SUMMARY OF VOLUME II: THE THEOLOGY AND HISTORY (249 pages) CHAPTER 5: Replying to the Reasoned Objections (40 pages)
When it comes to opposing the idea that a Christian can have an unclean spirit, two basic methods are used, reasons (rationales) and scriptural citations. This chapter covers the reasoned objections used against this idea. Twenty such rationales are listed, carefully scrutinized, and shown to be faulty in logic and in scriptural application. This includes such rationales as "God and Satan cannot coexist in the same place at the same time," "Light and darkness cannot be in the same place at the same time," "An unclean spirit cannot be in the temple of God," and "An unclean spirit cannot penetrate the blood of Jesus which covers the believer."
CHAPTER 6: Replying to the (Supposed) Scriptural Objections (29 pages)
The second method used to oppose the idea that a Christian can have an unclean spirit is through the use of scriptural citations. In this chapter fifty-four such passages are cited, thoroughly examined, and shown not to be in opposition to the idea at hand. Heavy reliance is made here, as is done throughout this book, on the technical definitions of key Greek and Hebrew words. No definitions are twisted; all are quoted directly from the lexicons and dictionaries as they are listed for each context.
CHAPTER 7: Scriptural Implications that a Christian Can Have an Unclean Spirit (23 pages)
Even though the Bible does not clearly state that a Christian can have an unclean spirit, it does give implications that such a thing is possible. These implications can be found in several New Testament cases, such as the epileptic boy (Matt. 17), Paul's "thorn in the flesh" (2 Cor. 12), and the "different spirit" which the Corinthians received (2 Cor. 11:4). Six such implications are explored; nothing is read into scripture that is not already contained within the Greek texts.
CHAPTER 8: Can a Person Have an Unclean Spirit Without Being Possessed? (26 pages)
When studying this issue of whether or not a Christian can have an unclean spirit, confusion often results from the fact that most people understand this question to be speaking in terms of possession. Though this concept may be included in the thesis of this book, it must be understood that a person can certainly have an unclean spirit without being possessed by it. The fact is, the New Testament uses seven different words to denote how a human and a spirit may be connected, with only two of these words necessarily implying possession; the rest do not specify to what degree the subject may be "influenced" or "controlled" by the spirit. After these words are listed and defined, twelve Biblical cases of people who "had" a spirit without being "possessed" are given and discussed, including the cases of King Saul, the idolatrous Jews (Hos. 4:12; 5:4), and the lady with the bent back (Luke 13).
Concerning the kind of "connection" that may exist between a believer and an unclean spirit, modern Christianity has developed the concept of "obsession," which refers to affliction through external means. But this too is a myth; there is no such concept in the Bible - at least, not in terms of chronic affliction.
CHAPTER 9: Saved, Healed, Delivered, Exorcised: What is the Difference? (16 pages)
Modern Christianity also has a tendency to confuse certain spiritual functions of the faith, such as salvation, healing, deliverance, and exorcism. Believers may be taught that when they get "saved," they also get "delivered;" then "deliverance" is equated with "exorcism." So Christians think that they could not possibly have any spirits within them because they got "delivered" during conversion. But the fact is, an "exorcism" is never called a "deliverance" in the New Testament; the two functions are never equated. And even though a person may get "delivered" during conversion, from what is he delivered? He is delivered from the kingdom of darkness; this means that he is taken out of something and not that something is taken out of him. This difference can be clearly seen in the exact definitions of the words used for deliverance and exorcism. To coin an old adage, there is a difference between "taking the boy out of the country" and "taking the country out of the boy." This is not to undermine the work of internal regeneration which occurs during conversion, but just to say that regeneration is not to be confused with exorcism. The fact is, a new convert no more gets automatically "exorcised" during the salvation experience than he gets automatically "healed" of physical ailments at that time.
CHAPTER 10: The History of Christian Exorcism (88 pages)
Since it is difficult to determine exactly what Jesus and the apostles believed concerning the connection between Christians and unclean spirits, the next best thing is to discover what their immediate successors, the apostolic and church fathers, believed. A few of them knew the apostles and might reflect their attitudes and beliefs. After this is examined, the history of this question is followed to see how the church of ages past addressed it. This survey includes the beliefs of prominent church figures, such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Wesley. The reader might be surprised to find out what these men believed concerning our question.
While this survey is being conducted, it is also appropriate to trace the history of exorcistic methods used by the church since these have directly affected the present attitude of the Protestant Church concerning not only the question-at-hand but also demonology in general. However, this study does not begin with the practices of the church fathers, but with those of pre-Christian civilizations, with those of Babylonia, Greece, and Judea. This is done in order to answer the charges of the liberal theologians that Jesus and the apostles learned their methods of exorcism from these ancient societies.
