Exorcism

Definition and Meaning

Exorcism is the practice of causing demons to depart through prayer and command, based on the belief that they can take hold of a person and torment body and mind. Korean churches also use the terms gwisin jjocheum ("casting out demons") and chuksa (逐邪, "driving out what is evil"). The Catholic Church in Korea uses the term guma (驅魔, "driving away the devil").

Biblical and Historical Background

The Gospels record several occasions on which Jesus healed people possessed by demons. Notable examples are the incident in the synagogue at Capernaum (Mark 1:21-28) and the healing of the Gerasene demoniac (Mark 5:1-20). When Jesus sent out the twelve disciples, he gave them power over unclean spirits (Mark 6:7). The Acts of the Apostles records that Paul cast a spirit of divination out of a slave girl at Philippi (Acts 16:16-18). The same book also tells of the sons of Sceva, who used the name of Jesus as an incantation and were themselves harmed as a result (Acts 19:13-16).

In the early church, prayers of exorcism were sometimes included in the preparation for baptism. In the Catholic Church, a priest authorized by the bishop still performs exorcism today according to a prescribed rite. After the Reformation, the tradition of performing exorcism as a formal rite generally declined in Protestantism. In the twentieth century, as Pentecostalism and the charismatic movement spread, "deliverance ministry," the casting out of demons through prayer, again became widely practiced.

Practice in Korean Churches

In Korean churches, exorcism has been practiced mainly at revival meetings, divine healing services, and prayer retreat centers, together with prayer accompanied by the laying on of hands. Pentecostal denominations, including those of the Full Gospel tradition, regard exorcism, along with divine healing, as a ministry of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that continues today. Presbyterians of a strongly Reformed orientation affirm the reality of demons and the authority of Christ. However, some of them hold that the miraculous gifts ceased with the apostolic age, and even those who do not tend to emphasize pastoral ministry through the Word, prayer, and the sacraments rather than a specialized ministry of exorcism. This difference is connected to the debate between cessationism and continuationism.

Many denominations caution against equating mental illness with demon possession and urge that medical help be sought as well. The press has also reported cases in which people were injured or killed by violence during prayer with the laying on of hands, resulting in criminal penalties. There is also controversy over the identity of demons. The Berea movement taught that demons are the spirits of people who died in unbelief, and the general assemblies of several Presbyterian denominations, objecting to this demonology, declared the Berea movement heretical. The Berea movement has maintained that its teaching is grounded in Scripture. The doctrine of generational curses, which holds that curses arising from the sins of one's ancestors must be broken through exorcism, has likewise been criticized by many denominations.