For class I had to read Neil Anderson's Bondage Breaker. This book made me very, very uneasy. As I was reading the felt myself grow more and more uncomfortable with what he seemed to be saying. Now I whole heartedly believe in spiritual warfare. I have seen it in my own life as well as in many of my friend's. In fact, Just a year and a half ago, I have seen it grip one of my roommates so tightly that she ( who did suffer from a very serious mental illness) left reality completely for this twisted world of the spiritual realm. Through her struggles she not only brought herself down, but my other roommates and eventually me in to this realm of deception. Discussing spiritual warfare doesn't bother me.The part that bothers me is that Anderson seems to be saying (and please correct me if I am misunderstanding this) is that Christians can be possessed. He talks about a girl, Janelle, who starts growling and ripping scripture up when he boyfriend is reading, and that Anderson had to "exercise God's authority over her" (pg. 58-60 of you want a reference). My problem is not just possession. I believe that people can be possessed. My problem is possession of Christians. I think about James 2:19, in scripture that says, "Even the demons believe (that God is one) and they Shutter" If the Holy spirit--God-- truly dwells in a person there is no room for Satan or a demon in that individual, They shouldn't even be able to with stand being in the same body together. In I John says were once in the darkness but when we where saved we are now in the light, and therefore the darkness can't be in the light. I can't believe possession of christians is possible. Is that truly what he is saying or am I getting that completely wrong?
Possession is not the right term for what Anderson is talking about in his book. I believe he goes into that. With that term comes the idea of ownership. Because we are Christians, we belong to God, not Satan. "Demonization" fits better.
ReplyDeleteLet’s take a look at your idea that Christians cannot be demonized. You arrive at that conclusion "logically."
Major premise: Every Christian is indwelt with the Holy Spirit.
The minor premise: The Holy Spirit cannot dwell with demons.
Conclusion: Christians cannot have demons.
However, if either premise is incorrect, your conclusion follows suit. The major premise is supported biblically by Romans 8:9 and Galatians 4:6. However, the minor premise cannot be supported biblically drawing your conclusion into question.
Moreover, when we read what Scripture tells us about demonization, there is no evidence as to whether the authors are talking about believers or unbelievers. We can only come to a firm conclusion one way or the other if we violate basic hermeneutical principles and practice isogesis--imposing a desired interpretation on a passage.
Realistically, the issue is not clearly addressed anywhere in Scripture. There are two possible reasons for this. First, it didn't happen--they never cast demons out of believers. Second, It was so commonplace that it was not an issue for the early church
As far as the passage in 1 John 1 goes, is that really what that is referring to? If you look at the context, it is talking about sin, not demonization.
I do agree that demonization is probably a more accurate term. However, I think that the spiritual realm is very real. The New Testament(gospels) speak a lot of demons entering and tormenting people. However, I also think that there is no room for demon posession for the Christian, for we are Christ's possession. Yet, we can open ourselves up to areas in which a demon might attach itself to an area of our life in which we have opened ourselves up to through our disobedience and choices.
ReplyDelete