later through Aimee Semple McPherson* (1890-1944) and later still Jimmy Swaggert (1935- )
The Divine Afflatus continues to be a force in history and our lives if we separate from the world and allow the Holy Spirit to fill us with His love, peace, and power.
PENTECOSTAL POWER
Lord, as of old, at Pentecost,
Thou didst Thy power display,
With cleansing, purifying flame,
Descend on us today.
Refrain
Lord, send the old-time power,
the Pentecostal power!
Thy floodgates of blessing,
on us throw open wide!
Lord, send the old-time power,
the Pentecostal power!
That sinners be converted
and Thy Name glorified!
For mighty works for Thee, prepare
And strengthen every heart;
Come, take possession of Thine own,
And never more depart. Refrain
All self consume, all sin destroy!
With earnest zeal endue
Each waiting heart to work for Thee;
O Lord, our faith renew! Refrain
Speak, Lord! before Thy throne we wait,
Thy promise we believe,
And will not let Thee go until
The blessing we receive. Refrain
Words & Music: Charles H. Gabriel, 1912
But YE SHALL RECEIVE POWER, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. The Lord Jesus Christ said this in Acts 1:8
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