The Exorcist's Bestiary

Everything spiritual is made manifest through science. Our scientific bodies live in a scientific world made of science. Anything that happens in us or around us, happens to us scientifically. You cannot experience something if you, as a scientific being, don’t have some kind of scientific sensor go off in your body somewhere. You are science.

The beauty of scientific study is that it shows us why things are the way they are. But once we have made such discoveries, there are two primary worldviews we separate into. In a religious worldview, like the Christian one, science becomes the way in which God works. Yes, electricity goes off in the brain when the Holy Spirit legitimately speaks to them. Yes, someone who has a legitimate, open vision of an angel may very well be experiencing a hallucination, scientifically speaking. Yes, vigorous fasting may put the body in a state where it’s more open to such visions. It is not offensive to me to believe that God speaks through science because if he spoke without it, we would not hear him.

Under the Christian worldview, God is the artist, and science is his paintbrush. But in an atheistic worldview, the paintbrush is God. (This is not a jab at atheists, but a distinction to help us understand the differences between our worldviews so that we might have better conversations.) When the paintbrush becomes the artist, all that needs to be understood is how the paintbrush works. In such a worldview, the Holy Spirit is nothing more than intrusive thoughts; an open vision is nothing more than a hallucination projecting one’s subconscious thoughts; fasting is nothing more than the body breaking down.

The artist and the paintbrush are two different Gods that have two different endpoints. A scientist sees evolution as the rhyme and reason of existence, whereas a Christian sees evolution as God’s tool to bring about his rhyme and reason for existence. Because the philosophical endpoints of these worldviews differ, they will sometimes overlap and sometimes clash, like two vinyl records playing simultaneously, but are off by two beats per minute.

Because all things can be scientific, the supernaturally-minded Christian must have great discernment. This is especially true for exorcists who need to be discerning of spirits. Is the participant hearing the Holy Spirit? Or are they hearing their own spirit? If it’s their own spirit, is it coming from a place of health or sickness? Or are they hearing a demon? And if it’s a demon, which demon is it?

Regardless of which spirit it is, we will encounter it through science in some way. This is not bad, evil, or threatening to believe, and it’s helpful to remember when we’re trying to lead people through holistic healing. The Christian has much to learn from the scientist, even if the scientist feels the same can’t be said for them.