What the scientific community dismisses as a mental disorder, Christians have often labeled «demon possession.» While classifications may offer limited help in explanation, the Reverend Dr. Harold Ristau explores the nature and meaning of demonic activity by drawing from his own experiences with exorcism. Ristau shares life lessons, spiritual applications, and religious wisdom from his personal encounters with the dark realm. Primarily intended for clergy, his reflections offer a springboard intended to stimulate critical thinking, challenge metaphysical presuppositions, and inspire a belated conversation on a topic that has traditionally been avoided, not because of a lack of empirical evidence, but due to the fear that it incites inside of us. Yet if the claims of the historic Church are true–that demons do in fact exist and seek our destruction–then an honest examination of the phenomenon, and its impact on the ways in which we live and reason, is an essential endeavor for any practitioner of the ministry of deliverance.
Оглавление
Harold Ristau. My First Exorcism
My First Exorcism
Table of Contents
Foreword
Abbreviations
Prologue
A Midsummer’s Nightmare
The Art of Exorcising
Who’s Afraid of the Steppenwolf?
The Lion, the Witch and the Lord’s Supper
The World According to der Zeitgeist
The Purpose Driven Lie
Le petit prince des ténèbres
Why I am not not a Christian
Epilogue
Bibliography
Отрывок из книги
What the Devil Taught a Lutheran Pastor about Counter-cultural Spirituality
Rev. Dr. Harold Ristau
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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.
