SATANISM AND DEMON POSSESSION
Chapter 36

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History

 

he worship of Satan has deep historical roots. Known as Satanism, it is found expressed in various ways. Black magic, the Black Mass, facets of the drug culture, and blood sacrifice all have connections with Satanism.

In Escape From Witchcraft, Roberta Blankenship explains what two girls, both Satanists, wrote to her as part of their initiation ritual:

They had to go to a graveyard in the dead of night, walk across a man-sized cross, and denounce any belief in Christ. Afterwards, a ritual was performed and the girls had to drink the blood of animals that had been skinned alive.

Lynn Walker comments:

In April, 1973, the battered, mutilated body of a 17-year-old boy, Ross "Mike" Cochran, was found outside of Daytona Beach, Florida. An Associated Press story said, "The verdict of police is that Cochran was the victim of devil worshippers: killed in a frenzied sacrificial ritual."

Lynn MeMillon, Oklahoma Christian College professor, reports, "One variety of Satanism consists primarily of sex clubs that embellish their orgies with Satanist rituals. Another variety of Satanists are the drug oriented groups."

Traditional Satanism

In the past Satanism's associations have been much more secretive than they are now. The anti-religious and anti-god aspect was prevalent in all forms of Satanism. Although this is not true of modern Satanism, traditional Satanism still is associated with black magic and ritualism.

The worship of a personal and powerful devil is central to traditional Satanism. Those involved reject Christianity, yet choose the Lucifer of Scriptures as their god. The Occult Sourcebook comments:

Traditionally, Satanism has been interpreted as the worship of evil, a religion founded upon the very principles which Christianity rejects. As such, Satanism exists only where Christianity exists, and can be understood only in the context of the Christian worldview. Things are, so to speak, reversed -the Christian devil becomes the Satanist's god, Christian virtues become vices, and vices are turned into virtues. Life is interpreted as a constant battle between the powers of light and darkness, and the Satanist fights on the side of darkness, believing that ultimately this will achieve victory.

Satanic witchcraft is to be found under this category of Satanism, where witches are involved in the darkest side of evil.

The recent onslaught of drugs and sexual perversion associated with the devil can be found here as well.

Modern Satanism

Traditional Satanism is still very prevalent, and growing in society today. However, in recent times, with the growing secularization of society and decline of Judeo-Christian morality, a new humanistic Satanism has emerged and drawn a strong following. The Church of Satan is the clearest example of this new emphasis.

In modern times groups have emerged in England and Europe, and particularly in the United Sates, which, taking advantage of the permissiveness of modern society, have encouraged some publicity. The most famous of these has been the Church of Satan, founded in San Francisco in 1966 by Anton La Vey, which currently has a membership of many thousands, and has established itself as a church throughout the United States.

Several other groups in America have imitated it, and some groups have also been established as "black witchcraft" covens. The Manson gang, in which a bizarre mixture of Satanism and occultism was practiced, gained a great deal of unfavorable publicity for Satanism in America, but in fact it also resulted in a greater public interest in the subject. With more people rejecting the traditional values of morality, the Satanist movement will inevitably have greater appeal.

In a chapter on Satanism today, William Petersen in Those Curious New Cults comments on the fact that since the mid- 1960s Satanism is making a comeback. He points to the catalyst for the strong upswing as being the box office smash of "Rosemary's Baby." Of the film he states:

Anton Szandor La Vey, self-styled high priest of San Francisco's First Church of Satan and author of The Satanic Bible (1969), played the role of the devil. Later, he called the film the "best paid commercial for Satanism since the Inquisition." No doubt it was.

Many people are becoming involved in Satanism, and they come from all walks of life. They vary in age, occupation and educational background.

Church of Satan

Although the "Church of Satan" sounds like a contradiction in terms, its emphasis is on materialism and hedonism. Satan, to followers of this church, is more a symbol than a reality. In this emphasis they depart from other forms of Satanism. They are interested in the carnal and worldly pleasures mankind offers.

La Vey is of Russian, Alsatian and Rumanian descent, and his past jobs have been with the circus, an organ player in nightclubs and a police photographer. All during this time La Vey studied the occult.

Of the establishing of the church La Vey declares it was to be:

a temple of glorious indulgence that would be fun for people.... But the main purpose was to gather a group of like-minded individuals together for the use of their combined energies in calling up the dark force in nature that is called Satan.

Of Satanism La Vey believes:

It is a blatantly selfish, brutal religion. It is based on the belief that man is inherently a selfish, violent creature, that life is a Darwinian struggle for survival of the fittest, that the earth will be ruled by those who fight to win.

Emphases of the Church

La Vey is currently the High Priest of the church, which espouses any type of sexual activity that satisfies your needs, be it heterosexuality, homosexuality, adultery or faithfulness in marriage. Part of La Vey's philosophy is expressed here:

I don't believe that magic is supernatural, only that it is supernormal. That is, it works for reasons science cannot yet understand. As a shaman or magician, I am concerned with obtaining recipes. As a scientist, you seek formulas. When I make a soup, I don't care about the chemical reactions between the potatoes and the carrots. I only care about how to get the flavor of soup I seek. In the same way, when I want to hex someone, I don't care about the scientific mechanisms involved, whether they be psychosomatic, psychological, or what-not. My concern is with how to best hex someone. As a magician, my concern is with effectively doing the thing, not with the scientist's job of explaining it.

Truzzi describes the "Church of Satan" here:

This group is legally recognized as a church, has a developed hierarchy and bureaucratic structure which defines it as no longer a cult, and claims over 10,000 members around the world. Most of these members are, in fact, merely mail-order and geographically isolated joiners, but there are clearly at least several hundred fully participating and disciplined members in the various "grottos" (as their fellowships are called) set up around the world. Grottos are growing up rapidly around this country with about a dozen now in operation.

... [La Vey's] The Satanic Bible ... has already reportedly sold over 250,000 copies and is now in its third paperback printing. La Vey also publishes a monthly newsletter for those members who subscribe to it, conducts a newspaper column in which he advises those who write in questions, and he has recently written a book on man-catching for the would-be Satanic witch.

There are nine Satanic statements to which all members must agree. These are that Satan represents indulgence, vital existence, undefiled wisdom, kindness only to those who deserve it, vengeance, responsibility only to those who are responsible, the animal nature of man, all the 46 so-called sins," and "the best friend the church has ever had, as he has kept it in business all these years."

The Satanic Church is strongly materialistic as well as being anti Christian. Pleasure-seeking could well describe their philosophy of life. What the world has to offer through the devil is taken full advantage of in the Church of Satan.

» Demons and Demon Possession (UO/47-54)

The Bible not only teaches the existence of the devil but also of a great company of his followers known as demons or evil spirits. These demons originally were holy but with Satan, their leader, they fell away from God. Their ultimate end will be eternal damnation when God judges Satan and his host at the Great White Throne judgment (Revelation 20:10-15).

Since the release of the motion picture, The Exorcist, there has been renewed discussion about the subject of demon possession. Can demon possession, or control of a person's will by a demon, actually occur? What are the signs of a possessed person? Is it really just superstition and ignorance to believe in demon possession?

The Reality of Demon Possession

The evidence from Scripture is unmistakable that a human being can be possessed or controlled by a demon or evil spirit (Mark 7:24-30; 9:17-29).

From the New Testament accounts of demon possession, along with other examples, we can chart some of the phenomena that can be observed during a demonic attack.

A. Change of Personality Including intelligence, moral character, demeanor, appearance B. Physical Changes 1. Preternatural strength 2. Epileptic convulsions; foaming 3. Catatonic symptoms, falling 4. Clouding of consciousness, anaesthesia to pain 5. Changed voice C. Mental Changes 1. Glossolalia; understanding unknown languages [the counterfeit gift as opposed to the biblical gift] 2. Preternatural knowledge 3. Psychic and occult powers, e.g., clairvoyance, telepathy and prediction D. Spiritual Changes

1. Reaction to and fear of Christ; blasphemy with regret as in depression 2. Affected by prayer E. Deliverance possible in the name of Jesus As this is a diagnosis in retrospect it falls outside the range of pre-exorcism symptoms.

Does Demon Possession Occur Today?

Granting the fact that demon possession occurred in New Testament times, the natural question arises, "Does it occur today'.?" After extensive study of demonology and years of observing patients, psychiatrist Paul Meier gives his professional opinion:

I can honestly say that I have never yet seen a single case of demon possession. The main thing I have learned about demon possession is how little we really know about it and how little the Bible says about it.

I have had hundreds of patients who came to see me because they thought they were demon possessed. Scores of them heard "demon voices" telling them evil things to do. It was at first surprising to me that all of these had dopamine deficiencies in their brains, which were readily correctable with Thorazine or any other major tranquilizer.

Don't get me wrong, I am a strict Biblicist who believes in the inerrancy of Scripture. I believe demons really do exist because the Bible says they do. I believe that there probably are some demon-possessed persons in various parts of the world.

However, there are many others who attest to having witnessed demon possession. Walter Martin recorded a couple of examples he encountered:

In Newport Beach, California, I encountered a case of demonic possession in which five persons, including myself, were involved. In this case the girl, who was about 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighed 120 pounds, attacked a 180-pound man and with one arm flipped him 5 or 6 feet away. It took four of us, including her husband, to hold her body to a bed while we prayed in the name of Jesus Christ for the exorcism of the demons within her.

During the course of the exorcism we found out that she was possessed because she had worshipped Satan, and because of that worship he had come with his forces and taken control of her. She was a perfect "tare in the wheat field," as Jesus said (Matthew 13:24-30). She had married a Christian, was a daughter of a Christian minister, had taught Sunday school in a Christian church, and had appeared on the surface to be perfectly consistent with Christian theology. But the whole time she was laughing inwardly at the church and at Christ. It was not until her exorcism that she was delivered and received Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. Today she and her husband are on the mission field serving the Lord Jesus Christ.

I have a psychologist friend who was present with me at another exorcism in Newport Beach, California. Before we entered the room he said, "I want you to know I do not believe in demonic possession. This girl is mentally disturbed."

I said, "That may well be. We'll find out very soon."

As we went into the room and closed the door, the girl's supernatural strength was soon revealed. Suddenly from her body a totally foreign voice said quietly, with a smirk on the face (she was unconscious -the psychologist testified to that), "We will outlast you."

The psychologist looked at me and said, "What was that?"

"That is what you don't believe in," I said.

We spent about 3 1/2 hours exorcising what the psychologist didn't believe in!

At the end of the exorcism he was not only a devout believer in the personality of the devil, but in demonic possession and biblical exorcism as well. He now knows that there are other-dimensional beings capable of penetrating this dimension and of controlling human beings!

In conclusion, although most cases of alleged demon possession turn out to be in reality something quite different, it does not negate the fact that demon possession can and does occur today. However, one should be very careful before he considers an individual to be demon possessed when the person's problem may be physiological or psychological.

Only a mature Christian, experienced and seasoned by the Lord in counseling and spiritual warfare, should take an active part in diagnosing or treating alleged cases of demon possession. The human body, mind and spirit are so complex and interrelated that it takes spiritual discernment coupled with a great amount of knowledge to deal responsibly with what appears to be demon possession.

 

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