“I was dedicated to serve the Devil as a baby,” said Byang Kato (1936-1975) in 1962. Yet, by the grace of God, this infant grew up to become “a happy child of God” and the Father of African Evangelicalism. Kato spoke plainly concerning his spiritual transformation, and much of his brief literary output focused on the quality of the salvation message proclaimed on the African continent (see Kato’s Theological Pitfalls in Africa). His background and the Bible he embraced led him to a soteriology that addressed the demons described in Scripture and encountered in the world. This paper outlines the relationship between Kato’s demonology and soteriology, evaluates it based on current scholarship, and provides recommendations for a better presentation of demonology within Evangelical soteriology.
While Kato only writes one short booklet on the spirits (What the Bible Teaches: The Spirits), he speaks extensively concerning soteriology throughout his works, perceptively integrating biblical demonology. Leaning upon Sophie de la Haye’s Byang Kato: Ambassador for Christ and Aiah Foday-Khabenje’s recently published Byang Kato: The Life and Legacy of Africa’s Pioneer Evangelical Theologian, I provide a brief overview of Kato’s background and continuing relevance to the global church. I then assess and analyze Kato’s theological integration of biblical demonology and soteriology, utilizing a chronological survey of personal soteriology (i.e., how we were saved, how we are being saved, and how we will be saved). In each case, Kato’s contributions include the demonic, emphasizing deliverance not only from sin but also from demons.
While primarily reflecting on Kato’s unique perspective and evaluating the relationship between his demonology and soteriology, I also interact with the wealth of contributions to Evangelical demonology in the past five years (e.g., Graham Cole’s Against the Darkness; Daniel Darko’s Against Principalities and Powers; John Gilhooly’s 40 Questions about Angels, Demons, and Spiritual Warfare; Michael Heiser’s Demons, Andrew Naselli’s The Serpent and the Serpent Slayer). Recognizing that Kato integrates demonology and soteriology in a way that is both sensitive to the experience of Global Evangelicalism and the exposition of Scripture, I propose some suggestions from Kato (supported by recent scholarship) for the continued development of Christian soteriology that it may more accurately reflect the demonological realities of Scripture.