Confronting demons is not about focusing on the power of a demon but rather on the accomplished work of God, Rev. John Dreyer, a Lutheran author, speaker, and pastor, said in an Oct. 16 lecture.
Dreyer’s speech, titled “Pastoral Care and the Spiritual World,” was hosted by the Lutheran Society and discussed demonology and the spiritual care surrounding it. Dreyer has done exorcisms, and is currently writing a book titled “The Joyful Exorcist.”
“When you learn how to do an exorcism, you learn what it means to be a Christian,” Dreyer said. “When we face our struggles and our temptations, we do so as redeemed children of God. We are redeemed by Christ, by what Christ has done for us. So we have this kind of battle in our lives as Christians, this moral battle, but live your life as battle won. So when I go into a situation I do so with a sure confidence.”
Sophomore Nathan Salemink said Dreyer made several good points about the differences between possession — which, according to Dreyer, is when a nonbeliever’s will is overtaken by the devil — and oppression, which is when the devil oppresses a person through external measures regardless of whether or not they are a Christian.
“He knew what he was talking about,” Salemink said. “He’s had a lot of experience working at the seminary, which gives you a lot of experience in general, and in the parish too, having more hands-on experience there.”
Junior Madeleine Choe said that before she heard the lecture, she didn’t know how deep Dreyer would delve into the specifics of demonology and angelology, and that she found the talk very interesting.
“He ended up keeping it very gospel-centric, which was appropriate because that is how he performs his exorcisms — they’re also gospel-centric, so that made sense,” Choe said. “You might come with kind of an expectation about, you know, hearing about demons, but the focus was less about the demons and more about Christ, which was fitting.”
Choe also said Dreyer had a sense of humor when confronting demons that she hadn’t expected.
“He kind of acknowledged the levity of it,” she said. “Not the triviality of it, but he didn’t make a big deal of it because I guess he didn’t see it as a threat to himself.”
Dreyer said he views exorcisms not as a battle between a priest and a demon, but as a way to assert Christ’s victory over the demonic.
“In most of my books on spiritual warfare, they talk about the battle,” Dreyer said. “So let’s say you’re gonna go and do your next exorcism, and the person’s in bed moaning, and you’re walking in there. Is there a spiritual warfare going on in that room? The answer is yes. But you, being a good Christian, know the battle’s already been won. It’s such an easy point, but it’s totally missed. See, the point is that if I were to walk into a room to do an exorcism, I’m not there for a battle. I’m there to declare a victory.”
