Is There a Gift of Exorcism?

Since the 1973 movie, The Exorcist, there has been one exorcist movie after the next. There are six installments in the Exorcist franchise. The latest is The Exorcist: Believer in 2023. One exorcist movie, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, produced by a Biola University graduate is based on the true exorcist tragedy of 24-year-old Anneliese Michel. Two Catholic priests performed 67 exorcism sessions, one or two each week, lasting up to four hours, over ten months in 1975–1976. Anneliese Michel died the next year and her parents and the two priests were found guilty of negligent homicide.

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Review of Apologetics: A Justification of Christian Belief by John M. Frame

Frame states that many passages of the Bible from the prophets, Jesus, and the apostles do not sound very “peaceful.” These men were willing to use very strong, angry language when necessary. On many occasions, however, they showed much patience and gentleness. In my view, strong language is appropriate against people who (1) claim to have some religious teaching authority, and (2) are proclaiming false doctrine on serious matters, leading believers astray, or are dishonoring orthodox doctrine by ungodly lives, and (3) have ignored clear and graciously expressed warnings that their conduct displeases God. The Protestant Reformers used similarly strong language (which can usually be justified on these principles). Most of those today who are seeking to emulate the biblical and Reformation writers in this respect are overdoing it, in my opinion. They should learn to give at least equal attention to peacemaking.

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