Have you ever thought about the many different biblical and multicultural accounts of spirits and exorcism?
Dr. Joy Vaughan, assistant professor of New Testament at Asbury, just published her first book, Phenomenal Phenomena.
After observing and experiencing polarizing perspectives in academia and church settings, Vaughan decided she must approach this topic. Vaughan felt that “in some settings, demons were behind everything” and often talked about or completely ignored.
Today, the conception of spirits and demons has been mostly consigned to pop culture in films and novels, according to Vaughan. Any notion of supernatural possession is often derided as outdated belief or legend.
Vaughan decided to approach this topic in the middle. She came up with the solution: Not everything is the fault of demons.
The New Testament discusses many themes and highlights those who are experiencing ailments due to evil beings.
C. S. Lewis sums up this problem in his book entitled The Screwtape Letters. He writes, “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.” (originally 1942; this edition: Harper Collins, 1996).
After following up with her mentor Craig Keener, she decided to pursue her interest in this topic.
Following research, she discovered that the Western world has essentially “cast out” stories of exorcisms that persist throughout much of the world today. Consequently, Western Christians have a limited framework to interpret the exorcism accounts scattered throughout the Synoptic Gospels and Acts in their depictions of the ministry of Jesus and his followers.
Vaughan’s book encompasses just this: How do we read the exorcism accounts in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts? How does possession present itself in anthropological and ethnographic writing?
So, she pondered the idea, “Do multicultural perspectives offer Westerners a new lens for reading these biblical texts?”
“I think the answer to this question is yes,” Vaughan said.
Vaughan surveys interreligious and global perspectives through three relationships: spirit possession and illness; spirit possession and violence or extraordinary strength; and spirit possession and vocalic activity/alteration, demonic speech, and oracular activity.
After researching and beginning to answer these questions, Vaughan has confidence in the work of God.
“I deeply believe that the Scriptures reveal God to us,” Vaughan said. “In every instance that Jesus comes into contact with an evil spirit, Jesus wins.”
Scripture is and will never be outdated, yet it will always offer insights into some of the most difficult experiences faced in human history.
“God is greater, and no force can even remotely compare to his great power,” Vaughan said.
The goal of Phenomenal Phenomena is to allow readers to look at Scripture with a deeper understanding of the contextual background.
“I hope that after reading, every reader will fall in love with scripture more deeply,” Vaughan said.