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And then there was the young woman who reached out to him after an upside-down cross appeared “burned” into her shoulder. At the same time, her dad was receiving “snarky” text messages from demons. “The texts were a typical demonic rant: ‘She belongs to us,’ ” Rossetti said.
Rossetti said the messages appeared to come from the phone number of the woman. Upon careful investigation, however, Rossetti insisted there was no evidence of her having sent the messages.
What is a careful investigation? Did he contact the provider to see if she ever texted? I think it's more likely she did text her father then deleted the text than demons did it.
Even if I did believe in demon's I would think he was mistaken. There are lots more plausible explanations for a weird random text.
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Originally Posted by Jerwade
I believe it makes you gullible.
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Originally Posted by L8Gr8Apost8
From the article
And then there was the young woman who reached out to him after an upside-down cross appeared “burned” into her shoulder. At the same time, her dad was receiving “snarky” text messages from demons. “The texts were a typical demonic rant: ‘She belongs to us,’ ” Rossetti said.
Rossetti said the messages appeared to come from the phone number of the woman. Upon careful investigation, however, Rossetti insisted there was no evidence of her having sent the messages.
What is a careful investigation? Did he contact the provider to see if she ever texted? I think it's more likely she did text her father then deleted the text than demons did it.
I had put those childish fears away decades before I ever adopted theism.
Would this not suggest you had rejected core tenets of orthodox Christianity long before your mystical encounter with Jesus and thus were prepared to encounter only the sort of Jesus you in fact did encounter? As I mentioned on another thread, would this not suggest that what you regard as a mystical encounter with Jesus may in fact have been a mystical encounter with yourself? If I were in your shoes, before rejecting the core tenets of orthodox Christianity, I would be asking myself (1) just how sure am I about my own psychology and cognitive faculties, and (2) does orthodox Christianity have an explanation for my encounter (as indeed it does, right within the framework of this very thread)?
Demonology is one of those aspects of Christianity that is easily caricatured and can make Christians look silly to nonbelievers. However, even within the world of modern psychiatry, an external evil is accepted by many, many psychiatrists as the only plausible explanation for some cases. (Yes, I can provide sources - there are many.)
I don't think in terms of Satan and his minions. I think in terms of supernatural evil that God, for his mysterious purposes, has allowed to influence humans and human affairs. Not only is this Christian theology (and the theology of other major religions), but it squares with my own experiences and observations and pretty extensive studies. I would have reached a similar conclusion if I had never heard of Christianity.
Why God would allow this is a great mystery. I don't believe Christianity has a fully satisfactory answer. Some of the standard explanations are as cartoonish as nonbelievers' caricatures.
Here is my Amazon review of a recent book by a practicing psychiatrist with impeccable credentials and a worldwide reputation. The book is Demonic Foes: My Twenty-Five Years as a Psychiatrist Investigating Possessions, Diabolic Attacks, and the Paranormal, https://www.amazon.com/Demonic-Foes-...ct_top?ie=UTF8.
4.0 out of 5 stars Very worthwhile, with a couple of mild caveats
Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2020
Verified Purchase
The author's credentials as a practicing psychiatrist and academic are impeccable. As a Christian, I have no philosophical objection to the existence of demonic forces. I have read quite widely in this area and am very familiar with most of the well-documented cases of possession. The author is a Catholic, although he does not write strictly from a Catholic perspective. Contrary to popular opinion, the Catholic Church is extremely demanding and conservative about recognizing authentic cases of possession.
Be forewarned that this is not, by any means, a gee-whiz account of 50 or 100 jaw-dropping possession cases. The author focuses on a relative handful of the many cases of possession and demonic influence in which he has been involved. The impressive ones, as always, involved phenomena that are difficult to explain in mundane terms - levitation, speaking unknown languages, hidden knowledge, etc. The cases serve as the basis for more general discussions - historical, anthropological and medical - that some readers may find dry and not as interesting as they had hoped.
Two things gave me mild pause:
1. While the author assumes that all of what he describes is the work of Satan and his minions, there is little theological discussion, little or no effort to put these cases in the context of Christian belief. As a garden-variety (but very widely read) Christian, I have difficulty fitting these cases into my theology. I have difficulty just blithely saying "Well, there you go. These dummies flirted with Satanism, sometimes as mere youths, and now they are paying a hideous price" as though there were no more theological mystery than this.
2. Throughout the book, the author comes across like the most rigid sort of fundamentalist thinkers in regard to the entire body of paranormal phenomena. He repeatedly suggests they are all demonic. As someone with a wide and deep background in all aspects of psychical research and the paranormal, this strikes me as uninformed and naïve. The full panoply of apparitions, mediumistic communications, Near Death Experiences, After Death Communications and the rest cannot reasonably be ascribed to demonic forces. If I had to guess, I'd speculate that the cases the author regards as demonic possession belong in the same box with the other phenomena, as clues to a higher level of reality that is more complex and mysterious than just God vs. Satan.
The book is nevertheless very worthwhile reading, if only to demonstrate that demonic forces are taken seriously - and for good reason - by people with the author's medical and academic credentials. Whatever the ostensibly demonic forces actually are, they are nothing to joke about or toy with. The author's cases make the point that even youthful promises to Satan, which may not even have been entirely serious at the time, can have devastating and long-lasting consequences. Even casual involvement in the occult can open doors you'll wish you'd never opened and may have a literal Hell of a time trying to close.
This has to be a prank. Suddenly they're sending texts when they had centuries to send mail & postcards but didnt?
The history of paranormal phenomena makes clear that whatever is going on, there is an ability to manipulate electrical and electronic devices. I have no explanation for this, but I do believe it is a giant clue of some sort. My own paranormal experiences include two jaw-dropping manipulations of electrical devices by my late wife - believe me, you'd think I was delusional if I related them. One occurred at almost the moment of her death, the other a month or so later. Ditto for one by her father minutes after his death. Ditto for a late neighbor who had become like a second father to me. There was nothing frightening or diabolical about these incidents - they were simply the sorts of things that have occurred millions of times to millions of sane and credible people. In whatever realm supernatural evil resides, I have no difficulty believing that the manipulation of electrical and electronic devices is within its capability. There is both a diabolical and (more frequently) a "trickster" aspect to what occurs - the trickster aspect is often playful and amusing.
The history of paranormal phenomena makes clear that whatever is going on, there is an ability to manipulate electrical and electronic devices. I have no explanation for this, but I do believe it is a giant clue of some sort. My own paranormal experiences include two jaw-dropping manipulations of electrical devices by my late wife - believe me, you'd think I was delusional if I related them. One occurred at almost the moment of her death, the other a month or so later. Ditto for one by her father minutes after his death. Ditto for a late neighbor who had become like a second father to me. There was nothing frightening or diabolical about these incidents - they were simply the sorts of things that have occurred millions of times to millions of sane and credible people. In whatever realm supernatural evil resides, I have no difficulty believing that the manipulation of electrical and electronic devices is within its capability. There is both a diabolical and (more frequently) a "trickster" aspect to what occurs - the trickster aspect is often playful and amusing.
I know about the electrical incidents from first hand experience. I also know that evil is real. I'm highly skeptical of the idea of demons texting.
Would this not suggest you had rejected core tenets of orthodox Christianity long before your mystical encounter with Jesus and thus were prepared to encounter only the sort of Jesus you in fact did encounter? As I mentioned on another thread, would this not suggest that what you regard as a mystical encounter with Jesus may in fact have been a mystical encounter with yourself? If I were in your shoes, before rejecting the core tenets of orthodox Christianity, I would be asking myself (1) just how sure am I about my own psychology and cognitive faculties, and (2) does orthodox Christianity have an explanation for my encounter (as indeed it does, right within the framework of this very thread)?
Of course, I had rejected the core tenets of every religion in existence because I considered them all nonsense. I was a completely naturalistic atheist from very early on in my life. Nothing religious made any sense to me whatsoever, let alone Satan and demons, and the like.
I was not prepared to encounter a Jesus of any kind. As a very atheistic Buddhist martial artist who rejected all the mumbo jumbo associated with it, I sought deeper and deeper mental states in meditation in search of Nirvana. Actually encountering an all-encompassing consciousness that was definitely NOT mine was a completely unexpected surprise with a life-changing impact.
This has to be a prank. Suddenly they're sending texts when they had centuries to send mail & postcards but didnt?
The way I got it figured is that they didn't bother to send mail or post cards because they could just talk in the room in a real evil voice in order to get their message across...No point in sending a letter or a post card.
But cell phones and texting...This newer technology was probably too interesting to resist and they finally gave in. Just wait till they discover Tik Tok.
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