Demonic Possession and Exorcism

I do believe there are demons and I believe they can possess if a person opens a door for them. I'm not a big believer in religion, but I am a believer in God, Christ, angels, and demons. I've seen too much in my lifetime to not believe. I'm not sure if all the exorcisms are truly for demonic purposes. If the person believes he/she is possessed by a demon, an exorcism will have a placebo effect and the person may then be free. One can never know unless they too see the face or presence or evidence of a demon. I remember being in a church service once and there was a person who felt she was possessed by a "devil" as she called it. The thing was, that at one point she seemed to change how she looked to those of us who were at the alter with her. Her face looked almost like it had scales on it for a few seconds and then she went back to herself.. then she started coughing and gagging when anointing oil was poured on her head. The pastor was exhausted, he had his bible laid upon her the whole time and we were all praying... when she began to cough, sputter and gag whatever was in her left, and she was free. She ran all around the church 7 times and came back to kneel at the alter and cry. I believe she had a demon in her, but it could have been that we saw what our minds wanted us to see... yet we up there with her saw the same thing. There were a lot of healings done through the power of belief in God in that church. I miss it, but I don't live near it anymore. I don't go to this type of church anymore... I got to more mainstream church services now. I don't see any of the miracles or strange things as this, but I do know that God is real and so is Satan and his minions.

I've not seen this movie, yet, but sooner or later I probably will. Many years ago, when I was doing some research on mental health, I ran across a book by M. Scott Peck (author of "The Road Less Traveled") called "People of the Lie." As a renowned psychiatrists, I believe he was probably qualified to determine the difference between mental illness and demonic possession. In the book, he says he attended an exorcism with skepticism, and found he was in error. Since I read his account and have no reason to believe he was a liar, I've taken a more open-minded view of the matter. I've met a lot of people who face challenges with their mental health daily, and I've met one who I believe is possessed by something, whether it be a past life, ghost or demon, I'm not going back to deal with the person and subject myself to their abusiveness when they seem possessed. Thanks for the discussion.

Yes, I liked this film and it is intriguing to think it is based on a true story. I am not sure that psychological explanations are any more believable all the best urban

There's a reason exorcisms don't often take place in the modern world. There's no need for it. What was formerly thought of as demonic possession we know now to be mental illnesses - or attention seeking.

Hi bostonphil, I haven't seen the movie but I've heard about such things. The human mind is very powerful, why knows what's really happening. We know that people can be indoctrinated into believing anything. Blessings.

Well if you believe in the Christian God then you will also believe in demonic possession since it is described in the bible.If you don`t believe in Christian God then you can`t really believe in devil either.You will think these people have mental problems. There are other religions where demonic possession is accepted.I don`t know too many things about this but i think demonic possession is also possible in Islam. I don`t know too many things about exorcism.From what we read in the bible Jesus and then the apostles had so much power than all they need was to command the demon to leave the body (the apostles in the name of Jesus ).Then the church used special prayers for that.For example here in the Orthodox world there are 3 prayers of exorcism made by Basil the Great and 4 prayers made by John Chrysostom in the 4th century. There is also exorcism on baptism.There the person who is baptized ( or the godfather if it`s a small kid ) is asked ""Do you renounce Satan, and all his angels, and all his works, and all his services. and all his pride?"

seen some movies about it but not the Rite I don't have religion anymore so my take on this is that demons are real but possessed by demons is something I am not too sure about it's interesting post anyway !

Now while I have not seen this particular movie, I have seen others. I kind of feel that it is possible for one to be possessed, but in some ways they must open there-self to be able to be possessed by demonic beings. I'm going to check out this movie as soon as possible.

I've never seen the movie that you are talking about, but I do believe that it is possible for a person to be possessed by a demonic being. I really can't explain why I think that this is possible, but it is something that I do believe in. Perhaps a big part of the reason that I think this is possible is because of the fact that I do believe in ghosts and I've actually been in buildings that were haunted, and that is the logical progression that a spirit possess a person.

YEs in my culture also there are instant where witch will poison the target end up vomitting blood and needles and nails, i personally not seen it , but hear about it and some photos too.I think this the world of supernatural are wise and sometime people are just plain unlucky to get involve with . I guess don involve in something that is bad properly in the first place they are playing with fire and later get burn.

i love those movies, "the exorcism of emily rose" or "the exorcist". i take the 'based on a true story' with a pinch of salt. weirdly enough the expression pinch of salt is based on fending of the devil.

Hey Boston phil, Hello there how's it going, I havent seen the movie yet but i have seen it's trailer and I think it is very interesting, in my country it would be stuid not to belive in those kinds of stuff because it happens a lot in different towns around my metro and even visitors from urban areas that are of social class tends to be infiltrated by elements all of a sudden and as a child ive experienced it so for me this is real, possesion is true but never have i encountered real demon posession only elements like dwarves and witches.

I've watched some exorcism movies, I've also watched "the rite". They said it was based on true stories. But i'm not sure if it's really true or not. As you said, it might be some sort of psychological or mass hysteria. In the old days, they thought people are possessed by some evil or something, but if you're going to study that person, they'll diagnosed him with some psychological problem. Like having some delusion and illusion. In our place, there are also people who once were possessed by spirits. I don't if it true. But that was scary. They said that they did something wrong with the spirits that's why they the spirit is punishing them. But true or not, i think we should gave respect to the lost souls.

I have watched 'The Rite' and i must say that what you saw is real. I have witnessed a an evil spirit speak through the person it has possessed. Some religious leaders have the power to exorcise these spirits.