Аннотация

What the scientific community dismisses as a mental disorder, Christians have often labeled «demon possession.» While classifications may offer limited help in explanation, the Reverend Dr. Harold Ristau explores the nature and meaning of demonic activity by drawing from his own experiences with exorcism. Ristau shares life lessons, spiritual applications, and religious wisdom from his personal encounters with the dark realm. Primarily intended for clergy, his reflections offer a springboard intended to stimulate critical thinking, challenge metaphysical presuppositions, and inspire a belated conversation on a topic that has traditionally been avoided, not because of a lack of empirical evidence, but due to the fear that it incites inside of us. Yet if the claims of the historic Church are true–that demons do in fact exist and seek our destruction–then an honest examination of the phenomenon, and its impact on the ways in which we live and reason, is an essential endeavor for any practitioner of the ministry of deliverance.

Аннотация

Although the moral and ethical dimensions of NATO presence in Afghanistan has been the focus of debate by politicians and media alike, questions of the religious culture and spirituality that underlie the complexities of both the conflict and convictions of those affected have rarely been discussed. The entries of this thought-provoking journal offer a unique window into this strange and unpredictable war-torn realm from the perspective of a Christian army chaplain who has experienced the terrors of war «from the foxhole.» This diary represents the brutally honest, yet deeply spiritual reflections and questions of a Lutheran clergyman whose aim is not to justify, but to record, the life of faith. Join Padre Ristau in a journey marked by episodes of wonder and struggle, celebration and hardship, and come away . . . changed. True stories: some inspiring; some frightening. Yet none of them remain unfamiliar to the Divine.