If you cannot find the full PDF, a 95% accurate text reconstruction exists on several religious debate subreddits (r/DebateReligion and r/AcademicBiblical). Search for "God and His Demons - Textual Restoration."
Parenti’s central thesis is that religion has historically served as a "demonic tool" for those in power. He argues that while the faithful often seek peace, the institutional upper echelons frequently collaborate with state power to suppress dissent and maintain economic hierarchy. The "Neurotic" Deity: god and his demons pdf
“If God is infinite, then no darkness exists outside Him. The demon is not the anti-God, but a function within God—a prosecutor, a tempter, a destroyer. To pray against demons is, in a terrifying sense, to pray against a certain mood of God Himself. This is the forgotten heresy of the Bible: that the Lord sends evil spirits (1 Samuel 18:10), and that His glory contains a shadow. Our moral discomfort with this truth does not make it untrue; it merely reveals how deeply we have domesticated the Almighty.” If you cannot find the full PDF, a
For scholars, students of comparative religion, and curious skeptics alike, this specific document—a seminal paper by theologian Michael H. Barnes—represents a critical juncture in theodicy: the attempt to reconcile the existence of an all-powerful, benevolent God with the undeniable reality of evil and demonic forces. The "Neurotic" Deity: “If God is infinite, then