New Days, Old Demons: Ancient Paganism Masquerading as Progressive Christianity

by Mark Driscoll

New Days, Old Demons is a prophetic study of sex, gender, woke politics, and how progressive Christianity is just a rebranding of ancient paganism. The same demons that were active in the days of Elijah are active today castrating the men, mutilating the children, closing the churches, and silencing the Bible teachers.

We’re fighting back by self-publishing this book when nobody else would because it’s a prophetic message for pathetic times. This book reads like the book of Revelation meets a death metal band in a cage fight on Halloween.

Genres: Nonfiction, Theology, Faith

286 pages, Hardcover

Published May 16, 2023

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Mark A. Driscoll is the founder and teaching pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, as well as the co-founder of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network where he also served as President for a short period. Driscoll continues to serve on the board of Acts 29. He has contributed to the "Faith and Values" section of the Seattle Times and the "On Faith" section of the Washington Post.

Reviews

[Joel Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unbelievable book that is tailored to men and women alike. This warns us not of what happened, but what always happens and reminds us that the same spirits during the time of Elijah are around today.

Reading some reviews about how it is mean to women is mind blowing…did these folks actually read the book? Listening to the heart of Mark Driscoll, you can tell he loves women and children and preaches to men to love them as well.

Must read!

[Carlos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye opening and life changer

Best book I have ever read. Mark Driascoll describes with precision the reason why is going on what is going on nowadays and offers a solution for that. Accepting Jesus and receiving him as Lord and Savior and rejecting the devil and his deceives. Amazing book!

[Amber Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read!

[Joshua · Rating 2 out of 5]

Today we are indeed confronted with the same evil that was prevalent in Elijah's day. Driscoll's prophetic voice rails against it, and I think it's important to wake up and see it. I just don't think this was the best written book on the subject, especially for someone as articulate as Driscoll. There are many times the book could have used an editor or more organization.

There are, for sure, areas in which I do not agree with the author.
If Driscoll sincerely believes that God calls us to mock fools (citing Elijah mocking the prophets of Baal, and Jesus 'mocking' the Pharisees), it explains a lot of what has been discussed about his alleged leadership style.

While I can overlook or "spit out the bones" of some of my disagreements to see his overall point and message/warning to the church today, I don't know that I can recommend this resource to others.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Likes: I appreciated the theme and details around the fact that there is nothing new under the sun. We might be a different generation of humans with "modern" problems, but it's the same demonic forces at work. I did not have prior understanding of the Jezebel and Ahab spirits, and now I do.
I also always appreciate the author's bold phrasing.

Dislikes: It was quite repetitive, including some of his general themes heard many times in sermons (which isn't all bad when it fits) but also lengthy quotes from his previous books. I think editing some of the quotes and repetition could have cut a number of pages.
This book also needed some proofreading to fix seemingly obvious errors.

[Paul V. Manzione · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Real Awakening for the Faithful and Lost

Pastor Mark pulls no punches. Like Elijah and John the Baptist, he is another who is screaming at the culture saying “Repent lest ye perish!”

[Stacey Dickerson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn’t bad at first….. it’s interesting, sprinkled with some shameless plugs for other “free” books. But it devolves into more of just someone journaling their thoughts and jumping from point to paint instead of a well thought out biblical and scholarly critique of our “new days”.

[pedro l Gonzales jr · Rating 5 out of 5]

eye opener

The best book I’ve ever read!! Highly recommend it will set your life on the right path God bless you pastor Mark and your family and god’s face shine upon you and your family

[John Mazziott · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most important books written in the 21st century. Pastor Mark pulls back the curtain of the spiritual battle happening in our world today. A must read for every believer!

[Debra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Garbage

[Jared · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just ok. A little disjointed. He sure did like to quote other books he wrote

[Holly M · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mark Driscoll is, by all accounts, a gifted teacher and charismatic leader, but he is also blinded to his own faults. This book is a mishmash of biblical truth, dispensational ideas, complementarian understanding of scripture, and his own eisegesis (reading into the text rather than exegesis of what the text says). Large swaths of the books are simple copy-and-paste jobs from his other titles.

Interestingly he starts off talking about authority and says "When a person in authority abuses the authority God has given them, using it in a way that is sinful and against God’s commands, their authority is negated." yet we all know he refused to submit to the authority of his own church in Seattle.

Moving on -

Aside from the aforementioned copy and paste insertions, he also relies heavily on others' work on Spiritual Warfare, prooftexting, and eisegesis. Including non-biblical ideas on "soul ties". Much is a rehash of other ideas on Spiritual Warfare.

When speaking on Elijah, he asserts that after the showdown on Mt. Carmel, "some people are oppressed by the Ahab and/or Jezebel spirit externally. They struggle at times to not come under demonic influence. This happened to the great man of God, Elijah, who was so oppressed by the Jezebel spirit that he ran for his life in fear some one hundred miles, wandered off into the woods, and wanted to die." (pg 138) but yet "when you are dealing with the demonic, it can be completely exhausting. We see this when Elijah ran 100 miles away from Ahab and Jezebel, wandered into the wilderness, and laid down so exhausted from constantly fighting them that he wanted to die." (pg 140). So which was it? Exhaustion after a mentally, physically, and spiritually draining event or the spirit of Jezebel? Notice God doesn't chide him for fear or say anything about it being because Jezebel was so demonically powerful; he simply provides for Elijah's physical needs and then encourages him to continue. (1 Kings 19).... Also he misrepresents the cups at a Passover Seder - while a place is set and a glass of wine is poured for Elijah, it is not drunk.

In another exegetical leap, Mark equates the Nephilim with demonic forces - any biblical scholar worth their salt will tell you this is a possibility, but that we simply do not know, the text is unclear. Driscoll makes it sound like fact.

Ahab is seen as passive and effeminate - the text doesn't specify this, although I have not studied the Hebrew to date, it is still a bad idea to read into the text. And even if he was, is that always demonic? Driscoll uses the Uvalde shooting as an example of male passivity, which is simply repugnant (even if you agree that mistakes were made in the handling of the event). He further posits that "Adam was passive and Eve took the advantage of opportunity to take control" (pg 158) because "Eve sinned through commission. She acted independently of God and her husband and ate the forbidden fruit. The Jezebel spirit sins through commission." (pg 140). Never mind that the Scripture explicitly states that Eve was deceived, and that the Gen 3 verse says that Eve's desire will be for restored relationship and Adam's will be for power and dominion (read the Heberew), according to Driscoll it was the Jezebel spirit working through her long before Jezebel ever came into being. Driscoll's complementarian bent shines through throughout the work as he talks about submission, federal headship, leadership, et all. Rather than discuss the meaning of "head" in Paul's writings, he simply goes with the trope of authority rather than the more likely "source" that scholars say it means, because that fits the narrative. Even though he states this spirit can manifest in either gender, he says that he has not seen it in men as much (perhaps because he expects it more in women?) and that it is rarely overcome. In a moment of his signature ideas on men, he discusses how men now have lower testosterone than ever before and attributes it to both the Ahab and Jezebel spirits (diet, pesticides, exercise, technology, and other factors notwithstanding).

He states that Jezebel inherited this demonic spirit from her mother (which is not biblical or in the text). One of the characteristics of a Jezebel spirit listed is preaching, which implies that Deborah, Phoebe, Priscilla, Huldah, and other women in Scripture were acting under a Jezebel Spirit rather than from God! Dangerous territory.

This book is truly nothing more than a thinly veiled rant against politics, homosexuality, women, and academia. Lots of esigesis with just enough exegesis to make it sound plausible. Do yourself a favor and skip it unless - like me - you are simply wanting to be well informed on what he is saying

[Brenten Gilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

RATING 3.74

There's a lot to like about this book. The presentation - illustrations, etc. - is really great and the message driving it is spot on and worth paying attention to. I highly recommend listening to the sermon series that this book grew out of (or vice versa) because it's quite powerful. That said, the book could have used a thorough editing job to make it more impactful. Too many layout issues, repeated passages, and even misplaced pages.

Again, the message is worth taking in regardless of the format.

[Kerr Howell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I use to love Driscoll books and have read 90% of everything he has published or self published. There use to be depth and fire, but now it seems like there is just info. This book was okay but nothing really grabbed me to highlight or look more into. There are a lot of places of repetitive information and a lot of place where is used his own writing from his other books. This book will be good to read, but know you will want something deeper after.

[Anne Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, this book was great. Hard hitting, raw & honest insights on the Enemy’s tirade both then & now. This is the type of content that Christians need to be absorbing in such a dark and disruptive world! He does have a tone that is a bit more aggressive than I like; however, I can appreciate his passion behind the subject. I do have to say that nothing drives me nuttier than TYPOS and there were quite a few

[Daniel Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mark Driscoll provides readers with a deep study into what the Bible says about Elijah the prophet and the Jezebel and Ahab spirits.

Driscoll explains how the spirits of Jezebel and Ahab are still at work and are especially surfacing in modern American society. Readers are encouraged to be like Elijah and stand up and stand tall for God and His Word.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book was informative.

[Ryan Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very eye opening to what is all going on in the background. Convicting and compelling.

[Jordyn Belka · Rating 5 out of 5]

6 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was phenomenal. Like truly phenomenal. The relevancy to Jezebel and Ahab in today's society and the way Mark approached it was very interesting.

[Philip Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marky Mark promised that the book would read "like the book of Revelation meets a death metal band in a cage fight on Halloween." I reckon he kept that promise. For sure, he draws some valid connections between Jezebel, the demonic realm, idolatry, sexual sin, and gender fluidity. The stuff from the first century around the Galli and worship of Cybele was new to me. Fascinating stuff. I thought the first 100 pages or so of the book were the strongest. There's no doubt that Driscoll's absolutely right on the big picture stuff, but perhaps some of the details and the application were a little stretched in places?

Also, was dope just seeing some Bible teaching on Elijah, Ahab, and Jezebel. 1 Kings was my favourite book of the Bible as a child and I guess I'd forgotten how much of a badass Elijah was.

[Kinzie Moffitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only reason this book is getting 4 out of 5 stars is because it was self-published and it appears very quickly because there are many grammatical errors (at least) in the Kindle version of the book. I'm a "Grammar Karen" and was very distracted by the errors. However, the wisdom and spiritual insight this book provides is well worth giving grave to all the grammatical errors.

[Brian Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a very sobering look at what has happened to America during the past fifty years. This book is not for the faint of heart, as Mark Driscoll is brutally honest about the spiritual war behind the LGBTQ+ community. Will you take a stand for God, or against Him?

[Zubin Parakh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read. Even though you cannot (at the time of this writing) purchase this book on Amazon because it was banned on Amazon. Even more reason to purchase and read.

[Seth Goodale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good.

[Angie Huff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mind blown!!! So many parallels from Elijas time and ours.