Re: Where have all the demons gone?
Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2019 11:53 am
I cannot read many posts of this length (I usually leave them for others to respond to, since I am a slow reader with far too much reading material stacking up on any desk). However, since this was a response directly to my previous posting, I thought I would read it and respond.
The scriptures presented in the post can be found dealt with in my seres on spiritual warfare and on charisma and character (as well as my verse-by-verse lectures in situ. In them, I deal specifically with the arguments you raised. I won't deal with them here.
The anecdotal cases of derangement and dementia are tragic and compelling. They seem to prove what no one I know denies—namely, that there are degenerative diseases of the body, including the brain. But this does not speak to the cases that cannot be explained in that manner. Some behaviors that could possibly be regarded as merely physiological/psychological in origin may not always succumb to this reductionism. If the Bible records that a demoniac may sometimes fall into uncontrollable seizures, this is not in any way disproven by citing cases of epileptics who have no demons. To say that epilepsy causes seizures is not the same thing as saying that nothing besides epilepsy can cause seizures.
I read today on Facebook someone who dismissed anecdotal evidence of modern demonization, because (he claimed) "this evidence comes from missionaries who are trying to raise money." It would be hard to find a more naive and misinformed dismissal of the evidence from a skeptic. I have seen the phenomena and the deliverance in a number of cases myself. The psychiatrists and doctors, as well as pastors and missionaries, who have published the case studies known to me had no vested financial interest in their stories being believed.
If someone wishes to read an example of modern-day demon possession that cannot be reduced to an explanation of pathological brain degeneration, I would suggest reading Blumhardt's Battle, in which the 19th-century German pastor, Johann Christoph Blumhardt, documents for the sake of his denominational overseers, the experiences that he had with the demonized young woman, Gottlieben Dittus, over a period of two years. These manifestations were known and witnessed by most of the local townspeople, and the pastor himself made a point of regularly bringing the mayor and the local doctor along to witness the supernatural phenomena.
I might also recommend two other books, among the many on my shelf, which can easily dispel the man-made theory of the cessation of demon possession in the first century:
The book, Demon Possession and Allied Themes, was written by the 19th-century English missionary to China, John Livingston Nevius. He was a Presbyterian medical doctor, whose professional and religious training had led him to the conclusion that demon possession was a phenomenon that ended in the apostolic age. It was his early experiences in China that led him to believe that many pagans were suffering afflictions which did not belong in a medical category, but which were very much like the biblical cases of demonization. He resisted this conclusion for years, while collecting data on similar experiences from missionaries throughout Asia (through a questionnaire he sent out). In his book, he appears to have finally concluded that demonization is the best, and irresistible, diagnosis for certain cases he describes. It is a sober, reverent and even skeptical assessment of the topic from many different angles. No one should decide (especially in the absence of any supporting scripture) that demon possession ended in the first century without reading the data that finally convinced him otherwise.
Another book, simply entitled, Demon Possession, was edited by John Warwick Montgomery, who held eight earned degrees in law, philosophy, and theology. His book collects the papers presented "A Theological, Psychological, Medical Symposium on the Phenomena Labeled As Demonic", which was held at the University of Notre Dame, in 1975, by the Christian Medical Society. The participants included 25 specialists in theology, psychology, psychiatry, anthropology, sociology, medicine, missions and pastoral care. The essays in the book cover the subject of demonism from all of these vantage points. These were not missionaries writing a newsletter to raise support. There is no way that an objective reader could rationally encounter the information presented there and come away believing that demonization is a thing of the past.
The scriptures presented in the post can be found dealt with in my seres on spiritual warfare and on charisma and character (as well as my verse-by-verse lectures in situ. In them, I deal specifically with the arguments you raised. I won't deal with them here.
The anecdotal cases of derangement and dementia are tragic and compelling. They seem to prove what no one I know denies—namely, that there are degenerative diseases of the body, including the brain. But this does not speak to the cases that cannot be explained in that manner. Some behaviors that could possibly be regarded as merely physiological/psychological in origin may not always succumb to this reductionism. If the Bible records that a demoniac may sometimes fall into uncontrollable seizures, this is not in any way disproven by citing cases of epileptics who have no demons. To say that epilepsy causes seizures is not the same thing as saying that nothing besides epilepsy can cause seizures.
I read today on Facebook someone who dismissed anecdotal evidence of modern demonization, because (he claimed) "this evidence comes from missionaries who are trying to raise money." It would be hard to find a more naive and misinformed dismissal of the evidence from a skeptic. I have seen the phenomena and the deliverance in a number of cases myself. The psychiatrists and doctors, as well as pastors and missionaries, who have published the case studies known to me had no vested financial interest in their stories being believed.
If someone wishes to read an example of modern-day demon possession that cannot be reduced to an explanation of pathological brain degeneration, I would suggest reading Blumhardt's Battle, in which the 19th-century German pastor, Johann Christoph Blumhardt, documents for the sake of his denominational overseers, the experiences that he had with the demonized young woman, Gottlieben Dittus, over a period of two years. These manifestations were known and witnessed by most of the local townspeople, and the pastor himself made a point of regularly bringing the mayor and the local doctor along to witness the supernatural phenomena.
I might also recommend two other books, among the many on my shelf, which can easily dispel the man-made theory of the cessation of demon possession in the first century:
The book, Demon Possession and Allied Themes, was written by the 19th-century English missionary to China, John Livingston Nevius. He was a Presbyterian medical doctor, whose professional and religious training had led him to the conclusion that demon possession was a phenomenon that ended in the apostolic age. It was his early experiences in China that led him to believe that many pagans were suffering afflictions which did not belong in a medical category, but which were very much like the biblical cases of demonization. He resisted this conclusion for years, while collecting data on similar experiences from missionaries throughout Asia (through a questionnaire he sent out). In his book, he appears to have finally concluded that demonization is the best, and irresistible, diagnosis for certain cases he describes. It is a sober, reverent and even skeptical assessment of the topic from many different angles. No one should decide (especially in the absence of any supporting scripture) that demon possession ended in the first century without reading the data that finally convinced him otherwise.
Another book, simply entitled, Demon Possession, was edited by John Warwick Montgomery, who held eight earned degrees in law, philosophy, and theology. His book collects the papers presented "A Theological, Psychological, Medical Symposium on the Phenomena Labeled As Demonic", which was held at the University of Notre Dame, in 1975, by the Christian Medical Society. The participants included 25 specialists in theology, psychology, psychiatry, anthropology, sociology, medicine, missions and pastoral care. The essays in the book cover the subject of demonism from all of these vantage points. These were not missionaries writing a newsletter to raise support. There is no way that an objective reader could rationally encounter the information presented there and come away believing that demonization is a thing of the past.