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Religious Spirits

Discerning of Spirits
By Rick Joyner
ISBN 1 85240 277 6

Religious Spirits
By Rick Joyner
ISBN 1 85240 236 9

From 'What Christians Should Know About...' series
Both booklets published by Sovereign World International at £2.99 each.

Both writers attempt to deal with the issue of the discernment of spirits. But neither, apparently, has any understanding of what objective biblical spiritual discernment actually is. Consequently both spend their time relating their own subjective 'discernment' experiences laced with spiritual homespun wisdom.

The results, unsurprisingly, are right out of the Frank Peretti/Star Wars 'school of theology'. Peretti, at least, had the good grace to acknowledge publicly that he knew little about biblical theology, whereas these two authors claim to teach it.

Space prevents more than the merest glimpse at the general wackiness that seemingly pervades Edwards's whole world and thereby his booklet Discerning of Spirits. There are references to seeing an evil spirit in the form of a monkey running around someone's legs (p.34), objects flying out of people's mouths during 'deliverance' (p.35) and objects attracting demons (p.48). It is wholly lost on Edwards that all of this has its counterpart in occultic activity and is nowhere paralleled in the Scriptures.

On a visit to his brother Philip's house, Edwards claims he was struck by the 'design of the stained glass in his (brother's) front door', which 'now appeared to me as evil'. He believes Philip may 'need some deliverance' which is borne out immediately when Phillip receives a telephone call from his rugby club. 'As I watched my brother talking on the phone I seemed to see in his face that he was in bondage to the game of rugby'. Edwards grabs the telephone and curtails the call, saying to the person at the other end: 'Philip will not be playing rugby anymore' (p.6). Edwards then proceeds also to remove the offending 'evil' pane of glass. This is the level of this trashy, but dangerous, nonsense.

Rick Joyner is a well-known US writer and TV evangelist. His obsession is 'supernatural/power Christianity'. The biblical concept of obedience to Christ as true spirituality means nothing to Joyner. In Religious Spirits Joyner asserts 'the religious spirit seeks to replace the Holy Spirit' (p.29). The rest of the booklet revolves around how Christians are subjectively to discern individual evil spirits, especially when they appear in the form of counterfeit 'good' spirits. Like Edwards he sees evil spirits where the Bible sees none. What is particularly unpleasant about Joyner, however, is his constant deflection of any Biblical criticism of his or any other Christian teachings by claiming 'a critical spirit is an evil spirit' (p.18). Was Jesus then evil when he criticised the leaven of the Pharisees?

The confusing literature of Messrs. Joyner and Edwards is best kept as far away from young and vulnerable Christians and from unbelievers as possible. Perhaps both authors would be better suited to the job of postman? They also spend all their time delivering things, albeit far more usefully.

Peter Glover