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As a missionary I have been involved in encounter with the powers for years, since 1958. Unfortunately, most of those years Iwas untrained as a spiritual warrior. As a missiologist, my graduate studies all focused on how to take panta ta ethne (all the peoples)from Satan to God, and in practice I have experienced both success and failure. As a pastor-counselor, I have ministered to hundredsof demonically afflicted people both one-on-one and in groups. Some of their stories are in this book. As a teacher, I want to sharewhat I have learned from God, from my colleagues who minister continually to the bruised among us, and from the suffering peoplewho have ministered to me even as I have ministered to them.This is a work in progress. It is a beginning attempt to go deeper into the warfare dimension of the Christian life, and to somedegree, into evangelism. The main focus is pastoral, with a secondary focus evangelistic. I have tried to both broaden and deepen thestudies already done in this arena of warfare, especially with the spirit world, to produce a comprehensive work on the subject. Sincespiritual warfare touches every dimension of human life, I have been forced to move into areas of study and experiences outside myareas of expertise, and I ask my readers who are specialists in these areas to keep this in mind as they discover any shortcomings inthis work. I write this preface after finishing the book. I am comfortable with most of what I have written, yet uncomfortable withsome of what I have written. I only wish time had permitted a rewrite of some of the exegetical sections with more input from biblicalscholars, but deadlines made this impossible. So I release the book, hoping it will open the flood gates, inspiring others moreknowledgeable and gifted than I to write and help God’s army fight the good fight in these closing years of this century, and, if theLord tarries His coming, in the opening years of the twenty-first century.By its very nature, this is a controversial book. Some dimensions of spiritual warfare are controversial both theologically and inpractice. My mission organization, O.C. International (formerly Overseas Crusades), is committed to power encounter as a validdimension of evangelism and Christian living and spiritual warfare as the context of the church’s life and mission. Yet the viewsexpressed in this book are my own. They do not necessarily represent the views of O.C., its leadership, and its missionaries. I amgrateful to O.C. for allowing me time to do this writing.I am grateful to the dozens of publishers, writers, and people who have allowed me to quote their material. Because of thecomprehensive nature of this book, I have felt it right and necessary to quote many of the experts and not to rely upon my own limitedknowledge and experience. I am grateful also to my former administrative assistant, Mrs. Betty Sparks, who typed the first draft ofthis book, which was three times the size of what you see here. Her beloved husband, Charles, was diagnosed with incurable cancerabout the time we began the work. Betty hung in there with me until the emotional and physical strain was no longer bearable. Charleswent to be with the Lord before the book was completed. Betty’s daughter, Mrs. Melissa Parle, stepped into the gap along with one ofO.C.’s faithful staff workers, Mrs. Lois Vogen, who with others, finished the manuscript. I could not have done this work withoutBetty, Charles, Melissa, Lois, and Loretta, my faithful wife, who again put up with months of my absence until the work wascomplete. Thank you in Jesus’ dear name.Deep heartfelt thanks go to Mrs. Dolly McElhaney and my editor, Mr. Mark E. Roberts, for condensing the volume of material Ifirst submitted to the present, more manageable size. I had enough for three volumes. I owe them an immeasurable debt for theirgracious labors and critical help. I also thank them in Jesus’ dear name.IntroductionCAROLYN’S STORY“Ed, you must come home right away.” My wife’s voice trembled across the long distance line. “Carolyn has been actingstrangely since you’ve been away. As I dealt with her last night, I saw a demon glaring at me through her eyes.” “A demon!” Iexclaimed. “That’s impossible. Carolyn is a Christian. Christians can’t have demons.” “I know she is a Christian,” Loretta replied. “Ialso know Christians aren’t supposed to have demons. But it was a demon that stared at me through her eyes. That was not Carolyn.”I was shocked, incredulous, angry, and confused. How could demons abide in the same body with the Holy Spirit? As the oldestof our four children, Carolyn had always assumed leadership for the other three, being an example to them of stability, discipline, andstrong commitment to Christ. True, we had been having our first behavioral problems with her on this missionary furlough fromColombia, South America. I was not overly concerned, however. Any fourteen-year-old girl dropped suddenly into the turbulentenvironment of the 1960s in the United States would experience readjustment difficulties. Besides, Loretta and I were so busy inministry that I felt Carolyn was reacting to our neglect of her.Demons were the furthest thing from my mind. I knew nothing about them except that, according to Scripture, they existed, wereespecially active in Bible times, and in modern times were to be found “on the mission field.” To my knowledge, however, I had nevermet one during my then ten years as a missionary. “Loretta,” I declared, “you must be mistaken. Carolyn can’t have demons. Besides,I can’t come home yet. The conference won’t be over for several days.” “You have to come home,” she insisted. “I can’t handle thisby myself. Ask Dick Hillis for permission to come home today. “Last night I went into Carolyn’s room to talk with her. I found herlying on the floor with her feet up on the bed listening to some weird music. When I called to her she did not answer. She was in atrance.“As I spoke to her about her recent rebelliousness towards us and the Lord, she suddenly changed before my eyes. She becamehostile and began yelling at me to get away and leave her alone. I noticed a mysterious ‘darkness’ in her eyes. It was not Carolyn whoglared at me through those eyes but another personality, an evil personality, totally unlike the Carolyn we know and love. I am sure itwas a demon. “The words that came out of her mouth were not Carolyn’s. They were evil, cynical, haughty, and God-defying. I spoketo the evil thing and commanded it in the name of the Lord Jesus to release Carolyn so I could speak directly to her alone. Suddenlyher eyes changed and Carolyn was back in control of herself.”Deeply disturbed by the conversation with my wife, I told Dick Hillis what Loretta had said. To my amazement, he affirmed thatunder certain circumstances Christians can be partially controlled by demons. I had never heard of such a thing before. In all my yearsof theological and missionary training, no one had ever taught me that true Christians could experience demonic bondage. “If Loretta18 Articles for Demons & Deliverance: The Handbook for Spiritual Warfare by Dr. Ed Murphy3

says Carolyn has demons, you had better get home and help her,” Dick said. “Someone else can cover your responsibilities here in theconference.” On the journey home to Los Angeles from San Jose, California, I was both angry and fearful: angry over the possibilitythat evil spirits could disturb the life of my lovely daughter and fearful that, if true, I wouldn’t know how to free her from theirinfluence. What do I do? I thought. Where do I begin?I arrived late and Carolyn was already in bed. Awakening her, I told her what Loretta had said about her rebellious attitude andthe demons glaring through her eyes. Within moments her usually sweet personality changed into something evil. With a strange glarein her eyes she screamed at me. “Leave me alone!” she yelled. I forbade the demons to speak directly through Carolyn. When shecalmed down, I spoke to her very quietly about her walk with the Lord. Suddenly she became her usual sweet, responsive, andobedient self. “Dad,” she said, “I don’t know what’s the matter with me. There seems to be something inside of me that takes over andI do weird things. Dad, help me. I’m scared. I love Jesus and I want to do what is right. What’s wrong with me?” Carolyn and I gotdown on our knees in prayer. She confessed her rebellion and disobedience, crying to the Lord to break the power of evil oppressingher life. She was having unusual difficulty in praying, however, especially in declaring the lordship of Christ over her life.In the past I had noticed she had a small object hanging on a chain around her neck, but hadn’t thought anything of it. As I waspraying with her, trying to resist the Devil on her behalf, my attention was drawn to that object. It looked like a Star of David. “Wheredid you get that star?” I asked. She told me the name of the boy who had given it to her. I knew him. He was a professing Christian butdefinitely not a committed believer. “What is it supposed to symbolize?” I inquired. “I don’t know what it symbolizes,” she replied.“It’s just a kind of good-luck charm. It’s found on the dust covers of some musical albums. All the kids wear them.”The “star” turned out to be a pentagram, a symbol of the occult world. At that time I was almost totally ignorant of occultism, itssymbols and practices. Yet somehow I knew that thing was an evil symbol. Its presence on her body served as an amulet, drawing evilspirits to her life. “Carolyn, you will not find full freedom from the demon spirits afflicting you until you remove that object andrenounce the spirit forces associated with it,” I told her. She took it off her neck and threw it on the floor. She confessed andrenounced her occult involvement, her recent interest in heavy metal rock music, and her rebellious attitude and selfishness. Soon wewere in a face-to-face confrontation with evil spirits. “Dad, they’re after me. I’m afraid,” she cried. “They have a hold on my life. Iwant them to go. Dad, please help me get rid of them.”“Get away from my daughter’s life,” I commanded. “She has broken all allegiance with you. Get out! Leave her alone! In thename and authority of my Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, who defeated your master on the Cross, I command you to go away fromCarolyn and do not return. Get out of her life! Let her alone. Carolyn does not belong to you. She has given her life to the Lord JesusChrist.” Within a few minutes the struggle ceased. Carolyn became calm. She joyfully began praising the Lord for setting her free.The evil spirits had left. We both cried and rejoiced before the Lord for His grace in releasing her from the demonic spirits. We wentto bed happily thinking that the battle was over. About two A.M., however, Carolyn banged on our bedroom door.“Dad, the demons are back,” she cried. “Help me! They seem to be coming at me from under my bed. They want to get backinside of me.” I went to her room with her. “What do you have under your bed?” I asked. “I have a small box filled with more of thosestars and other paraphernalia. I forgot about them when we were praying last night. Dad, please get them out from under my bed.”“No, Carolyn,” I replied. “I won’t do it for you. You have to do it yourself. By your choice you got involved with them and by yourchoice you’ll get rid of them.” “I’m afraid,” she said, “but I’ll do it if you will help me.” She reached under the bed, pulled out thelittle box, and handed it to me. “Dad, will you destroy them for me? I don’t want anything further to do with them.”“No,” I replied. “You must destroy them. This will declare to the spirit world that you are making a complete break with them. I’llwalk out in the back yard with you, but you must do it yourself.” She did. We returned to her room for another talk and time of prayer.It was then that I began to discover the extent of the demonic evil influence that had come against her life through her involvement indemonic rock music and through the influence of her boyfriend. Carolyn had never been fond of extreme rock music. She liked someof the more mild, almost folk, rock groups but showed no interest in heavy rock groups with their grotesque dress, vulgar gestures, andimmoral, rebellious, often occultic lyrics. We had never allowed them in our home.While on furlough things were different, however. Both Loretta and I were continually involved in ministry and were neglectingour children. Most of the time I was away from home on mission business or in missionary conferences. Loretta had her ownmissionary meetings to attend, plus heavy correspondence and personal contact with our supporters. Unknown to us, Carolyn’s friendhad introduced her to the fringes of the hippie-occult protest movement of the sixties. He had also exposed her to heavier rock musicand transcendental meditation. She found that she could go into a trance while listening to the music of certain rock groups. Carolynconfessed her sins to the Lord, renouncing transcendental meditation and all evil music. She destroyed her offensive rock music andeverything in her possession which she knew dishonored the Lord. This was the beginning of what later became the most importantworld view shift in my Christian life. Little did I know that over a period of several years I would not only come to understand thattrue believers, under unusual circumstances of sin, can come under direct partial demonic control, but I would also find myselfinvolved in a ministry of helping to rid believers of these evil personalities.We are all aware that Satan and his demons are our enemies. We know that they war against true believers, churches, and otherChristian institutions. Most of us can quote verbatim parts of Ephesians 6:10–20, James 4:7–8, 1 Peter 5:8–11, and other spiritualwarfare passages. The question is, do we really comprehend the power hurled against us by Satan and his demons? Do we really knowwhat Satan can do in the lives of believers who violate God’s Word, even through ignorance?THE REALITY OF DEMONIZATION: RELATING SCRIPTURE AND EXPERIENCEPerhaps the most controversial question to be raised is, “Can a true believer be demonized?” Note that I am speaking not ofdemon possession, but of demonization. Possession implies ownership and total control. Christians, even disobedient ones, belong toGod, not to Satan. Thus, Satan cannot control them totally. Demonization is a different matter, however. By demonization I mean thatSatan, through his demons, exercises direct, partial control over an area or areas of the life of a Christian or non-Christian. Can that18 Articles for Demons & Deliverance: The Handbook for Spiritual Warfare by Dr. Ed Murphy4

really happen to Christians? According to Scripture and Christian experience it can. Scriptures warn believers not to “fall into thesame condemnation as the devil” or “fall into reproach and the snare of the devil” (1 Tim. 3:6–7). They also tell us of believers whohave “turned aside after Satan” (1 Tim. 5:15). The apostle Peter wrote to warn believers of the terrible danger they faced as a result ofSatan’s attacks. He said that if they did not learn how to “resist him firm in [their] faith,” they could be “devoured by the devil” (1 Pet.5:8–9). Those are strong words. No wonder the apostle Paul writes about the danger of believers being ignorant of Satan’s schemes (2Cor. 2:11).Much is being written about demons today, also. We are witnessing what one scholar called “a demonic deluge.” Some of it isexcellent; some of it is very bad. Studies on Satan lean toward sensationalism on one hand and rigid dogmatism on the other. The veryact of studying demons causes one to focus so intently on them that extreme views often result, understandably but unfortunately. Formany, any theology of demons they have is built primarily on subjective experience. They uncritically believe what demons tell themand write books accordingly. This, combined with their emotional subjectivism and their tendency to see all evil, and all personal, andall social malfunctions as primarily and directly demonic (they are always indirectly demonic), further divides the church on thiscrucial area of reality and turns the unbelieving critic away from Christ and the Bible. On the other hand, there are others whosetheology of demons is built on their own limited interpretations of Scripture with little or no experience in direct, on-goingconfrontation with evil spirits. Declaring what demons can and cannot do, they produce their books from this monocultural, dogmaticperspective.The result is the church divided again. Just as tragic, millions of terribly hurt people, believers as well as unbelievers, go withouthelp or go to counselors who may be atheists or Christians inexperienced in the demonic realm. The Scripture-versus-experience issueis unfortunate, unbiblical, and illogical. Never in Scripture are the two held to be mutually exclusive. They are always seen to be twosides of the same coin. God’s written revelation is the Bible. That written revelation is not given in an abstract theological form,however. It is given in historical form as God makes Himself known to His people and to the world in the context of humanexperience. A knowledge of God divorced from the experience of God led to the Crusades, the Inquisition, and other chapters in thecolonization of the heathen world by organized Christianity too shameful for words. We all recognize this in our evangelism. Wecommonly say we want to help people find Christ as “their personal Savior.” We know informing them about God and Jesus is notenough—they must experience Him personally. God must first be experienced before He is understood.We all recognize this to some degree in our development of theology. We realize that God’s truth is not discovered primarily bythe human brain but by the human heart as revealed by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 2:10). Thus if we had to make the choice of beingtaught about God by a brilliant, highly trained, but “unsaved” theologian, or a semi-literate but Spirit-filled believer, we wouldprobably choose the believer. While he may not be able to define God theologically, he can lead us to God experientially. Why do weevangelicals so distrust experience with the spirit world? Why do we develop theologies about this dimension of reality about whichwe are personally ignorant except through biblical exegesis? Can a theology of Satan and demons that is both true and useful forministry really be developed by theologians studying their Hebrew and Greek Bibles while sitting in their air-conditioned offices apartfrom at least some personal experience? If the theologians in question did not bring limiting preconceptions about what demons canand cannot do to their study, they could possibly, exclusively through the Scriptures, develop guidelines to practical demonology thatcould then be tested by experience. Based on the results of that experience, they would then need to readjust their

18 Articles for Demons & Deliverance: The Handbook for Spiritual Warfare by Dr. Ed Murphy 2 Rev. Ernest Rockstad, now with the Lord, who taught me and so many of us traditional Protestants the realities of spiritual warfare and how to set the captives free (he literally burned out his life to heal