Salvation in Roman Catholicism and Bible: Short Summary

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

I love my Roman Catholic (RC) friends, and I was raised RC, and it is because of my love that I earnestly desire to share this information. Teaching on this subject has not changed since Vatican 2—and it cannot change because it was made an irreformable, de fide dogma at Council of Trent in 1500’s.

Let met state clearly that many Roman Catholics have saving faith, but it is in spite of the teaching of their church and not because of it. The true gospel was ‘anthatamized’ at the Council of Trent. And so I would urge all Catholics to consider leaving their church and to attend a loving, bible believing church. I also have a segment on Mary and the Rosary. Please see video list.

This will be a very brief summary of Roman Catholic teaching on salvation (justification) versus what God says—(I did a more in-depth study earlier). I am using justification and salvation as synonyms, but biblically, justification is more precise term. I have a video of this if you prefer to listen while driving, etc.           
                                                                                                                               
In RC, salvation is mediated through the sacraments of the church—particularly Baptism and Penance.

Baptism begins the justification/salvation process. They believe in baptismal regeneration in which baptism erases Original sin and infuses the grace of justification in the person’s soul. The baptized person is immediately infused with the righteousness of Christ, or justifying grace, and God sees that person as being inherently or personally righteous inside themselves. Thus, they are justified/saved in His sight. To maintain this justification/salvation is a lifelong process. (in bible, justification is instantaneous, irreversible and is a legal declaration outside of us…where ungodly are DECLARED righteous—see Romans 4). 5 And to the one who does not work but believes ina him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, (Rom. 4:5)

As the child grows older they will go through the sacrament of Confirmation, which is like a spiritual booster shot. It confirms and strengthens the grace of justification (salvation) in the soul.

Throughout life, two things are absolutely needed to be remain justified/saved: they have to continue to have faith in Christ and live a holy life in submission to Mother Church. The latter (holy life) consists of two things: regular involvement in sacraments of church, especially Mass/Confession; and adherence to Ten Commandments. So, you can see that though faith is a necessary condition for salvation, it is not a sufficient condition for salvation—they have to add their good works. This is the error so severely condemned in Galatians 1:6ff. For RC   faith + good works = salvation/justification—bible teaches: faith alone in Christ = salvation/justification  (good works flow naturally from a genuine faith as expression of love and gratitude).

In RC there are two kinds of sin: venial and mortal sin. Venial sin is ‘regular sin’ but mortal sin, as the name suggests, kills the grace of justification in the soul. It un-saves the person, and if they died in this state they would go to hell. Things like adultery, murder, missing Mass, Ten Commandments, etc., are examples of this kind of mortal sin, but the list is vague.

How is justification/salvation restored? Through the sacrament of Penance (RC has 7 sacraments instead of 2). RC states that: “Penance is the second plank of justification for those who have made shipwreck of their souls.” (Council of Trent) After confessing ones mortal sin, and going trough prescribed steps, the ‘shipwrecked’ believer then has saving grace re-infused back into their soul. Thus going to Confession is a vital part of a pious Roman Catholic believers lifestyle.

This is the RC system of salvation/justification. Assurance of salvation is actually deemed a sin or frowned upon—I was told it led to presumption. So, we see that salvation in RC a lifelong mediating of God’s grace through the church, and the sacrament of Penance. The vast majority of believers will die with the stain of sin on their souls, and will need to spend some time in Purgatory having their sins purged until they are ready to enter holy heaven.

To sum up summary, in RC the grace of justification is INFUSED into the soul where the person actually IS righteous enough in themselves for God to deem them as justified/saved. God deems righteous what actually IS righteous. But all that can be lost in an instant, over and over again.

In reality, whoever gets to that point of personal righteousness? Certainly not me—all I can see is the massive amount of indwelling left residing inside of me. So, this ‘gospel’ is horrible news for someone like me who is keenly aware of my sinfulness.

Thank God, the bible says that saving/justifying grace is IMPUTED to us; It is a legal declaration which happens outside of us. It is the only aspect of salvation which occurs totally outside of us. Many Protestants have never heard this from the pulpit. If you were in a courtroom and judge declared you ‘not guilty,’ it would change your legal status but would it change your character? No, not at all. Justification is God as Judge declaring people who are personally ungodly, to be ‘not guilty and righteous’ in His holy eyes—but it does not affect us internally. Sanctification instantaneously follows justification, which does begin the inside/out change of our character by the indwelling Holy Spirit. But we MUST distinguish (not separate) justification from sanctification or we will slip into error of RC. Justification in RC is inside…… but the bible sees justification as outside of us.

Hence, Romans 4 says that ‘God justifies the ungodly.’ RC confuses justification with sanctification. In biblical justification there is a double transfer: our sins are transferred to Christ, and His perfect righteousness is imputed to us. (2 Cor. 5:21) Jesus garments of His holiness cover us, so that the Father sees Jesus’ righteousness and not our sinfulness. We are simultaneously saved and sinful—THAT is good news! The BEST news!

Hence, we are simultaneously justified and sinful. ‘Simul Justus et peccator’ as Luther said. By experience, we know that to be true, and if I have to wait until I am inherently righteous enough for God to declare me righteous, then I will NEVER be righteous enough to be declared justified—too much indwelling sin remains in us. Praise God for CHRIST'S righteousness, which is in heaven—and our union with Christ unites us with all He is and has done! He sees us as perfect, in Christ!

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, wea have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1; 8:1)

Though outside of us, justification brings deep internal healing and peace of mind. Praise God!

Mark Hunnemann is the author of Seeing Ghosts Through God's Eyes: A Worldview Analysis of Earthbound Spirits. It's also available in eBook format.

Ghosts...a Line in the Sand

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

There comes a time where, with tears, a Christian must draw a line in the sand, and say "No further." I write with a heavy heart because it seems that a growing number of Christians are falling prey to the spirit of the age  when in comes to ghosts.They toss out aberrant (they might call it creative thought) interpretations of scripture re the possibility of humans returning to earth...or their own experience, and don't realize the "little ones" they are causing to stumble or just general confusion/chaos in the minds of many who respect them.. Theological ignorance and hubris is awful and rampant. Using Purgatory as a means of explaining why some people get stuck here is so terribly off base theologically/biblically it makes me shake my head in disbelief.

Another way of putting it is that the notion of ghosts is a "watershed issue". A watershed is a dividing ridge (such as a mountain range) separating one drainage area from others.On one side the water runs west, and a few inches over the water flows east. That is a watershed. The debate over ghosts is a watershed issue today. There is no doubt in my mind that the notion of ghosts is Satan's most successful and effective deception in our current intellectual/spiritual landscape. Billions (yes "b") around the globe now embrace some form of necromancy and the numbers keep exploding in growth.The mere belief in ghosts is the first step..... And no aberrant belief has more destructive power to open the gates of darkness and demonic evil. There is a watershed....it has to do with the Lordship of Christ over the totality of life.Will we see Christ as Lord over life and death, or not? Does He own our souls, or not? Do we enter rest in heaven upon death, or not....all based on the finished work of Christ on the cross?

Many of my brothers and sisters in Christ (Roman Catholic and Protestant) don't seem to grasp how significant this watershed issue has become. From Genesis to Revelation, this issue is not only clear but exceedingly serious in God's eyes.

In every generation Christians are commanded by God to be cognizant of where Satan is attacking, but we remain (mostly) oblivious.

Abortion is a watershed issue and so is the diabolical idea of ghosts. If you disagree, then--I say this gently but firmly--you are accommodating this end of days Satanic onslaught. That is what a watershed issue does...it draws a line in the sand and says, "No further." Can any Christian today say that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was wrong...or even if he was right, he should have not pressed the issue so persistently? Certainly not! Then please don't complain about making this issue such a passionate priority.

I do not care who your mentor was (e.g. Malachi Martin--whom I respect), no human is infallible in their interpretation of their supernatural experiences.Only the infallible bible is infallible re interpreting any/all of reality.

The Greatest Generation was/is great but they did very poorly re race (with few exceptions including my parents), and since then I have been almost paranoid about where WE may be blind. The notion of ghosts is the single most destructive belief which we are (with some exception) ignoring. To make matter worse, there are so many back or side doors through which Christians are allowing this belief of mass destruction to pass through. May God help our generation to wake up to our responsibility...or our kids will suffer terribly.The line is drawn in the sand.....a watershed....which side are you on?

"Seeing Ghosts through God's Eyes" (also in a Kindle edition)...please consider purchasing my book which uses science, logic, and the bible to analyze the true source of power behind paranormal activity.

Archbishop Ron Feyl Deals with More Than Just Demons, Exorcist has Critics

Almost everybody in the Paranormal Community ends up being a target at some point from internet bullies, being the dog eat dog world the Paranormal Community has become, but, nobody gets hit as hard as the clergy that offer services in exorcism, house blessing and just spiritual help to those who believe they are afflicted by dark forces. They are constantly dealing with a barrage of criticisms that have more to do with people criticizing a religion or beliefs that are not their own. I have on many occasion been told so and so of this or that religion who might be doing any sort of ritual that fights even slightest implicated evil is some how a fake. Many times, when I look into the situation, it is more of a complaint of “they don't do it this way like this religion” then any real fraud going on. I tend to take the stance of NOT BEING THE RELIGIOUS POLICE.

Now, don't get me wrong here, there are a good amount of fake exorcist and clergy out there in the field. Those who are fake, have ulterior motives. You can tell them fairly easy by their posts and what they put out there usually. Generally speaking, real priest do not spend a lot of time online. When you are doing good works that takes a good part of your life up and total concentration on such a constant basis, seeing the negativity on Facebook tends to be upsetting and discouraging, especially with seeing criticisms that are often fairly constant about their own work and even cruel insults that can be of a personal nature. However, that does not cover all individuals and everyone has a different tolerance.

This problem comes about mostly from the Roman Catholic stances or what people think are and often do not have any understanding of other Catholics besides Roman Catholicism. Often times, there are people pretending to have superior knowledge on such subjects as to intimidate those who might object to their criticisms of a clergy member or misstating facts many times deliberately. There are literally thousands of Christian religions and also probably that many pagan ones as well that have different beliefs in how to deal with evil forces or entities. Judging who is real or right is a matter of perception and choice and will mainly depend on an individuals background, culture and beliefs. Generally, clients stay within their own belief system when seeking help.

One such person that has been under repeated attacks is my dear friend, exorcist Archbishop Ron Feyl. People are saying that he is not ordained. Right on his own Facebook page, as easy as anyone can see is a history of photos that verify that he has been ordained for quite some time and in one photo, which is of a newspaper article, stands the Bishop who ordained him with a city official that was about an award of some kind years after his ordination while dressed in a priestly attire and of obvious younger years. In looking up the Bishop who ordained him, I independently found another person named as a Bishop ordained by him and the complete listed succession online. So how hard did these people look? Not very hard. They had it in their minds someone was a fake, so therefore, they are. I have yet to see one single fake anybody ever go through the lengths of photo-shopping pictures to make up a past. People that lie just generally do not have a past or personal information out there if they don't want people questioning what is there.

One such person that is questioning Feyl authenticity is a person who had past ties with Feyl's organization, “The Order of Exorcist”. However, this person took the membership and abused it by claiming he was an exorcist when he was not and merely only a member of the order which has paranormal investigators in it. Not only did this person named Brett Watson, fake his expertise and abuse his position with the order, but, he made his own order of exorcist being only a lay person with no real training in spiritual warfare. So he was booted out of the order and for good reason. Now Brett has an ax to grind. Well, it turns out that Brett teamed up with someone else, who tends to apparently take the Roman Catholic stance on everything and have little tolerance for other Catholics, yet, could conveniently overlook Brett’s own order of exorcist and seedy exorcist credentials?

Let's look at some of the other complaints here against Feyl. First off, there has been confusion of where he is from. I suppose if you never moved away from where you were born, you just would not realize a lot of people are born somewhere else then where they live their adult lives. Feyl is not Canadian for instance. There is an Ontario California. CA for California or CA for Canada confused some people. If you never talked to Feyl, you would never guess what state he is originally from. It's not California.

Someone said that their address for their church was in the middle of the road because that is where it comes up on Google Maps. I almost hit the floor on that one. When you have experience with truly investigating people, (I do for a job I do that is outside of any paranormal endeavor) then you realize that Google Maps is often wrong and can not legitimately know every address and rule them out because of such nonsense. If you look for directions to people's houses enough, you realize how off the Maps truly are as well.

First of all, Archbishop Feyl is not a Roman Catholic. Different Catholic religions have different tenets. They do not all follow Roman Catholic ways. However, even so, it is important to know some of the misnomers out there.

ONE: Ordination of a priest to the Roman Catholics is considered by God and therefore, once a priest, always a priest. The same goes for a Bishop, who then can ordain other priest. This is because it is thought that God does not make mistakes.

TWO: A Bishop does not need a physical building or church to become a Bishop or stay a Bishop. His jurisdiction is to be in charge of group people, which, an order of exorcist is. There is nothing in the New Advent (Roman Catholic encyclopedia very much used by Roman Catholics) site once so ever about Bishops being with a church or even assigned a church or building.

THREE: Exorcist are not always Bishops and even lay people can be ordained as exorcist under the right conditions or character and are not even always Roman Catholic.

FOUR: Roman Catholics acknowledge that even a lay person has the power to cast out demons with prayer if held steadfast in prayer under certain circumstances.

FIVE: Roman Catholics by their very nature have a hierarchy that must be taken into consideration when asking for a exorcism and are known for NOT doing exorcisms most times and do not usually like to deal with people who are of another faith at all. To get one is a lengthy proposition if they do one at all.

I could go on here, but, it would be redundant. Taking out our clergy that are needed in the paranormal field just because they are not Roman Catholic is ludicrous. I challenge people to show me a Roman Catholic priest or especially a Bishop who is going to work with the paranormal community to help people. You will be lucky to find one.

I did not find discrepancies in Archbishop Ron Feyl, only misstatement of facts by those accusing. It is important to realize that just because a website says something that; 1. Doesn't mean you can assume someone published the web page with incorrect information as anyone could have done so, and 2.  Doesn’t mean that you can always rely on that information as being solid and correct. The dates alone that some have reported as if lies told by the Archbishop of his ordinations are in fact wrong and therefore, not truly showing fraud at all. Just because you make a meme (picture with words made on the internet) doesn't mean it's the truth. It is easy to make up stuff and throw it out there against someone with no proof to back it up.

I'd like to add here that the Archbishop has been very forthcoming with the inquiry I have had with him, however, being I have respect for him, I will not publish his answers and will respect his privacy in this matter. I am not in the habit of going after priest unless there is clear reason to do so.

The fake priest and exorcist I go after are sex offenders or they are scamming and doing something much more then practicing a religion that others do not approve of. Like Brett who is involved with an online school for demonology and exorcists that certifies them when he had no real expertise or schooling or training to do so himself, let alone people paying him to train them and paying quite a lot for a sham.

There are other clergy members out there that are under the same type of attacks from people who probably don't really have the public's best interest at heart anyway. I was taught to have respect for men and women of cloth and to tell you the truth, I have respect for all religions and do not judge others as it should be. I completely resent people attempting to sideline me into this type of religious debate and then to act so self-righteous as to act like we allowed someone to get away, when the person who probably should not be getting away is the person cruelly and ignorantly making accusations all over the paranormal field behind so many people's backs. So maybe Ken Deel can answer for own own actions and explain to people how he only stands behind Roman Catholic ideals and have been behind much of what Brett has been saying and him as well not only of attacks against Archbishop Feyl, but, other non-Roman Catholic exorcist while ignoring Brett's own shortcomings (who is NOT a Roman Catholic or even a Catholic). There is no room for bigots in spiritual warfare.

Sorry Ken Deel, I AM NOT THE RELIGIOUS POLICE... apparently that's your job. Nothing is worse then people making a stink and not wanting their own name involved in it.

I will always be protective of our clergy and for good reason, I know what is out there.

By Evan Jensen, Producer of Beyond the Edge of Reality Radio Network.

http://www.beyondtheedgeofreality.net

Archbishop Ron Feyl’s “Order of Exorcist”

http://www.orderofexorcists.com/

How to Discover God's Calling for You

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

In last week's blog, What is God's Calling for You? we discussed that there were two kinds of  "callings" in the bible--Primary calling and secondary callings. I spent so much time focusing on "Primary" that we only lightly touched on the very important secondary "callings". To say that this aspect of calling is secondary relative to the Primary sense, does not imply that it is unimportant. On the contrary, it is exceedingly important because it has to do with how we LIVE OUR LIVES....what we spend so much of our time doing. It  serves as a "job description" of sorts for our lives.

Our Primary Calling is our "purpose in life", which is to love God with all of our being.We noted that it is vital that we keep the relational horse before the cart of service/ministry/work. We must always bear this priority in mind, especially as we begin our discussion of how to discover God's call for your life (secondary sense). In fact, the biggest stumbling block to devotion FOR God, is our fixation on service TO God. That is putting the calling (secondary) cart before the Calling  horse (primary) THIS IS VITAL--everything we discuss today regarding how to discover God's call for you must flow out of our love for God...otherwise our secondary callings become idols. Or it can inflict immense psychological damage on a person..

A person dear to me is experiencing a terrible psychic/emotional meltdown, which has institutionalized them temporarily, because of retirement after a stellar performance in life-long career..Their entire self-image or worth was tied up in their successful career. Only God can meet our longings for security and significance. Perhaps to a lesser degree, some of you are frustrated, bored, scared.or bewildered due to not knowing what your calling is, or your secondary calling has pushed God to the margins.Perhaps some negative experiences have hurt you, or you are confused as to why you have not had an extraordinary revelation from God re your calling as some of your friends claim.

It all began my first year in Seminary. I am referring to my frustrating battles with how to determine with certainty if I was called into the pastoral ministry. You see, as a former Roman Catholic, it took extra persuasion/certainty to be convinced that I was called to be a Presbyterian pastor. And to be honest, I began to really get frustrated when numerous people in seminary spoke in glowing terms of their extraordinarily supernatural experiences of "being called to the ministry." I could NOT relate! I look back now, and I realize that much of that was perhaps sincere, but it was still self-induced hype...as is some talk I hear today surrounding one's call to be an exorcist.

One person shared with me today their frustration in determining God's call in light of the tendency to sensationalize. One can read anything INTO a weird dream or odd coincidence or confluence of events. Some folks are what I call "super-spiritual"--.meaning they tend to verbalize everything (including how they discovered what their calling was) in spiritually "over-heated" language. For example, I have heard folks speak of how God called them to be an exorcist because of a dream they had. A dream is a dream is a dream...and I do not know anybody I trust to be an expert dream analyst--as Joseph and Daniel were.Please stop making major life decisions based on some dream you had....unless it is supported with other, more reasonable, input.

First rule of thumb regarding how to discover God's calling for you is that it won't contradict a clear imperative in the bible. I do not care how much you sense God calling you to do something--if it causes you to disobey His Word, then He is NOT calling you to that sphere.This should seem self-evident, but subjective experience holds more weight than God's objective truth with many professing Christians.
Second, I do not think God has not spoken audibly for 2,000 years, so it would be foolish to wait for God to speak with you in that manner.The inner voice is a different story, but its subjective nature behooves us to be cautious in how much weight we put on it re determining discovering God's call.

Third, remember that there is no sacred/secular division in the bible when it comes to what God has called us TO DO.(don't forget, our service FOR God flows out of our Primary Calling--His love for us and our love for Him). God's first words to Adam and Eve were the Cultural Commission--enobling and sanctifying all lawful "vocations" or callings. Cleaning the toilets is just as spiritual as reading the bible or preaching. The larger point is this--we must be gripped with the fact that God delights in all our labor. The actual work itself (not just its potential witness power) delights God. The artist, homemaker or actor brings delight to God, regardless of its potential witness impact. When God peers over the rail of heaven and sees you absorbed in the details of being a police officer, carpenter, accountant (and so on), He smiles at what you are doing. Some folks see their "secular" work as necessary evil until they can get off and "do the Lord's work".. A thousand times NO!! If your calling is a homemaker then that is the Lord's work for you...as is crunching numbers for an accountant.  And God smiles as much at this CALLING as He does ministering to tribes in the Amazon jungle. There are no"little people" in God's family.

The fourth key to discovering God's will or calling for you is is to realize that it is not OUT THERE...it is not outside of you waiting for you to explore and discover it. It (the key to discovering God's calling) is inside of you...how God wired you. He is ultimate craftsman with a purpose.He wired you a certain way for a certain purpose--so that your calling goes "with the grain" of your inner makeup and not across the grain.  He is not going to call you into a field that you utterly detest. Let me here go into more detail about "motivated abilities".that I mentioned last time. Understanding what these are will be the single most important tool in discovering God's calling for you.

Motivated abilities (both words are important). What are you good at...perhaps really good at doing? (Not talking about being the best in the world).What ability/s has God given you? Have your friends and peers  given you insight here? But, most of us are pretty good at something, BUT we don't particularly enjoy it. That is where the "motivated" comes in. What ability do you have that also really turns you on...gives you a deep sense of satisfaction? It seems to flow with the grain of how God wired you.

Let me be personal for a moment--I know that God has blessed me with the ability to write.I am no Pat Conroy, but I truly delight in wordsmithing. Honest feedback has been confirming. A false humility which denies all abilities is not helpful, but harmful. But (and this is important), I also thoroughly enjoy writing. I rarely get writers block, and if I do, it usually because I am "paralyzed" by too many choices of topics to write on! So, writing is my motivated ability.And it took a long time, but I see now how He specifically wants me to write...and what He wants me to focus on. God's callings for us may evolve as our life circumstances change.

Not everybody can do this--exigencies of life force many folks to earn a good living doing something they don't care for.....That is life in a Fallen world ...some folks will not be able to find a job that taps into their calling. But the key to a fulfilling career is to find a job that provides the best opportunity to habitually tap into your motivated abilities.If you have 3 job prospects, factor in (along with other needs) which will tap into your motivated abilities the most. Along with attitude, this is the main key to a fulfilling job/career...for you will be following your calling....going with the grain of how God made you.

Speaking personally, it helped me to have some personal experience as an assistant to my pastor to get my feet wet...which helped to finally confirm my call to the pastoral ministry. To the extent you can, try to get some experience at what you think God is calling you to do. Get feedback from trusted friends--and of course, pray!

Due to time/space constraints,I could not address some issues specific to those who feel called to the deliverance ministry. I do think that there is a consideration to bear in mind--maybe God is calling you, but wants you wait for awhile...and prepare in meantime.

"Seeing Ghosts through God's Eyes" (also in a Kindle edition)...please consider purchasing my book which uses science, logic, and the bible to analyze the true source of power behind paranormal activity.

Is It Arrogant to Speak with Certainty Regarding the Paranormal?

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

"And When Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes." (Matt. 7:28-29) 

Is it arrogant to authoritatively assert that ghosts are demons, and that the bible does not have any wiggle room on this? I thought this would be an appropriate way to pull together and apply all that we have been saying about the attributes of Scripture...its authority relative to paranormal matters. I have been known to be quite assertive and certain in my comments--this has not always gone over very well....It seems that an amount of confidence is okay, within "reason", BUT to speak with utter certitude is deemed cocky and arrogant. "This is the mystery realm...we revel in diverse opinions." And what about the folks who are suffering?


Suppose God Himself appeared to you. Further, suppose He said this to you...face-to-face: "I want you to tell everyone you can about how Satan, and those filthy demons, are deceiving my beloved people by pretending to be ghosts. When people die, I immediately send them to heaven or hell. I love you--now go!" Suppose you had such an encounter--would you have any problem with following His command? Would you hem and haw when the topic of ghosts came up in conversations? Would you worry about sounding arrogant when speaking with winsome certainty? Certainly not! So, why is there such a small band of brothers/sisters addressing this vital issue? And even less with convincing, loving certainty?


Jesus did not hem and haw; He spoke with utter certainty on a wide range of topics, and the crowds marveled..And we learned that the written Word of God carries with it all the authority  of God's divine voice and the oral words of Jesus. That authority can be nothing less than ultimate and absolute. We have learned that when we read the bible we are not just reading verbiage...or just inspired sentences. WE ARE HAVING AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE REAL PRESENCE OF GOD HIMSELF!


We have repeatedly noted that the bible is 100 clear and emphatic that alleged ghosts are really demons


Let me give you this illustration from church history. The great reformer Martin Luther was engaged in debate with the learned Roman Catholic scholar Erasmus. What they were discussing was of immense importance, and this caused Luther to argue with great earnestness and zeal--the gospel was at stake! Well, being the gentleman and scholar that he was, Erasmus complained that Luther needed to show more humility and not be so dogmatic in his assertions. Uh oh...wrong thing to say! After thoroughly demeaning Erasmus (which Luther should not have done), he stated: "the Holy Spirit is NOT A SKEPTIC..." (Back in the day, the philosophical Skeptics debated everything and believed nothing) Luther's point is that it is not a sign of humility to hem and haw on a subject that the Holy Spirit has inspired and made clear. It is actually arrogant to NOT be assertive about subjects the bible is clear about because it implies that you are not trusting in its authority...autonomous thinking  In other words, being utterly certain and confident in one's assertions regarding the bible's teaching (providing it is clear and done winsomely) is a sign of submission to the Lordship of Christ. Remember our hypothetical encounter...how certainty regarding our message would be the only reasonable response.


The paranormal receives a great deal of attention in the bible--explicitly or implicitly. Because of the amount of detail, it is crystal clear. Below is just a small list of some of the topics the bible is crystal clear about

1.God is the sovereign, holy creator and redeemer
2.The instant we die, all of our souls stand before God in judgement and we are sent to heaven or hell...Judgement Day is simply public pronouncement
3 The paranormal realm is Satan's temporary home
4. Attempting to speak to the dead is an occultic sin
5. There are no trapped spirits on earth
6. Virtually all paranormal activity is demonic
7. Identifying entities in the spirit realm is a theological issue and not a scientific issue.


It seems to me that the paranormal community will gladly receive opinions, no matter how farfetched, based on a false notion of paranormal unity. Hence, any antithetical assertions--A is right and B is wrong--is considered judgmental and closed minded.


To assert with winsome certainty that ghosts are demons is NOT arrogant...it is humbly agreeing with God--seeing ghosts through His eyes. The essence of wisdom is to fear God, and trusting that His word is more sure than life itself. What the church and world needs are folks who will speak with prophetic certainty regarding this doctrine of demons.

God has ORDERED US to get out and tell folks all that Jesus commanded...that is the Great Commission...which has become the Great Omission when it comes to telling the liberating truth to those confused by the paranormal or oppressed by the demonic. How can we blame so many folks for believing this Satanic lie when so few are obeying God's personal call to YOU AND I TO GO? Go, and assert with certainty!