Demon Possessed Christians? Part One

Anneliese Michel

Over the past 40 years, the deliverance ministry (exorcism) has grown exponentially in some Pentecostal and Charismatic churches.

What's deliverance? It's the casting out of evil or demonic spirits that possess the bodies and souls of human beings. While deliverance was commonplace during the time of Jesus Christ, it waned over the centuries until it experienced a revival after the classic horror film The Exorcist was released in 1973.

While many folks believed the movie was a fictional account of a demon possessed girl, it was based upon a true story. In the actual account, a teenage boy who lived in Mt. Rainier, Washington in the late 1940s became demon possessed after he tried to contact his deceased grandmother with a Ouija board.

The movie revived a ministry that had essentially been forgotten by the Christian church. And while deliverance became popular after the movie came out, demon possession was and is still considered by many to be ignorant superstition.

But it certainly wasn't during the time of Christ. Christ not only cast out several demons, He also gave His disciples and followers the authority to do the same. 

Shortly before He returned to heaven after His resurrection, Christ gave His followers these instructions: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." (Mark 16:15-18)

Why did deliverance disappear in the modern age? Because of the appearance of mind sciences such as humanistic psychology that promised remedies for all sorts of aberrant human behavior. With the advent of psychology, deliverance--or exorcism as it's known in the Catholic Church--was debunked as a primitive, outdated and cruel superstition.

However, psychology has provided no answers for certain types of bizarre behaviors, such as people speaking in foreign languages they never learned, or deep, male voices speaking from the mouths of women and children. That's what happened to the teenage boy in the real life account that inspired The Exorcist movie. He began speaking Hebrew, a language that he had never learned.

And so, demon possession is now being taken seriously again by many folks who were formerly skeptics. However, most people still consider demon possession to be nonsense.

What causes demon possession? And who becomes possessed? Demon possession is often caused by direct contact with the demonic realm via the occult such as spiritism, necromancy, witchcraft and shamanism. 

It's also caused by hallucinogenic drugs (LSD, PCP etc.) and exposure to eastern religious practices such as transcendental meditation, and various forms of yoga such as Hatha, Tantric and Kundalini Yoga. And it's caused by curses that are inherited from ancestors. However, not everyone who dabbles in these practices or uses hallucinogens becomes possessed. But they do come under demonic influence.

Can true Christians become demon possessed? Not according to the Bible. However, there are various churches that teach that Christians can and do become possessed by demons. One of those churches is the Hegewisch Baptist Church located in Highland, Indiana. Since 1970, this church has been offering deliverance to Christians who believe that they've become possessed by evil spirits. Here's a portion of what Hegewisch teaches concerning Christians and demon possession: 

When you go into the ministry of casting out demons, inevitably you will be challenged by the question.  “Is it possible for a born-again believer to have a demon?”  

 In charismatic circles the question is:  “Is it possible for a believer who is baptized in the Spirit to have a demon?” “Absolutely not!” comes the stock answer.  “The Holy Spirit cannot coexist in the same body with a demon!” 

 This answer is designed to shut off all further inquiry, to close the mind even to the possibility as unthinkable.  It is invoked with the insistence of a slogan.  Yet it is not a Scriptural answer!  It is an extra-Biblical piece of logic that stands quite by itself.  This often-heard statement does not rest on scripture but on an assumption. 

Actually, the answer to both questions above is a definite “YES!”  It is a particularly dangerous delusion to think that Satan or the demons, adopt any kind of a hands-off policy toward believers.  In fact, they affect and afflict believers as far as possible.  They buffet, oppose, seek to tempt or deceive or lead them astray.  They look for and quickly seize any advantage to handicap and hinder believers.

 Almost one hundred percent of our deliverance ministry has been among the born-again believers; most of them also baptized-in-the-spirit. Being saved, and even being baptized in the Holy Spirit, is no guarantee against the inroads of the evil spirits.

Through these or subsequent spiritual experiences there is no automatic disposal of evil spirits.  It is possible however that demons may be rendered temporarily inactive and unable to function for a time.  So long as they are still present there is always the danger of a “revival” of their power during times of stress and pressure.  This explains the necessity of removing them completely.

In part two, we'll examine the scriptures to see whether any evidence exists to suggest that evil spirits can enter and possess born again Christians.