Like many who come to understand the ways of demons, my early inclination was to avoid an issue that made me very uncomfortable. When it became unavoidable—a university classmate in Ohio, a student in Africa, a fellow congregant in Colorado, all troubled by something that clearly was not mental illness (my area of expertise since 1976)—the clergy I consulted were as ignorant as I and unable to give effective aid. What forced me to study and learn about demonization was my son Owen’s need for help (detailed in the July 2015 blogpost Treasure). My efforts on his behalf, in large part, cost me my marriage.
My husband’s take on demons was/is typical of the majority of Christians in the West, where a rationalistic, scientific worldview—ushered in by the eighteenth-century Enlightenment—assumes no reality beyond the natural, material universe. Influential Bible commentator William Barclay suggested that people who believe themselves troubled by demons are delusional and that they are cured simply through the power of suggestion.* I’ve learned that those of us who think otherwise can expect skepticism, scoffing, and worse; as I took steps to address Owen’s spiritual needs, my husband said: “You’re insane; you’ll do irreparable damage to our son!” I had read enough to know that demons mock, accuse, and try to intimidate when the ground they have been holding is threatened, but I was stunned when—a week later—the kind, reasonable man I had loved for three decades (and still do), his eyes full of hate, snarled at me: “You are evil, poison.” That was not my husband speaking. Two weeks earlier he'd said: "Do you think one day we'll laugh about all this?" I await that day with faith and hope, because the more I learn of demons, and how to stand against them in the name and power of Jesus Christ, the more I laugh at their bluster, knowing Christ has the upper hand...that He rules in the midst of His foes.
In spite of opposition, Owen and I pursued and have received the healing and deliverance he needed. The journey has been arduous, but such joy in the outcome! In speaking up on the issue, I count myself among thousands indebted to two couples who took on this challenging work several decades ago: Francis and Judith MacNutt and Peter and Fiona Horrobin. The MacNutts are based in the US (https://www.christianhealingmin.org) and the Horrobins in England (https://ellel.org), but their efforts extend around the world through books, conferences, and the testimonies of those (including many clergy) healed and freed from demonization.
An Inbox message the day after Christmas proclaimed: “When we help even one person heal from trauma we can change the world!…because it doesn’t stop there…that healing often ripples though [the person’s] family, friends, and community as well.” This, from The National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine (https://www.nicabm.com), echoes a conviction that has grown in me over the past four years—that those in our own circle who have long struggled with unhealed wounds, and some possibly with demonization, can find healing and deliverance.
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| Some "inner critics" are real rather than imaginary! |
What does demonization have to do with healing? The MacNutts/Horrobins note that 75-90% of demonization is linked to trauma and wounding. Demons can block healing by nudging traumatized persons to feel shame, rejection, to blame themselves, to hold in secret what needs to be brought to light. They can be the accusing voices inside the head: “Because of _______, you’re no good.” Wounded persons who are demonized (psychotherapist Judith MacNutt found this was about a third of her clients) often have a sense of heaviness or oppression that does not get better with traditional psychiatric interventions. Some self medicate with alcohol/drugs, or they despair and commit suicide. Others suppress their pain and find a false, pseudo-healing in a form of Christianity that denies both the power of Satan to hold them in bondage and the power of God to free them. Living a lie inhibits open-hearted relationships with partners, children, and others (psychiatrist M. Scott Peck illustrates this in People of the Lie). The wounded—especially if demonized—often wound those closest to them. The Enemy can easily divide and even destroy "Christian" marriages and families where there is unhealed pain and shame by promoting blame and/or stonewalling--a refusal to talk about hurts and misunderstandings.
The day after Christmas, Owen and I were talking of family wounds and healing while drinking coffee and munching toffee when we heard someone calling “Owen” at our gate. It was a man who had recently shared personal struggles with Owen; “Come visit anytime, if you want to talk more,” offered Owen. So here he was—his bicycle wheels thick with mud from a Christmas rain.
“This place feels so peaceful,” he said, taking a seat at our table. He sipped coffee while I—knowing of his drug relapse, return to rehab, broken relationships—spoke briefly about our own journey and desire to help others in need of healing.
“Other Christians seem to be happy in their lives, to not need help,” said he, a believer and church-goer for years, his eyes full of pain.
“Many people need help, but don’t feel free to say so,” I said. “Often the pain they carry is deep and there is shame and fear of judgment—especially if they have experienced something like sexual abuse.” Then, as Owen shared his own story of abuse, the man began to weep. We paused, offered tissues, water, a comforting hand on the shoulder.
“The same thing happened to me,” he said. He had never spoken of it to anyone. Now forty, he’s been struggling for years to forgive the one who harmed him at age nine—an older cousin.
Healing for our friend will be a process...if and when he is willing to pursue it. There is rarely a quick fix, but we can walk alongside him confident that God desires to heal the brokenhearted and to free those bound by shame and/or unconfessed wrongs and/or an inability to forgive. Confession and forgiveness are the first steps in healing; many have attested to a lightening of spirit afterwards, as demons who may have been present often leave when these steps are taken. The healing of deep and/or multiple wounds may take considerable time; Fiona Horrobin offers practical, comforting guidance in her book Intercession & Healing: Breaking Through with God.
This is a complex topic, and as a psychiatric nurse specialist, I want to promote a balanced and discerning approach to it! Owen and I are willing to share more detail of his/our journey, answer questions, and/or suggest other resources. Feel free to email me at jan.engle.lewis@gmail.com and/or Owen at owen.edward.lewis@gmail.com.
*Others—from preliterate tribal groups to sophisticated cultures like Japan—have long been aware of the work of demons. Those of these cultures who come to faith in Christ, but still struggle with demonic forces, often return to traditional healers (witch doctors, curanderos) because Christian clergy are unable to help them (examples in Chapter 3 of F. MacNutt’s Deliverance from Evil Spirits: A Practical Manual).
