Demons, Spirits, and Scary Spirituality
Evangelical Christians are warned against activities that invite Satan or evil spirits into their lives. “Don’t read Harry Potter.” Stay away from the Ouija board.” “Yoga is a pathway to spiritual evil.”
Christians
who read the Bible in a literal or near literal way have plenty of texts to
give them reasons to believe they are in the midst of millennia-old spiritual
warfare and the battle is getting more intense as some see the end of the world in sight.
In 2020, I completed writing a textbook on Counseling and Psychotherapy with Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians. One topic that struck me as unique is the subject of Chapter 14, “Devils, Demons, and Deliverance.”
When I looked at books that offer approaches to Christian Counseling, I noticed a gaping hole when it came to helping Christians troubled by what they
understand as demonic influence or the work of the devil in their lives.
12 Things to Know About
Christians and Devils
1. Most Americans believed in the existence of the devil
(61%, Gallup poll- Newport, 2017). And 44% believe they can meet Satan in the afterlife (Pew, 2021).
2. About half of Americans believed someone can be possessed
by the devil or an evil spirit (51%; YouGov poll- Jagel, 2013).
3. Nearly half of Americans believed in the power of
exorcism to free a person from the devil or evil spirits (46%; YouGov poll-
Jagel, 2013).
4. According to Poloma
and Green (2010), 98% of Assemblies of God pastors believed the devil
is real. They, of course, are not alone because the teaching is part of many Christian traditions.
5. Young Americans who believe in demons score lower on
measures of wellbeing (Nie & Olson, 2016).
6. Christians have distressing experiences attributed to the
devil or demonic influence. Examples can be found in scientific studies such as
Wilkinson
and Althouse (2014), Brown
(2012), and Luhrmann
(2012).
7. Counselors and psychotherapists do not read about the
demonic in widely used academic textbooks. This is true for those using Christian
counseling texts as well as those using general texts. Siang-Yang
Tan mentions the demonic in his 2011 text.
8. Catholics have experienced a demand for more exorcists (Mariani,
2018).
9. Mental health professionals generally consider biblical
stories about demonic influence and deliverance to be prescientific ways to
write about mental illness.
10. Traditional Christian teaching declares that Christians
ought to focus on God and avoid an unhealthy preoccupation with the devil and
the like. Essentially, God’s power is stronger than that of the devil to protect
people from evil. People who feel troubled should consult their clergy.
11. Deliverance ministries may be worse than exorcisms, according to Janet Fifle (2020). She notes that deliverance ministries have a broader view of Christians who can be "routinely troubled" by evil spirits in contrast to the focus of exorcism on possession.
12. Recent studies document large percentages of Christians who attribute the cause of mental health conditions like depression and schizophrenia to the demonic (Lloyd, 2021).
Implications for
Both General and Caring Relationships
Based on the statistics, it is likely people you know
believe in the devil, demons, and spiritual warfare.
It is possible that some people you know experience some
degree of fear or anxiety about activities thought to be related to
supernatural evil; but don’t jump to conclusions about the demonic.
Beliefs in the devil or evil do not necessarily mean a
person is upset or distressed. For example, they may have confidence in God’s
protection or their beliefs may view the language of scripture as metaphorical.
The point is, don’t jump to conclusions.
Understanding a person’s distress may mean understanding their
view of supernatural beings and the possible negative influence of those beings
on their life. Thus, supernatural evil is a possible concern.
For those who appear unable to gain relief from what they view as spiritual warfare, it’s best
to refer them to their clergy or a counselor who is acquainted with the subject
of mental health and supernatural evil. Sorting out mental illness from
spiritual matters can be complicated.
Regardless of personal beliefs about the reality of the
devil, demons, and the like, the fact that so many people hold such beliefs and
some are troubled by their experiences, requires clinicians, healthcare workers, and educators to learn more about this aspect of spirituality when helping people in distress. See for example, Exline et al. (2021).
Christian clinicians who have studied the integration of
Christianity and counseling or psychotherapy may wish to consider how their
model integrates supernatural evil. In my experience, the models could be
improved in this area.
Buy Counseling and Psychotherapy With Pentecostal and
Charismatic Christians
Sutton, G.W. (2022, October 29). 12 Things to Know About
Christians and Devils. GeoffW.Sutton Blog. https://geoffwsutton.blogspot.com/
Learn more about the psychology of spiritual struggles.
A clinician's resource to measure Religious and Spiritual Struggles
Additional References
(Click on the text links in the post for additional information.)
Jagel, K. (2013, September 17). Poll results: Exorcism. YouGov. https://today.yougov.com/topics/philosophy/articles-reports/2013/09/17/poll-results-exorcism
Lloyd C. (2021). Contending with Spiritual Reductionism: Demons, Shame, and Dividualising Experiences Among Evangelical Christians with Mental Distress. Journal of religion and health, 60(4), 2702–2727. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-021-01268-9
Newport, F. (2017, September 8). On moral issues, not all
protestants are created equal. Gallup.com. https://news.gallup.com/poll/218204/
moral-issues-not-protestants-created-equal.aspx
Nie, F., & Olson, D. V. A. (2016). Demonic Influence:
The negative mental health effects of belief in demons. Journal for the
Scientific Study of Religion, 55(3), 498–515. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12287
Tan, S-Y. (2011). Counseling and psychotherapy: A Christian perspective. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. See review.
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