Transforming Sermons: Demons, sickness, and sin

Monday, November 07, 2005

Demons, sickness, and sin

Keith Plummer has posted some valuable insights on demons, sin, and sickness from David Powlison's Encounters: Reclaiming Spiritual Warfare.

5 Comments:

Anonymous said...: Hi Milton
Thanks for commenting on Yusuf's story. Part 2 is now up; 9:17 AM, November 07, 2005
Milton Stanley said...: You bring up some very good points, Dan, and you make a good case. What struck me about Powlinson's ideas was how strongly demonic possession is associated with sickness in the NT while we tend to think of it as relating more to sin today. Thanks for your comments. Peace.; 2:06 PM, November 07, 2005
Milton Stanley said...: Thanks, Keith. I look forward to reading it. Peace.; 2:07 PM, November 07, 2005
KP said...: Thanks for the link, Milton. I wish I could tell you how that "Create a Link" feature works but I'm clueless too.

Dan, Powlison does in fact address the two instances you raised of the demoniac who cut himself and the slave girl out of whom Paul cast the divining spirit. I considered including that paragraph in my post but in the interest of time, decided against it. So, here's what he has to say:

"But [in the case of the demoniac] Scripture emphasizes his bizarre behavior and restless sense of torment. He might have been socially unacceptable, demented, and miserable, but is Scripture emphasizing his sinfulness? Did the demons have as a "ground" some sin pattern in him or his family? In no place does the Bible warrant such speculations about why this man - or anyone -suffers a case of demons. In the case of the slave girl, Scritpure emphasizes how annoying the girl's truth-speaking eventually became, but assigns no moral evaluation. Obnoscious behavior is probably not always sinful."

Powlison goes on to state that Scripture nowhere identifies sin as the cause of demonization.

What Powlison is reacting acting against is the trend in so much popular literature about spiritual warfare towards accounting for sinful patterns in terms of demonization. Peronsally, I think the Christian proneness to explain horrendous acts in terms of demonic activity is the spiritualized counterpart to the secularized medicalization of evil. Both are void of a robust doctrine of depravity and the fallen heart's capacity for inventing evils.

Again, I wish Powlison's book were more readily (and inexpensively) available as it would be good to read through and discuss it with others.; 3:14 PM, November 07, 2005
Milton Stanley said...: Thanks, Keith, good insights viz. the parallel between blaming egregious sin on either demons or medical issues.; 9:47 AM, November 14, 2005