Monsignor Pope OSV column ping!
I had a girlfriend who was bipolar. When she didn’t take her meds, she got crazy. But she didn’t like the meds so she would go for periods of time without them. During one episode, she was in the depressive phase and went to her priest for help. Rather than advise her to get back onto her meds, he told her she was under “spiritual attack.”
Demonic possession is non-denominational, and more common than this article indicates. According to Scripture we will not be rid of them until the end of the age. I have personally witnessed events which would be difficult to explain any other way, and where such phenomena were directly responsive to an ordinary believer in Jesus calling on His name in faith. There is nothing in Scripture to indicate this is the sole province of would-be ecclesiastic specialists. This is the birthright of every legitimate child of God.
Peace,
SR
I have to confess that I have never seen an exorcism. I would not even know what to wear to one.
In Jesus’ time there apparently were demon possessed people under every bush. What reason is there to believe it’s any different today?
For people who actually do this work, it is NOT done in public or in front of groups whenever possible. There is an imitation process that is done by charismatic ministers who use stage hypnosis techniques. It’s somewhat dangerous in that it opens people up to attack.
The author psychiatrist Scott Peck wrote several books about the dark spirits and got in over his head. He was stung and it ended up taking his life. The same is true of most of the people I know who were doing this work 25 yrs ago. I lost a lot of good friends in spiritual combat. Your only strength comes through your weakness. If you think you are strong, you lose.
And then there are exorcisms that happen upon accepting Christ and happening while being baptized.
“Her Daughter’s Poltergeist and Baptism”
http://framl.tripod.com/id34.htm
I am FRAML in the transcript.