The Seen and Unseen: How to Properly See the Paranormal

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

- Ephesians 6:12

Thursday, 18 January 2018 from 1800-2000(ish)

Rotolo's (under 21 welcome)

Stories of increasingly numerous and dangerous exorcisms have been making the news rounds recently while conversation over spiritual darkness and deviancy at the highest levels of Hollywood and government continue to reverberate.  Wiccans and other "magical orders" "cast spells" on President Trump to be expelled from office while ghost hunting shows consistently rank high on multiple networks.  Ghost stories, folk tales, legends, myths, fiction, and even the Old Testament (The Witch of Endor, a necromancer; 1 Samuel 28:3-25) tell of occultist or supernatural manifestations and interactions with our natural world.  How do we as Christians understand this and derive sound theological truths from a murky and hazy realm?

Questions:

• Does the spiritual realm still interact/manifest in our day and age?  Has that mostly fallen away since the time of the New Testament, gotten "stronger", or is it cyclical? 
• In reference to the 1 Samuel passage, did the witch have the ability to bring the departed spirits of the dead back to predict the future for the living, or was this simply a demonic delusion? Does not only God have the power to predict the future or do departed spirits or evil spirits too? What about other sources of revelation besides the Word of God? Does this text not prove that such exist?
• The Pharaoh’s magicians performed miracles (Ex 7:22), the antichrist and false prophet will perform miracles (2 Thess 2:9), while the Bible speaks of counterfeit signs and wonders (Matt 7:22), and a "messenger of Satan" physically tormented Paul (2 Cor 12:7).  What exactly ARE the powers of Satan and his fallen angels?
• What are ghosts, possessions, and premonitions?
• Why is it that we only hear of "neutral" or evil supernatural manifestations and magic but never (rarely) ever of angels or physical manifestations of prayer?
• Does Frank Peretti (author of spiritual warfare books ex: This Present Darkness) have it right?

Readings:

• The Protestant Reformation, Magic and Religion (Guided History: Nichole Close) 
• What Does the Bible Say About Ghosts? (Relevant: Emily Miller)
• Defeating the Devil (Ligonier)
• Long: The Disenchantment of Magic: Spells, Charms, and Superstition in Early European Witchcraft Literature (The American Historical review: Michael Bailey)