In his 1987 article, “A Case of Demonic Possession” (The Journal of Pastoral Care 41 no 2, June 1987, pp. 151-61), David W. Van Gelder, then Associate Professor of Pastoral Counseling at Erskine Theological Seminary, ponders the implications, personally and ministerially, of an encounter he had with a possessed boy. Despite some points readers of the ongoing counseling debates will quibble with, the article is worth reading in its entirety, and I find his theological reflections are both sober (his experience having been, in a literal sense, sobering) and responsible. I suggest that the chief value of the article may be its brutal reminder of the real world in which the Gospel is proclaimed and believed and ministered. At the end of the article, as I note below, he speaks of now being “finally free” in ministry. What he means by this merits solemn consideration by all.

Among his reflections, we read the following:

“My own experience with belief in this situation was emotionally draining. I had always left intellectual room for the type of event which we experienced; although, I believed most present day cases to be fake. (I still do.) Leaving intellectual room, however, did not mean I had emotional room for this event. Although I am learning, I am very rationalistic and empirical by nature. I found, therefore, that I was physically and emotionally exhausted after this experience. It took me several days emotionally to believe what had happened as well as intellectually to believe it. For me to accept this emotionally did not mean that the event became an organizing principle for my life or my theology. It did not mean being distressed over the fact that there are realities which were outside of the normal boundaries of my scientifically oriented mind. In the end, it did mean recognizing the power of Jesus Christ over all powers and principalities in a more complete way.

The question that continues to confront me now is what the phrase “a more complete way” means. Even though I recognize the much greater importance of the experiential, how do I integrate this into learning and life rather than just append it or hold it in a dichotomy with the rational? To maintain a conceptual dichotomy in this particular case is, essentially, a heresy. Christians believe that God is over all and, therefore, are not dualists. Or, in the words of C.S. Lewis, Satan is the counterpart of Michael, not of God.”

There is something precious about great crises of any sort, including those more obviously otherworldly: they have a way of reminding us what are the simple, urgent things of life. They lay us bare so that, with the tangled web of our own priorities and concerns and anxieties and interests ruthlessly cut away and burned, we finally (again?) see the simplicity of who we are and what we are for. Pastoral labor might be captured well with such a sentiment: it’s the work of leading sheep to the center of the fold, where the voice of the Shepherd can be heard more clearly, the voice which alone tells us the truth of who we are and what we are for…

Continue reading at The Quarry.

Read More On

Share This