Posted on 10/31/2021 10:25:34 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
He has also served as the chaplain of the Washington Nationals.
You’re making a lot of disparaging comments about Catholic exorcists. How many actual exorcisms have you, yourself, witnessed? (Movies don’t count.)
I agree with you about the “dig and pony shows.”
A true exorcist would not do the work in public as bystanders can get stung.
When I have done it in public, I don’t allow the group to know what is happening. It just happens spontaneously.
He is an exorcist about as close to hell as one can get, he is in Washington DC!
“Jesus cast out demons, and said his disciples would have the power to do so as well.”
Very true.
There are many examples of Jesus casting out demons and speaking about His disciples doing the same. He even gave advice to them when they asked why some demons didn’t listen to them.
In John 14 He also states that “ The things that He did and even more you to shall do in His name.”
I too ordered his book. Plus a few more of his.
“How many actual exorcisms have you, yourself, witnessed?”
Is it a show?
My wife has this cousin....
Jesus cast out demons, and said his disciples would have the power to do so as well. Here are a few of the scriptures in the NT dealing with possession and spirits.
Matthew 8:16
When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.
Matthew 10:1
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve
Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
Matthew 12:28
But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Matthew 12:43
“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.
Matthew 12:45
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. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”
Mark 1:23
Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out,
Mark 1:26
The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.
Mark 1:27
The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.”
Mark 3:11
Whenever the impure spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.”
Mark 3:30
He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”
Mark 5:2
When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him.
Mark 5:8
For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”
Mark 5:13
He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
Mark 6:7
Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.
Mark 7:25
In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet.
Mark 9:17
A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech.
Mark 9:18
Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”
Mark 9:20
So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
Mark 9:25
When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”
Mark 9:26
The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.”
Luke 4:33
In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice,
Luke 4:36
All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!”
Luke 6:18
who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured,
Luke 8:2
and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out;
Luke 8:29
For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.
Luke 9:39
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.
Luke 9:42
Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the impure spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father.
Luke 11:24
“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’
Luke 11:26
Then it goes and takes 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.”
Luke 13:11
and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.
Acts 5:16
Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.
Acts 8:7
For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.
Acts 19:13
Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.”
Acts 19:15
One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?”
Acts 19:16
Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
1 Corinthians 12:10 re Gifts of the Holy Spirit
to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
1 Corinthians 14:1
Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.
1 John 4:1
On Denying the Incarnation
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 John 4:2
This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
1 John 4:3
but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
Jude 1:19
These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
This really applies:
1 Corinthians 2:14
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.
Most Protestants do not believe in demonic possession as such.
This holds that the only sound pastoral practice is based on reconciliation with the truth, which is that God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is real whereas evil spirits are not.A belief in demons is explicable sociologically and psychologically. It is undeniable that there are people who claim to believe in demons, but – since demons do not exist – it is their belief with which we should deal, not demons. In this case exorcism would be inappropriate, since what is to be dealt with is false belief. To pretend to accept a situation which is false is not a means of bringing people to the truth. Those who take this view stress that the normal ministry of word and sacraments, together with appropriate pastoral care, can deal with these situations. Fears and anxieties can be dealt with by the assurance of the presence and love of Christ. On this basis, the wholeness which God wills for all people can be discovered and the necessity of exorcism is excluded.
“Most Protestants do not believe in demonic possession as such.”
If you lump Evangelicals with Protestants (and many do), you need to get out more. We absolutely believe in demonic possession! I have (Baptist) friends on the foreign mission field who have dealt with their share of demons. And some here in the states.
I recall when I was little and our family was camping out with other ministers’ families, at night in our tents we overheard discussions with a missionary friend from Liberia. The subject came up and it scared the crap out of us for years.
At Seminary, we’re sure there were artifacts in the Missions Professor’s office, on the floor below our dorm, that were possessed. Thumping, bumping, moving, etc., went on quite often. He had brought them home when he retired from being a missionary. Once he got rid of some them, all was quiet.
The haunted house shows. The Winchester House. Statues bleeding from their eyes. I believe people see and hear these things, but they’re not ghosts. It’s demonic.
Have now read this book. It’s excellent and very accurate based upon my own experiences.
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