Is demon possession a real thing?
*This is my most recent response for the "Religion Roundtable" for The Anniston Star (to be published 2/2/2013)
It is difficult for any of us living in the Western World, on this side of the Enlightenment, to find reality in something like demon possession. We live in the reality of science and medical research. If we see someone exhibiting behaviors that could be understood as demon possession, we chalk it up to a mental illness or perhaps a chemical imbalance. We have even looked back at Holy Scripture and the instances of demon possession in an attempt to explain them away as ancient misunderstanding of other illnesses.
CPT
It is difficult for any of us living in the Western World, on this side of the Enlightenment, to find reality in something like demon possession. We live in the reality of science and medical research. If we see someone exhibiting behaviors that could be understood as demon possession, we chalk it up to a mental illness or perhaps a chemical imbalance. We have even looked back at Holy Scripture and the instances of demon possession in an attempt to explain them away as ancient misunderstanding of other illnesses.
Now, I am not discrediting medical
research or science (in fact I think more people of faith need to embrace
science), nor am I looking to explain away the witness of ancient Scripture. I
believe demon possession is a real thing, even in our Western,
post-enlightenment world, because I see it all around us—only now the demons go
by different names and exhibit different characteristics. It is my opinion that
demon possession exists in ways that most impact and influence the people of a
culture.
The demons of our culture manifest
themselves in many other ways outside of physical possession. We see the demons
of racism, greed, and selfishness possessing so many around us. This sort of
demon possession goes unchecked and unnoticed by so many, even people of faith.
These are the demons we must exorcise in our world today.
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