Writing for EpicPew has given me some amazing opportunities. One of the most recent opportunities I have been given was the chance to read Father Gabriele Amorth’s book An Exorcist Explains the Demonic: The Antics of Satan and His Army of Fallen Angels. I have written several posts on EpicPew about angels because angelology is a special interest of mine. Therefore, reading a book about fallen angels and creating some content for EpicPew about it was something that I felt fit with my interests. However, when I accepted this assignment from our editor, I had no idea what reading this book would be like.
I Learned a Lot
The late Father Amorth was an exorcist for a long time. He was one of the leading experts on the devil, demons, and the occult. Despite its brevity, this book was filled with a tremendous amount of insight on what a person needs to know about the activities of the Devil. However, an acquisition of knowledge was not the most striking aspect of reading this book
Satan Did Not Want Me to Read This Book
As I began to read the book, it became clear early on that it was not going to be a quick read. The book is short, and Father Amorth does not use a hard-to-understand vocabulary. The reason it was not going to be a quick read was the Satan’s desire to see me put the book down and never pick it up again.
There were days where I could not finish more than just a few pages before being done for the day. On one occasion, I read one paragraph, set the book down, and was in an inexplicably rotten mood for the rest of the day. To explain just how upset I was, I will confess that I came really close to punching a child in the face with the designs of inflicting as much damage as possible. I even had a plan as to how I could make it look like an accident. Thankfully, I was able to resist this temptation and avoid doing something incredibly stupid. I am convinced my mood and being in a situation where I found myself annoyed by a child to that degree was the work of the Devil.
Knowledge is power, and when the Devil realizes you are gaining knowledge that can be used to combat his evil schemes, he is annoyed. He, without a doubt, tried to prevent me from finishing that book. Even as I type these words, I suspect he is trying to prevent me from increasing awareness of what he can do and is doing in the world. In writing this post, I have had to deal with several episodes of my screen suddenly becoming completely black as if I had not touched the computer in several minutes and instigating the screen saver function. This could simply be a bug in the operating system installed on my computer, or it could be the work of the Devil.
I Understand How a Person Can Desire the Occult
The idea of worshipping Satan or engaging in occult practices may seem silly to be people of faith. Why worship someone everyone claims is evil? However, in his book, Father Amorth describes how rewards of money, prestige, and love can entice people (especially young people) into pledging one’s self to Satan and seeking out the occult. I love my Catholic faith, but as I read Father Amorth’s description of the temporal pleasures that can be achieved by engaging in these evil practices, I found myself thinking, “That does sound awesome.” I quickly became frightened at how easily I had found myself thinking the thoughts Satan had wanted me to think.
Should You Read This Book?
Everyone needs to be aware of how Satan attempts to harm us, and Father Amorth does an excellent work in describing that. However, as I have discussed, there are consequences to reading this book. If one has the spiritual maturity to combat the attacks of the Evil One, then I would encourage one to do so. As I mentioned above, one does get tempted while reading this book, and one can develop an unhealthy interest in the occult. Additionally, I should point out that there are some graphic descriptions of some of the things that occur at a Black Mass and can occur during an exorcism. This book is not for the faint of heart. GET THE BOOK NOW!!!
