Exorcism: Reality or Myth?

A scene from the classic horror film The Exorcist

The advent of modern psychology was supposed to do away with the so-called myth of demon possession and the subsequent need for exorcism. That was considered ancient superstition and the outmoded thinking of simple-minded people.

Psychology and its close cousin psychiatry claimed to have all the answers to aberrant human behavior. Hallucinations, disembodied voices, nightmares, unusual sensations, paranoia and strange behavior could now be explained by early childhood experiences or chemical imbalances inside the brain.

Thus, it became cruel to suggest that someone's erratic behavior could be the result of demon possession and or oppression. The folks who believed in that stuff were simpletons and cretins who were too ignorant to understand modern science. Mentally ill people needed therapy and treatment rather than witchdoctors and exorcists.

But along came the 1960s counterculture and hallucinogenic drugs. And along with the drugs came the eastern religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism that opened doors to the spiritual realm.

Millions of people who had been extremely skeptical of the supernatural became convinced that it not only existed, but that it offered them a plethora of benefits from inner peace to holistic healing to material prosperity.

In reality, those people tapped into a dark and sinister spiritual realm ruled by Satan and his demons. The devil and his fallen angels willingly promoted the con to people who were completely oblivious to what they had encountered. And in some cases, they took possession of the bodies, souls and minds of their ignorant dupes.

They didn't always enter people through drugs and eastern mystical practices. They also entered through occult devices such as the Ouija Board. That was the device that an adolescent boy named Roland Doe (a pseudonym) used to try and contact his deceased grandmother.

Doe didn't make contact with his grandmother, but he did make contact with a powerful demonic spirit that took possession of his soul. After Doe became possessed, he began speaking Hebrew, a language he had never learned. And the furniture in his house began rearranging itself. And deep, guttural voices came out of his mouth; voices that were impossible for his adolescent vocal chords to produce.

Though you may not be familiar with Doe's story, you're probably familiar with the classic horror film, The Exorcist, that was released in 1973. That movie was based upon Doe's experiences. Did psychology have an answer for Doe's behavior? Of course not.

And it doesn't have answers for a host of bizarre behaviors that people are exhibiting these days; behaviors that are rapidly increasing. Such as? Such as the type of behavior that a troubled young boy displayed before Jesus Christ cast a demon out of him.

Christ encountered the boy's father one day when he greeted Jesus from a large crowd that had gathered to hear the Messiah preach. The man pleaded with Christ: "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not." (Luke 9:38-40) 

After Christ rebuked His disciples for failing to deliver the boy from the evil spirit, He cast out the spirit and healed the young man. That was just one of the many exorcisms that Christ performed during His ministry in ancient Israel.

In fact, Christ gave His disciples and all of His followers the authority to cast out demons. Shortly before He returned to heaven after His resurrection, He gave these commands:

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)

Certainly, we see very little of that today. Even much of the Christian church has turned away from Christ's commands to utilize God's power to deal with emotional and behavioral problems that are rooted in the demonic. Many churches offer psychological counseling, completely ignoring the fact that God's power is more than sufficient to deal with spiritual problems.

Is every emotional malady related to demonic oppression and possession? Of course not. But some are, and they can't be treated by godless methods that don't work. Some churches are finally starting to figure that out and are returning to Christ's commands.

And naturally, those churches are being ridiculed as backwards, ignorant and "anti-science." Obviously, the devil counts on you not knowing your rights as a Christian. Ignorance is one of Satan's most powerful weapons. And you can't defeat him without God's weapons. Unless, of course, you don't mind losing.

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.