Dr Paul Allen

  I was in a dialogue with an atheist regarding what he believes is one of “many” so-called “biblical contradictions.” The odd guy I am, I find this sort of thing fun. In any event, I love defending the Bible and Christianity. He brought up the story of Jesus casting out demons and sending them into pigs, which promptly ran over a cliff into the sea. The Gospels use different names for the places where this occurred: Mark 5:1 ... the country of the Ger’asenes. (Luke 8:26 is identical) Matthew 8:28 ... the country of the Gadarenes ...  This is supposedly a “contradiction.” Gerasa is (as we know) some 30-35 miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee but may have also been the name of the larger region. Wikipedia states, "In the second half of the 1st century AD, Jerash achieved great prosperity.”  Gadara is about six miles from the sea. Its ruins include two amphitheatres, a basilica, a temple, a hippodrome, aqueducts and colonnades, showing its importance and stature. “Gergesen...

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” ( 1 Timothy 4:1 ) This very cogent warning by the Holy Spirit, spoken “expressly” (or “with special clarity”) for those living in the latter days, predicts an unusual outbreak of seductive demonism—not just in pagan, idol-worshipping, or animistic cultures, but in “Christian” nations, where they can lead many to “depart from the faith” which their forefathers once professed. Christians, therefore, should not be taken by surprise at the vast eruption of witchcraft, New Age mysticism, Eastern occultism, rock-music demonism, drug-induced fantasies, altered states of consciousness, and even overt Satan-worshipping cults that have suddenly proliferated in our supposedly scientific and naturalistic society. Behind it all are the “seducing spirits” and “the rulers of the darkness of this world” ( Ephesians 6:12 ). It should be obvious t...

"And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.” ( Colossians 2:4 ) Any man can beguile us with words that are designed to capture our reason. The unusual word chosen by the Holy Spirit to describe the process is paralogizomai. The basic meaning is “alongside of reason.” It is used only one other time, in James 1:22 : “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” That self-deception is accomplished through “enticing words” (Greekpithanologia), used only here in Colossians. It couples the term for “reason” with “persuasion” and contains the foundation for the English word “analogy,” a very similar process of using familiar words to transfer a known idea to something else. It is deception accomplished by transferring truth onto an untruth. During His training of the disciples, Jesus often warned that it was possible for His followers to be deceived by those who would come and make attempts to claim some role with His au...

Page 18v: Healing of the two demon-possessed, Mt 8:28-34 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him ( Luke 4:35). What about demonic possession ? There can be no doubt but that the Bible presents us with a real demonic realm, a host of fallen angels who hate humanity and who seek to destroy us because we are made in the image of God. We are so familiar with the stories of Jesus casting out demons that we often miss an important aspect of their uniqueness. The miracles Jesus did were not really unique. The prophets of the Old Testament had also multiplied food, healed the sick, and raised the dead. One thing they had not done, however, was cast out demons. Moreover, in the rest of the New Testament after Jesus’ resurrection, we see few cases of demonic possession and the subject does not occupy much attention in the epistles. It would be an error to think tha...

English: The Temptation of St. Anthony by Martin Schöngauer c. 1480-90. Engraving. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) There has been a renewal of interest in the work of Satan . Hollywood has given us a host of films to whet our appetite for the satanic. Within Christian circles, there has arisen a concern for ministries of deliverance . Some of these deliverance ministries have developed a bizarre and radically unbiblical view of demon possession and deliverance. We may hear that particular demons cause particular sins . There is, they say, a demon of alcohol, a demon of depression, a demon of tobacco, and so on. Others say we can recognize the departure of a demon from a human soul by a manifest sign that is linked to the particular point of bondage. You may have listened to recorded talks from some of these well-known deliverance ministers in which they teach the signs of departure of the demon. A sigh, for example, indicates the departure ...

Medieval book illustration of Christ Exorcising the Gerasenes demonic (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “. . . it passes through waterless places seeking rest and finding none.” Luke 11:24 Jesus gives us an insight into unseen spiritual realities in Luke 11:24-26 . He cast a demon out of a man, in verses 14-23. He freed a man, restoring him to fuller humanity. But some, watching this wonderful deliverance, accused Jesus of accomplishing it by the power of Satan . They knew something was happening. That was obvious. But they construed a beautiful thing as its horrible opposite. Why? Why did they get it so wrong? Jesus said, “The kingdom of God has come upon you” (verse 20). These people hadn’t bargained on that. They wanted a decent world, of course. But the kingdom of God? The rule of God? Thatmuch of God? To these people, that much blessing was a threat. So, without realizing it, they aligned themselves with the devil by attributing to the devil the oncoming power of t...

English: Resurrection of Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Why is faith so difficult? Why isn’t God more obvious? Why doesn’t God come out and provide irrefutable proof that he is God so that there is no more doubt? What would happen … if God individually wrote a message in the clouds for every person alive? What if he wrote, “Jesus is my son. Believe in Him or parish”? Would all people now put their love and trust in Jesus Christ ? I suspect not. When Jesus was here on earth and did all his miracles, those who didn’t want to follow him still doubted. When the father spoke from heaven “ This is my beloved son,” those who didn’t have a heart to believe said, “It thundered.” And even when Jesus rose from the dead, there were a number of Roman guards who witnessed it, and yet they joined in with the religious leaders’ conspiracy to cover it up! … There are many reasons for this.  First, the impression stupendous events have on us is rarely permanent. The impression fades w...

Medieval book illustration of Christ Exorcising the Gerasenes demonic (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 9:32–34 “When the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, ‘Never was anything like this seen in Israel ’” (v. 33). Matthew tends to arrange the information about Jesus ’ life topically. Chapters 5–7, for instance, collect Christ ’s teachings about His own authority. In like manner, the evangelist devotes chapters 8–9 to material that depicts Jesus’ authority apart from His actual instruction on the subject. Instead, Matthew focuses on miracles that illustrate the Savior’s control over the natural (8:1–27; 9:18–31) and the supernatural (8:28–34; 9:32–34). This passage concludes Matthew’s record of the Lord’s authoritative signs and wonders with His miraculous loosening of a mute man’s tongue. Specifically, demonic oppression renders the man unable to speak (v. 32). The Greek word describing the man’s condition may a...

Matthew 9:32 –34. The Bible makes it clear that demons exist (see Deuteronomy 32:17; 1 Timothy  4:1; James 2:19), and even today we live in a society in which many people believe in angels. They know there are spiritual forces out there, and it’s not too hard to conclude that some might be malevolent. Even Hollywood is very creative with demons, supernatural , witches and so forth. Disney has certainly indoctrinated children with regards to spells, witches and evil.  But what does the Bible say? Has Hollywood overstated their strength and purpose? Where you see God  working, sometimes those forces are more active, and that’s what was probably going on in Jesus ’ time. On this topic psychologist Gary Collins says, “My friends in clinical work have said that sometimes they have seen this, and these are not people who are inclined to see a demon behind every problem. They tend to be skeptical. The psychiatrist M. Scott Peck wrot...

(Author: Kabwata) Many explanations have been given for the explosion of the Charismatic movement in Africa . Many have seen this as a powerful visitation of the Holy Spirit . Whereas there is probably more than one reason, I want to add my own observation to this for what it is worth. In this blog post, I do not refer to the old conservative form of Pentecostalism once represented by the Assemblies of God churches. I have in mind the current extreme form that is mushrooming literally under every shrub and tree in Africa. How can one explain this phenomenon? I think that one reason why the Charismatic movement in Africa has been like a wild bushfire is because it has not challenged the African religious worldview but has instead adopted it. It has simply baptised it with Bible verses and Christian words that previously meant something totally different. The African Spiritual Worldview Let me explain what I mean. The African spiritual worldview consists of four tiers. ...