Here's the Q:

I was very interested to read a short article written by you in response to someone questioning the reality of Satan as an actual personal being.

I have wrestled with this for most of my Christian life, read a good number of opinions and tried to work my way to some conclusions. To date, I have not achieved that goal.

I would very much like to believe the ideas that you put forward (very similar to Dave Tomlinson's and of course Walter Wink), and I mean that, but there are a number of obstacles that I can't seem to get around:

1. What was it that Jesus was dealing with when he was described as casting out demons? And what do you think he was referring to when he spoke of Satan (for example as having fallen from heaven like lightning)?
2. In my work I have come across a number of people who have suffered severe abuse at the hands of satanic cults. In my involvement with them they have always been convinced of the existence of a personal devil, and have spoken of evil spirits as being very real, even knowing how to instruct others in the cult how to 'acquire' spirits.
3. What do you think is happening to people who undergo deliverance ministry when they react in sometimes quite violent ways, and there seems to come a point where they experience freedom?

To be honest, it does seem strange and even illogical to me that there appears to be a personal force in the universe in opposition to God with such apparently tremendous power, almost a demi-god, but until I can resolve these issues (and probably a few others that I can't think of at the moment) I find it difficult to come to a resolution.

If you have the time and can offer some thoughts, I would be most grateful.

Here's the R:

The first thing I would say is that if your current theory or understanding of evil, Satan, etc., is working for you, you're doing the right thing not to change it. If your current understanding isn't working, it would be good to begin by identifying the problems you have with it. Often, I've found, our choices aren't between one understanding with no problems and one with lots of problems, but between two (or more) understandings each with problems. We often choose not between problems and solutions, but between greater and lesser sets of problems. As to your questions:

1. What was it that Jesus was dealing with when he was described as casting out demons? And what do you think he was referring to when he spoke of Satan (for example as having fallen from heaven like lightning)?

In responding to this, I don't want to say "the ancients had it wrong and we modern people have it right." I imagine that 200 years from now, so many of our 2014 ideas — especially about human well-being and unwellness — will be considered quite backward. But when I read the gospels, I tend to associate the symptoms "demon possession" (fits, outbursts, self-destructive behavior) with extreme mental illness. So we could understand Jesus to be healing mental illness. But I also can't help but think that demons "possess" or "occupy" people in the gospels, and the primary political reality for the people was that they were possessed or occupied by the Romans. So I wonder if the gospel writers are telling us that social/political/economic stresses are expressed in individual behaviors … We as individuals localize larger social stresses. And Jesus is seeking to free people (un-paralyze them) as individuals from the systems that oppress. They then can become "protagonists in their ongoing liberation."

2. In my work I have come across a number of people who have suffered severe abuse at the hands of satanic cults. In my involvement with them they have always been convinced of the existence of a personal devil, and have spoken of evil spirits as being very real, even knowing how to instruct others in the cult how to 'acquire' spirits.

I have met many people like this too. As I'm sure you know, there are questions about the credibility of many of these stories. (The Mike Warnke saga of the 70's and 80's is another example of a kind of contemporary mythology built around Satanism.) If you want to hear an alternative view from someone who was deeply involved in occult and "Satanism," you should also read John Anderson's Satan.

3. What do you think is happening to people who undergo deliverance ministry when they react in sometimes quite violent ways, and there seems to come a point where they experience freedom?

I don't want to generalize about people's experience or speak of it in reductionistic ways. But the mind is powerful and complex, and bondage is real, and freedom is real. I would also have to add that in my years as a pastor, I met many people who claimed to be healed through a deliverance ministry, but a day or week or month later, weren't much better off.

Along with Walter Wink's ground-breaking work, I'm very impressed with Rene Girard's work on this subject. If you haven't read Girard's "I See Satan Fall Like Lightning," I encourage you to read it. 

Also, in my upcoming book, I address this subject on a couple of occasions, along with the broader issues of how we read the Bible.

Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. He writes at BrianMcLaren.net. If you'd like to submit a question to Brian, contact him here.