Confessions of a Demonized Christian: Introduction

Many people have written of their affliction by demons, but my Confessions of a Demonized Christian is unusual in being a frank, first-person account of how my own sins and a demonic lie led to my occupation and affliction by demons while I was already a Christian.

One of my purposes in writing these confessions is to show other afflicted Christians how to tell whether or not they have received demons into their bodies. Then, by telling my story of how—by God’s grace—I overcame my demons, I want to help similarly demonized Christians overcome theirs. Finally, by exposing the demons’ methods of operation, I want to help yet others entirely avoid invasion by demons.

Christian Writer Since 1973

My track record as a Christian writer since 1973 shows my seriousness of purpose and the absence of sensationalism in my writing. And all my Christian writing was done after having been demonized in 1970. My first major Christian publication was my exposé in Christianity Today (December 21, 1973) of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s deceptive presentation of Transcendental Meditation (TM) as non-religious in order to insinuate it into public schools in the United States. That was followed by InterVarsity Press’s booklet on TM (1974) and by TM Wants You! (Baker, 1976) which I co-authored with Vail Hamilton (Carruth), a former teacher of TM.

My degrees include a BS in Engineering from UC Berkeley and an interdisciplinary MA in Politics and Literature from a small liberal arts university in Texas. With this academic background, I have published articles on subjects ranging from quantum mechanics (Touchstone, September 2003) to the rescue of Jews in Le Chambon, France. In addition, I have critiqued some of the Harry Potter books for American Spectator Online and the pro-life journal, Celebrate Life. My most recent essay, on the surprising morality of Jack London’s “To Build a Fire,” appeared in Touchstone, January/February 2012.

Demonization Defined

The New Testament Greek word “demonize” (daimonízomai) denotes being under the power of a demon or demons. I suffered demonization as a pervasive occupation of my body and a devastating affliction of my soul by demons, in which they subjected me to agonies of fear and anxiety and various physical afflictions. Forms of this Greek verb are usually translated as “demon-possessed,” but the demons never succeeded in suppressing my mind and gaining complete control of my body. For this and other reasons given in Chapter 20, I prefer to use “demonized,” the corresponding English form of the Greek verb, to describe any demon occupation of a human being.

Although not demonized to the point of complete demon control, I did have one Hell of a fight because my body was already thoroughly occupied by evil spirits before I realized that they were demons. Nevertheless, despite their determined efforts to destroy me, God’s grace was sufficient. And what I learned through my experience in using the Scriptures and other means of grace against them will be helpful to any demonized Christian.

I received these demons at first gradually and imperceptibly through habitual sexual sin and later rapidly and palpably through false mystical experiences. But there are many other avenues to demonization of believers because sins such as hatred, unforgiveness, occultism, and drug use have the same temporal consequences for Christians as for pagans: demonization. This to-some unpalatable reality has been recognized by many Christian scholars and leaders including Dr. Neil T. Anderson, Dr. Keith M. Bailey, Dr. Mark I. Bubeck, Dr. C. Fred Dickason, Dr. Ed Murphy and the late Dr. Merrill F. Unger. I share their view of this controverted subject not only from my experience, but also on the basis of the Scriptures. (See Chapter 20. Bible Evidence that a Christian Can Have a Demon, p. 109 ff.)

Why Such Frank Confessions?

The purpose and form of my Confessions require me to reveal the sins that allowed demons to come into my body. This is humbling, and I would not do it were it not necessary to make clear how sexual sin makes us vulnerable to entry by demons. In addition, to show exactly how demons entered my life requires that I expose the sins of other family members now dead, something that filial piety would forbid were it not for the importance of this material in enabling readers to understand 1) How the devil operates in families and 2) How our sins can harm others in our families.

I don’t dwell on my sins more than necessary, but my discussion of them may yet disturb those for whom the “M-word” is a taboo. Indeed, one pastor suggested to me that perhaps the reason the publishers I contacted did not publish my manuscript was my frank discussion of masturbation (as sin). If that is true, perhaps one reason that alarming numbers of Christian men and even pastors are said to remain addicted to pornography is that they are unwilling to confess their sin of lust under the humiliating name of the activity for the enhancement of which they pay good money to pornographers. Perhaps they are not desperate enough to admit just what they use their pornography for. But the most crucial reason for continuing addictions among Christians may be that they have not recognized and gotten rid of the demons they picked up through their sins and that continue to bind them to their sinful addictions.

Help and Hope for the Demonized

Because habitual sexual sin gives place to the devil just as much as do hatred, unforgiveness, occultism, and drug use; this book will be helpful to those addicted to pornography as well as to those with other addictions. Since overcoming any of these sinful practices may require exercising the authority of the name of Jesus against the demons involved, recognition of their presence may be the missing link necessary for complete and permanent victory.

And there is certainly hope in Christ for all such habitual sinners and addicts, just as there is for other demonized Christians. So this book is addressed to all Christians afflicted by the devil as well as to those called to minister to them. For the cautionary yet hopeful story of how I became demonized and then, through the blood of the Lamb, the word of my testimony that Jesus is Lord and the power of God’s word, was restored to effective service in Christ’s kingdom; read the book.