religion in the news
RELIGION IN THE NEWS
A report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media. This week’s item is from the National Catholic Reporter, September 22, 2000. Pope John Paul II performed an impromptu exorcism at the close of his audience September 6th, but according to Rome’s chief exorcist, the demon was unmoved. Father Don Gabriel Amore, head of an International Association of Catholic Exorcists, spoke to the Daily Ilmesijeto about the incident. He said that a 19 year old woman became agitated during the audience attracting the attention of a bishop standing nearby. When attempts to calm her with a crucifix and a medal of the Virgin Mary failed, the bishop summoned the papal secretary who informed John Paul. The Pope met with the woman for a half hour, exorcising her and promising to offer mass for her the following morning. Amore told Ilmesijeto that he had been working with the woman and met with her again the following day. Her demon, he said, stayed put despite the papal effort. If you knew how content the devil was, Amore said, he sent the poor girl to sneer at me; your boss was not able to do anything against me. The September 6th incident marks, according to Ilmesijeto, the third exorcism performed by John Paul. The craft of exorcism after a period of dormancy following the 2nd Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965, appears to be making a comeback in contemporary Catholicism.
Tom:
Dave, this news article has come out, and we will see more of this because a couple of months ago they just had a reissue of the movie, The Exorcist, and of course now they have added a little things to it, and so on, but it’s supposed to be more exciting than ever. But this business of exorcism. You know, I’ve read a lot of the material that the Catholic Church has issued on that, and it’s been since the 17th century they’ve had documents stating how a priest was to go about exorcism. And they have revised that of late, changing the language but not changing the content. But you find that in their thrust to do this there is a ritual involved, but that’s not the biblical way, is it?
Dave:
Rituals are of no value. Rituals work in magic and magic, demonic, witch doctors have certain rituals they go through, sacramentalism is related to the rituals. The idea that a ritual has some spiritual value and power just is contrary both to common sense and to the Word of God. For example, it’s closely related to scapulars and medals. I have a scapular that I keep in the Bible to show people, on one end of it, it says, whosoever dies wearing this scapular shall not suffer eternal fire. Well, two problems, 1) if you believe Christ paid the penalty for your sins, you don’t need a scapular. 2) What kind of a God delivers you from eternal fire because you wear a scapular. It’s like the fetishes and so forth in the pagan world. So, a ritual to exorcise demons is the same. What is this, impress demons? Are they impressed that you go through some ritual, or does God’s power depend upon you going through some ritual? Where in the Bible does it say that God’s power can be released by some ritual? Now you have the same idea with many of the so-called faith teachers, you know, touch my hand, this is a point of contact and even Oral Roberts had people light candles, you know, he lit the red candle while they lit the green candle, and this starts miracles flowing. What kind of a God releases his power because you go through some ritual? So we know, first of all, that the ritual isn’t right. Secondly—
Tom:
Dave, let me just add one thing to that. When I was doing research on the apparitions, there was a funny, at least interesting aspect with regard to St Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes. She wanted to test to see if this apparition was really true, and so what she did was, when the apparition appeared she tried to douse it with holy water. Well, the apparition smiled at her and said this is the way to do it. So the apparition itself reinforced the ritual which is the problem, isn’t it?
Dave:
Right. There is no such thing as holy water. You won’t find it in the Bible, when Jesus said to the woman at the well, whoever drinks of this water will thirst again. The water that I give will be in him a well of water springing up to everlasting life. You drink of the water that I give, you will never thirst again. Jesus is not talking about some kind of H2O that has been blessed. He’s talking about spiritual life and power and truth and reality and it does not come about through physical rituals. But that is the tragedy that people are trusting in this, the medals they wear, the scapulars. The Pope has worn a scapular since childhood. God does not honor those things, and you can wave a crucifix at a demon and they will laugh at you. And you can throw holy water on the apparition, and as you said, it will smile.
Tom:
Unless they are trying to reinforce this idea, this false idea.
Dave:
Well, but of course they are reinforcing it, but throwing holy water that has been blessed isn’t going to frighten a demon, and waving a crucifix isn’t not going to frighten a demon. No, it’s what happened on that cross, who Jesus Christ is, and so forth it’s like the seven sons of Sceva the Jew. They came to the demon possessed man and said, In the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches get out! And the demon said Jesus I know and Paul I know, who are you? So, the next question is, What is a demon, how did it get in this person and what is the basis of its power and what good will it do to cast it out? Now we’ve talked about it before, Jesus said, a demon is cast out unless something is put in its place, it wanders through dry places, Christ said, it comes back and it finds its old house, it’s swept and clean and looks pretty nice. It brings seven demons, worse than itself, they inhabit, and the end of that person is worse than the beginning. So, just casting out a demon, even if that were actually done, and that is biblical. Jesus said, Go into all the world and preach the gospel, make disciples, and so forth. And you are to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, and so forth. And this can be done if it is God’s will. 1) It must be God’s will; it must be God’s time to do this. 2) I believe a person must be willing. If you cast a demon out of a person who really wants to be demon possessed, they are only going to bring it back in again. So it’s not the ritual, it’s not the idea of casting out the demons, but what does this person believe? Jesus said, for example, if you continue in my Word, then you are my disciples, you will know the truth, the truth will set you free. So a person is really set free by the truth, it’s the truth of God that destroys the lie of Satan and then sets a person free. It’s not some ritual, but the Catholic Church is not involved in that truth at all, they just have a ritual.
Tom:
Right, and evangelicals for their part, I’m thinking of individual who go around the country setting up their seminars and how to deliver people from demons, and they are just as much at fault or in error as the Roman Catholic Church in this.
Dave:
Well, I would have to agree with you on that. If a demon is really cast out, that’s biblical. If you’ve got some technique for doing it, or you think you are casting demons out of Christians, and I got the demon of lust cast out of me last week—I mean, I talk to Christians like this and then I lusted again, that demon must have come back in. So you can begin to blame the works of the flesh on demons, and that’s not good either.
Gary:
You’re listening to a special edition of Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. Still to ahead in this revisit to our 2000 series, Religion in the News, plus answers to your questions in Contending for the Faith, and in Understanding the Scriptures, Dave and Tom will continue their discussion of God’s salvation. In addition to this radio program we publish a monthly newsletter which we make available free of charge. We also produce and distribute a wide variety of teaching materials including books in print, e-book and audio book formats, CD’s, DVD’s and other items to encourage the serious study of God’s Word. For a complete list of materials, or to get a copy of today’s broadcast write to us at POB 7019, Bend, Oregon 97708, call our toll free order number 800-937-6638, that’s 800-937-6638, or visit our website at www.thebereancall.org. If you would like a copy of this broadcast on compact disk ask for Program #2709, and be sure to mention the call letters of this station. We’ll repeat this information at the end of the program. Now, back to our special revisit to the year 2000. Now:
RELIGION IN THE NEWS
A report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media. This week’s item is from the Portland, Oregon, Oregonian with the headline: “Medium’s Talk Show Aims to Connect Guests and Deceased Loved Ones.” “Crossing over with John Edwards is a talk show with a difference. The audience is live, but the guests are goners, out of here and into the hereafter, in other words, dead. Host Edwards is on hand to act as a go-between. He’s a grown up version of the boy in The Sixth Sense. What you are about to see is real, we are told at the beginning of the new sci-fi cable channel series. Edwards crisply leads New York audience members and celebrities including Linda Dano and Carmen Electra through heavenly exchanges with late relatives and friends. The host tells one woman that a man, apparently her late husband is reaching out to her. She is unnerved when Edwards relates details of a trip she took to Niagara Falls with the couple’s daughter. “Did you find a feather there and did you tell your daughter that was her daddy?” Edwards asks the woman, who nods weeping. “Is there a husband or brother for you that’s passed?” He asks another woman in the same episode. Yes, she replies. This has got to be an ex-husband we are talking about because he’s removing himself from you Edwards says. He wants to be known as the “ex,” that’s how he’s coming across. Edwards compares his vision of the dead to daydreams in which information is delivered by sight, by sound and feeling. He hasn’t been briefed according to the show. “If someone is into New Age or spiritual programming they have show like ours supervising,” producer Paul Shavelson said. Imagine trying to sell a show like this a decade ago.
Tom:
Well here we are Dave, séances come to cable, and basically that’s what this is. The Bible calls it necromancy. It condemns trying to communicate with the dead, but as the guy says, hey there are people out there who are interested—New Age—but I am also concerned that people who believe they are Christians get into this.
Dave:
Yes, well this has been around since the beginning of course. We get that from the Bible and you quoted from Deuteronomy 18 where it condemns—you are not to try to communicate with the dead—I mean, why?
Tom:
Well, why not?
Dave:
Well yes, good question, because the dead can’t communicate with you. But there are seducing spirits who will pretend to be the dead and who will lead you astray. This has happened; you know we’ve written some books about this. We’ve research it and this has happened down through the ages. Some of the—well, Queen Victoria was very much into this through one of her servants and she thought she was communicating with the dead. Lincoln’s wife wanted very much to communicate with the spirits of their dead sons. You could bring it up to date—the CIA from the information that I have—they may deny it, but the CIA has even consulted some of these people to contact the spirits of dead agents—this is in the days of the Cold War, maybe they still do it, to find out how they were betrayed, what secrets they may have given out when they were tortured, you know and so forth. This has been a common belief of mankind—the desire to look beyond and you know and you probably—maybe some of our listeners would remember James Pike. He was an Episcopal bishop from California.
Tom:
Yes, we’ve mentioned him before.
Dave:
He thought he was in touch with the spirit of his dead son. Always it’s like you have here, the demon who is impersonating can even sometimes put on the voice, but can tell of only the things the deceased and the survivor know about supposedly and that convinces people. Well, it’s got to be because here comes factual evidence.
Tom:
Dave on the one hand we quote the scripture where necromancy—the communicating with the dead is condemned. On the other hand we have the example of Samuel and Saul.
Dave:
Yes, the witch at Endor.
Tom:
Correct.
Dave:
…And here comes Sammy. Did we talk about this before? I can’t remember.
Tom:
We mentioned it, but I think it—related to this—I think we should go over it again.
Dave:
Well first of all you have one example, so that’s not enough to base—well now I am going to do this because it happened once. I believe (and now there are differences), I think Samuel really did appear. The witch was shocked (it says) and here he comes. I believe that God allowed it as an exception, and Samuel in fact, says why have you disturbed me, so obviously he wasn’t flitting about on the astroplane ready to be interviewed by anybody, so that would indicate this is an unusual instance. I believe he came because God allowed him to and he pronounced judgment. He told Saul he was going to die and that’s not the kind of message you want to get from beyond the grave. That wouldn’t encourage too many people.
Tom:
But it’s also a fulfillment of the commandment God said don’t do this and the penalty for it was death and Saul indeed died.
Dave:
That’s right. Yes, so definitely there are a lot of phonies out there. I think we mentioned it in one of our books. There’s a whole community of them and they have their networks and they gather information on people and they pass it on to others. You can come out with some pretty impressive things. On the other hand there are those who are really in touch with the spirits of the dead so-called, being impersonated by demons. They are really the dangerous—well they are all dangerous. Part of the problem is Tom and I think in some of our books we’ve given examples of people who have gone to these séances and been led astray and disasters have come into their lives. The scripture says in Isaiah 8:20 “Why consult the dead?” Why is Aunt Jane who wasn’t too bright when she was alive, how come she’s so all wise now? And you want to consult her spirit and get all this information. The Bible says to the law and to the testimony. Let’s go to what God has to say, not to what these deceiving spirits have to say. And if they speak not according to this Word there is no light in them and one of the things this Word says is don’t consult them.
Tom:
Right and one of the sad things Dave is that people are attracted to that because they’ve lost a loved one and they want to be comforted and they want to be counseled, but they’re not going to get truth, they aren’t going to get what they hope for even though it’s a lie that may soothe them for awhile, but that’s what it is, it’s a lie.
Gary:
You’re listening to a special edition of Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. Still to come in this revisit to our 2000 series, Religion in the News, plus answers to your questions in Contending for the Faith, and in Understanding the Scriptures, Dave and Tom will continue their discussion of God’s salvation. In addition to this radio program we publish a monthly newsletter which we make available free of charge. We also produce and distribute a wide variety of teaching materials including books in print, e-book and audio book formats, CD’s, DVD’s and other items to encourage the serious study of God’s Word. For a complete list of materials, or to get a copy of today’s broadcast write to us at POB 7019, Bend, Oregon 97708, call our toll free order number 800-937-6638, that’s 800-937-6638, or visit our website at www.thebereancall.org. If you would like a copy of this broadcast on compact disk ask for Program #2609, and be sure to mention the call letters of this station. We’ll repeat this information at the end of the program. Now, back to our special revisit to the year 2000. Now:
RELIGION IN THE NEWS
A report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media. This week’s item is from the Bend, Oregon Bulletin, with a headline: “Spirituality, Total Liberation is at the Root of Yoga.” These days it seems everyone’s doing it, for many, physical fitness and relaxation are the goals of yoga, and certainly those are lofty aims at a culture of traffic jams and fast food drive through. Most people who arrive at the doors of “Yoga for Help” in Arlington, Texas, enter not because they are looking for religion, but because they are seeking a way to relieve stress, said Leonard Jefferson, who owns the studio. In his classes, Jefferson said, he does not emphasize the spiritual aspects of yoga, but concentrates on the physical postures, exercises and breathing techniques. For Carrie Rollins of the wellness center in Fort Worth, yoga is clearly not a religion. As an osteopathic doctor, Rawlins uses it in her medical practice and teaches it as preventative medicine, she says. Anyone with any religion can practice yoga, said Rawlins, who teaches some of the center’s 19 weekly classes. It has a spiritual side to it, but not a religious side, Rawlins said. However, even for those who practice yoga to improve their health and relieve stress, spiritual elements can surface. It can be used strictly on a physical level, she said, but that spiritual element creeps in.
Tom:
Dave, it’s not possible to practice yoga without the spiritual side entering in. The whole concept of it comes out of Hinduism. As we’ve mentioned in the past, yoga is basically yoking yourself to Brahman, the god of the universe.
Dave:
Tom, but I think maybe that statement you made seems a little bit too strong to some people.
Tom:
Okay, well, lighten it up.
Dave:
No, I’m not going to lighten it up, I am going to justify it, what you said.
Tom:
All right.
Dave:
The whole purpose of yoga, as you said, is to yoke with Brahman. It’s self realization to realize that I’m god, because everything is god. I’m a funny kind of a god, I forgot that I was god, so I practice yoga in order to remember that I’m god with self realization. Yogananda, self realization society, he brought that: well, if I’m god and I forgot that I was god, what good will it do me to remember that I am god when I forget it again. But anyway, the point you were making is, yoga was designed for this purpose, to escape time, sense and the elements, to reach Moksha. It’s a technique for dying, not for living, okay! So all of the positions that this article talked about, the breathing exercise and so forth, were specifically designed to put you into this altered state of consciousness to get you into this unity with Brahman, with the universe, to reach cosmic consciousness with some of our young people will experience on drugs. So, how can you take something that was designed for this, and then use it for something else? So, they are talking about physical fitness. Well, if you are interested in physical fitness, you should practice exercises that were designed for physical fitness. I’m not saying that these would not make you limber, and so forth, but you cannot escape the spiritual aspect of this and the reason you can’t escape it is because that is what if was designed for. Even the physical positions, the exercises and breathing and so forth are all designed for a spiritual purpose.
Tom:
Right, and it’s more meditation than it is aerobics. Somebody who wants to exercise, well, aerobics, that might be a value to them. But there is a spiritual side that is inherent with meditation.
Dave:
Well, meditation Tom, again we have to define the word because meditation in the West always meant contemplate. In the Bible for example, Psalm 1, In his law, God’s law, doth he meditate day and night.
Tom:
Well, give me another word, these words are being confused. Sometimes when you say, contemplation, it goes back really to an Eastern idea of looking within. So really we’re talking about thinking, using your mind, that’s the heart of it.
Dave:
Concentrating upon trying to come to a deeper understanding of God’s Word, or something. This is what meditation always meant in the West. Now, as you said, it’s been confused by the influence from the East. But this meditation from the East is the opposite; you’re not supposed to think. You’re supposed to arrive at this relaxed but alert state, but without any thoughts running through your mind. In fact you want to quiet yourself to get to the point where you are not thinking, you are not in control. That’s not meditation, that is opening yourself to demonic entities. So, Tom, if we had time to quote from some of the books on yoga by the great yogi’s, they warn you. They warn you that you could be taken over by another spirit; you ought to have somebody actually monitoring you as you go into this relaxed trance state. In fact, in much yoga, not all yoga it’s practiced, you have a mantra. For example, those who practice transcendental meditation with Maharishi, they discovered that their mantra, all the mantras are the names of Hindu deities. And again, read the books on yoga, by the great masters of yoga and they will tell you that the repetition of these mantras is a call to these entities to come and possess you. So you can’t escape that, although you are told, Maharishi said, this is scientific, it has nothing to do with religion that was a lie! So they’re getting what they think is good health and they are actually getting into Hinduism.
Tom:
Right. Dave, most people, if they are going to do something they want to do it really well. If they are going to put their time and energy into it they want to understand it and do it the best they can. Now, you go to the YMCA, you take a course in yoga, people from the East, yogis who practice this would laugh at what goes on over here because it has nothing to do, really with, although it’s built upon it and there are some aspects of it but it’s not yoga as it is practiced in the East. It has to do, as you said, with a process of dying.
Dave:
So why call it yoga, Tom?
Tom:
Yeah, that’s a good question.
Dave:
That’s deceptive advertising.
Tom:
Dave, my point is, people are getting into something, maybe not expecting it to be spiritual, but that is the heart of this, and they are going to pick up baggage including, in some cases, there are warnings out there by these teachers, demonic possession, not in every case, but at least they are going to have their, if they are Christians they are going to have their Christian world view completely undermined by this process.
Dave:
They are going to take up a world view; there is no doubt about that. They will pick up an un-Christian, unbiblical world view without a doubt.
