{"id":885,"date":"2020-01-07T11:20:13","date_gmt":"2020-01-07T16:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=885"},"modified":"2020-01-07T11:20:13","modified_gmt":"2020-01-07T16:20:13","slug":"temptation-is-more-dangerous-to-the-soul-than-demonic-possession-according-to-exorcist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2020\/01\/temptation-is-more-dangerous-to-the-soul-than-demonic-possession-according-to-exorcist.html","title":{"rendered":"Temptation is More Dangerous to the Soul than Demonic Possession According to Exorcist"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
stuart Burns\/Flickr.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The greatest way the devil works is through temptation to commit evil, Father Francois Demine said in a recent interview with Catholic News Agency.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most common manifestation of the demonic is temptation, which is much more significant than possession,\u201d Father Dermine said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must not undervalue the significance of temptation. It\u2019s not as spectacular as possession, but it\u2019s far more dangerous [to the soul],\u201d he included.<\/p>\n

Father Dermine has been an exorcist for more than 25 years. In his interview with CSA, he shared some interesting facts about the ministry of exorcism.<\/p>\n

He warned against thinking that every physical ailment is rooted in the demonic.<\/p>\n

Father Dermine explained that most cases are rooted in natural causes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a person comes and asks for a blessing for a specific problem, the first thing an exorcist must ask is, did you see the doctor?\u201d Dermine said.<\/p>\n

He also expressed that it\u2019s a mistake to confuse preternatural phenomena like demonic activity with supernatural charisms, which come from God.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very important difference,\u201d Dermine said. \u201cWe have a human nature and cannot know things without learning through our senses.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGod created us to operate in a certain way. If you have extra-sensorial perceptions, and things like this, and they are not meant to help or to provoke a spiritual result, then they cannot come from God,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

There is early documentation of exorcisms in the Bible.<\/p>\n

Jesus frequently cast out evil spirits and commanded that His early followers did the same.<\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 disciples performed exorcism to show Christ\u2019s power over demons (Luke 10:17) and to prove that the disciples were acting under God\u2019s authority. It also showed the possessed person\u2019s lack of faith (Matthew 17:14-21). It became an important part of the ministry of the disciples.<\/p>\n

A number of people in the Gospels and the Book of Acts are also recorded having performed the practice. The disciples did so as part of Christ\u2019s instruction in Matthew 10, Paul in Acts 16, the children of the Pharisees in Luke 11:18-19, and certain exorcists in Acts 19:11-16.<\/p>\n

However, Jesus did not instruct everyone to perform these exorcisms. He chose specific people with the power over the evil spirits, and it was not a calling or ability given to everyone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The greatest way the devil works is through temptation to commit evil, Father Francois Demine said in a recent interview with Catholic News Agency. \u201cThe most common manifestation of the demonic is temptation, which is much more significant than possession,\u201d Father Dermine said. \u201cWe must not undervalue the significance of temptation. It\u2019s not as spectacular…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":565,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[471,10,76,75,468],"class_list":["post-885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholic","tag-catholic-news","tag-christian-news","tag-demonic-possession","tag-exorcism","tag-exorcist"],"yoast_head":"\nTemptation is More Dangerous to the Soul than Demonic Possession According to Exorcist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2020\/01\/temptation-is-more-dangerous-to-the-soul-than-demonic-possession-according-to-exorcist.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Temptation is More Dangerous to the Soul than Demonic Possession According to Exorcist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The greatest way the devil works is through temptation to commit evil, Father Francois Demine said in a recent interview with Catholic News Agency. \u201cThe most common manifestation of the demonic is temptation, which is much more significant than possession,\u201d Father Dermine said. \u201cWe must not undervalue the significance of temptation. It\u2019s not as spectacular…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2020\/01\/temptation-is-more-dangerous-to-the-soul-than-demonic-possession-according-to-exorcist.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Christ News Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-01-07T16:20:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/409\/2020\/01\/22522618536_e3c237a872_c-e1578413906130.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"525\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lesli White\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Temptation is More Dangerous to the Soul than Demonic Possession According to Exorcist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2020\/01\/temptation-is-more-dangerous-to-the-soul-than-demonic-possession-according-to-exorcist.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Temptation is More Dangerous to the Soul than Demonic Possession According to Exorcist","og_description":"The greatest way the devil works is through temptation to commit evil, Father Francois Demine said in a recent interview with Catholic News Agency. \u201cThe most common manifestation of the demonic is temptation, which is much more significant than possession,\u201d Father Dermine said. \u201cWe must not undervalue the significance of temptation. 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