In this article, I want to consider a spurious attempt to favor naturalism over theism. To be clear, I don’t take issue with the general maxim in the meme posted below. What I do dispute is the facile attempt to favor naturalism over theism based on the maxim: In my rebuttal, I point out that if […]
Ockham's razor
How to tell if somebody is demon possessed: points 3-5
It’s time for me to wrap up this strange little series in which I discuss the criteria Father Thomas outlines for diagnosing an instance of demon possession. In this final article I’m going to summarize and evaluate points 3, 4, and 5. 3. New Language We begin with the third point which involves the demoniac suddenly speaking […]
How to tell if somebody is demon possessed: 1. Do they have an aversion to holy things?
As I pointed out in “Demon-possessed or mentally ill?” Father Thomas lists several criteria which Catholic exorcists look for as a basis to warrant a diagnosis of demonic possession (or attachment). The operative principle here is Ockham’s Razor: the simplest explanation is to be preferred. In other words, if behavior can plausibly be explained by way of […]
Demon-possessed or mentally ill?
Last week Catholic apologist Matt Fradd kindly sent me the following Catholic Answers interview, “What You Need to Know About Exorcism: The Devil, Evil Spirits, and Spiritual Warfare” in which Patrick Coffin interviews well known exorcist Father Gary Thomas. You can read the transcript of the interview here. Demonic Possession and Veridical Evidence for Supernaturalism and […]
Ockham again?
Certain issues keep arising (or being raised, or bubbling to the surface) in the blog, and no matter how many times I deal with them the answers somehow don’t seem to take root. But hope springs eternal, so here goes again… S1lverbullet raises a criticism against my critique of Maitzen’s argument: “you sound an awful […]
