Words to Live By: The true story of ‘The Exorcist’

”I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” —Matthew 16:18.

One of the best-known books and subsequent films of the 1970s was “The Exorcist.” It tells of 12-year-old, Regan McNeil, who begins to display strange behaviors such as levitation, unnatural strength and frequent cursing of God’s name. Once all medical possibilities are examined, her mother determines Regan’s problems are not medical but spiritual. She then enlists priests to perform an exorcism to remove a demon from Regan’s body.

What is most interesting about the movie is why author William Peter Blatty wrote it. Blatty was a student at Georgetown in 1949 when he heard from his professor of an exorcism that took place in Missouri earlier that year.

Fourteen-year-old Roland Doe was very close to his Aunt Harriet. Harriet began fostering in Roland an interest in the occult (the ability to communicate with spirits). Harriet purchases him an Ouija board, so she could teach him how to contact the dead. Harriet died a short time later and Roland used the Ouija board attempting to contact with his aunt. Not long afterward, some bizarre things began happening to Roland.

Roland began hearing sounds from within his Maryland home’s walls, objects began moving without explanation in his presence, and he would awaken with unidentified scratch marks on his body. Roland’s family sought out medical then spiritual guidance. Their Lutheran pastor believed these events to be a figment of Roland’s imagination.

After observing Roland for a night, the pastor believed that an exorcism needed to be performed on Roland. The pastor figured a Catholic priest was better equipped to handle this situation. The priest attempted an exorcism, which ended after Roland slashed the priest across the arm with a bedspring.

Roland’s condition began to worsen; a family member then got Roland in touch with a professor-priest at St. Louis University. New priests began observing Roland. What the priests saw is Roland would be a normal 13-year-old during the day. At night, Roland would curse at the priests the most vulgar and explicit things that one could imagine. The next morning, Roland would be back to normal. The priests then received permission to attempt another exorcism.

The exorcism took place over the next several weeks. During the exorcism, Roland would yell attacks against the faith that nearly destroyed the priests in their faith. The priests were about ready to believe that Satan’s forces had defeated them. Then one of the priests, in the act of desperation, prays to confess his sinfulness and need for Christ. He marched into Roland’s room with newfound confidence and proclaimed for all of Satan’s forces to “bring it on.” The final spiritual warfare within Roland then began.

One of the priests later described the scene as watching a battle for Roland’s soul take place. The battle concludes when a voice comes out of Roland, commanding Satan to leave.

As soon as the command to the demon came, all signs of Roland’s possession vanished from that moment forward. Roland could not remember any demon within his body. Reports have Roland going on to live a normal life.

Roland Doe leads us to an interesting question: Does demon-possession like that in “The Exorcist” take place today?”

Claims of demon-possession were rare within North America until the popularity of “The Exorcist.” Foreign missionaries and pastors will often claim to witness such events in cultures where witchcraft and shamanism are present.

Looking to the scriptures, there is a difference between physical demon possession, which is unusual, versus Satan’s hidden everyday work of trying to destroy people in their faith. While I do not doubt that demons exist, Satan’s most frequent work remains, driving people to despair because of their sin.

As Christians, we take comfort that, like for Roland Doe, our Savior promises that no force from the gates of hell, whether demons or even the devil himself, shall prevail against God’s people.

This article originally ran on apg-wi.com.