Difference between revisions of "Exorcism"
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Revision as of 20:29, May 26, 2009
Exorcism is the Christian ritual of expelling demons who are possessing a human being.
Exorcism in the Bible
Jesus expelled demons, as recorded in the Gospels. In perhaps the most famous instance, he expelled a "legion" of demons from a man and permitted the demons to go into a herd of pigs (see Gaderene Swine). Jesus also cautioned some sufferers of demonic possession that if one demon was exorcised, seven more might want to "enter" the "clean house".
Opponents of Jesus accused him of casting out demons "by the power of Beelzebub",[1] a charge generally dismissed by Christians.
The modern era
In modern times, exorcism is largely a Catholic rite. Martin Malachi wrote a book about this in the 1970s, and a movie (The Exorcist (1973)) dramatized the topic.
see Jeremy Davies for a contemporary practitioner