Christian
Research Institute
ETS Northwest
Spring Meeting
3 March 2001
1.
Introduction. Can a
Christian have a demon? The question is not merely academic. The answer affects
the type of pastoral care one can expect to give or receive (e.g., can a point
be reached where an exorcism becomes necessary?), and the way a believer
perceives his or her battle with the world, the flesh, and the devil.
2.
“Demon
Possessed” versus “Demonization””: Defining terms and Exorcising Straw Men and
Red Herrings.
Defining demon
possession/demonized (daimonizomai): To be indwelt and controlled by a demon.
Sydney H. T. Page:
Many who are involved in deliverance ministry today object to
the term demon-possessed, arguing
that it should be replaced by the word demonized
because “possessed” suggests that the victim is completely under the control of
a demon. The word demonize is itself unobjectionable, since it is so similar to the
Greek word daimonizomai, but it is so imprecise that it lends itself to
being applied to a wider range of afflictions than those experienced by the
demoniacs in the New Testament. They suffered from a distinct condition, and
the traditional terminology has the advantage of making this clear.[1] (emphasis added)
Just what do we mean by
“possessed” anyway?
(1)
Deliverance teachers
stress that they don’t believe in demon possession of Christians, because
believers are the property of God and Satan no longer owns them. But Satan
doesn’t rightfully or legally possess anything; or do
we still believe in the Ransom to Satan theory?
(2) One of the dictionary definitions of “possess” is “control”;
this is what advocates of deliverance ministry mean by “demonization,” and this
is what most critics of deliverance ministry object to about it. The advocates’
heavy reliance on the apologetic that they believe in demonization rather than
possession is thus a distinction without a difference, a straw man argument,
and a red herring.
3.
Toward a
biblical understanding of the condition of demonization/demon possession. The appeal
of the term “demonized” is that it seems to have more utility for describing a
continuum of demonic influence ranging from the classical possession case to
the struggling Christian. But this is the main term used in the New Testament
to describe persons inhabited by demons (along with variations of “have a
demon”) and it is never used for anything else. What follows is a fairly
exhaustive and not selective survey of New Testament narrative accounts and
discussions of cases of demonization and exorcism. Only accounts that are
redundant or irrelevant to this debate are intentionally omitted. No examples
from the epistles are given simply because no clear reference to the condition
occurs there. We must first determine from clear references what the condition
is before we can discern the likelihood that more debatable passages are
referring to it.
Matthew 8:16 And when evening had come, they brought to
Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the
spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill
Matthew 9:32 And as they were going out, behold, a
dumb man, demon-possessed, was brought to Him. 33 And after the demon was cast out, the dumb man spoke;
and the multitudes marveled, saying, "Nothing like this was ever seen in
Israel."
Matthew 10:1 And having summoned His twelve
disciples, He gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every
kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
Matthew
12:22 Then there was brought to Him a demon-possessed man who was blind and dumb, and He healed him, so that the dumb man
spoke and saw.
Matthew 12:24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they
said, "This man casts out demons only by
Beelzebul the ruler of the demons."
Matthew 12:27 "And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out?
Consequently they shall be your judges.
Matthew
12:28 "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the
kingdom of God has come upon you.
Matthew 12:43 "Now when the unclean spirit goes
out of a man, it passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and does not
find it. 44 "Then it says, 'I
will return to my house from which I came'; and when it comes, it finds it
unoccupied, swept, and put in order. 45"Then it goes, and takes along with
it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there;
and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it
will also be with this evil generation."
Matthew 15:22 And
behold, a Canaanite woman came out from that region, and began to cry out, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of
David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed." 23 But He did not answer her a word. And
His disciples came to Him and kept
asking Him, saying, "Send her away, for she is shouting out after
us." 24 But
He answered and said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel." 25 But
she came and began to bow down before
Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" 26 And He answered and said, "It is
not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." 27 But she said,
"Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their
masters' table." 28
Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, your faith is
great; be it done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed at
once.
Mark 1:23 And just then there was in their
synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he
cried out, 24 saying, "What do we
have to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come
to destroy us? I know who You are--the Holy One of
God!" 25 And
Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" 26 And throwing him
into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice, and came out
of him. And they were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves,
saying, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the
unclean spirits, and they obey Him."
Mark 1:34 And He healed many who were ill with various
diseases, and cast out many demons; and He
was not permitting the demons to
speak, because they knew who He was.
Mark 1:39 And He went into
their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons.
Mark 3:11 And whenever the unclean spirits beheld Him, they would fall down
before Him and cry out, saying, "You are the Son of God!"
Mark 6:7 And He *summoned the twelve and began
to send them out in pairs; and He was giving them authority over the unclean spirits;
Mark 6:13 And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many
sick people and healing them.
Mark 9:17 And one of the crowd answered Him,
"Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him
mute; 18 and whenever it seizes him, it
dashes him to the ground and he foams
at the mouth, and grinds his teeth,
and stiffens out. And I told Your disciples to cast it
out, and they could not do it." 19 And He *answered
them and *said, "O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you?
How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!"
20 And they
brought the boy to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him
into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling about and foaming at
the mouth. 21 And
He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And
he said, "From childhood. 22 "And it has often thrown him both
into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You
can do anything, take pity on us and help us!" 23 And Jesus said to him, "'If You
can!' All things are possible to him who believes." 24 Immediately the boy's father cried out
and began saying, "I do believe;
help my unbelief." 25
And when Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, He rebuked
the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You deaf and dumb spirit, I command
you, come out of him and do not enter him again." 26 And after crying out and throwing him
into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the
boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, "He is dead!" 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and
raised him; and he got up. 28
And when He had come into the
house, His disciples began
questioning Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" 29 And He said to them, "This kind
cannot come out by anything but prayer.
Luke 4:33 And there was a man in the synagogue
possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud
voice, 34 "Ha! What do we have to
do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to
destroy us? I know who You are--the Holy One of
God!" 35 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet and come out of
him!" And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him without doing him any harm.
Luke 4:41 And demons also were coming out of many, crying
out and saying, "You are the Son of God!" And rebuking them, He would
not allow them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ.
Luke 6:17 And He descended with them, and stood
on a level place; and there was a
great multitude of His disciples, and a great throng of people from all Judea
and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and
Sidon, 18 who had come to hear Him, and
to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean
spirits were being cured.
Luke 7:21 At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and
evil spirits; and He granted sight to many who were blind.
Luke 8:1 And it came about soon afterwards, that He began going about from one city and
village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God; and the
twelve were with Him, 2 and also some
women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called
Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out
Luke
8:27 And when He had come out onto the
land, He was met by a certain man from the city who was possessed with demons;
and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a
house, but in the tombs. 28
And seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a
loud voice, "What do I have to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High
God? I beg You, do not torment me." 29 For He had been
commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him
many times; and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard; and
yet he would burst his fetters and be
driven by the demon into the desert. 30 And Jesus asked him, "What is
your name?" And he said, "Legion"; for many demons had entered
him. 31 And
they were entreating Him not to command them to depart into the abyss. 32 Now there was a
herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain; and the demons entreated Him to permit them to enter the swine. And He
gave them permission. 33
And the demons came out from the man and entered the swine; and
the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake, and were drowned. 34 And when the
herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and out in the country. 35 And the
people went out to see what had happened; and they came to Jesus, and found
the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus,
clothed and in his right mind; and they became frightened. 36 And those who had seen it reported to
them how the man who was demon-possessed had been made well. 37 And all the
people of the country of the Gerasenes and the
surrounding district asked Him to depart from them; for they were gripped with
great fear; and He got into a boat, and returned.
Luke 9:1 And He called the
twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons, and to heal diseases.
Luke 10: 17 And the seventy returned with joy,
saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." 18 And He said to
them, "I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 "Behold, I
have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the
power of the enemy, and nothing shall injure you. 20 "Nevertheless do not rejoice in
this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are
recorded in heaven."
Luke 11:14 And He was casting out a demon, and it was dumb; and it came about
that when the demon had gone out, the dumb man spoke;
and the multitudes marveled.
Luke 13:11 And behold, there was a woman who for
eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double,
and could not straighten up at all. 12 And when Jesus saw her, He called her
over and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your sickness." 13 And He laid His
hands upon her; and immediately she was made erect again, and began glorifying God. 14 And the synagogue official, indignant
because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began
saying to the multitude in response, "There are six days in which work
should be done; therefore come during them and get healed, and not on the
Sabbath day." 15
But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites, does
not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall, and
lead him away to water him? 16 “And
this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen
long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath
day?"
Acts 5:16 And also the people from the cities in the
vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or
afflicted with unclean spirits; and
they were all being healed.
Acts 8: 6 And the multitudes with one accord were
giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs
which he was performing. 7
For in the case of many
who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed
and lame were healed.
Acts 16: 16 And it happened that as we were going to the
place of prayer, a certain slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who
was bringing her masters much profit by fortunetelling. 17 Following after Paul and us, she kept
crying out, saying, "These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who
are proclaiming to you the way of salvation." 18 And she continued doing this for many
days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I
command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came
out at that very moment. 19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit
was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place
before the authorities,
Acts 19: 11 And God was performing extraordinary miracles
by the hands of Paul, 12 so that
handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the
diseases left them and the evil spirits went out. 13 But also some of the Jewish exorcists,
who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil
spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, "I adjure you by Jesus whom
Paul preaches." 14
And seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish
chief priest, were doing this. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said
to them, "I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?"
16And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on
them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of
that house naked and wounded.
Observations:
(1) While there are degrees of severity and differences of manifestation, demonization/demon possession always is portrayed as a severe affliction — arguably the most severe of the many afflictions Jesus and His disciples cured — that manifests itself both in physical maladies and self-destructive behavior. The victim is totally unable to extricate himself from this condition. His only hope is outside intervention in the form of deliverance, through the authority over demons possessed by Jesus Christ and conferred by Him on His disciples.
(2) The victims
are not only lost people but the most extreme examples of lost people found in
the Bible, so much under the domination of demons that they often become
passive instruments through which the demons speak and exhibit supernatural
powers.
Note: What about the woman bent
double? Bible translation such as the NASB and the NIV are probably correct in
translating “spirit of infirmity” as “sickness caused by a spirit,” for Jesus
laid His hands on her and cured her rather than casting a spirit out of her, as
he did in virtually every encounter with demonized individuals. Furthermore, it
cannot be proved that she was a believer simply because He identified her as a
daughter of Abraham, for His point was simply that He was sent first to the
Jews (cf. Matt. 15:22–28)); nor does the fact that He encountered her in the
synagogue prove anything, for she would not have been the first demoniac he
encountered in the Pharisee-dominated synagogues (e.g., Mark 1:23).
(3) While I
would not argue that demons in their natural state occupy physical space,
examples such as the Gadarene demoniac and Jesus’ discussion of an exorcism as
a metaphor for unbelieving Israel indicate that in possession demons literally
attach themselves to the bodies of their victims and find in them a desirable habitation
or “house.” This is a defining feature of demonization and any lesser kind of
influence does not qualify under the biblical usage of the term.
4.
Toward a
biblical theology of demon possession and exorcism.
(1) The
biblical significance of Jesus and His disciples’ exorcisms is bound up with
the coming of the Kingdom of God and the overthrow of Satan’s kingdom;
demonization is inextricably linked to citizenship in Satan’s kingdom. Matt.
12:28–29 cf. Luke 11:21–22 (Greek: huparcho: possessions); Col. 1:13 cf. Acts
26:18; Luke 10:17–20; 1 John 4:4.
(2) Given this
significance of demonization and deliverance, the following proof texts against
Christian demonization have even more weight than is often thought: 2 Cor.
6:14–18 cf. 1 Cor. 10:19–20 and Matt. 12:43–45; Eph. 1:13–14 cf. 1 John 5:18
and Rom. 8:38–39.
(3) Furthermore,
given the significance of demonization and deliverance explained above and the
clear scriptural fact that Satan is limited in what he can do to believers, the
lack of any clear cases of believers being demonized in the Gospels and Acts
and the lack of any instructions in the epistles on Christian deliverance is a
valid and even decisive argument from silence.
5.
Toward a
biblical theology of spiritual warfare. Whereas in demonization the enemy
is situated within the individual and must therefore be expelled by
intervention from an external agent, in spiritual warfare the enemy is situated
outside the believer and thus the believer not only can resist him but must
in order to prevail. 1 Pet. 5:9; Eph. 6:10-14; James 4:7.
6.
Problems
with Christian demonization and deliverance.
(1) It points away from the biblical and fruitful approach to sanctification (Rom. 8:13; Col. 2:8; Gal. 5:16) and fosters dependence on an unbiblical and ultimately unfruitful approach: deliverance ministry (or, with Neil Anderson, self-applied deliverance — a contradiction in biblical terms).
(2) It promotes a superstitious approach to spiritual warfare (e.g., “binding” and “rebuking” Satan, canceling “generational curses”) rather than the biblical approach, which is centered in character development (e.g., Eph. 6:10–14; James 4:6–10).
(3)
It easily leads to an unhealthy preoccupation with,
and fear of, the demonic.
(4)
Since Scripture provides no instruction on deliverance
ministry and yet its advocates insist it is vitally important, it implies the
insufficiency of Scripture.
(5) Most
troubling for evangelicalism, it portends a methodological shift from Scripture
to experience in determining doctrine.
[1] Sydney H. T. Page, Powers of Evil: A Biblical Study of Satan and Demons (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995), 138.