Apologies for the gloominess of this post. Those who read the BBC news website will have noticed in the wake of the Jimmy Saville revelations a spate of reports on molestation, not to mention other crimes. Christians often used a triad to express the evil we fight on a day by day basis: the Devil, the Flesh, the World. Let’s unpack that one for a minute.
By the Devil, we mean not only Satan, a personal being, a fallen angel, but also the many other angels and demons that are drawn up under his authority as ‘the kingdom of darkness.’ We believe that these spirits are actively engaged in activities that oppose the will of God; they seek to influence world affairs, and they desire to harm humans. ‘Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.’ (1 Peter 5:8, ESV)
By the World, we do not mean the physical earth, but rather the humans who live upon it who are not believers in Christ Jesus. Actively and passively the World is a snare and danger to Christians. By living in the World we subject ourselves to temptation, persecution, and distraction. The World is, in a sense, the Flesh writ large. ‘We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.’ (1 John 5:19, ESV)
The Flesh or ‘sin-nature’ is a term Christians use to mean the natural fallen state of humanity. It is a term St Paul uses in his Epistles and is essentially synonymous with ‘the old man’, the people we used to be before we became Christians. Becoming a Christian does not mean that we automatically lose this part of ourselves; it means we are spiritually ‘born again’ (John 3), drawn back into a living relationship with God. Not until death are we separated from this Flesh, this ‘sin-nature’. During our earthly lives sin remains a temptation for us and its door of entry into our lives is through the Flesh. There remains, then, a struggle in life to resist the temptations of this fallen nature, and that is why Christians are called to ‘mortify’ the Flesh: to ‘mortify’ means to ‘put to death’, to ‘kill’.
There are then, three foes that present the challenge of sin/temptation and oppression in our earthly lives: Satan’s supernatural kingdom; other human beings; ourselves as individuals.
It is Satan’s kingdom I wish to think about in this post. As orthodox Christians we believe in the supernatural and are happy to accept the testimony of reliable witnesses regarding demonic activity in other parts of the world. Many Protestants and Catholics allike would be happy to accept the Vatican’s claim that Satan and his fallen angels are at work in Mexico, especially in the cult of Santa Muerte (Saint Death). But how happy are we to accept that people may be demonized in the UK or the USA? This is why I mentioned Jimmy Saville at the start of this post. I am not claiming that he personally was demonized, but I am saying that a number of crimes and the evil tendencies behind them are inspired by demons – ‘unclean spirits’ as they are otherwise called in the Bible.
The point of this post is to raise awareness because this is an issue that affects church members (believers) as well as unbelievers. There are those who ask for deliverance who need it. It is essential, of course, for the minister to exercise discernment: sometimes the battle is against the Flesh, not against unclean spirits. Nevertheless, there are cases where exorcism is required. It is important for Christians to be open to this possibility: if we immediately reject the spiritual dimension, how can we pray effectively for those who need help? How can we direct them to the appropriate course of action?
This will, of course, be all too familiar to Catholics. The Catholic Church has preserved the doctrine and practice of exorcism throughout the centuries, whereas Protestants have been inclined at times to assume such distress was a purely neurological matter and nothing to do with unclean spirits. That imbalance has been corrected over the years, but it still remains important for Christians in the West to be reminded now and again that not every problem can be fixed by medical means.
In closing, I would like to recommend a book by Derek Prince, They Shall Expel Demons. This is a very helpful book that I believe would be acceptable to Catholics as well as Protestants. He combines sound Biblical exegesis with personal testimony ranging from his own struggles to his time in deliverance ministry helping other Christians.
Something to think about.
All Along the Watchtower 
‘ ….. whereas Protestants have been inclined at times to assume such distress was a purely neurological matter and nothing to do with unclean spirits.’
Erm …. nope. You haven’t understood this. If by ‘Protestants’ you mean Christians, the Christian believes that when you come to Christ, you then have the Paraclete (Holy Spirit) living within you – and when that happens, you have your own personal exorcist protecting you from all that sort of thing.
The way you ‘exorcise’ unclean spirits is basically by Christian witness, through which people come to Christ.
There is nothing here about rationalising certain conditions as purely neurological matters.
The doctrine and practise of exorcism, whether Catholic or Protestant or whatever else you care to name it is paganism pure and simple.
Peace be with you.
Spectacles, etc …
JCMS
LikeLike
I would respectfully disagree. Testimony from born-again Christians confirms that a believer may be demonized. Note that I did not say ‘possessed’. The believer was bought by the Blood of Christ and is possessed or owned by God. The practice of exorcism is certainly Biblical: Christ, St Paul and many others expelled demons from afflicted persons. I make no comment regarding the specific prayers used by Catholic clergymen. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the Spirit prevents a Christian from being demonized. I think we need to be careful not to read into silences things that have not been stated.
LikeLike
….. well, a large number describe themselves as ‘born again Christians’ – I suspect the ‘Livets Ord’ lunatic asylum in Södermalm would describe themselves as such. Testimony from them would count for nothing. In fact, I’d say that they have to be demon possessed – the whole lot of them – if they think that their worship is reasonable and not anathema to God.
Jesus performed sign miracles, to show who he was. I take my understanding from Matthew 12v44, 45 Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.
When you’re dealing with a Christian, you aren’t dealing with a house that is unoccupied.
Spectacles, etc ….
JCMS
LikeLike
A very interesting post, detailing important facets of demonization – the darkness. Pope Francis has highlighted the fact the devil is alive and well and that we should be guarded from him and his wily ways through the regular receipt of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Sacrament of the Eucharist and importantly…prayer. Thanks for posting.
LikeLike
My pleasure. I think Pope Francis has the benefit of experience, which makes him worth listening to on the matter.
LikeLike
If Pope Francis has had any experience at all with exorcism, then he is in the service of the anti-Christ.
Spectacles, etc ….
JCMS
LikeLike
I think I’ll have to refer to you as “The Black Cardinal” after your comment.
LikeLike
🙂
LikeLike
{the Holy Father sets onto the balcony]
In a meeting with my superior, the Black Pope Jesuit Father General Adolfo Nicolás’, we celebrated the fact that our holy order of the Jesuits now have full control. We shall now fulfill our mission of counter reformation.
{ the black clad jesuits nod in approval]
LikeLike
There seems to be some in-group out-group thinking here. It’s not clear cut between RCs and non-RCs, if that is what is meant by the C and P words.
LikeLike
Struans – that was just about the first thought that came to my mind when I read this post. You get some sort of sub-culture with people who carry out ‘exorcisms’ within the Church of Rome; you also get exactly the same sort of sub-culture in some of the wackier pentecostalist sects, people who would regard themselves as extremely anti – R.C. I don’t think that the term ‘Protestant’ is particularly well defined here and I don’t think that Nicholas understands what he’s saying when he lumps together some things as ‘Protestant’ as opposed to others which are ‘Catholic’.
From what I’ve seen, ‘Roman Catholic’ mean swearing fealty (as in an oath of allegiance from one person to another – the person is important here) to the pope. If I’ve ever tried cross examining catholics on which doctrines happen to be important, well, on just about every example, a doctrine may be common, or highly desirable, but not essential. This fealty can take the form of ‘I consider the current pope to have got it wrong on every major issue of the Christian faith, nevertheless, he is my pope and I am loyal to him’.
Any attempt to nail it down further always seems to lead to contradictions in the definitions.
Spectacles, etc …..
JCMS (the Black Cardinal)
LikeLike
There’s truth in what you say Jock. Romanian has lots of contradictions, which is OK by me: except that a lot of RCs seem to be locked into a loop of thinking that cannot see them.
LikeLike
Romanism.
LikeLike
Nick I’m with you here on 2/3 of your analysis of our battle with the world, the flesh and the devil. However I would not define the enemy of ‘the world’ as unconverted people but as the world system under the influence of the ‘prince of this world’.
In relation to ‘demonisation’ here you have used the correct term whereas the term possession is a very inaccurate and does not reflect the Biblical language. The construction of many passages dealing with the topic is usually that the afflicted person ‘has a demon’ rather than that the ‘demon has a person’.
The term exorcism / exorcist is never used about the activities of Jesus or the disciples, they simple commanded evil spirits to leave the afflicted person, they cast them out by an authoritative command. This was a surprise to the Jews who commented that Jesus ‘cast out demons with a word’. Unlike Christ or the apostles Jewish exorcists had various techniques and ceremonies (but failed in one case recorded in Acts).
I endorse your recommendation of the Book by Derek Prince; he was no uneducated nut from a peculiar sect but a graduate of one of the top two UK universities. I was fortunate to hear him speak on the subject about a year prior to his death.
LikeLike
Yes, I take your point about the world. The systems that attack us are often beyond the control or manipulation of mere humans, there is clearly a Satanic element behind them.
LikeLike