was the way to deal with terrorism, not violence. Violence would only spawn more violence. The world was certainly big enough for many belief systems. Too bad the current crop of politicians in Washington and London were so stupid. At least, I have a podium from which to teach the next generation of American leaders. They won’t be so blind.”
By contrast, most of the American-born church-going students were angry with him from the first day of the class. To him, they were closed-minded idiots. They actually believed the Bible taught that to mess with modern Israel was to mess with God because they were His people and He had given them that land. “These children of the crusades are not interested in considering the results of violence,” he thought. “They’re as good as Pharisees, as wrong as that crowd of religious leaders who thought they were serving God by killing Jesus.24 It was merely violence to preserve their place in the social and political order. Not much different from today.”
He was thankful for Faith Church of Joy, the place he attended. The leadership was more realistic and modern in their views. They were not the prisoner of tradition and Bible myths. They understood that the Bible was a collection of the thoughts of many men written over hundreds of years. Men could always be wrong. Beyond that, he understood that things change over time and what might have been true two thousand years ago for a society living under the Roman boot was hardly true for America, where values and standards evolve as society matures. The Bible had to be kept in its rightful place – useful but not authoritative.
What really pleased him about his church was that Roy Elkhorn, the Senior Pastor, had asked him to teach what had become the largest class in the church on Sunday mornings. He was given a free hand on what to teach. The class had become a second golden opportunity to debunk Christian fanaticism on a horde of political and social issues.
The students with a Jewish heritage avoided the class. As he saw it, they obviously feared truth, choosing rather to live in their imaginary world of black and white where they were always right regardless of how it impacted others. It was in the blood. There were Jews and then everyone else. They were totally unrealistic. He believed that America had to come to the place where it dealt with political Israel no differently than with Syria or Iran. They were simply three countries from the same part of the world with differing political agendas.
He was exhilarated from the day’s discussion as he left the class and encountered Paul Phillips in the hall. “Professor Thompson, I desperately need a few moments of your time – privately.” Thompson knew Paul Phillips as a serious student and his demeanor indicated that he believed whatever was going on was serious.
“Sure, let’s go to my office,” he responded. “What’s happening? You look like you haven’t slept in a week.” No response.
As they entered his office, Professor Thompson noted that Paul’s hands were shaking and he was as pale as the dead. Something was obviously terrifying him. He was short of breath, having rushed from somewhere to get here. Professor Thompson’s voice rose as he questioned, “Paul, what in the hell is going on?”
“Look Professor, you are a man who knows the Bible and you know history. I’m not crazy, but I saw something in a dream – a nightmare – that I don’t understand and it has me living in absolute terror and fear. Please, just promise me you will hear me out and give me any perspective you have on what happened – on what I saw. I have to know, please.”
Paul’s desperation got his attention and he responded kindly, “I’m listening, but slow down. Take your time and tell me everything you can about whatever happened.”
His Keeper’s large hands grasp more tightly around Professor Thompson’s head to control what was heard and to influence his response. This was an opportunity not to be missed, a chance to end Paul’s search and with it, end any danger of a search by Samantha. But there was the issue of Paul’s Guardian, which put the Keeper ill at ease. Influence was never easy when the forces of light were even in the vicinity. He would have to be careful.
Paul trembled as he spoke, trying hard to miss no detail. His look revealed that he was reliving the moment. Professor Thompson could only wonder at what could cause such a reaction.
“It was after Samantha’s dad’s funeral. He was another of the sniper’s victims. I saw nothing unusual at the funeral, but later in a dream I was back in the cemetery and I saw in the air some kind of creatures, which I can only describe as being like wisps of darkness. There were many different sizes. All had fiery orange eyes, bright yellow skin and huge hands with enormously long fingers. They seemed to be everywhere. Their hands encircled the heads of most of the people. Their long fingers seemed to pierce the skulls as if they held the brains of the people in their hands. The eyes of the people were crusted over. I awoke screaming when I saw hands reaching for me. What did I see? They were real. They were there; only I couldn’t see them. Why are they after me?”
“I have to ask,” said Professor Thompson, “are you on anything?”
“No nothing,” was the response. “I wished it was that simple.”
“Did anyone else tell you they had seen anything?”
“No,” Paul answered, “and I asked Samantha, she saw nothing.”
“You only saw this in a dream? It was not real.”
“It sure seemed real to me,” Paul replied, “but it was only in the dream.”
Sitting up in his chair and assuming his professorial demeanor, Thompson began his analysis. “OK, let’s take the emotion out of this and get logical. First, it was a dream, a nightmare, probably nothing more. You are afraid because whatever it was seemed to be coming for you, but is that any different from when you saw a horror film as a child? After watching such a movie, did you ever have nightmares? Were you ever afraid to be alone?”
“Sure,” was the answer, “but this wasn’t like that. I actually could smell sulfur and sensed physical danger.”
Honing in for the kill, Professor Thompson began, “Think about what you are imagining – dark wisps who, by your description, are ghost-like, controlling humans by literally holding their brains, blinding them to the outside world and, by implication, using them for whatever they want. Religion, folklore and mythology would all tell you that the creatures you imagined in your dream are demons. They are described as supernatural beings considered to be malicious hurtful spirits. The Bible says they are fallen angels if you take the Bible literally.25
“The rest of what you saw would be a classic portrayal of demonic activity in humans, most often described as demonic possession. Historically, the view regarding demon possession is that one possessed is under the absolute control of the demon. You probably saw the movie The Exorcist. That was Hollywood’s view of demon possession. Sells tickets, but pretty thin. What you dreamed would make a better movie.
“The Bible says a lot about people possessed by demons and what that does to them. A lot of the healings credited to Jesus were really exorcisms, which had the result of freeing the victim from some disease or disability.26 There is not much science to support that, but then how would you be able to test and observe the invisible?
“Here is my problem with what you describe. It simply doesn’t work by any historical measure and is inconsistent with all studies of demonic activity I have seen, even including what is discussed in the Bible. In your dream, virtually everyone is pictured as possessed by demons. That is not the teaching of anyone at any time in history. It is certainly not your experience or mine. I am not demon possessed and I don’t believe you are either. You may be mixed up, but not possessed. I can’t say I have ever been around
