265 lines
15 KiB
Plaintext
265 lines
15 KiB
Plaintext
|
|
|
|
A Minister Speaks Out on the Psychic and the Devil
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
by J. Gordon Melton
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In the late 1960's, the psychic truly came of age as a
|
|
major competitor of some forms of Christian faith. No longer
|
|
could it be dismissed as foolishness and because of this new
|
|
realization the 1960's also saw the birth of a new type of
|
|
literature in which fundamentalist Christians attack the
|
|
psychic as being "of the Devil."
|
|
|
|
As a minister of the Gospel I often am called upon to
|
|
evaluate this "antipsychic" literature. My interest in
|
|
psychic and spiritual healing, as well as church history, is
|
|
well known and laymen, having added a new depth to their
|
|
faith through experiencing psychic reality are concerned
|
|
that their fellow Christians should speak so harshly of
|
|
them. At the same time, my non-Christian acquaintances in
|
|
the psychic community consider the literature a 20th-Century
|
|
form of witch-hunting and ridicule it as an expression of
|
|
"Christian love."
|
|
|
|
The literature of which I speak consists of numerous
|
|
pamphlets and a few books, some claiming to be written by
|
|
former mediums or psychics now converted to conservative
|
|
evangelical Protestantism. A few of these booklets are from
|
|
Reformed or Baptist writers but by far the greatest number
|
|
represent the Protestant Pentecostal perspective.
|
|
(Pentecostals are those Protestants distinguished by a
|
|
belief that speaking-in-tongues, or glossolalia, is prima
|
|
facie evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.)
|
|
|
|
Their major argument is that the Bible condemns all
|
|
psychic activity and they cite a number of both Old and New
|
|
Testament passages (Deuteronomy 18:9-12;I Samual 28;Acts 8;
|
|
I Timothy 4:1) to make their point. The material is
|
|
accompanied by the warning that these devices of Satan shall
|
|
increase in the latter days and are signs of the end of
|
|
time. Satan is a major figure in the literature, especially
|
|
in the writings of Hal Lindsey, author of several popular
|
|
books on prophecy, who seems determined to prove Satan's
|
|
existence. The Church of Satan of Anton LaVey, although a
|
|
minor force even is occult circles, always is given a large
|
|
coverage and the remaining psychic community is wrongly
|
|
associated with him and his antiChristianity.
|
|
|
|
One is tempted to dismiss this literature as the
|
|
ravings of people who know little or nothing about their
|
|
topics. Even the converted mediums seem to be the ones who
|
|
flunked their training courses in basic psychic development.
|
|
In fact on a theological level the material is all but
|
|
worthless.
|
|
|
|
When the Pentecostal says that something is "of the
|
|
Devil" he really is saying in the strongest possible way
|
|
that he does not like it and disagrees with it. But for
|
|
someone who does not accept this world view, their is no
|
|
common standard to judge the Devil's tastes. I personally
|
|
think that cooked carrots are the Devil's favorite food
|
|
(with boiled okra running a close second). Who is to prove
|
|
me wrong? Certainly not those Devil-worshipping carrot
|
|
eaters. Satan's deceit is manifested by his inclusion of
|
|
vitamin A in carrots so people will think they are "good"
|
|
food!
|
|
|
|
There is no appeal then from personal taste, just as
|
|
there is no appeal from divine revelation. One can only hope
|
|
that a new dislike will arise to replace the psychic as the
|
|
"Devil's" main manifestation.
|
|
|
|
On a pastoral level, however, the antipsychic
|
|
literature takes on some importance. Almost weekly I hear
|
|
from laymen who have been victimized by well meaning if
|
|
fanatical acquaintances who challenge them with their devil
|
|
theology. It's one thing to read a book. Its quite another
|
|
to have a friend or relative say that something you are
|
|
doing is satanic and draw a line that places you outside the
|
|
church.
|
|
|
|
Such well meaning but misguided concern is reminiscent
|
|
of the Inquisition that tortured people out of loving
|
|
concern for their souls andthen killed them quickly lest
|
|
they turn again to their sin. It is for these victims that I
|
|
write. Hopefully, by discovering answers which will blunt
|
|
the major points of the attack on the psychic, they will
|
|
find a shield from the barrage of their Christian brethren.
|
|
|
|
* * * * *
|
|
|
|
If any central charge can be leveled at the Pentecostal
|
|
devil- psychic theory, it is shallow Biblicism. As one of my
|
|
Bible teachers warned me, "A text out of context becomes a
|
|
pretext." The antipsychic literature is rife with texts out
|
|
of context. Typical is the constant repetitions of the
|
|
Deuteronomic prohibitions against certain kinds of psychic
|
|
activity.
|
|
|
|
"When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy
|
|
God givth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the
|
|
abominations of those nations. There shall not be found
|
|
among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to
|
|
pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an
|
|
observer of times, or an enchanter, or a wizard, or a
|
|
necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination
|
|
unto the Lord thy God doth drive tham out from before thee."
|
|
|
|
(Deuteronomy 18:9-12.)
|
|
|
|
Two problems immediately arise in any modern use of
|
|
this text. First it contains several Hebrew words which
|
|
appear nowhere else in Hebrew literature and are
|
|
untranslatable. They were translated during the rule of
|
|
England's James 1 when witchcraft trials were popular and
|
|
terms useful in those trials were inserted into the text.
|
|
While we know the prohibitions are against certain forms of
|
|
divination, we do not know specifically which ones. These
|
|
prohibitions must, however, be set within the context of
|
|
"accepted" means of divination: dreams (Genesis 41), the
|
|
Urim and the Thummin, a Quija board-like device (Exodus
|
|
28:30), precognition (Judges 4:4), casting lots (Acts 1:26)
|
|
and the psychic experience (I Samual 9, particularly verse
|
|
9).
|
|
|
|
In certain contexts, such as the conflict with
|
|
Canaanite religion (particularly the blood-sacrifice cult of
|
|
Moloch), practices associated with divination are
|
|
prohibited. But in a differing context (Israel's own
|
|
religion and in the early church) divination was an accepted
|
|
practice (Numbers 27:21, Acts 1:26).
|
|
|
|
The second problem with the use of this text concerns
|
|
its present binding force on the church. While it may be a
|
|
matter of argument whether or not the text is binding, it
|
|
seems for anyone who accepts the "whole Bible" the commands
|
|
surrounding the prohibitions are as relevant as the
|
|
divination prohibition.
|
|
|
|
Thus anyone who wishes to use this text as literal
|
|
command today should also be prepared to stone stubborn
|
|
children (Deuteronomy 21:18), keep the feast of booths
|
|
(Deuteronomy 16:13) and accept polygamy (Deuteronomy 21:15).
|
|
|
|
As these verses show, this whole section of Deuteronomy
|
|
consists of legalisms which have little or no relevance
|
|
today and were only valid in the context of Israel's
|
|
struggle with the Canaanites.
|
|
|
|
* * * * *
|
|
|
|
A major complaint of conservative Christians is that
|
|
liberal Christians see them as being all alike, failing to
|
|
recognize significant differences of doctrine and lifestyle
|
|
exist amoung Holiness people and Pentecostals, Billy Graham
|
|
and the Reverend Ike, Baptists and Plymouth Brethren,
|
|
Wesleyans and Reformed. Conservatives strongly deny any
|
|
association with the weird and radical fringe that is part
|
|
of their movement, such as those fundamentalists who espouse
|
|
bigoted racial theories of the donning of ascension robes or
|
|
free sex practices.
|
|
|
|
Likewise the psychic community resents the naive and
|
|
ignorant lumping of psychic research and parapsychology with
|
|
healing, meditative practices with witchcraft, yoga with
|
|
hypnotism, astrology with the tarot, or Spiritualism with
|
|
satanism and black magic. Such an approach to the psychic is
|
|
the lowest form of the polemic.
|
|
|
|
While interests in the psychic often lead toexploration
|
|
of a number of areas, most people in the field have one or
|
|
two central concerns. (My own interests are psychic and
|
|
spiritual healing, prayer and meditation) While one learns
|
|
about many things one's involvement usually is in the
|
|
specific area that is most rewarding personally.
|
|
|
|
Pentecostal claims that involvement in the psychic
|
|
leads to possession are plainly false. Such involvement by
|
|
people who are emotionally unstable or who have immoral
|
|
motives can lead to possession-like phenomena, especially
|
|
when such people dabble with automatic writing, Quija boards
|
|
or seance activity. But such phenomena are no more prevalent
|
|
than those caused by speaking-in-tongues which also affects
|
|
the deep levels of the psychic. Any kind of psychic activity
|
|
-glossolalia included - can and does lead to possession
|
|
phenomena in the unprepared and unstable (see "The dangers
|
|
of Psychic Development" by Harmon H. Bro, October-November
|
|
1970 Fate.)
|
|
|
|
Finally, the central problem of the antipsychic
|
|
material is its orientation towards the negative, toward
|
|
evil and the devil. Such a book as Hal Lindsey's "Satan Is
|
|
Alive and Well" and Derek Prince's works on the demonic are
|
|
psychologically dangerous literature. They are major causes
|
|
of the phenomena they seem most to abhor. A simple
|
|
psychological principle is at work. As Aldous Huxley
|
|
explains in "The Devils of Loudon", "No man can concentrate
|
|
his attention upon evil or even upon the idea of evil and
|
|
remain unaffected. To be more against the devil than for God
|
|
is exceedingly dangerous. Every crusader is apt to go mad.
|
|
He is haunted by the wickedness which he attributes to his
|
|
enemies; it becomes some sort a part of him.
|
|
|
|
Prince, Lindsey and cohorts are pouring their energy
|
|
into fighting Satan. They are creating an atmosphere in
|
|
which it is the "in thing" to be freed from a possession.
|
|
Lonely, bored and highly suggestible people are only too
|
|
happy to respond with the called-for symptoms. At a mass
|
|
meeting if you produce a paper bag, someone will be happy to
|
|
regurgitate a "demon" for you.
|
|
|
|
Theologically, I sympathize with the Pentecostals.
|
|
Their leaders and writers certainly recognize the
|
|
theological attack the psychic represents for them. For
|
|
years they have been telling their followers that tongues
|
|
and healing "miracles" represent a direct supernatural
|
|
activity and are a self-authenticating sign of the Holy
|
|
Spirit. Considering tongues an outward sign of the baptism
|
|
of the Holy Spirit within is crucial to the Pentecostal
|
|
position. And psychic research applied to the "supernatural"
|
|
activities often results in a denial of their
|
|
supernaturalism. If non-Pentecostals and even non-Christians
|
|
can do these things, their value as a sign of baptism is
|
|
ended.
|
|
|
|
Pentecostalists denounce non-Christian phenomenon as
|
|
"counterfeit miracles." Discussing healing, one Pentecostal
|
|
writer says, "We can see that this gift, like all the other
|
|
gifts of the spirit, can be either from God or from Satan.
|
|
The counterfeit must be in appearance as good as the real
|
|
thing, otherwise it would not fulfill its aim." When Jesus
|
|
was accused of working satanic miracles (see Mark 3:20-26)
|
|
his reply was that a house divided cannot stand, a rejoinder
|
|
that still is valid.
|
|
|
|
The idea of "counterfeit miracles" is as much a problem
|
|
to the Pentecostals as it is to the psychic, moreover. If
|
|
counterfeit miracles exist, than no instance of speaking-in-
|
|
tongues can be considered a sign of the baptism of the Holy
|
|
Spirit until is has been tested. Like all Christian
|
|
experience the baptism is signified only if the fruits of
|
|
the spirit follow. Anyone can speak in tongues or be a
|
|
channel for miraculous healings. Only those persons filled
|
|
with the Spirit can bring forth love, patience and kindness
|
|
(Galatians 5:22). Pentecostals have no corner on the fruits-
|
|
of-the-spirit market.
|
|
|
|
In conclusion,involvement in the psychic clearly is
|
|
valid for the Christian, provided that involvement is done
|
|
in a same self- conscious context. I bid my Christian
|
|
brethren cease their harsh words and uninformed polemics.
|
|
Let us unite against our mutual psychic enemy, the perverted
|
|
phenomena that can wreck a life as surely as can alcohol or
|
|
narcotics. Allegiance at any particular theological
|
|
principle should not keep us from that fellowship we all
|
|
desire.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reprinted with permission of FATE Magazine.
|