'Christians can’t be demon possessed’: Deliverance minister Alexander Pagani sets record straight
Pastor Alexander Pagani, who's well known for his deliverance ministry, said for the last time he's setting the record straight concerning claims that he and others working in deliverance ministry believe Christians can be possessed by demons.
During a recent broadcast on his ministry's podcast, Pagani said people are using the wrong words to describe what he and his team of “demon slayers” believe.
"I believe the battle that we're having, concerning the ministry of deliverance, is locked in a homonym. A homonym means the word sounds the same but doesn’t mean the same thing,” he explained. "An example would be the word pool. The word pool, it's like a pool game, and at the same time, carpool. Or maybe you mean pool as in swimming. It's a homonym.
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"I think what we're battling is a war of etymology, which is the origin of words,” he continued.
"Let me emphatically say here, for like the millionth time, a Christian cannot be demon-possessed!” Pagani declared.
Pagani, an apostolic teacher, wrote a book titled, The Secrets To Deliverance, which made its way into the hands of Pastor Greg Locke, who once identified as an avowed cessationist and said it transformed his views on deliverance ministry. Now the two ministers and several others laboring in this field are the subjects of the new film “Come Out in Jesus Name,” which has led to much debate among American Christians.
Some believe the ministers promote anti-biblical rhetoric and teach that demonic forces can possess Christians.
The preacher has spearheaded deliverance ministry for years, starting at his home church, Amazing Church, in the Bronx, New York City, and worldwide. He said he becomes passionate when addressing the matter because he and his cohorts have never preached anything other than that.
"We have been saying this from day one. And for some reason, either listeners or viewers or Christians, either they don't want to hear us saying that because they have an issue with the ministry of deliverance or maybe they can't hear because Jesus said, quoting a prophecy of Isaiah, ‘They have ears and cannot hear,’” Pagani maintained.
“Come Out in Jesus Name” shows how Pagani’s ministry impacted Locke, who now focuses on praying for freedom over others. Other ministers shown in the film include YouTube preacher Isaiah Saldivar, along with other well-known deliverance ministers Vladimir Savchuck, Daniel Adams and Mike Signorelli, as they model deliverance as seen in the New Testament. This group has collectively become known as the demon slayers, a nickname which they say is a term of endearment.
"We're not saying a Christian can be demon-possessed," he reiterated. "When we say possessed, we're not saying owned by. When we say possess, we mean, as in having. ... Let me give you an analogy. Every house has a spider, so let me ask you this question: ‘Is your house spider possessed?’ Obviously not. But does your house possess a spider? Obviously.
"What we're saying is a Christian is not possessed, as in owned by a demon. No. Number one, we are bought with a price. Number two, we have the precious Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest expectation of our blessed hope living on the inside. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. It's impossible for Christians to be owned by the devil,” Pagani stressed.
"But can a Christian possess a devil, not demon possession? Can a Christian possess a devil as in having a demon? Obviously, yes. Paul said: ‘Neither give place to the devil.’”
When a Christian violates Ephesians 4, not letting the sun go down on your wrath, that word wrath described the works of the flesh, but it can give place to a demon, he insisted. “When the work of the flesh is not contained and crucified, through the work of the Holy Spirit within us, then a stronghold becomes a strong man. So it started off as the work of the flesh in wrath [and] now could be a demon of wrath. Controlling the individual,” Pagani noted.
The New York resident said time and time again, pastors and leaders fall into sin because they allow a work of the flesh to become a stronghold in their life.
"Obviously, a lot of it is the work of the flesh, failure of counseling, mental illness, we're not discounting that. But then there are moments where it is a demon,” Pagani continued. “So are these men or women of God possessed by a demon? Absolutely not. But do these men and women of God possess a demon? Ephesians 4, Yes!
"So how do you remove it? Submit yourself to God. Resist the devil and he will flee. That is preventative protection. What do you do when that hasn't been carried out and the person has a demon? Ministry of deliverance, you remove it!”
In September, Pagani will release part two of his book, The Secret to Generational Curses.
"I authentically believe that we're just fighting about a harmonium and the war is the war of etiology, just the origin and the proper use of different words. What we're saying is, demonized, which means under the influence, not owned by,” Pagani added.
In an interview with The Christian Post ahead of the red carpet premiere of "Come Out In Jesus Name," Pagani addressed claims that he and his cohorts are heretics.
“I've learned that people don't know what they don't know. That removes my anger that we would feel when someone misrepresents us.”
The author said many people reject him and other deliverance ministers due to "misrepresentation of what they do know,” he said. “The deliverance ministries that they did encounter have been unscriptural, sensational, fanatical or maybe miss-diagnosing people. You can't blame them for being like that if the poster boy of deliverance in their mind is the ministry around the corner that looks like a Voodoo seance, strange fire.”
“Come Out in Jesus Name” has an encore showing in theaters on April 10-11.
Jeannie Ortega Law is a reporter for The Christian Post. Reach her at: [email protected] She's also the author of the book, What Is Happening to Me? How to Defeat Your Unseen Enemy Follow her on Twitter: @jlawcp Facebook: JeannieOMusic
