Hostage to the Devil

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So Im reading the book Hostage to the Devil by Malachi Martin. From what Iv heard Martin fell away from the Church and is a controversial character. My question is regardless of his views on the Church does that render his work false. It seems at times to be full of hype but seems to do a good job at portraying the evil of demonic spirits and the hardship that exorcists face. I listened to Adam Blai answer a question about this on Catholic Answers Podcast and he said it did do a good job explaining the danger a exorcist faces but didn’t give much more besides that. The book is very interesting but I just wonder if I should take it seriously or not. And also is there any books out there written by a Catholic who didn’t fall away from the Church on exorcism.

Also is it okay to read about this stuff? I know you shouldn’t delve to deep into that kind of stuff but I think it is important to learn about the evil side of things because it seems to be very underplayed in our post modern world as “hocus-pocus”. Not only that but it has helped me grow closer in my faith because it shows the true nature of evil and has helped me see how good God is and why the Church warns us about all the “new age spirituality”.

God Bless
-Logan
 
I may be wrong, but I don’t think he “fell away”. He asked to be laicized. As far as I know he was quite the exorcist. He had some interesting radio segments, that my sister gave me tapes of years ago. I have the book. A topic seldom written about…interesting and at the same time frightening. He claimed to be able to call demons by name as they walked past him on the street of New York. Colorful man.
I don’t remember much else about him. People who like those “the end is near” kind of writings liked him, as I recall. Like my sister…:rolleyes:
 
LoganBice said:
So Im reading the book Hostage to the Devil by Malachi Martin. From what Iv heard Martin fell away from the Church and is a controversial character. My question is regardless of his views on the Church does that render his work false. It seems at times to be full of hype but seems to do a good job at portraying the evil of demonic spirits and the hardship that exorcists face. I listened to Adam Blai answer a question about this on Catholic Answers Podcast and he said it did do a good job explaining the danger a exorcist faces but didn’t give much more besides that. The book is very interesting but I just wonder if I should take it seriously or not. And also is there any books out there written by a Catholic who didn’t fall away from the Church on exorcism.

Also is it okay to read about this stuff? I know you shouldn’t delve to deep into that kind of stuff but I think it is important to learn about the evil side of things because it seems to be very underplayed in our post modern world as “hocus-pocus”. Not only that but it has helped me grow closer in my faith because it shows the true nature of evil and has helped me see how good God is and why the Church warns us about all the “new age spirituality”.

God Bless
-Logan
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I also recommend this book! It was disturbing, but in a way that made you have a healthy aversion to the devil. What struck me was the New Age and nature worshiping demons that seemed to be a theme of the book. Scary stuff.

But very Catholic.
 
Hoosier_Daddy said:
I also recommend this book! It was disturbing, but in a way that made you have a healthy aversion to the devil. What struck me was the New Age and nature worshiping demons that seemed to be a theme of the book. Scary stuff.

But very Catholic.
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Yeah the new age stuff. Especially the story of the Tortise and the Rooster about the guy astral traveling creeps me out because it’s so prevalent in today’s world with everyone taking an interests in that kind of stuff. It’s not good and people don’t understand the danger.
 
I’ve never read Mr. Martin (Father Martin?), but I have a related question. When I was younger I read everything by Fr. Andrew Greeley.

What was Fr. Greeley’s standing with the church? I do know he was somewhat controversial with conservative Catholics.
 
It’s a phenomenal book, as is Malachi Martin’s book on the Jesuits. M. Martin himself is a bit of an enigma. But he left the Jesuits, as I get it, on principle just as the Jesuit order was starting to war against the pope, but retained his priestly faculties - all legit and above board, as far as I understand such things…
 
entelechy1 said:
It’s a phenomenal book, as is Malachi Martin’s book on the Jesuits. M. Martin himself is a bit of an enigma. But he left the Jesuits, as I get it, on principle just as the Jesuit order was starting to war against the pope, but retained his priestly faculties - all legit and above board, as far as I understand such things…
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Very good book. It helped me come back to my faith. Really shows the true evil of sthe Devil and his cronies. It also shows the dangers of new age and all this spirituality garbage that people dive into looking for God
 
entelechy1 said:
There are some really provoking radio interviews with Malachi Martin at archive.org/details/ArtBellAndMalachiMartin . These interviews last over an hour each.

Skip the ones with Kathleen Keating…
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Yes, they are pretty interesting. Although I think in one of them, he asserts that the anti-Christ has already been born…but I could be wrong…
I heard these years ago…interesting. I await comments on them…
 
pianistclare said:
Yes, they are pretty interesting. Although I think in one of them, he asserts that the anti-Christ has already been born…but I could be wrong…
I heard these years ago…interesting. I await comments on them…
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Ya iv heard a lot of rumors that he started accusing the Church of stuff like that. That’s why conspiracy theorists seem to like him
 
One of Malachi Martin’s recurring themes that sticks with me: to the extent the Catholic Church waters down its content and tries to fit in with the modern world (and that is what has been happening since the 1960’s), the Church will continue to hemorrhage members - because its the old faith that is not just true but personally compelling.

And among the lost contents of the modernizing version of Catholicism is the recognition of “primary evil” and the role it plays in ordinary human action as well as in such events as described in Hostage to the Devil…
 
entelechy1 said:
One of Malachi Martin’s recurring themes that sticks with me: to the extent the Catholic Church waters down its content and tries to fit in with the modern world (and that is what has been happening since the 1960’s), the Church will continue to hemorrhage members - because its the old faith that is not just true but personally compelling.

And among the lost contents of the modernizing version of Catholicism is the recognition of “primary evil” and the role it plays in ordinary human action as well as in such events as described in Hostage to the Devil…
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I agree to an extent. The teaching of the Chuch isn’t any different but it has done a poor job (at least in western culture) at catachising people and putting emphasis on certain things. Like you said primary evil is viewed by many as “fairy tale stuff” when in reality it’s very real. I did read an interesting thing though that Saten use to work a lot more visibly like possession in the ancient world but when he brought about atheism it was the disbelief in God so he also had to hide more.
 
Book I would recoomend:

Exorcist Tell His Story
by Fr. Gabrielle Amorth

An Exorcist, More Stories
by Fr. Gabrielle Amorth

Interview with an Exorcist
by Fr. Jose Antonio Fortea

The Rite
by Matt Baglio

Just be sure to keep your focus on Jesus. He is our Light, our Truth, Our Way, and our Hope!

God Bless.
 
JamalChristophr said:
Book I would recoomend:

Exorcist Tell His Story
by Fr. Gabrielle Amorth

An Exorcist, More Stories
by Fr. Gabrielle Amorth

Interview with an Exorcist
by Fr. Jose Antonio Fortea

The Rite
by Matt Baglio

Just be sure to keep your focus on Jesus. He is our Light, our Truth, Our Way, and our Hope!

God Bless.
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Thanks for the suggestions. I may take a break. I had trouble sleeping after I read HOstsge to the Devil lol.
I found myself saying Saint Michaels prayer and the Our Father until I finally fell asleep.
 
I just found this discussion using the search function. I was about to ask similar questions as the OP. Anyway, Fr. Martin Malachi seems to have a keen understanding of how spiritually dangerous our modern world is, based on my reading so far. I just finished the first of the five cases, and I think that is the scariest thing I have ever read. What a writer! It is a little hard to swallow, having never seen or experienced anything remotely like what he describes, but having listened to some of his interviews, he seems sincere enough. I will give him the benefit of the doubt unless I find reason not to, I suppose. Good book so far. Terrifying.
 
I’ve never read any of Fr. Malachi Martins books. Do they carry an imprimatur?
Has anyone read both Fr. Amourth’s books and Fr. Martin’s. who might compare the two mens’ writings.

In what capacity exactly was Fr. Martin a priest in the Catholic Church? I’m a little unclear on this issue.
 
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