Abstract This study was a case control field investigation of a special population. The psychodiagnostic and personality correlates of 40 Christian Charismatic exorcism-seekers were compared to the correlates of 40 matched c2ntrols and 48 randomly selected controls. The study was guided by a central research question: how do exorcism-seekers differ from similar individuals who do not seek exorcism? Two theoretiäal approaches to demonic possession and exorcism anticipated different answers. A mental illness approach anticipated the report of certain forms of clinical distress among exorcism-seekers. A social role approach anticipated the report of certain personality traits that would facilitate the effective enactment of the demoniac role. Results supported the mental illness approach to demonic possession inasmuch as numerous between-group diagnostic differences achieved statistical significance, especially mood disturbance. The exorcism-seeker’s group produced a modal dependent-avoidant personality disorder profile, although schizoid features best distinguished between exorcism-seekers and control subjects. However, half of the sample did not report significant psychological distress. A cognitive-behavioral model of demonic possession of relevance to both distressed and non-distressed exorcism-seekers was therefore proposed. Treatment implications included a discussion of special treatment problems and collaboration between members of the clergy and the health care professions. / Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies / Graduate

Apotropaism is a word used to describe a number of texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls that are meant to deal with the problem of evil, especially the demonic. Yet, scholars of Early Judaism have labeled some texts as apotropaic while others have described them as exorcistic. Drawing on the criteria of proximity and time suggested by Philip S. Alexander, this dissertation argues the following points: 1) That the difference between an apotropaic ritual and an exorcistic ritual is the proximity of evil to the human being and the expected temporal efficacy of the ritual. By closely examining the language of each individual text, evidence suggests that such delineations can be based on these two criteria; 2) That some texts that have otherwise been neglected in the study of apotropaism at Qumran may be part of this group of protective rituals; 3) That there is a difference between works concerned primarily with protection from evil spirits (anti-demonic) and those concerned with Sin (anti-peccable); 4) That a number of shared elements within the apotropaic texts at Qumran emphasize themes such as covenant faithfulness, obedience, predestination, among others. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

No description available.

Thesis (M.A.)--St. John's Seminary, 1989. / Bibliography: leaves [129]-137.

Thesis (Th. M.)--Calvin Theological Seminary, 1994. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-143).

This thesis is about kinship, neighbourliness, sainthood, fasting and exorcism among Orthodox Christians in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The uncertainties of providing for oneself and one’s family in the city make people deeply reliant on neighbours, kin, and religious networks in order to survive. But these dependencies are also sources of vulnerability—to the demands of close others and the harm they can inflict, but also, increasingly, to demonic possession. A recent surge in public exorcisms testifies to a broad sense of spiritual threat, as well as a perceived need to re-entrench the power and authority of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC) at a time when the effects of religious pluralism and modernization policies pose a particular challenge. In this thesis, I document the ways in which Orthodox Christians are working to re-situate and reframe their relationships with the EOC in their daily lives. I argue that these efforts are inherently relational, based on the sharing of blessing through substances such as holy water, and on various labours of devotion performed for others or on their behalf. Through fine-grained ethnography, this study finds kinship and other local networks, rather than institutional practices or large-scale rituals, to be the basis of religious action in the city. I show how ordinary people, faced with the contradictions between religious imperatives and the material necessities of life, seek blessing for themselves, their neighbours, and their kin, from powerful human and non-human intercessors and, in turn, how they become intercessors for others. I pay particular attention to the bodily and affective dimensions of these practices: how people fast together and for one another; how they circulate and consume holy water; and how they subject themselves to violent exorcistic interventions. For Orthodox Christians in Addis Ababa, these bodily practices constitute key methods for acting on the flesh, and thereby engaging with the basic problem of the fallen nature of humanity—which is felt to be particularly pressing in contemporary urban conditions. By taking such perspectives, my thesis aims to contribute to discussions of Christian embodiment, personhood, and subject-formation with a detailed study of the networks and relationships by which people build an intersubjective and interdependent ethics of daily life—an ethics, that is, which contrasts with the discourses of individual self-fashioning that have informed many recent studies of Christianity and piety in other world religions.

In this thesis I establish that Matthew's presentation of Jesus's exorcisms fits with the Second Temple exorcistic messianic expectations. This thesis challenges the axiom that nobody expected the Messiah to cast out demons. Previous research has been either preoccupied with sharp definitions of titles, have had a narrow understanding of messianism, or have attempted to import non-Jewish explanations. I have taken a more conceptual approach and have focused on those ideas in the Jewish Scriptures that provide the seedbed for messianism in general, that is, the Promise (2 Sam 7) and the centrality of David and Solomon. I have focused specifically on those elements that make their rule distinctive and ideally secure their prevailing over their adversaries. I have then traced the development of these features in the Second Temple period towards explicitly exorcistic interpretations. In so doing I have established the contemporary landscape and demonological language against which Matthew's presentation of Jesus's exorcisms specifically as the Son of David takes a shape of prophetic fulfillment. I have, thus, shown that Matthew's account of Jesus the Son of David's exorcisms makes sense only if it is preceded by a contemporary expectation for an exorcistic Messiah.

No description available.

Mediante el presente artículo revisaremos la evolución histórica del exorcismo, desde sus orígenes bíblicos hasta la actualidad, describiendo su paso por Europa y Latinoamérica. Asimismo, desarrollaremos sus aspectos generales. Para tal fin, describiremos los tipos de exorcismo, los pasos previos y el procedimiento del “gran exorcismo”, con el objetivo de comprobar su vigencia como uno de los sacramentales más importantes de la Iglesia Católica. / Through this article we will review the historical evolution of exorcism, from its biblical origins to the present, describing its passage through Europe and Latin America. Likewise, we will develop its general aspects. For this purpose, we will describe the types of exorcism, the previous steps and the procedure of the "great exorcism", in order to prove its validity as one of the most important sacramental of the Catholic Church.

Thesis (M.A.)--Trinity International University, 2001. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 219-240).