The Influence of Hell on Earth

Posted on July 1, 2025 by Father Joe

Hell is defined as a place of eternal punishment. Nevertheless, the Scriptures relate that the devil and his demons actively roam the earth. It is for this reason that some speculated about hell being located on earth or at least deep within it. I would argue this is unlikely. It may be enough to say that the earth or the material universe falls outside the parameters of the heavenly kingdom. The kingdom of Christ is breaking into the world but has yet to be fully realized. When Satan tempted Christ, he took for granted that he owned the world as a sort of adjunct to hell. Of course, our Lord’s passion and death redeemed us from the devil. We need no longer to be his property. Given the ministry of exorcism and the testimony of Job 1:7, Satan does indeed roam the world and he and his minions can negatively influence souls. Indeed, in some cases they seem to have limited power within the material order. This has given a few of us real pause, not only regarding traditional hauntings and stories of possession, but also about the internet and the rise of artificial intelligence. Might these new technologies open doors for the direct influence of the demonic on a wider scale than thought possible? Can we be certain that conversations online and even in social media are always with purely human and/or A.I. agents?

If the devil can influence men and intrude through tarot cards and Ouija boards, why not in the new electronic and digital media? I knew a priest-exorcist taunted through odd phone calls. Just look at the gross violence in gaming. Online pornography has utterly replaced adult bookstores and X-rated movie houses. All are now targeted with impunity. The devil has a hand in this for sure. Would the devil not use technology to undermine faith and to deform moral conscience? Such is a real potentiality if the devil is not rigidly restricted to the confines of hell.

Why does a good God give the devil liberty to tempt, influence and frighten us? The serpent in the garden tempted humanity with his own sin, urging that a bite of the forbidden fruit would make them gods. The cost was the dark side of mortality and the reduction of the devil to a worm that borrows the dirt. More than a snake, Satan was imaged as a serpent or dragon. Not only did he tempt Eve, but he intimidated her. The devil still seeks to frighten as the big boogeyman. This dragon appears in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, and in Revelation, the last. He was the great deceiver and was cast out from heaven, hurled to earth, along with his fallen host of angels (Revelation 12:7-9).

I suspect the presence of the demonic on earth has to do with the specific sin of Satan. He refuses to bend the knee to the Christ Child. Jesus, by making our humanity his own, dismissing Satan’s temptations in the desert and claiming victory by the Cross, incites the devil to target us all in his crosshairs. If he cannot take out Jesus, then he will go after us. He tempts our first parents, and the original sin would inflict great harm upon humanity and material creation. Our Lord would pay the price to make satisfaction for this dishonor to God, and he would heal the rift between heaven and earth. However, since the devil targeted the incarnation and humanity; all men and women would be called to take up their crosses and to take their turn in being tested. Now, not only the divine Person of Christ would assail the devil, but armed with faith and grace, even the smallest and weakest of God’s children might put the devil to shame. Jesus tells his friends not to be afraid but the devils and the damned have every reason to be fearful. The parable story of Christ has not ended with the Gospel but is extended into the life of the Church and her saints. The devil has lost the war, but the saints and martyrs still face the darkness in various skirmishes and battles. The devil fights on in spite and this intensifies his humiliation. It is as if he will never learn. He thought the crucifixion would be his great victory and yet it proved to be his bitter defeat. Now in time, with every selfless act of love and martyrdom, his loss is revisited.