I read a personal website of a woman today that disturbed me. She mentioned having once had a chemical imbalance as a teen but God delivered her and she was healed. That is a great thing, but it was her statement about how mental illnesses and sicknesses are caused by spirits that disturbed me.
She said 'if you don't believe that, find anyone in the Bible who was nuts and wasn't possessed.'
There is a stigma that exists among us all, not just Apostolics, that people with mental problems are possessed by demons.
I believe that it's possible, and I know that it's happened, but I know of people who suffered from physical sicknesses that, when demons were cast out, their illness was healed. Yet we don't believe that everyone with cancer (for instance) is possessed by a demon, right?
The brain is a strange organ. So little is known about how it works compared to the rest of our bodies, yet, just like other organs, it can become sick.
A chemical imbalance in your pancreas causes Type 2 diabetes. Chemical imbalances in your kidneys will cause renal failure. Chemical imbalances in your heart are indicative of a heart attack.
Chemical imbalances in the brain can cause Parkinson's. I have yet to find anyone who claims Parkinson's is a result of demon possession. Yet it's a chemical imbalance that causes it.
Physiological changes in the brain cause diseases like Alzheimer's, Huntington's Chorea, and Pick's disease, to name a few. However, the signs exhibited by those who suffer from those diseases are akin to mental illnesses many times.
The church doesn't appear to address this issue often, except to pray demons out of sufferers. Depression is a large problem in the church, but people are told to get out more and pray about it.
Our moods are caused by chemical secretions in the brain. Whether we are happy, sad, angry, depressed, or indifferent, how we feel is dependent on the chemicals being secreted in the brain. So why do we feel that abnormalities in the brain aren't as important as abnormalities in other organs, or that a demon is involved?
Shouldn't the church start addressing these issues more often? Should people be a little more educated about mental diseases and illnesses?
What say ye?
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I believe that some diseases (ie. mental) are caused by chemical imbalances, some by spirits, and some because we wear ourself out.
That is where discernment comes in handy.
I do believe that SOME mental illnesses are demonic, but not all of them. The Bible definitely bears out that some of these things are from the enemy. I think some cases or schizophrenia and paranoia are from the pits of hell.
I believe that some diseases (ie. mental) are caused by chemical imbalances, some by spirits, and some because we wear ourself out.
That is where discernment comes in handy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sherri
I do believe that SOME mental illnesses are demonic, but not all of them. The Bible definitely bears out that some of these things are from the enemy. I think some cases or schizophrenia and paranoia are from the pits of hell.
I agree that some mental problems and illnesses are demonic in nature, but so are some physical illnesses, yet we don't discount those who are sick as being possessed, right? Yet I hear this very thing from so many people who are just uninformed as to what mental illnesses and diseases are.
It's disturbing to me to find this mindset so commonplace in the church.
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I agree that some mental problems and illnesses are demonic in nature, but so are some physical illnesses, yet we don't discount those who are sick as being possessed, right? Yet I hear this very thing from so many people who are just uninformed as to what mental illnesses and diseases are.
It's disturbing to me to find this mindset so commonplace in the church.
To tell you the truth. The Church world in general is ignorant in a lot of things.
Some will be ignorant until the Rapture.
Some will stepp out in faith and believe that God, can, does, & will show the difference!
To tell you the truth. The Church world in general is ignorant in a lot of things.
Some will be ignorant until the Rapture.
Some will stepp out in faith and believe that God, can, does, & will show the difference!
Big AMEN on that, bro.
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I heard someone ask a preacher once about something like this and said, "I need to know, is this physical, emotional, or spiritual?" The preacher just said it was ALL THREE. We are body, soul and spirit and sometimes you just can't separate them into neat little categories.
I heard someone ask a preacher once about something like this and said, "I need to know, is this physical, emotional, or spiritual?" The preacher just said it was ALL THREE. We are body, soul and spirit and sometimes you just can't separate them into neat little categories.
Absolutely true, but something I never considered myself.
That'll even preach!
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Jesus came across "mental illnesses" and diagnosed them as demonic in nature and cast the evil spirits out.
Which ones? Are we sure they were mental illnesses, necessarily?
I know there was the man who wasn't in his right mind, but I can name a lot of people in the Bible who were erratic in behavior, including prophets of God, but they weren't possessed.
I believe people can be possessed, but that doesn't mean they are mentally ill, nor is the opposite necessarily true.
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I've gone and done it now! I'm on Facebook!!!
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