Question:

I’d like to ask you a question about spirits and demon possession. If you could help me, below is the situation.  A friend of mine told me that he is helping a couple.  The husband told him that his wife is having times with different attitudes. He thinks that a spirit or a demon possesses his wife.  The woman does not have strong Christian convictions.  In fact, she left Christianity for a while and then came back. My friend says she cannot have a demon because a spirit or demon is not allowed by God to posses a Christian.  This situation is causing him to question her conversion.  The husband and children of the woman are very afraid by what is happening to her. She told things to her husband that only he knew about.  It seems like divination. She doesn´t remember the things, and will realize what happened only few days after the event. The family is wanting to get some help in this issue.  I don’t know how to help.  Do you have any suggestions?

Answer:

I am extremely skeptical that this has anything to do with demons. “Demons” are a convenient explanation of a lot of things. First of all, if the wife is in fact a Christian, then it is literally impossible for her to be possessed by a demon. Your friend is right. A Christian, with the Holy Spirit dwelling in him/her, cannot be possessed by a demon. This is clearly impossible. I am confident there is a natural explanation for the facts you heard. I do not know the situation, so I cannot propose a specific explanation, but I am confident that there is a perfectly natural explanation of the experiences this woman is having. It is possible that the woman is having psychological symptoms. I cannot say. Perhaps she is suffering from schizophrenia or extreme depression or some sort of personality disorder. There are many emotional/psychological disorders which can explain what might seem to be demon possession. It sounds to me that she needs both spiritual and psychological help. I would urge this couple to seek both Christian counseling and professional psychological help if this is possible. I do not know this woman, so you should take my advice with caution, but I think that the demon possession is very unlikely. If you want some good input on this topic, you can find a ten hour series of lessons on “Christianity and the Paranormal” at www.ipibooks.com This is lessons from a conference we did on the topic. I especially recommend the lesson in that series by Doug Jacoby.

John Oakes