pastored and were also involved in exorcism (deliverance ministry). On pages 91-92 they state that the most powerful forms of demonism they encountered during that time did not, however, come from the few examples of authentic possession they witnessed, but rather from “demons of religion” manifest in some who held positions of authority inside the organization. What do you think of this troubling assertion?
TEACHERS NOTES:
54 | P a g e a) Before discussing how evil supernaturalism can operate inside religious
institutions or persons, read the opening statement on page 91 of Forbidden Gates, which begins “While the pages of nearly all books on spiritual warfare abound with examples of people becoming possessed or demonized by entities as a result of deviant perversion, drug use, violence, occultism (as in the case of the young man in the previous chapter), or other depravations of immoral behavior, including infidelity and witchcraft…” and ask the class how they believe these and similar examples can actually lead to a person coming under demonic influence:
1. Immorality / perversion?
2. Drug use?
3. Violence?
4. Occultism / witchcraft?
b) Depending on the class, the teacher may or may not wish to enter the sticky related line of study concerning whether children can be affected by such surroundings. A contentious discussion in some theological circles involves whether children “under the age of accountability” can be possessed by demons. Verses such as Mark 9:17, Mt 15:22; 17:14-21 are often cited, but there is dispute about how old these children in the Bible actually were. In addition, some Catholic priests have stated in the past that Satanists can make a pact with the devil that ensures their children will join them in hell, while some evangelical churches have been known to actually “test” babies for possession by placing them on the floor next to a Bible and watching their reactions. These are considered extremist points of view, but in some class settings this may be helpful in establishing the real perimeters for a solid study of demonism.
c) Some of history’s most famous cases of demon possession include: (from Wikipedia)
Anneliese Michel (September 21, 1952 – July 1, 1976) was a German Catholic woman who was said to be possessed by demons and
subsequently underwent an exorcism. Two motion pictures, The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Requiem, are loosely based on Michel's story.
55 | P a g e In 1975, when Anneliese Michel was 23 years old, an older woman who accompanied her on a pilgrimage concluded that Michel was suffering from demonic possession because Michel was unable to walk past a certain icon of Jesus Christ and refused to drink the water of a holy spring. An exorcist in a nearby town examined Michel and believed she was suffering from demonic possession. The bishop issued permission to perform the rite of exorcism according to the Rituale Romanum of 1614.
After 10 months of unsuccessful psychiatric treatments, they gave up on medical treatment and chose to rely solely on the exorcisms for healing.
The rites of exorcism were performed over the course of about ten months in 1976. A total of sixty-seven exorcism sessions were held, one or two each week, some lasting up to four hours. At some point she began talking increasingly about dying to atone for the wayward youth of the day and the apostate priests of the modern church, and refused to eat. Though she had received treatment for epilepsy, by this time, at her own request, doctors were no longer being consulted. This was because Anneliese mentioned the "demons" to the doctors, explaining that they started to give her orders. The doctors seemed unable to help, and Anneliese lost hope that medicine was going to be able to cure her of her problems.
On July 1, 1976, Anneliese Michel died in her sleep. The autopsy report stated that her death resulted from the malnutrition and dehydration due to almost a year of semi-starvation during which time the rites of exorcism were also performed.
A prosecutor then conducted an investigation after which the two exorcists and Anneliese's parents were charged with negligence causing death because the doctors said she was an epileptic and a psychotic. The priests produced recordings of various exorcisms they had performed, during which they said they could distinguish the voices of two demons in the process of arguing, wondering which of them would leave the body of Anneliese first. Anneliese's parents and both priests were sentenced to six months in prison.
George Lukins, also known as the Yatton demoniac, was an individual famous for his alleged demonic possession and the subsequent exorcism
56 | P a g e that occurred when he was aged forty-four; his case occasioned great controversy in England. The Rev. Joseph Easterbrook, the Anglican vicar of Temple Church, was summoned on Saturday, 31 May 1778, by Mrs.
Sarah Barber, a woman who was travelling in the village of Mendip, Yatton, in the county of Somerset. The woman told the pastor that she came across a man by the name of George Lukins, a tailor and common carrier by profession, who had a strange malady "in which he sang and screamed in various sounds, some of which did not resemble a human voice; and declared, doctors could do him no service." Mrs. Barber, who formerly resided in Yatton, attested to the clergyman that Lukins had an extraordinary good character and attended services of worship, where he received the Church sacraments. However, for the past eighteen years, he had been subject to atypical fits, which Lukins believed resulted from a supernatural slap which knocked him down while he was acting in a Christmas pageant. George Lukins was consequently taken under the care of Dr. Smith, an eminent surgeon of Wrington, among many other physicians, who in vain, tried to help George Lukins; moreover, after his twenty week stay at St. George's Hospital, the medical community there pronounced him incurable. Members of the community began to think that Mr. Lukins was bewitched and he himself declared that he himself was possessed by seven demons, who could only be driven out by seven clergymen. Rev. Easterbook contacted Methodist ministers in connexion with Rev. John Wesley who agreed to pray for George Lukins:
"'Some time ago I had a letter requesting me to make one of the seven ministers to pray over George Lukins. I cried out before God, "Lord, I am not fit for such a work; I have not faith to encounter a demoniac." It was powerfully applied, "God in this thy might." The day before we were to meet, I went to see Lukins, and found such faith, that I could then encounter the seven devils which he said toremented him. I did not doubt but deliverance would come. Suffice to say, when we met, the Lord heard prayer, and delivered the poor man.'"– Rev. John Valton
An account of the exorcism was published in the Bristol Gazette. The newspaper reported that George Lukins, during his alleged possession, claimed that he was the devil, made barking noises, sung an inverted Te Deum, and was very violent. In light of these claims, on Friday, 13 June
57 | P a g e 1778, seven clergymen, including Rev. Joseph Easterbrook, accompanied George Lukins to the vestry at Temple Church, where they performed an exorcism on the man, which included hymn singing and prayer. The deliverance concluded when the demons were allegedly cast out using the Trinitarian formula; the clergymen commanded the demons to return to hell and George Lukins then exclaimed "Blessed Jesus!", praised God, recited the Lord's prayer, and then thanked the Methodist and Anglican clergymen. Rev. Easterbrook, when recording the events under the patronage of Rev. John Wesley, stated that the account would be
doubted in this modern era of skepticism, but pointed to "the scriptures, and other authentic history, of ancient as well as modern times" to buttress what he felt was a valid case of demonic possession.[19] An article in The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Chronicle criticized the account, stating that Lukins actually suffered from "epilepſy and St.
Vitus's dance." Dr. Feriar, a medical demonologist, criticized George Lukins as an impostor masquerading as a demoniac. Nevertheless, after the exorcism, George Lukins was described as calm and happy. Following this case, several pieces of literature were printed on George Lukins, thus popularising his alleged case of diabolical possession and deliverance, despite the original design to keep the case a secret.
Robbie Mannheim (also known as Roland Doe; born circa 1936) is the pseudonym given by author Thomas B. Allen to an anonymous individual most notably known for allegedly being possessed and later exorcised during his childhood in the late 1940s. The alleged events which were reported in the media of the time and the subsequent claims surrounding those events went on to inspire the 1971 novel The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty and the 1973 film of the same name, as well as Thomas B.
Allen's 1993 nonfiction account Possessed, a second edition of it in 1999, and the 2000 film by the same name, based on Allen's book.
2. From Scripture, the authors of Forbidden Gates (page 92) note how 1) a lying