Geoff W. Sutton Blog

  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 Christian...

In Christian texts, people may be possessed by demons. When possessed they act in ways that scare others and cause harm. The demons speak to other humans. And in response to Jesus Christ, or the apostles, the demons may be “cast out” of a person. In contemporary Christianity, the “casting out” has been known as deliverance or exorcism. Some groups believe that a place may be possessed by evil spirits thus, deliverance or exorcism may apply to both people and places. In general, protestant Christians use the term deliverance and Catholics use the term exorcism and follow a particular process (a rite) of exorcism. The term possessionists has been used to refer to people who believe in the phenomenon of people possessed by evil spirits even if they are not possessed ( Giordan & Possamai, 2016 ). About Devils and Demons A 2016 Gallup poll report indicated that 89% of Americans believe in God, but this is lowered by 10% if given the option that they are not s...