Demon Possession Now
(1) The Roman
Catholic Church, which gives traditional equal place with
scripture in its faith and practice, believes there is
such. Its Catechism of Christian
Doctrine, 1949, a 2nd Revised Edition of
the Baltimore
Catechism," expresses the view that "the devils
[that is, demons], or the evil
spirits" of scripture are "bad angels," and –
"(a) Devils are
sometimes permitted to enter into the body of a man to
exercise power over his faculties – a state known as
diabolical possession; or they are permitted to torment a
person from without – a state known as diabolical
obsession.
"(b) Diabolical
possession and obsession are permitted by God to show forth
his Glory, to punish sin, to bring sinners to repentance,
or give occasion for the exercise of virtue.
"(c) When the devil
uses the body of a possessed person to say or do evil
things, the person is not guilty of sin, provided he does
not freely consent.
"(d) Exorcism is the
act of driving out or warding off evil spirits from
persons, places or things possessed or infested by them.
The church received from Christ the power of
exorcism.
"(e) An exorcist is
one who has power, conferred by a bishop, to exercise
demons. The order of exorcist is the third of four minor
orders of the Western Church. Only with permission of his
bishop is a priest allowed to use his power of exorcising
evil spirits."
"Scripture cited and
quoted: Matthew 10:1; Ephesians 6"11. 1 Peter 5:8-9.
(Topics 44,45; pages 34-36).
(2) Some Protestant
sources express belief in demoniacal possession as a
reality still.
"Haynes, in
Spiritualism Vs
Christianity, says: ‘Satan possesses the souls and
bodies of men and women now just as much as he ever did’;
and gives many logical reasons which lack of space forbids
repeating. The church fathers, living in the third century,
thought so in their day. Again we have no space to quote
from Clement, Augustine, et. Al." (From paper of
"Demonology," cited above as being written as partial
fulfillment of requirements for graduation from
Freed-Hardiman College, 1933.)
The Illustrated Bible
Dictionary (1980) states: "… there is a classic by
J. L. Nevius, a missionary doctor in China, Demon Possession and Allied
Themes, 1892. This book takes demon-possession as a
genuine phenomenon, and most missionaries would probably
agree." (Vol. I, p.382.)
(3) The scriptures
are not definitive on the matter now being considered, but
we can examine whatever we are aware of that might provide
a clue.
(a) The Old
Testament does not deal with demon possession as such, and
neither does the Gospel of John, which may not have been
written till the last decade of the first Christian century
– which is thought by some to indicate that demon
possession began to be allowed after the close of the Old
Testament cannon and reached its peak in the time of Christ
and his apostles, in order to allow a demonstration through
them of divine power over satanic power, and then dwindle
considerably, though not completely eradicated.
NOTE: "An evil
spirit from Jehovah" troubling Saul after his rejection by
Jehovah as king was likely a deep depression and bad
disposition rather than demon possession (1 Samuel
16:14-23). And the prophet Micaiah’s message to Ahab about
a "lying spirit in the mouth of his prophets" sent by God
(1 Kings 22:1-22; 2 Chronicles 18:1-22), is likely a
parable spoken in irony rather than descriptive of actual
demon possession and inspiration.
That demon
possession reached its peak and began its decline even
while Christ was still alive, may be true. For he speaks of
having bound "the strong Man" (Satan) and "spoiled his
house" (by casting out demons) (Matthew 12:28-29). And when
seventy whom he had sent out ahead to places he would
afterward visit, returned rejoicing that "even the demons
are subject unto us in thy name," he said, "I beheld Satan
fallen as lightening from heaven" (Luke
10:17-20).
That there were
still inspired persons in the church at the time of the
writing of the epistle of 1 John, seems evident from
2:20-21,26-27; 3:24. Though likely not so very long
afterward. But that there were also false prophets still
equally inspired by other "spirits", is likewise evident
from 4:1-6, so that those who heeded them were "giving heed
to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons" (1 Timothy
4:1).
(b) It has been
expressed by some that most of the demons Jesus cast out
were not in predominantly Jewish lands, but where idolatry
was prominent. Of that we cannot be quite certain, though
the Canaanite, or Syrophoenician, daughter was a notable
example (Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30_. And the
demoniac(s) of Gadara was/were another (Matthew
8:28-34;Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39). It is also true that
most of Jesus’ mighty works were done in Galilee (Matthew
11:29-24) and that Galilee, notwithstanding the Jewish
population there, was referred to as "Galilee of the
Gentiles" (Matthew 4:15; Isaiah 9:1-2) Mary Magdalene (or,
of Magdala, or Magadan), out of whom seven demons had gone
(Luke 8:2), was of Galilee.
(c) It would also
seem from the prophecy of Zechariah 13:1-2 that wherever
Christianity has gone and been dominant, bringing freedom
from sin, eradicating idolatry and driving out false
prophets, the exit of unclean spirits is likewise
accomplished. So, if there is still demon possession, it is
likely to be where Christ is least known. And it is
doubtful that there are any who cast out demons
miraculously today, as did Christ and those enabled to do
so in the first Christian century. It seems rather
significant that power to cast out demons is not mentioned
as one of the miraculous gifts in any of the epistles to
churches or Christian individuals, though it was exercised
by the apostles (and Philip) as mentioned in the book of
Acts and promised and reported in Mark 16:17-29.
(d) It is not clear
from scripture what conditions predisposed to demon
possession, though Christ’s parabolic message in Matthew
12:43-45 seems to indicate that an "empty house" can be
reoccupied, and therefore that a lack of proper piety and
character, even without fiendish or malignant disposition,
may be a factor.
III.
CONCLUSION
From all we have
learned, the climax for ourselves is found in Ephesians 6:10-20 and
Colossians
2:8-15, already studied, and what we also have in
Colossians 2:16 -
3:17 (and other similar passages), assuring us that
Christ is in control, having demonstrated his superiority
over Satan and all his angels and/or demons, so that
our deliverance
from their control is guaranteed by faith in and loyal
submission to him. That ought to free Christians of
all superstitious fear and dread of an evil spirit
world.
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