ARE CHRISTIANS SUPPOSED TO CAST OUT DEMONS?

 Here is another gem from Rayan Zehn trying to expose errors in the Bible. It is a good demonstration of why those who have no idea what they are talking about (even including myself on occasion) can spread utter nonsense on the internet presented in such a way as to seemingly make sense to other ignorant people. The contradiction Zehn proposes is between the following two passages of Scripture:

Mark 16:17 answers the above question with “Yes.”

    “And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons...”

Matthew 7:22-23 gives a negative answer to the same question.

    “On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?' Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.'”

Zehn begins by saying that according to the first of these passages “it is a sign of a true believer. Jesus is quite the fan of people who cast out devils in his name.”

Unfortunately, Zehn has apparently been consulting a King James Version of the Bible since virtually no modern English translation includes any of the dubious verses past Mark 16:8 without noting that they were not present in the original documents. So much is clear to anyone reading a current translation even without consulting a commentary on the subject. For those interested in delving into the subject deeper, there are a number of good, reliable sources to consult. Suffice it to say that (a) the earliest Greek manuscripts do not contain these words; (b) the early Church Fathers were not aware of any verses past v. 8; (c) those later manuscripts which do go on after v. 8 do not agree at all in the wording of the subsequent verses and provide evidence of at least six entirely different endings; and (d) the rest of the partial sentence v. 17 Zehn cites above contains quite dubious “truths” such as believers being able to handle poisonous snakes without harm and being unfazed after drinking poison.

He continues, “But not so fast! There are two tales in Mark 9:38 and Luke 9:49 that tell a different story: Casting out devils in Jesus’ name should only be done by true Christians. “And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbade him, because he followeth not with us.” Apparently doing Jesus’ work in Jesus’ name is not enough to be a Christian. You have to follow John too.”

There are three problems with Zehn's reasoning at this point:

    1. There are not “two tales” present in the Gospel accounts cited, only one. They are duplicates of the same “tale.”

    2. John did not say that the ones casting out the devils were not true Christians, only that they were not part of the more exclusive group of Jesus' closest followers. This statement is right in line with some of the apostles' wanting to consider themselves a privileged in-crowd. But the real point is not what someone as flawed as an apostle thought, but what Christ himself thought of these exorcists. And the fact, which is conveniently omitted by Zehn, is that the story goes on with Him chastizing John for his attitude toward those men.

    3. Then there is the rather nonsensical statement by Zehn that somehow this proves that “you have to follow John too.”

Zehn concludes with this summary: “Finally, Jesus changes his mind. In Matthew 7:22-23 Jesus makes it quite clear that if you cast out devils in his name, he’ll disown you. In other words you’ll go to hell. This is a very interesting verse here, because Jesus says that casting out devils is the work of iniquity. That is, it’s immoral mumbo jumbo. Even Jesus knew exorcisms were rubbish, yet, despite this, even followers of Christ still believe that devils need to be cast out of people.”

And as a final piece of illogical thinking, Zehn cites another passage in which Jesus says that a few people, not everyone, will complain to Jesus on the Judgment Day that they have cast out demons in His name and yet He is rejecting them. The reason He is rejecting them is explained as due to the fact that that they had not done the will of God (see v. 22) and that they are “evildoers” (v. 24). But nowhere does it state, or even imply, that casting out demons was the evil deed being talked about. After all, Jesus and the apostles all cast out demons.

And as if all that were not bad enough, Zehn then has the nerve to claim that he can read Jesus' mind and reveal to us the fact that Jesus knew all along that there was no such thing as exorcism. Is he implying here that Jesus had superior knowledge to those around him? It is doubtful that Zehn would give Him that much credit. But if so, then Zehn is implying strongly that Jesus was cynically taking advantage of the credulous nature of those around him.