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Religious: Hypnotism and Christians
Pastor Pat Duffin
for South Peace News
Recently I was contacted by someone, not from this community, regarding a family member who began to experience demonic attacks shortly after visiting a hypno-therapist who promised he could help this person stop smoking.
I was asked if it was possible to become afflicted by an evil spirit through hypnotism. This question is of such relevance it would be wrong to not warn Christians against the dangers of hypnotism.
What is hypnosis? You will find many definitions and lots of controversy over its benefits - even amongst Christians. Basically, hypnosis is an induced altered state of consciousness in which suggestibility is greatly increased and the power of the will is greatly decreased. Many Christians see nothing wrong with going to a hypnotist entertainer or seeing a professional therapist who uses hypnotism to help solve problems.
However, hypnotism is nothing for a Christian to mess with. A Christian should never blank their mind in order to allow someone else to inset their ideas.
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 10:5 that we are to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Jesus Christ. This means that we are directly responsible for what we choose to think about and dwell upon. This right does not belong to anyone else - including any hypnotist who may want to plant his thoughts and his suggestions into your mind.
Someone has said, “The will is the citadel of the soul.” It is the guarding mechanism that determines action or inaction, or what to accept and what not to accept. Bypassing the will renders the subject defenseless, vulnerable and open to not only other people’s suggestions, but also to demonic spirits because no one is guarding the gate!
That doesn’t mean someone must necessarily get in trouble with an evil spirit, only that they are left vulnerable to the possibility. Allowing yourself to be the subject of hypnosis is to take a dangerous risk with your well-being.
Still, there are Christians who will see nothing wrong with hypnotism, e.g. if it is done by a professional person under ethical conditions. Because the Bible says nothing directly about hypnotism they think it must be at least neutral and the potential benefits or harm are totally dependent on the character of the person doing the hypnosis, whether they are good or evil.
However, this altered state of consciousness is a trance-like state that is identical to what mediums go into in order to channel so-called spirits of the dead (which are in fact deceiving, evil spirits), or what clairvoyants go into in order to obtain information from “the other side” or wherever else they claim to get their information.
On this matter we do have some important guidance from scripture. We are warned by God not to practice sorcery, divination, or enchantment. We are not to follow after mediums, wizards, enchanters, charmers, and those who have a familiar spirit (Deuteronomy 18:9-14). Hypnosis could well be related to what is identified in the Old Testament as “enchantment”. (Leviticus 19:26)
There are also scriptures that deal with the mind. For instance, 1 Corinthians 2:16, “Who can know what the Lord is thinking? Who can give Him counsel?’ But we can understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.”
The Bible says the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth (John 16:13). One of the ways He will do this is by guiding your thoughts into the correct answers as you are trying to figure something out. He will also communicate to you through an inner knowing. All believers who have the Spirit of Christ in them have experienced this kind of internal guidance.
While under a hypnotic trance, you are more susceptible to do things you normally wouldn’t do because your conscious mind is put into neutral. That leaves your mind open to whatever the hypnotist wishes to put into it.
Therefore, when you are hypnotized the hypnotizer is in control. For that reason alone Christians should not entertain the prospect of being hypnotized. To give up your self-autonomy is to give up your soul to another master, and we only want one Master – The Lord Himself!
Next week: Rev. Sharon McRann from the High Prairie United Church.
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