EXORCISM & DELIVERANCE
Multi-disciplinary studies
Edited by William K. Kay & Robin Parry. Paternoster. 269 pages. £17.99
ISBN 978 1 842 276 808
Anyone looking for a practical book on exorcism should look elsewhere. This is not a do-it-yourself deliverance manual. The clue to its nature is in the sub-title: Multi-disciplinary studies; it is a symposium, written by academics from a Pentecostal and charismatic perspective.
Each of the contributors approaches the subject from the standpoint of his or her specialisation, such as anthropology, psychology, philosophy, pop-culture, church history and theology. Two chapters discuss the subject as treated in the Old Testament and the New Testament respectively.
The contributors differ widely in their basic beliefs, some accepting the ontological reality of demons, others assuming that evil spirits have no objective reality. One author, following Barth and Moltmann, summarises evil as ‘Godless emptiness’.
The final chapter summarises John Wimber’s beliefs and practices in exorcism. Reading this chapter would save anyone the time and trouble of reading Wimber’s books!
For those curious to know how demon possession is viewed in various specialisations, the book may be interesting. There is a wealth of reference material here which offers suggestions for anyone researching the subject. But, for the average Christian, it will be of little value. The reviewer found it a tedious read!
It is surely significant that the apostle Paul seems to have been reluctant to engage in exorcism (Acts 16.16-18), confronting the evil spirit only as a last resort. As Graham Twelftree notes in chapter two, Paul saw deliverance from evil spirits as occurring through the preaching of the gospel. The exorcisms in the Gospels were pre-cross and resurrection. They were manifestations of the conflict between the incarnate Son of God and the usurper, Satan. On the cross Christ defeated Satan (Colossians 1.13; 2.14,15), so that deliverance now comes through the preaching of Christ’s triumph on the cross, the specific ministry of exorcism being rarely necessary today.
Stanley Jebb,
retired Baptist minister living in Cumnock, Ayrshire
