I don't think anyone is saying that if the brain is involved then demons are involved, if that is what you mean by "one-to-one association."
As an example, strokes cause brain damage by a easily understood organic mechanism. Oxygen is deprived from brain cells which die and cannot be replaced. The areas of the brain that die control certain known abilities, such as the ability to speak, or the ability to understand language, etc. A person affected by a stroke might be interpreted by some without such biological knowledge to be demon possessed because they stammer and cannot speak, or they cannot understand anyone speaking to them whereas before they could. In the Scriptures, however, when we examine those who were sick of the palsy, we do not see Jesus casting demons out of them. The deaf and the mute were sometimes helped by casting out devils, but not those who were sick of the palsy. In our materialistic culture, we have a tendency to underestimate the role of evil spirits. Most of us, if we are honest with ourselves, have an aversion to casting out devils. I will probably always remember the first time the Spirit of God told me to cast the devil out of a girl. I was at a Bible study in someone's home. I looked across the room at my friend, and the Spirit distinctly said to me, "Cast the devil out of her." I wrestled with this. How could I do this? What would she think? How rude I would appear. She might be offended that I would even suggest such a thing. I had dozens of reasons why I should not do it. But, it soon appeared that she was very troubled in that she could not sit in the Bible study. She went off to another room with a friend for awhile, discussing something with her, I know not what. I could not resist the Spirit any longer. I went looking for her. I told her that I needed to talk to her and asked her if she would step outside with me. You see, I was so embarassed and unsure of all this, I guess I did not want anyone else in the Bible study to see. I asked her what was going on, and if she was having any problems. She started right in on her problems, but the more she talked, the less I wanted to hear any of it. I finally interupted her and said, "The devil has messed up your mind and I just want to break his power over you right now, ok?" She nodded, and I laid my hands on her head and said in a loud voice, "You foul spirit which has wrecked this poor girl's life, I command you in the name of Jesus to come out of her right now." I spoke it as a strong rebuke, not speaking to the girl, but to the spirit within her. She immediately screamed and fell to the ground writhing like a snake. I looked around the neighborhood wondering if any neighbors were going to come out of their homes and call the police. She was delivered within minutes and the peace of God came all over her as she wept with the joy of the Lord. I tend to side with Judy's perspective on this, that spirits are much more active than most of us give them credit for. This does not mean that we must always deal with them through casting out devils. However, when they gain a stronghold over a person's life, they must be dealt with in a much different way than just praying for healing. At a Wednesday night church meeting more than 20 years ago, at the end of service, a girl was having a psychotic episode right in church. Her hands tensed up and she was greatly troubled in her mind. More than fifty people in the church, gathered around her to pray. The more they prayed, the more this girl was troubled. Soon, as I was looking at this and asking the Lord what was happening, the Spirit said that everyone was worshipping the power of the devil here, and that somebody needed to take authority over this demon. I was too timid to do this myself with the pastor and the associate pastor there, so I went up to the associate pastor and said, "what are we waiting for? Somebody needs to take authority and cast this devil out." He said he was waiting on the senior pastor, so I went up to him and asked to speak with him. We left the sanctuary and went into the hall. I told him that this was a demon and that somebody needed to take authority over him, and if he did not do it, I would. He weighed the things I said to him and then went in and took authority over the devil. His power was broken and all was fine. The point is that sometimes the devil takes advantage, and praying for healing or help is the wrong approach. Sometimes we must take authority over spirits and tread upon them. Other times, we minister healing. Discernment is needed to deal with these issues, and experience leads us to deal with these problems in the right way. As for bipolar disorder / schizophrenia, nobody in medical science understands what it is or how to treat it. Treatment is always masking the symptoms, never is it a cure. Drugs like Haldol, Lithium, etc. control the problems by treating the symptoms, not by curing the problem. The term "chemical imbalance" is used flippantly and without direct knowledge. Therefore, in most or perhaps even all cases, I believe that demonic activity is involved. I certainly agree with you that when we "don't know" then we should not make assumptions, but I don't think that "thinking the best of someone" is dismissing the idea that they might be under spiritual attack by evil spirits. All of us are attacked by evil spirits. Even Jesus was. Just because we recognize demonic activity does not mean that we are thinking bad about the person. Please reconsider your last sentence. :-) Peace be with you. David Miller. ----- Original Message ----- From: Debbie Sawczak To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2005 12:49 AM Subject: Re: [TruthTalk] Adam - sin - and the rest of us I am thinking that a one-to-one association between demonic activity and conditions affecting certain parts of the brain is a mistake. Where these conditions can be adequately explained by observable physical imbalances, malfunctions, damage, or whatever, why would one ascribe them, as a category, to demons? I have no doubt that such physical dysfunction or damage can be initiated by demons, but must it be in every case of the disorder, or even in most cases? That is, if some cases of schizophrenia are actually demonic possession or oppression, must that be typical? Demons can probably cause eczema and bowel cancer too. As for healings, God can heal any condition miraculously, but his doing so (no matter the words of the prayer) is not in itself evidence that the condition was caused by demons, even though the healing has spiritual significance. I think we should not be in haste to chalk stuff up to demons, nor to conclude that a mentally ill person has been spiritually weak or negligent, has been giving footholds to the devil, or needs to repent. It becomes a way of blaming the individual or casting aspersions on her spiritual integrity. It is also a way of denying that we are intrinsically physical beings. Though not reducible to chemicals and tissue, let's face it, if the chemicals or tissue are messed up, we are disabled to just that extent, whether it is colour blindness or PMS, diabetes or dementia, arthritis or bipolar disorder. Disability limits the choices open to us. What exactly is the extent to which it does so in each case? We don't know. Not knowing, we believe the best of people. Debbie ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
