Exorcism
Exorcism is the practice of expelling evil spirits believed to possess individuals, places, or objects, and it typically involves a ritualistic process. This practice is found across various cultures and is not confined to historical periods such as the medieval or Puritan eras; it persists into the twenty-first century. In Christianity, exorcisms are primarily conducted by Catholic priests and Protestant clergy, with a noted resurgence in the United States since the 1970s, influenced by cultural phenomena such as the novel and film "The Exorcist." Historically, exorcism traces back to ancient civilizations like the Egyptians and Babylonians, who used incantations and invocations to rid themselves of demons.
While early Christian writings show limited references to exorcism, the practice evolved within the church, with designated roles and regulated liturgical forms emerging over the centuries. Despite periods of skepticism, particularly during the Enlightenment, exorcism persisted, and in modern times, there has been a renewed interest among both Catholic and Protestant communities, often linked to the Charismatic Movement. The phenomenon is not exclusive to Christianity; various cultures and religions, including New Age practices, also engage in exorcism rituals. These cultural contexts highlight the diverse interpretations and significance of exorcism across societies.
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Exorcism
Exorcism is the act of expelling evil spirits that have possessed a person, place, or object, usually in the form of a ritual. Although exorcism is viewed by many as a superstition practiced by primitive peoples, the ritual is performed in many cultures. Far from being relegated to the time of medieval or Puritan witch hunts, exorcism occurs in the twenty-first century. Within the Christian faith, it is performed by Catholic priests and Protestant clergy. Scholars report an increase in the number of exorcisms performed in the United States since the 1970s and the success of William Peter Blatty’s novel The Exorcist (1971) and the movie based on it (1973). Skeptics insist demon possession and exorcism are fraudulent or exploitive. Leading scholars view them as culturally conditioned.
Brief History
Exorcism in some form is probably as ancient as the belief in evil spirits. The Egyptians attributed some illnesses and other disasters to demons and developed incantations to rid themselves of these evil spirits. The Babylonians too believed that physical ailments were sometimes caused by demonic possession and developed formulaic invocations to summon a god to dispel the possessing spirit.
Although the Hebrew Bible includes no references to exorcism by human agents, extra-canonical Jewish literature indicates that the Jews used the names of benevolent angels, sometimes combined with El (God) to exorcise evil spirits. In the Christian New Testament, the synoptic gospels recount stories of Jesus exorcising demons at his word and giving his disciples authority to do so in his name.
Some early Christian apologists, including Saint Justin, (c. 100–165), Origen (c. 185–c. 253), and Tertullian (ca. 150-225), describe exorcisms. However, biblical scholar Graham Twelftree argues that the paucity of references in early Christian writing and in the writings of opponents to Christianity such as Celsus (c. 25 BCE–c. 50 CE) and Lucian (120–c. 180) suggests that exorcism was not common in the early centuries of Christianity. The church office of "exorcist" was first mentioned in 253 in a letter of Pope Cornelius. By the eighth century, the church had regulated liturgical exorcism. Writings about the lives of the saints indicate that charismatic exorcism in imitation of Jesus’s example was also common during the Middle Ages.
Although Martin Luther (1453–1546) performed exorcisms, Protestant clergy increasingly viewed the practice as superstitious, and exorcisms were rare among Protestants after 1600. Brian Levack, a leading authority on witch trials in early modern Europe, argues that the phenomena of possession and witchcraft reached their zenith in the Christian world in the early modern period. By the eighteenth century, exorcism was widely viewed with skepticism.
Enlightenment theologians dismissed New Testament exorcism as superstition, and Austria, a Catholic country, went so far as to ban exorcisms. Nevertheless, the practice continued in limited fashion. Arguably, the most famous example of the continuity is that of Catholic priest Johann Joseph Gassner (1727–1779) whose exorcism of thousands in southern Germany included epileptics, the blind, and the disabled. Gassner’s activities spurred a religious revival and heated controversy. Some of his most powerful opponents were Christian clergymen. Pope Pious VI condemned Gassner’s exorcisms as mere sensationalism in 1776, and Gassner spent his last years banished to northern Austria where he died in 1779.
Exorcism Today
In the early twentieth century, exorcism was practiced among American evangelicals, but it was not until the 1970s that a belief in the manifestation of evil spirits and the need to exorcise them gained a following in mainline Protestant and Catholic churches. A primary factor in the increase was the Charismatic Movement that fostered practices such as speaking in tongues and miraculous healing. Exorcisms were a not surprising extension. Despite the growth of charismatics, the Catholic Church remained cautious about exorcism. The order of exorcist conferred upon all candidates for the Catholic priesthood from the third century was abolished in 1972. For the most part, mainline Protestant churches continued to view the practice as a medieval relic or associated exorcism with Pentecostals. In contrast, interest in exorcism was growing in popular culture.
In 1969, William Peter Blatty, a Jesuit-educated, Hollywood-based writer, began transforming a real-life 1949 exorcism into a highly sensationalized novel, The Exorcist (1971). Two years later, the movie was even more successful than the bestselling novel, setting off an epidemic of demon possession claims. Catholic priests in many communities were overwhelmed with requests for exorcisms. A flurry of books and movies on the subject followed over the next few years, and the topic was debated on talk shows, in newspapers and magazines, and around water coolers. Anthropologist and sociologist Michael Cuneo, while acknowledging that the resurgence of interest in exorcism in the Catholic Church and in Protestant deliverance ministries is legitimate, assigns responsibility for increased belief in popular culture generally to the media’s fascination with the subject. He notes particularly the influence of Malachi Martin (1921–1999), the controversial former Jesuit priest and Vatican insider who wrote Hostage to the Devil (1976), an account of the possession and exorcism of five Americans, and ten other equally lurid novels, and psychiatrist and self-help author M. Scott Peck (1936–2005), best known for his bestselling The Road Less Traveled By (1978), who in People of the Lie (1983) declared that Satan and his demons were alive and well in America and spoke of his own experience with exorcism.
Both Catholics and Protestants report an increase in exorcisms in the twenty-first century. When it was founded in 1990, the International Association of Exorcists (IAE) had 12 members; in 2014 when IAE was formally recognized by the Vatican, the group had three hundred members from thirty different countries. By some estimates, evangelical exorcism ministries number six hundred or more, ranging from one that offers a book on delivering possessed computers to one that cautions possession is rare. Christians are not the only group engaged in exorcisms. New Age religions also believe that spirits who possess the living must sometimes be exorcised. Anthropologists have documented a Sri Lankan exorcism ritual that employs music, dance, and actors in elaborate masks to eliminate disease-causing demons. In Vietnam, exorcism and spirit-calling are popular among the majority Buddhist population, particularly for those experiencing psychological difficulties in a culture where using mental health services carries a stigma.
Bibliography
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