Some of the most compelling parts of the book, Adam, were the questions posed at the end of the story. Skillfully crafted as a discussion between Daniel the story's hero, his estranged wife Heather and the priest who performed the deliverance (exorcism) on Alex Price, they consider the following questions:
- How had they been blinded to the light for so long?
- How could the rest of the world be so blind?
- How did evil manage to hide itself so effectively?
- Why didn't more people talk about evil?
- Why didn't people at least acknowledge that evil responded in a uniquely compelling way to the name of Jesus? Surely the forces of evil knew something the rest of the world seemed to deny.
While some of these questions went unanswered in the story, they are not unanswerable according to the Bible. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, demonic possession is alive and well in today's world. Not only do stories abound of modern-day, real-life cases of demon possession, for those who care to seek them out, but I have personally been involved in numerous powerful cases of demon possession and deliverance. If this is true, you ask, then why are more people not aware of it? The simple answer is because it is not evil's purpose to brazenly display itself in a manner in which it can be readily identified since it's primary goal is to destroy in the most subtle of ways (Alex Price, like Ted Bundy and David Berkowitz, was the most "normal' of people until he was behind closed doors). Hear what the Scriptures have to say about that: "...for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." (2 Corinthians 11:14)
Because the realm of the demonic often operates within the supernatural, skepticism is a tool that Satan uses to lure people into being complacent about their "dark" secrets, simply passing them off as bad habits. The Scriptures have something to say about this also: "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." (2 Corinthians 4:4) Dekker addresses this through Daniel's request to the priest for help: "Then Daniel had begged the priest to tell him what he must do. The light: he kept mumbling about the light and demanding to know more about the light that had saved him. Father Seymour (see more?) had put it very simply. Jesus, he said. The light of the world."
2 comments:
I think this realm is more believed in by un-churched people. With all the horror movies out in recent years, I think more and more people believe in the spiritual realm, but have no understanding of it. It's churched people that don't like the raw ugliness of it. "Masquerades as an angel of light" is for sure... hello Chris Angel and David Blaine. 17 minutes under water?!? Somebody's masquerading.
You are so right Hope.
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