Why is that some Christian denominations emphasise demonic activity more than others?

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I read an article by a world famous Catholic exorcist once. He said that the greatest power the Devil has in the on going spiritual war, is that so many Christians either ignore him or choose to not believe in him.
 
Jesusismyfriend said:
I misunderstood the difference between the Pentecostal church and Charasmatic churches. What is the main difference?
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guanophore said:
Pentecostal sects are completely focused on the Spiritual Gifts that were opened at Pentecost.

Charismatic sects generally are oriented around their denominational lines, but accept that the gifts of Pentecost are alive and well today.

Catholic Charismatics are Catholics who engage in spiritual practices that reflect the gifts of Pentecost.
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Pentecostalism is a Protestant movement. It believes that the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is an enduement of power upon the sanctified life. This Spirit baptism is separate from the new birth and water baptism. It is not salvation, but gives the Christian more power, more ability, and more strength to witness and to serve. According to Pentecostals, the physical evidence of having been baptized in the Spirit is that a person will speak in tongues.

Charismatics can be either non-Pentecostal Protestants or Catholics.
 
I am familiar with the type of belief that the OP is referring to. I got sucked into a couple of those churches when I was too young to know any better.

Basically, everything bad is believed to be caused by demons. They believe that Christians can and are possessed. Every sin “opens the door” to demonic possession. For example, you can be possessed by something as simple as a demon of swearing. They do “exorcisms” at pretty much every service (I won’t get into that unless you really want me to - suffice it to say it is nothing like what I’ve read about Catholic exorcism). A lot of what they do is based on the writings of Bob Larson (at least the two groups I encountered were).

In my experience this is NOT typical of Pentecostals in general, and not even super common among Charismatics, but is more of a fringe movement. :twocents:
 
Daizies said:
I am familiar with the type of belief that the OP is referring to. I got sucked into a couple of those churches when I was too young to know any better.

Basically, everything bad is believed to be caused by demons. They believe that Christians can and are possessed. Every sin “opens the door” to demonic possession. For example, you can be possessed by something as simple as a demon of swearing. They do “exorcisms” at pretty much every service (I won’t get into that unless you really want me to - suffice it to say it is nothing like what I’ve read about Catholic exorcism). A lot of what they do is based on the writings of Bob Larson (at least the two groups I encountered were).

In my experience this is NOT typical of Pentecostals in general, and not even super common among Charismatics, but is more of a fringe movement. :twocents:
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I agree. We need to recognize that the demonic is real and that it is not something to take lightly. However, some people don’t realize that by blaming everything on evil spirits they are actually magnifying the demonic and minimizing Christ. Christians should not fear evil spirits because we already have the victory through Jesus Christ. Instead of focusing on the power of demons, we should be proclaiming the power of Christ.
 
ltwin said:
I agree. We need to recognize that the demonic is real and that it is not something to take lightly. However, some people don’t realize that by blaming everything on evil spirits they are actually magnifying the demonic and minimizing Christ. Christians should not fear evil spirits because we already have the victory through Jesus Christ. Instead of focusing on the power of demons, we should be proclaiming the power of Christ.
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I see nothing wrong in this which is what Catholics believe too. Satan, devils and hell are all real. They are there to ‘get’ us. The deeper one is getting into Christ or the more important is our work for Christ, they are there to try to impede us by one way or the other. Thus as Christians we should be on the watch-out for it because he is like a roaring lion waiting to devour us anytime we slip.

If we accept that the evil spirit is real, thus it follows there will be temptation and trickery on his part to lead us astray from the right path of God. We may experience inexplicable occasion of uncontrollable anger, bitterness, resentment or unforgiveness in our life and we can only pray and surrender to God to help and deliver us from them.

More importantly, as you have said, it not to put great importance to the devils as the power of God is stronger. Instead we should focus on God and allow His grace to protect us.
 
Well, I do believe in the Spiritual gifting, but I wouldn’t focus all my faith and energy in that. The idea that a Christian must speak in tongues to be a Christian is not exactly preached in the Bible.
I think there are a number (maybe small) of people within a pentecostal church that Do have a true faith inb Christ and may be saved. But they might be considered more Charasmatic than Pentecostal because they believe salvation is not gained through or because of the gifts. And they don’t just stress the gift of tongues. They stress the importance of the other gifts as well.
I would agree that a priest would probably be the best choice for an exorcism. Most Protestants I know completely deny the existance of demons, so they do not want to perfomr exorcisms. Others believe so strongly that everyone is possessed they get carried away with that idea. Many Protestants, as well, believe inflicting torture on a person may make a demon leave. I don’t agree with that. Christ could do it with just a word. So it would be more difficult for a human with a sinful nature to do it than Christ, who was God. Some of them believe the things they do during an exorcism will help more than using Christ’s name. So it’s almost like their faith is in something or someone else besides Christ.
 
Jesusismyfriend said:
Well, I do believe in the Spiritual gifting, but I wouldn’t focus all my faith and energy in that. The idea that a Christian must speak in tongues to be a Christian is not exactly preached in the Bible. I think there are a number (maybe small) of people within a pentecostal church that Do have a true faith inb Christ and may be saved. But they might be considered more Charasmatic than Pentecostal because they believe salvation is not gained through or because of the gifts. And they don’t just stress the gift of tongues. They stress the importance of the other gifts as well.
… So it’s almost like their faith is in something or someone else besides Christ.
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These points are well made. I think this is what distinguishes pentecostal Christians from Charismatic Christians, who value the gifts, but seek the Giver.
 
Originally by LoyalViews
I think I know what you’re saying?
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The Church teaching most infallibly that the Devil, and demons do exist. Hell does exist. Demonic influence and demonic possession is REAL. We know that, I know that.
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However, we are not to focus on it. Although we should be aware of how the Devil can influence us and lead us astray, we are taught to focus of God and His endless Mercy. We are to focus on the Divine Mysteries, the Blessed Virgin, the Saints and the Angels.
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This is true. We should know the dogmas about Hell and that of Demonic presence. We should be aware of the reality of these things, yet this is not what we focus in. What we focus is God, his goodness, and his Divine Mercy. The dogmas of Hell and of demonic presence are for us to be careful and aware so that we can do good and be obedient to God.
 
campeador said:
Here you go, bro:

thecatholiccatechism.com/

😃
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I am also looking for the mp3’s from Pauls talks at the Temple of Tyrannus:

Acts 19:8-10
8 And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, arguing and pleading about the kingdom of God; 9 but when some were stubborn and disbelieved, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them, taking the disciples with him, and argued daily in the hall of Tyran’nus. 10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

:eek:

😉
 
Jesusismyfriend said:
Well, I do believe in the Spiritual gifting, but I wouldn’t focus all my faith and energy in that. The idea that a Christian must speak in tongues to be a Christian is not exactly preached in the Bible.
I think there are a number (maybe small) of people within a pentecostal church that Do have a true faith inb Christ and may be saved. But they might be considered more Charasmatic than Pentecostal because they believe salvation is not gained through or because of the gifts. And they don’t just stress the gift of tongues. They stress the importance of the other gifts as well.
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I’m not trying to derail the thread, but I would like to clarify. Pentecostals accept anyone who testifies to having made Jesus their Lord and Savior as a Christian. Speaking in tongues is not about proving you are a Christian. For Pentecostals, Spirit baptism is a separate event from conversion. While it should be desired, one who does not speak in tongues can still make it to heaven. Pentecostals believe that there are born again Christians in all denominations, whether they speak in tongues or not. I would actually say that in America, there are a lot of Pentecostals who do NOT speak in tongues now and never have spoken in tongues. So it is not a salvific issue for Pentecostals. Pentecostals denominations like the Assemblies of God are freaking out right now because so many of their members have never claimed to speak in tongues. So the absence of tongues in the Pentecostal church is a hot topic among us right now.
Jesusismyfriend said:
I would agree that a priest would probably be the best choice for an exorcism. Most Protestants I know completely deny the existance of demons, so they do not want to perfomr exorcisms. Others believe so strongly that everyone is possessed they get carried away with that idea. Many Protestants, as well, believe inflicting torture on a person may make a demon leave. I don’t agree with that. Christ could do it with just a word. So it would be more difficult for a human with a sinful nature to do it than Christ, who was God. Some of them believe the things they do during an exorcism will help more than using Christ’s name. So it’s almost like their faith is in something or someone else besides Christ.
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I’ve always respected the Catholic Church for still believing in exorcism. It disturbs me that so many Protestants seem to just ignore the reality of the demonic.
 
ltwin said:
I’m not trying to derail the thread, but I would like to clarify. Pentecostals accept anyone who testifies to having made Jesus their Lord and Savior as a Christian. Speaking in tongues is not about proving you are a Christian. For Pentecostals, Spirit baptism is a separate event from conversion. While it should be desired, one who does not speak in tongues can still make it to heaven. Pentecostals believe that there are born again Christians in all denominations, whether they speak in tongues or not. I would actually say that in America, there are a lot of Pentecostals who do NOT speak in tongues now and never have spoken in tongues. So it is not a salvific issue for Pentecostals.
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This was also my experience when I was a Pentecostal.
 
ltwin said:
There are different kinds of Pentecostals. Unless you qualify nearly every single statement you make about Pentecostals, you will no doubt offend some of us.
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I’m sorry for not getting back to you,earlier on this.I’ve haven’t been aware of how thid thread has progressed for a few days now.What do you mean by this though?.Do you mean that despite my disclaimer I still might offend some ppl regardless?.
 
sidetrack said:
I’m sorry for not getting back to you,earlier on this.I’ve haven’t been aware of how thid thread has progressed for a few days now.What do you mean by this though?.Do you mean that despite my disclaimer I still might offend some ppl regardless?.
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Probably. I always get aggravated when I here Pentecostals lumped in with fundamentalists, because while we have somethings in common we actually have completely different worldviews. I REALLY get aggravated when people assume that just because a tiny but vocal minority of Pentecostals have unitarian beliefs that all Pentecostals deny the Trinity. I could go on and on about all the assumptions that people make because they’ve encountered one kind of Pentecostalism and they assume that you will believe or act the same way.

There are Pentecostals who just make everything about speaking in tongues, but then there are a lot of Pentecostals who are really uncomfortable with the doctrinal importance attached to tongues. So, its really hard to describe a Pentecostal that all Pentecostals can agree with.
 
reconman said:
It’s because the Catholic church has been dealing with it for 2,000 years. It’s an old shoe for the church.
I mean think about it, if there’s a case of demonic possession, who do you run to? The Protestant Parson down the street? No. You seek out a catholic priest. There’s a reason demons hate sacramentals (such as holy water), and there’s only one store you can buy that in.
Even in Hollywood, if you make a movie about demonic possession, who is the good guy? A priest
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👍👍
 
Well, i have heard of the odd pentecostal person saying you need to be able to speak tongues to be a Christian. People like that are few and far between, but they do exist. My mom was told at Bible school by a Pentecostal that she would go to Hell if she didn’t speak tongues. I think cases like that are caused by the fact that some Christians (in any denomination) get the wrong idea. Maybe they are taught to believe that or maybe they do not study God’s word enough to realize that tongues is not the only spiritual gift. In any church, I think there are members who like to add or take away from the Bible to use it for their own means or to fit their beliefs. I acknowledge most Pentecostals and Christians are like that, but there is the odd one that does.
 
Even though this thread is sorta dead now I’d just like to add something I remember that peeves me off b/c it’s something that just sounds plain ignorant and to me shows me how like…to put it frank and out of lack of better words borderline prejudice they are.Once when my mom was talking on the phone and quoting my grandma on what she said about meditating she said that my grandma said that meditating is bad,that it’s demon stuff.IN WHAT RIGHT MIND WOULD SHE THAT:mad:!!!.There is such thing as Christian meditation but it’s more based on prayer,there’s even meditation traditions in the other 2 Abrahamic religions like within Judaism there’s meditative Kabbalah and in Islam there is Muraqaba and Dhikr.Arrgghh!.
 
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