Anglican 'Deliverance' Files. IHS
How evil spirits are cast out
Exorcism is an Anglican rite of deliverance - used for occult involvement, spiritual oppression and possession. Candles, a crucifix and sprinklings of holy water may be involved throughout.
The exorcism begins when the priest says the Lord's Prayer and leads those present in a confession. After a gospel reading, the priest asks the person to turn to Christ and renounce Satan.
The priest then stretches a hand out towards the possessed person and says: "Lord God of hosts, before your presence the armies of Hell are put to flight. Deliver us from the assaults and temptations of the evil one. Free him from every evil and unclean spirit that may be assailing him."
The priest rebukes the Devil: "Begone, Satan, and cease to trouble this servant of God. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." If the person is then able to repeat after the priest: "Jesus is Lord," the exorcism has worked. If not, a major exorcism may be deemed
necessary, which can be performed only with a bishop's permission.
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Deliver Us From Illicit Exorcisms, Bishops Plead
By Ruth Gledhill - Religion Correspondent
4-29-00
A surge in exorcisms conducted without the approval of the Church of
England is causing growing concern among Bishops.
A report to be debated at the General Synod in July is expected to describe a huge increase in the numbers of individuals seeking exorcisms, or "deliverance", from what they believe is demonic possession.
Some individual churches are even holding exorcisms in the middle of
services, without the permission of the Church authorities, leading to people screaming or collapsing in fainting fits as they are dispossessed of their "demons". Church leaders are increasingly concerned that large numbers of vicars are failing to follow official guidelines, which stipulate that a diocesan bishop's permission must be sought before an exorcism is carried out. Each bishop has a special adviser on deliverance.
The growth of the charismatic evangelical movement in Britain, inspired by the evangelical revival in Africa and America, means that increasing numbers of churches, even in the established Church of England, are following their own path when it comes to exorcisms. The report, which is with the House of Bishops for debate at their pre-synod meeting in the next few weeks, is by a working party on "health and healing", chaired by the Bishop of Chelmsford, the Right Rev John Perry. It is expected to recommend a stricter adherence to
the official guidelines when parishioners request an exorcism.
The number of cases of possession by the Devil which are regarded as
genuine by the Church is small. One recent case of wailing and screaming in a house in the Worcester diocese turned out to be a cat stuck up a chimney.
However, the spiritual healing aspect of the Church's work has, in the past ten years, moved into the mainstream. The Church of England's new liturgies, Common Worship, to be published later this year, will contain for the first time a healing service with an element of deliverance.
The Roman Catholic Church has also noted an increase in exorcisms. Father Jeremy Davies, 65, an exorcist of the Westminster Diocese, writing in this week's Catholic Herald, says that there has been a worldwide increase in exorcisms, arguing that it is a direct result of the spread of "irreligion" and of "false" religions. He said: "There have been more exorcisms undoubtedly.
There are more people in need."
But he said that the Catholic Church was now "dealing with the problem
more effectively". The Vatican recently revised and reissued its exorcism rite.
In Italy, the number of priests carrying out exorcisms has risen from 20 six years ago to 300. Fears of demonic possession, are thought to be fuelled in part by films such as The Exorcist but are also being put down to the growth in new age pagan beliefs, such as the fear that people can be influenced by the spirits of their ancestors.
The Rev Stephen Parsons, vicar of Lechlade in Gloucester, said: "One of the things no one explains is why it is that in certain parishes the Devil comes in thick and fast, while in other parishes he is very quiet. The answer seems to be that it is where people believe in devils that they seem to emerge."
Mr Parsons, an adviser on healing, describes in his book Ungodly Fear the abuses of the exorcism rites among fundamentalist Christians. He tells the story of a parish in the Midlands where a woman was ostracised by the entire congregation after the vicar decided that she was possessed by the Devil.
Dr David Burnett, a social anthropologist and Baptist Church leader, who lectures at All Nations Christian College in Hertfordshire, said: "There is a big increase in exorcisms. People are feeling dissatisfied with the secular, materialist world and are looking for spiritual answers."
He said the Devil was being blamed for illness, accidents and other events over which people had little control.
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The number of exorcisms performed around the world is rising because of the growth of "new age" religions and spiritual blindness, a leading exorcist said yesterday.
Father Jeremy Davies, 65, an exorcist of the Westminster diocese, told the Catholic Herald that the increased vigilance of the Roman Catholic Church in the past 10 years had also contributed to the rise. He said: "There have been more exorcisms undoubtedly. There are more people in need and the church is dealing with the problem more effectively.
"The incidence of the demonic on the whole is rising. At the centre of this is man's ever-growing pride and attempted self-reliance. Man trying to build a better world without God another Tower of Babel." Father Davies, who is a co-founder of the 200-strong International Association of Exorcists begun in Rome in 1993, said other root causes were phenomena such as ignorance of the Bible, lack of faith and spiritual blindness.
The growth of false "new age" religions and gullibility about false prophets also contributed to the rise, he said. In response to the rise, the Vatican has issued a new exorcism ritual manual, which replaces the one in use since 1614. The ritual, a 90-page book entitled De Exorcismus et Supplicantionibus Quibustam (On Every Kind of Exorcism in Supplication) encourages priests to work closely with the medical profession to distinguish between cases of mental illness and demonic influence.
Father Davies, who was a doctor before taking holy orders, said the new ritual had not radically altered the work ofexorcists, as the old ritual also advised priests to distinguish between the varying degrees of demonic influence and natural psychological disorders. He warned that there was a tendency in the West to mistake the spiritual for the psychological, as opposed to the African continent where the reverse was true. Each Catholic diocese has to appoint an exorcist, but they are rarely identified publicly.
Under 1998 guidelines, they are forbidden to speak publicly about the
performance of the ritual or to record exorcisms for broadcast.
The new exorcism manual which is currently being translated from Latin for distribution to bishops and exorcists around the world retains much of the symbolism and language of the medieval ritual, but encourages priests to spend more time in prayer with the possessed person and tones down the most aggressive imprecations against the Devil.
The new manual is the result of 20 years' work by a Vatican commission of theologians and liturgists.
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DETACHMENT THERAPY 101
Ben H. Swett
17 September 1989
Introduction
Detachment therapy deals with discarnate entities attached to or residing within the spiritual body of the person being helped. The objective is help all possible entities, and that refers to both the person and the discarnates.
Methodology
The methodology I will be discussing is based on the work of Dr. William J. Baldwin. He is an ordained minister, has his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, and is a licensed exorcist of the United Anglican Communion Church. His methodology differs from other
approaches to exorcism in three important ways:
1. It is based on good-will
He tries to help every entity he can. For example, he does not merely try to expel demons; he tries to convert them--rescue them--by helping them change their ways and rejoin their brethren, the angels who did not fall. This is different. It shows that kindness, which is
good-will in action, is a fundamental axiom for this methodology.
2. It's rational
He works from an overall understanding (paradigm) of the spiritual universe in which what he says and does make sense. He does not operate in the blind, through faith in symbols or rote incantations. He knows what he is doing--not perfectly and not completely, of course, because he, too, is still learning--but this is a rational approach.
3. It works
I met Dr. Baldwin in May, as several of you did. Since then, I have conducted over forty one-on-one sessions with fifteen different people using his methodology or modifications thereof. As you know, I have no formal credentials whatsoever in this field. I make no
claims and accept no renumeration. I am merely practicing my religion in accordance with the Lord's instructions, when He said: "Go to the lost sheep of the House of Israel,
and proclaim as you go, saying `The Kingdom of God is at hand.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." I have now seen examples of those things being done. In some cases, I have been part of that work.
And although I am only beginning to understand this ministry, I have learned a few things that I would like to share with you.
Strategy
Teamwork
In my experience, at least, the operator has no power of his own and does not use any of his own energy. God's angels do all the work. And they only respond to the operator's requests because God has assigned them (temporarily) to that operator. Further, if the operator asks the angels to do something and they don't want to do it, the operator had better abandon that course of action, because it is probably not in accordance with the will of God.
Theology
The operator should first know God as God is revealed by Jesus. The power behind effective detachment therapy is not the old image of a god who judges harshly, condemns and punishes--it is the God of the New Testament, who is not willing that any should perish. He gives each soul free will, respects their free will, and encourages them to use it. If they use their free will to their own and others' detriment, He is disappointed but not vengeful.
This God--through those who serve others in His name--continually seeks for, searches out, and rescues lost souls and those who have intentionally gone astray. He loves them all, even the demons. And there is great rejoicing in heaven when a lost soul returns to
the light: I have felt it.
This is what is meant by the statement in John 1:12: "... to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God." Hebrew names convey a message: they have a literal meaning. In Hebrew, the name "Jesus" (Y'shua) literally
means, God saves or God rescues. Thus it is to those who believe God rescues that Jesus gives power to become children of God.
Jesus illustrated his message about the true nature of the rescuing God by his stories of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son (Luke, Chapter 15). He also stated unequivocally that he himself was sent on a rescue mission: "For the Son of Man came to
seek and to save the lost." (Luke 19:10)
Until one knows this and assimilates it well enough to act and react from basic good-will, which is the will of God, one is not likely to be effective in this work.
Initiative and Experience
The operator must take the initiative in detachment operations. If one course of action doesn't work, try another, based on your experience with these techniques. If you ask a question and there is no reply after a few seconds, just make a note "no response" and try
something else. Lost souls and demons are trapped or addicted--stuck in some kind of misconception or fundamental lie. They would not be stuck if they took the initiative to free themselves (or knew they could). The angels cannot see them very well because they
are spiritually dark or dim entities against a dark or dim background, and the lost ones themselves cannot see, do not believe in, or shun the light of angels. That is why a human is needed in spiritual rescue operations, to work between the light and the darkness.
Inspiration
I don't think Dr. Baldwin's techniques will work very well unless the operator is periodically receiving guidance from God during the operation. This is because the operator follows a logical course of action, based on his or her own experience and understanding, and that is not sufficient for this kind of work. Notice when the course of action changes abruptly and apparently illogically for the better: that is where the operator was inspired, where he or she received guidance from the Lord and acted on it. The most beautiful outcomes almost always depend on one or more inspired turning-points in the course of action.
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