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"For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect" (Mark 13:22).
"For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect" (Mark 13:22).
"…insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect" (Matthew 24:24).
Exorcism Flourishing Once Again
Hundreds of ministries now exist, at least one providing the service over the radio. The resurgence has sparked a debate on the nature of evil and the ritual's role among Christians.
RALEIGH, N.C. - Days before Halloween, the demons already were loose in this Southern town of tall pines and steepled churches.
Bob Larson, an evangelical minister who has honed the art of exorcism into astonishing public performance, was facing down the demon of witchcraft in Karen Ward, a 42-year-old medical administrator. Or so the guttural voice that emanated from the woman identified itself.
Before a standing-room-only crowd in a Hilton hotel here, the voice growled that it had gained a foothold in Ward by cursing her bloodline 10 generations ago, had pushed her into evil sex and intended to keep her in its grasp.
Oh, yeah? Larson snarled, brandishing a Bible in one hand and a microphone in the other. "Witchcraft, face me!" he bellowed. "We break every curse! I now call down to you the wrath of God. Go now to the pit!"
"To the pit!" the crowd chanted. The crowd went wild.
The ancient ritual of exorcism, which fell out of favor in the Age of Reason, is once again flourishing in the Age of the Internet.
End-of-the-world fears? A desire stoked by Hollywood occult films? Ministers looking for new lines of work?
Whatever the cause, hundreds of exorcism ministries now exist - some with names like Demon Stompers that offer personal deliverance testimonies and toll-free lines for convenient counseling.
Along with the heightened public interest in exorcisms has come a passionate debate on the nature of evil and the proper role of the ritual among Christians.
Exorcisms are nearly as old as human civilization, practiced from antiquity by Babylonian priests, tribal healers and Jesus, himself. But, according to historians, exorcisms declined in Western churches about 200 years ago only to begin resurfacing in the 1970s.
Recent growth seems brisk: An international exorcism association established by the Vatican's chief exorcist attracted just six practitioners to its first conference in 1993, but drew more than 200 exorcists and their lay assistants this summer.
In the United States, the Catholic Church has quietly increased the number of appointed exorcists from just one in 1990 to between 15 and 20 today, according to Michael W. Cuneo, a Fordham University associate professor and author of a soon-to-be-published book, "American Exorcism." Moreover, he says, countless maverick priests are performing bootleg rites without their bishops' required permission.
In 1994, Biola University in La Mirada began a course on exorcism and the related concept of "spiritual warfare," which primarily views the Christian life as one of battle between God and Satan.
Last week, Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena convened the first in a yearlong series of meetings among its schools of psychology, theology and missions to begin exploring how to train its future ministers to deal with the controversial topic.
In any case, the demand seems unabated.
(Los Angeles Times , October 31, 2000, p. A-1).
"When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation"
(Matthew 12:43-45).
Jesus envisions a man who has undergone significant moral reformation (but not spiritual regeneration, i.e. conversion), including exorcism of the demon which formerly possessed him. However, since nothing of real spiritual significance has replaced the evil, the exorcised spirit eventually returns with seven wicked cohorts, reinhabiting the empty chambers of moral reformation and bringing on a condition more reprehensible than the original state of the man.
(Criswell Study Bible, Thomas Nelson, 1979, note on
Matthew 12:43-45).
"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works" (II Corinthians 11:13-15).
"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect" (Matthew 24:24).
"Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved" (II Thessalonians 2:9-10).
"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven…Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied (i.e. preached) in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils (i.e. demons)? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Matthew 7:21-23).
"When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation"
(Matthew 12:43-45).
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised" (Luke 4:18).
"To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me (Christ)" (Acts 26:18).