Evil Spirits, Possession and Exorcisms From the Point of View of Fundamental Theology

The paper deals with the existence of Satan, evil spirits, their influence on people, particularly possession, and exorcisms from the point of view of fundamental theology. In the first part, the author demonstrates that these phenomena are confirmed by the revelation of God and the practice of the church since the apostolic period. In the second part, he describes the criteria which are useful for a diagnosis of actual possession of a person by an evil spirit from psychical or parapsychological disturbances. In the third part, he points out that the existence of evil spirits, their influence on people and exorcisms are fully compatible with scientific rationality.

Keywords: Evil spirits; Devil; Satan; Obsession; Exorcism; Fundamental theology