Demonic Posession

According to Collins the definition of paranormal is, “of or pertaining to the claimed occurrence of an event or perception without scientific explanation” (2014). Paranormal is contradictory in many ways even in its meaning. The prefix “para” is Greek meaning against and in Latin it means for (Harper, 2001). The study of these strange occurrences of the paranormal is parapsychology. Parapsychologists base their studies on cognitive and physical phenomena called extrasensory perception, ability to know what others are thinking, and psychokinesis, the ability to move objects. Before modern science came into the picture the belief in nonmaterial agencies like ghosts, sorcerers, and demons took the place of science (Abdullah, 2014). The paranormal is the foundation of a lot of religions, for example, Jesus performing miracles (Jones, 2012).

According to (Radford, 2013), “Most religions claim that humans can be possessed by demonic spirits, and offer exorcisms to remedy this threat.” Demons are known as being angels that rebelled against God. Demons are not made of matter and do not have bodies but they can still tempt humans to sin with flesh. The angels became demons when they disobeyed God’s test of fidelity, faithfulness. The reason the angels did not want to follow God was because they felt he was taking away their freedom (Fortea, 2012).

Three Accounts of Demonic Possessions

Account 1

In 1906 a Christian student from Natal, South Africa was possessed by a demon. Her name was Clara Germana Cele. She was said to be taken over by strange impulses at the age of sixteen. She started to refuse religious artifacts, speak and understand languages that she did not know beforehand, and became clairvoyant, ability to percei...

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...o Horrifying to Believe. Retrieved from The Blaze: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/01/27/a-real-life-demon-possession-is-being-reported-in-indiana-the-details-are-almost-too-horrifying-to-believe/

Jenkins, B. (2013, July 13). 10 Terrifying Cases of Demonic Possessions. Retrieved from Oddee: http://www.oddee.com/item_98653.aspx

Jones, D. (2012, November 10). Mysteries, Miracles & Parapsychology. Retrieved from New Dawn Magazine: http://www.newdawnmagazine.com/articles/mysteries-miracles-parapsychology

Radford, B. (2013, March 7). Exorcism: Facts and Fiction About Demonic Possession. Retrieved from Live Science: http://www.livescience.com/27727-exorcism-facts-and-fiction.html

Woerner, M. (2010, August 6). Infamous cases of "real life possession" in the modern age. Retrieved from io9: http://io9.com/5623055/infamous-cases-of-real-life-possession-in-the-modern-age