My First Exorcism. Harold Ristau
Some will find the narratives daunting, while for others the more austere components of certain commentaries may prove unsettling. Notwithstanding the title, this book is not about exorcism. A disquisition indubitably resembling a diatribe at times, the accounts of demonic oppression and possession recorded here offer a springboard intended to stimulate critical thinking, challenge metaphysical presuppositions and inspire belated conversation on a series of topics that have traditionally been avoided due to the impetuosity that they incite inside each one of us. Advancing no succinct plot, these streams of thought delineate inquiries into the subtleties of demonic activity of individual and communal life as their common thread. Furthermore, the opinions expressed herein are in no way representative of the military institution for which I work, nor are they reflective of all the clergy within my church body. But more than likely it is the subject matter and eyewitness accounts that will be deemed most disturbing. St. John Chrysostom likened the practice of biblical hermeneutics to sea travel in which some, who are less accustomed to it, experience seasickness. The dizziness felt arises not from the sea, but rather from the voyagers’ inexperience at sea.12 The analogy may be applicable to this odyssey. In any case, let us now leave the harbor and enter the depths together.
Jacob’s Star in all its splendor,
Beams with comfort sweet and tender,
Forcing Satan to surrender,
Breaking all the powers of hell.13
1. Despite many of its secular presuppositions, the medical community is increasingly recognizing the necessity of spiritual care alongside psychiatric treatment of those exhibiting alleged signs of demon possession. Koenig, Faith and Mental Health, 153.
2. Although it is hard to tell, since cadavers were often buried in unmarked shallow desert graves, the mountain was likely a mass grave for which enemy forces were responsible.
3. Although there is an overlap between temporal and eternal realities in what many call “spirituality” (for Christians, prayer, liturgy and sacraments act as links between the two spheres), the rules that function within one sphere do not necessarily apply to the other.
4. For more information on the role of exorcism in the Lutheran tradition, see Robert H. Bennett who concisely explores the contributions of Martin Luther, C.F.W. Walther and Francis Pieper, to name a few, in I Am not Afraid, 129–167.
5. Amorth, An Exorcist tells his Story, 79.
6. From Dr. Martin Luther’s 1526 rite in Rites and Resources for Pastoral Care, 143.
7. AE 51: 325
8. Accordingly C.F.W. Walther mentions how the “devout” can also be possessed by demons. Walther’s Pastorale, 214.
9. Amorth, An Exorcist: More Stories, 138; Vogl, Begone Satan!, 19.
10. Amorth, An Exorcist, 25–52.
11. See John W. Kleinig, Grace upon Grace: Spirituality for Today, 256–260.
12. Chrysostom, Old Testament Homilies, 8.
13. TLH 90.
A Midsummer’s Nightmare
That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. (Matt 8:16)
If there were a list of the top 10 things not to do while exorcizing a demon, one of the first would read: “Have a conversation with it.” Though I made many others, that mistake was not one of them. I was, however, tempted. I will explain later.
I was nineteen years of age when I first heard a devil speak. I befriended a classmate, who had survived a life of various kinds of abuse, coupled with a wide range of experimentation with illegal drugs and accented by regular forays into the satanic arts. I have given her the pseudonym “Lisa.” I suspected that she was not altogether normal by her occasional zone-outs in which she would fall into a seeming trance. Her eyes would tenuously fog over as she deafened herself to my voice. An aura of concentration would overtake her facial expression as if she were listening to another speaker, even though we were alone. It was my first exposure to this kind of parapsychological phenomena. An acquaintance of mine displayed almost identical behaviour. He too was involved in the occult. In both cases, the episodes did not last more than a minute and the victim had no recollection of what had just transpired.
There was no question in my mind that these individuals were oppressed by something demonic. The peculiar displays were distressing, but I had no doubts that Jesus Christ was victorious over the devil and his evil hosts. One collect for Easter boldly states how by His death on the cross and His glorious resurrection we have been delivered from the enemy camp rendering all of Satan’s power ineffectual. Confirmed in the Lutheran Church, I full-heartedly believed that every Christian had the authority and power to rebuke the evil tyrant, and this included counteracting his physical manifestations. Even at a young age we learned about the implications of the “communication of attributes” from the divine nature to the human nature of Christ. The word “Christology” may not have been uttered in our Sunday school class, but the notion was presupposed even in pre-adolescence. Derived from the logic of an early church council at Chalcedon in AD 451, the genus maiestaticum summarizes how the divine attributes are delivered to the human nature of the person of Christ due to its personal union with His divinity. This theological language may seem esoteric to the laity, but when one patiently unpacks the concepts and reverently reflects upon their elating claims, even the simplest child is filled with both mesmerizing awe and heart-warming comfort. Jesus’ divine Word, deployed from human lips, stills storms. Wow! Due to the incarnation, the powers of God are not locked away in heaven. They have vanished from human sight but are still actively expressed through physical means. For instance, after His resurrection, the man Jesus passes through locked doors. He is witnessed appearing and disappearing. These are properties reserved for spirits. Yet Jesus is not a ghost. He is a man, and remains a man. In order to defuse their doubts, the Lord chooses to eat with His disciples. He does the same today as His omnipresence continues to be employed by means of His human nature. He remains present in the flesh of His body and blood through Eucharistic celebrations at all times and at all places. He is always fully, and not partially, with us. The grip of evil may oscillate, but the presence of God never fluctuates. His nearness is not a yo-yo contingent upon our shifting prayers or lack of holy inner qualities. He is a God who has become man, entirely. He remains fully human—yet mostly hidden. The birth of Christ, which assumed all flesh in Himself, and His subsequent redemptive works culminating on Good Friday has re-dignified our human nature in general and our Christian bodies in particular. We are, after all, His body. Hence, those divine attributes and powers are, in a mystical and mysterious sense, our possession. My words can now frighten the demons by both form and content: they protrude from fleshly lips redeemed by Christ, the God-man, and they carry a divine message originating in the heavenly city. When God made humankind in His image, He knew that one day He would assume that very image in its