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ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 22850 • Posted: Monday October 27, 2008  

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Exorcist to star in reality show

The Rev. Bob Larson has been circling the globe for decades, battling Satan and his minions with a Bible and a cross.

Now you can watch him cast out demons from the comfort of your couch.

Mr. Larson, who was in Toledo earlier this month to lead one of his Spiritual Freedom Seminars, is joining the ranks of such luminaries as Ozzy Osbourne, Gene Simmons, and Jessica Simpson as the star of his own reality TV show.

The Real Exorcist premieres in a four-hour marathon on the Sci-Fi Channel on Thursday night – not coincidentally, it’s Halloween eve.

Mr. Larson admits it’s an unusual combination of spirituality and entertainment, saying he can envision fans “throwing house parties with pizza and popcorn” while they watch him command demons to depart from tormented souls.

Bob Larson

Bob Larson is known as a sensationalistic and (deservedly) controversial “evangelist.”

At one time the META tags description of his website included the false claim that Larson was “The world’s foremost Christian authority on cults and the occults.”

Statements made by Bob Larson should not be considered representative of mainstream Christian beliefs and/or practices.

Research resources on Bob Larson

Commentary/resources by ReligionNewsBlog.com

But he also sees it as an opportunity to show the world that evil spirits and demonic possession are real, and that people who are suffering can get help, he said in an interview with The Blade.
[...]

By watching Mr. Larson cast out evil spirits on The Real Exorcist and by witnessing the victims’ lives being changed, people who think they have demon problems will feel as though they’ve been “given permission” to talk about their fears and seek help, he said.
[...]

Wearing a sharp gray suit, with a full beard and swept-back red hair, Mr. Larson speaks matter-of-factly about his 25 years of experience delivering people from demons.

The 63-year-old minister, sipping a can of Red Bull energy drink, said he has performed well more than 6,000 exorcisms in 90 nations, and reports having been kicked, choked, and spat upon by people whose demons resisted the prayers of deliverance.

He has written more than 30 books and for 20 years hosted a nationally broadcast radio program, Talk Back with Bob Larson.

Mr. Larson’s flair for the dramatic, his boldness, and his independence have spawned a legion of critics. Some say he may be genuine but his style is “over the top,” while some skeptics claim he’s made a lucrative career out of preying on vulnerable people and superstitions.

The Rev. George Barrett, pastor of Foundation Stone Church in Northwood, said he has “no doubt” that demon possession and deliverance are real, but he questions Mr. Larson’s accountability.

“I think he’s an extremist. Deliverance is certainly a valid ministry, there’s no doubt about it. But I don’t know if Bob Larson is under authority to any other pastors or ministries.”

FOX 6 News in San Diego, California, looks into Bob Larson

Mr. Barrett said he fears that people who watch The Real Exorcist may start looking for demons in washing machines and “anything else that is not functioning right.” And he warned that confronting evil spirits “is not for the faint of heart.” People who lack proper training could get hurt, he said.

The Rev. Roger Miller, pastor of St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Maumee, said the Bible is clear about the existence of evil spirits and deliverance, but he doesn’t think casting out devils is the kind of spiritual activity that should be televised.

“I just wouldn’t see it as a show. I would see it as personal counseling and prayer time,” Mr. Miller said.
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Mr. Larson was not opposed to performing exorcisms in visually interesting places, including a haunted house in Savannah, Ga., a snow-covered rural cemetery in Pennsylvania, and the courtyard of a 1,000-year-old British abbey. A crew of 10 followed Mr. Larson around for five months, filming five days a week in 16 cities in the United States and England.
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The demon-possessed subjects on The Real Exorcist were chosen from among hundreds of responses to an online posting at boblarson.org.
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A casting department sorted through the applicants, “separating the cranks and the mental illness cases from people who sounded legitimate,” he said.

Mr. Larson is creating a Web site, demontest.com, that has 21 questions for people to take and assess whether they have a low, moderate, or high probability of demon possession. Many troubled souls who come to him for deliverance are not possessed but have mental illnesses, he said.

Kenneth Pargament, a professor of psychology at Bowling Green State University and author of Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy, said belief in the devil is “quite normative in the United States.”

But he said little academic research has been done on demonic possession and exorcism.

“When someone believes they are taken over by the devil, it is usually the sign of pretty serious trouble,” Mr. Pargament said. “The question is how do you deal with it. The jury is out on effects of exorcism on people.”

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