Friday, July 2, 2010

Book Review: "Exorcism and the Church Militant" by Fr. Thomas J. Euteneuer

Fr. Euteneuer begins by discussing the need for exorcism and its purpose.  

The need for, and purpose of, exorcism is  most effectively summed up in the following paragraph:  
"The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church has been commissioned by the Lord Jesus Christ to fulfill a most dramatic mission; it is perhaps the most dangerous and exhilarating of missions ever entrusted to men. It is the mission of saving souls."

Satan used to conceal himself more, but in today's society, he has more visibility in abortion, porn and promiscuity, violence and profanity.  He walks openly and is assisted by the pervasive promotion of things like vampires and the occult.

As disturbing as that reminder is, I really enjoyed the discussion of angels and demons.  Satan, as Lucifer, was a seraphim, the highest level of angel.  Michael is an archangel, a lower level of angel, but with the power of God, any angel can defeat any demon or fallen angel.

Further encouragement is that a demon can only enter a person by invitation; it is up to us.   The caution is that we must avoid anything that might provide that invitation, such as a Ouija board or any occult activity. 

Some of the most important and frequently-discussed topics are:
Discernment: determining if someone needs an exorcism, deliverance prayers, or possibly has a mental disorder.
The difference between an exorcism and a deliverance
The difference between a person being possessed and merely being afflicted with a demon.  (this was referred to as an obsession)

I was expecting a higher-level discussion of exorcism.  The discussion was more in-depth and detailed than I expected, but the format of the book is question-and-answer, which makes it an easy read.

The companion book for this exorcism book is "Demonic Abortion".  It comes out July 7, so I haven't read it yet.  The title is pretty clear.  The desire to kill babies is most certainly demonic.   You can get both books at the site:

5 comments:

tom said...

Hi Christine, Actually you can't get the book on exorcism at that site. Can you help please? Do you know why it was withdrawn in the first place and why the good priest let WHI..?
There appears to be a hidden agenda here........

thanks. tom

Christine said...

You're right. It re-routes to the HLI store, but they don't have it.

Amazon does have it.

Fr. Euteneuer returned to the diocese of Palm Beach at the request of his Bishop. I don't know why the Bishop asked him to return.

Anonymous said...

Something odd happened. The book has been pulled from anyplace that was selling it. The author has been recalled and has dropped from sight. Information is hard to find...

Christine said...

It is odd. He has disappeared from sight

Christine said...

Fr. Euteneuer has posted an explanation

http://acatholicview.blogspot.com/2011/02/fr-thomas-euteneuer-setting-record.html