The Forgotten Legacy Of The ' Power Of Possession '

devil points to the painful truth of the past and the reality of people in

“You might say, “God could stop Satan if He wanted to. Therefore, the devil only does what God allows Him to do.” That’s not true. That’s a religious tradition that will render you passive and prey to the devil.”

This book critique of Spiritual Warfare: The Battle for God’s Glory will provide an overview of the book, by pointing out significant information on the subject of spiritual warfare that author shared with his readers. Jerry Rankin, the author provides a great deal of information that addresses a chief reality in the life of a Christian, which is the presence of spiritual warfare. This book critiques with provide a summary of the content, as well as overall evaluation of the book, from one reader’s prospective. Rankin uses real examples of Satan’s activity in the mission field, and these examples show that Satan is busy, and his aim is directed at every Christian. Not one Christian is immune to the Satan’s attack, but the good news, as

Satan’s definitions include the advocate of God, a personification of evil, the fallen angel, a spirit created by God, and also the accuser. People see Satan differently, some know of his existence, others think of him as just a myth, and there are those that just ignore him. John Milton's Paradise Lost tells of Satan's banishment from Heaven and his gain of earth. He and his brigade have plotted war against God and are now doomed to billow in the fiery pits of hell. Satan is a complex character with many different qualities. God is a character who we, as Christians, know about but do not completely understand. We also do not completely understand Satan. Some may think they know Satan but when asked “Is Satan divine?”

In due course, Herod the Great (Antipas and Philip) transforms the Jewish territory into a thriving Roman Judea; from a rough, largely agricultural land, to one boasting with modern cities, roads, aqueducts and harbors. Particularly, the city of Caesarea Philippi became an eventful center for the Greek-Roman culture; known for its prestigious status as the capital city of Herod Philip and its substantial gentile population. Hence, these facts demonstrate how commonplace pagan beliefs were among the society that lives there. Along with this dominating, progressive side of Roman life, their sexual influence befalls the area with its pagan presence. Besides the Jewish people, and other religious sects, society’s perspective towards sex becomes that of the pagan Roman Empire’s practices; essentially, allowing lust to flourish everywhere in its culture. As a result, the goat god’s popularity became significant, to the point of pagan’s attempt at monotheism, (belief in one god); which, escalates during this time and allegedly Pan, meaning ‘all,’ became a good candidate for the position. Although, the goat god never acquires full authorization, off the record, he gradually transforms into an unofficial religion; one could say Pan became the leading enduring god of the religion of lust.

The narrative of the Gerasene demonic lies in a group of four miracle stories that are found in the same order in all three of the Synoptic Gospels . The first of these stories is the stilling of the storm found in Matthew 8:18, 23-27, Mark 4:35-41, and Luke 8:22-25. The second, and later focus of this paper, is the Gerasene demonic found in Matthew 8: 28-34, Mark 5: 1-20, and Luke 8: 26-39. The third, and fourth miracles are combined into one longer narrative that is found in Matthew 9:18-26, Mark 5: 21-43, and Luke 8:40-56 . These four miracle narratives provide examples for the four types of miracles that Jesus preforms that demonstrate his power over different aspects of the human world. These types of miracles include power over nature as illustrated with the stilling of the storm, power over demons or demonic forces as illustrated in banishing the demons from the Gerasene man, power over disease illustrated by Jesus healing the women who suffered from the flow of blood, and finally power over death illustrated by raising Jairus’s daughter. It is important to look at where this specific narrative of the Gerasene demonic falls in comparison to other stories because it brings into focus the greater image of the story. When looking at this one account of exorcism alone it is an authoritative display of the power

The concept of evil evokes much emotion and fear in the hearts of humanity as a whole. Since the beginning of time, people have grappled with the idea of suffering, evil and the source of it all. This concept of evil does indeed have a name and a face- the horrific being of Satan himself. In The Divine Comedy by Dante, he attempts to depict Satan in light of all he is. However, Dante cannot explain or describe Satan without using Christ as a parallel.

In “Wonders of the Invisible World”, Mather suggests the devil resides in people who collect in “hellish meetings” where they discuss how to “destroy the kingdom on out lord Jesus Christ.” He uses Martha Carrier as an example of someone who is possessed by the devil and seeks to corrupt others and do harm to those who follow God. He provides evidence by bringing witnesses to Carrier’s torment, including her children. How the devil is portrayed in “The Devil in the Manuscript” is more figurative rather than literal. Oberon believes the devil possessed his writing because no one wants to publish what he wrote. This is likely less literal than what Cotton Mather means, and is likely attributed from his ego and belief that his writing is too great to be his fault.

Through the time period of the “demonization of the world” and the evolution of the conceptions of possession, three large beliefs persisted in both learned and popular notions (Midelfort, 211). The first, being widely held by the educated, was the belief that possession was regarded as punishment for sin. The second, which was popular with the uneducated, was the belief that possession was a consequence of witchcraft, with the possessed being the victim. The third, being a belief both learned and popular, was the notion that the demon, whether as a punishment of sin or consequence of witchcraft, possessed its victims by way of physical entrance into the body (Sands, 226). Such conceptions of demonic possession maintain similarities with conceptions

Let’s get real, the devil is after us if we like it or not. His beef is not even with us,it’s with Jesus. However, from the beginning of time he has been after the women. He deceived Eve to eat the apple, however his plan backfired, God sent Jesus to redeem man and he has been mad ever since. He tried to kill all of us from the beginning, He wanted to plant doubt in our minds, he wanted to separate us from the truth and God. Because he wants to be God, however just like he was thrown out of heaven, he has been given his walking papers from our lives. He will never be God, Ladies reaffirm what we and satan already know he is defeated, do not let him reign in your life. There is only one God, and God is a jealous God and he says you are to

In the Bible, a person expects the good aspects of ones life in order to pursue a joyful future. For some reason, the devil portrays specific parts in the Bible. When people think of Satan or the devil, the misconception of the devil usually gets thought of more frequently. The devil often gets overlooked as being red, mean, evil, and being from hell. In the Bible, a section called The Book of Job describes parts of the devil throughout the chapters. For example, "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Sa-tan came also among them" (Job 1:6). God who had seven sons and three daughters, encountered Satan with them. The inference of God and the devil provides a possibility of civilness between

Throughout the document, Mather is constantly depicting the Devil and spirits as very real, tangible enemies (e.g. descriptions of “invisible hands” and unexplained supernatural happenings), that were slowly infecting the Christian

Satan comes to man with his temptations as an angel of light, as he came to Christ. He has been working to bring man into a condition of physical and moral weakness, that he may overcome him with his temptations, and then triumph over his ruin. ...He well knows that it is impossible for man to discharge his obligations to God and to his fellow-men, while he impairs the faculties God has given him. The brain is the capital of the body... pg. 236

Essentially, this states the word gospel means - the image of God; which could easily become interpreted as God’s sexual presence that exists as our treasure in earthen vessels (2 Cor 4:7). Subsequently, this scripture becomes explosive when identifying Our Godly Sexual Beings as its meaning. Noticeably, the evil position of Satan in the Old Testament is decidedly lacking, as it is in the majority other religions writings; however, in the New Testament, Jesus Christ expounds on the reality of the devil as one of the “main focal points” and immediately confronts Satan from the start (Matt 4:1-11). Jesus targeted the devil’s influences (both male and female) and the enslavement it instigates, “Who changed the glorious image of God (our sexual pleasure) into the lie of lust” (Rom 1:23-25).

The aim of this paper is to assess the events of demon possession and exorcism narrated in the Bible not from a theological perspective but from sociopolitical standpoint. Drawing references from scholarly publications on Bible, this paper would investigate the symbolic meanings of Jesus’ exorcism in socio-political sphere of Galilee and Judea at the very beginning of the first-century. This paper heavily relies upon the concepts proposed by Amanda Witmer in her publication Jesus, the Galilean Exorcist, His Exorcisms in Social and Political Context.