Anglican Theological Review

The Rite of Exorcism is a controversial topic. Jesus, a prolific spiritual healer who cast out many demons in the name of the Kingdom of God, was not without his detractors either. His healings on the Sabbath were some of the primary evidence used against him leading up to his crucifixion. Even his disciples did not always understand his methods and could not perform exorcisms at times (Mk. 9:14-29). Thus, it is unsurprising that at different times in the last 2000 years, the use of the Rite has ebbed and flowed—almost reaching a fever-pitch at times, while sinking into obscurity at others. In the Episcopal tradition, exorcisms as an active ministry of the modern church can be feared, ignored, or scoffed at. Some of the disuse of the Rites of Exorcism are rightly due to the fact that we understand much more about the mental and physical health of humans than we did in ancient times. What many used to attribute to demonic forces can now be more widely understood as mental illness. Thus, many Episcopalians do not even know that there are provisions for exorcisms in our tradition: They assume those ritual acts of spiritual healing fall into the “primitive” past, when people did not have an understanding of mental illness. Even today, Native Americans suffer from a similar stereotype, viewed condescendingly as “savage,” with their spiritual healing practices dismissed. This pattern is especially true in the Anglican/Episcopal tradition, which has followed a similar journey as the Roman Catholic liturgical tradition, as well as the Protestant Enlightenment and the Charismatic Renewal Movement. One might expect that our current culture, saturated by enlightenment thinking, with its emphasis on all things rational and empirically proven data, would be poised to abandon it altogether. Yet, the data show that the desire for exorcisms and the belief in spiritual phenomena, including evil possession, is rising. This article will examine some of the reasons exorcisms have been repressed in the past and the lessons we should use to shape our current use of the rite of exorcisms. Pulling from the authors own research (including interviews with several Episcopal Exorcists and traditional Ojibwe healers) and experience as an Episcopal Priest and member of The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa, this paper explores trauma informed and Native American models for spiritual healing as examples of how the church might use exorcisms in its current cultural milieu.

This essay offers a comparative theology between the politics of the church and the theology of liberalism. In the fraught conversations about the church and politics in our present-day context, this essay offers a way forward that avoids the pitfalls of anachronistic readings of the New Testament, the coopting of theology by partisan ideologies, the emptying of Christian claims of their distinctive theological idioms, and the desire of the church to be in control. Drawing on recent scholarship on the theology of political liberalism and classical conceptions of the church as polis, this essay brings the politics of the church and the theology of liberalism into a critical comparative dialogue. It offers a helpful way forward for church leaders who seek to be faithful to the politics of the church and engaged in the world in these divisive times.

This article considers and responds to some of the ways the Bible is used in US immigration debates, focusing on restrictive interpretations by conservative scholars. It highlights how biblical texts are often applied to support modern distinctions, such as legal versus illegal immigrants, by selectively interpreting passages like those referring to the “least of these” or the treatment of sojourners versus foreigners. The discussion draws on some complexities of theological history, including how Western Christianity’s colonial mindset distorted biblical teachings, leading to exclusionary practices. The article contrasts these views with more inclusive biblical interpretations that emphasize hospitality and justice.

All too frequently, privileged white male power is unable to extricate its sense of normalcy from the leadership it exercises. This essay embarks upon a deconstruction of the modes of power and authority at work in the current leadership of the Church of England. This includes upholding a presumptive quasi-regal polity blended with the inevitable executive managerialism—what is termed an “ecclesiocracy” run by “ecclesiocrats,” supporting episcopacy. In beginning to deconstruct the power of the polity, we can see how alterity relates to what is held to be normative. This, in turn, poses searching questions for those who claim to hold presiding-mediating roles in English Anglican polity, which extends the life of some disputes and maintains averse hierarchical approaches to diversity.