Interview with Peck from same magazine:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/104/12.0.html
I just finished "People of the Lie" and I will be picking up the newer books.
While I don't live in fear of being attacked (maybe I should!), I do think about the role of the adversary. I think that the contemporary denial of Satan is one of it's greatest triumphs.
Gee, as if we don't already have enough trouble!
I really like Mr. Peck, and I did read People of Lie. I recall one incident in which he recounted the tale of a young man who killed himself with a rifle.
That Christmas his parents gave him, as a gift, either a new rifle or the rifle his brother used to kill himself (I can't remember which it was) I just remember being astounded by it.
Throughout Glimpses of the Devil, Peck treats Satan with the kind of respect a child learns to have for fire.
I have an Evangelical co-worker who I was relating some things to concerning Satan, and she basically dismissed any need to fear him. I didn't argue about it much, but I did tell her that I thought her advise was dangerous. Of course, he's not greater or more powerful than God, but that only helps me, if I'm God.
And the closer one is to God or more advanced in his or her Theosis the more prized a catch by Satan, it would seem to me. It would also seem to me that as God begins working his way back into the heart and soul of one of his Children, who has abandoned Him, but who He has not abandoned, he or she is prime prey for Satan too.
There have been many occasions, somewhere between 20 or 30 over the last 10 years in which I wake in the middle of the night by the sense that there is a presence there. I'm not afraid for my physical safety, but I'm keenly aware that if I let my mind wander into this area or that the trap will be sprung. It is terrifying, and hasn't happened in a while.
I Cross myself, and I begin praying repetively for the dual purpose of summoning God or his Angels to my aid, and to furnish no opening for Satan to wrangle with my mind.
Peck calls Satan "it" rather than "he," because Satan is neither male nor female. "Sexuality has to do with creation," Peck explains to the patient named Jersey. "The Devil doesn't create anything, it only destroys."
Gibson did a good job in getting this point across in The Passion of The Christ. The scene where Satan is holding that aged, aged baby (the anti-Christ, it appeared to me, the second person of Satan) in its arms conjures up the idea that Satan creates what he creates only in the tomb. Martin manipulated Peck, he even lied to Peck, but ultimately, his insights about possession proved invaluable.
I'm sorry to hear this about Martin. I wanted at least to be able to view him as honorable.
There is always some act of the will, however small, that opens the self to possession.
I know this to be true, and I'm convinced that those episodes I've had with the visitations of that evil presence, are in large part due to my exploration, embrace and exuberance in all things sinful, that were so much a part of my life for so many years. Satan knew that I knew and enjoyed evil he has a very intimate knowledge of me.
I would like to say and think that I've made considerable progress, but I'm afraid to latch on to that sense for fear it can be the starting point of descent.
Truth Be Told In John 8, Jesus tells those who resist his teaching: "[The Devil] has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me" (John 8:44-45, ESV). But what are demonic lies? For Peck they are heresies, theological lies, false pictures of spiritual reality.
Since I returned to the Church I have a keen sense of this, especially as it relates to having a Spiritual mentor or guide, for me a Priest.
I have found a Priest I know will not lead me into heresy, but I have not found a Priest who has the time to Shepherd. I would prefer to have such a Shepherd, but right now it's not possible, so I must rely on Prayer, and avoiding the near occassion of Sin, and muddled thinking. In the exorcisms, Peck used the ancient baptismal vows (with their renunciations of the Devil), and team and patient partook of the Eucharist to seal the victory over the Devil. And yet, despite some behavioral and even spiritual improvement (including increased humility—pride being the Devil's besetting sin), these patients did not become model Christians.
Wasn't it customary in the Baptisms of old for the Priest to breath upon the Child, and command Satan to leave him or her?
Do you know what Mr. Peck's denomination is? Finally, and once more, thanks so much for posting this, it strengthened me in some manner.