71 of 75 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A different take on "Glimpses", January 9, 2005
This review is from: Glimpses of the Devil: A Psychiatrist's Personal Accounts of Possession, Exorcism, and Redemption (Hardcover)
I read M.Scott Peck's "Glimpses of the Devil" over a 24 hour period, something I don't do with books that aren't "interesting." I could hardly put it down. Anyone who read "People of the Lie" will remember one of the final, gripping chapters on possession and demonology, in which Peck makes brief mention of his attendance at two exorcisms. This book is the long-awaited (in my case, at least) in-depth description of those two exorcisms. We meet the victims, learn about their lives up to and following Peck's work with them, and - as far as this skeptical "wanna-believer" is concerned - quite possibly meet Satan. When a doctor as committed to the scientific method as Peck - who initially interviewed the first victim with the intention of proving to himself that there was no Devil - states unequivocally that he felt the presence of something inhuman in the room where he and his team were treating the victim, I find myself inclined to believe him.
The prior reviewer criticizes Peck "for failing to make his cases interesting by weaving personal histories of the victims" with an analysis of why an evil spirit would be interested in them in the first place. I frankly don't know what this reviewer is talking about; Peck spends a great deal of time speculating (which is all one can really do when it comes to a matter such as possession) as to how his two patients became possessed, why they were chosen, why, in fact, some people become possessed and others don't. As far as his being smug and arrogant for taking on the role of exorcist after only a few years as a Christian, the previous reviewer fails to mention that Peck ASKED Malachi Martin to do the exorcism, but Malachi refused; and he then searched for as long as he could to find an experienced exorcist. When no one was available, and he felt the situation was critical, only then did he take on this role.
As far as sullying the name of the late Malachi Martin, my memory (I don't have the book with me as I write this) is that, while Peck does write about Martin's apparent tendency to stretch the truth about certain things, he also goes out of his way to express his love and respect for Martin.
This is a fascinating, and frightening, book, and a more than worthy follow-up to "People of the Lie."
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Review: Glimpses of the Devil, July 12, 2007
This review is from: Glimpses of the Devil: A Psychiatrist's Personal Accounts of Possession, Exorcism, and Redemption (Hardcover)
In his final tome, Scott Peck returns to the dark and controversial topic of satanic possession.
The book is a case report of two women who underwent exorcisms in the 1980s. Jersey Babcock, a Connecticut mother in her late 20's, and Rebeccah Armitage, a 45-year-old multimillionaire from The Big Apple. One exorcism was successful, one was not.
Though some critique the book as theatrical, I don't find the accounts overly dramatic. Portraits do not fly off living room walls, there is no apparition of demons in physical form, no full moon that drips blood or half moon, crescent moon or even new moon mentioned (and I know this without even using books.google.com, because I read the whole book).
Further, Peck contends that the Roman Catholic Church's traditional symptom checklist for demonic possession is overzealous, permitting an exorcism only with present paranormal symptomology such as levitation, psychokinesis (to move objects with one's mind), a psychic knowledge of the future, or fluent speech and comprehension of foreign languages to which the patient has never been exposed. Peck contends, "these criteria are so unrealistically strict that they would deny an exorcism to the majority of victims genuinely possessed by the demonic."
Though not incontrovertible, there was evidence of satanic possession in Peck's cases. For instance, the women believed themselves to be possessed, they heard voices, and (most notably) a battery of psychiatric interviews and psychological tests found them to not be suffering any type of schizophrenic or psychotic disorder. Therefore, in contrast to R-Catholic policy, Peck bases diagnosis through a medical paradigm stating "physicians are taught that the best way to make diagnosis is usually through a process of exclusion. If it was clear that Jersey [or Beccah] was suffering from a standard, well-recognized psychiatric illness, then I would be able to exclude the possibility of demonic possession"
The book is not devoid of drama, however, and the women do exude extraordinary manifestations that are less overtly paranormal. For one, Peck addresses that like most possessed persons, the two women had "facial skin that looks strangely stretched, tight, and smooth" Recall this is the, pre-Botox injected, 1980s. Peck also writes that during the exorcisms the women's faces turned hideous shapes; Beccah displayed immense physical strength and presented snake-like motions and characteristics. Moreover, Beccah presented what is described to be the spiritual appearance of a snake (this could not be captured on videotape). Lastly, demons spoke to the exorcist through the possessed--though without the babble of multiple voices and without voice alterations, which were both present in the recent Hollywood movie, The Exorcism of Emily Rose.
So, with an air of skepticism, I think the strongest challenging questions are these:
Is Scott Peck a liar? Is he deluded by his own admitted arrogance, and delusions of grandeur? One could suggest that his fame, fortune and reputation as a modern day prophet were not sufficient for his ego and he desired a face-off with the Devil himself. Or one could wonder if the Devil was after Peck, seeking his demise before he experienced and wrote about some miraculous spiritual renewal.
Conversely, could it be that Peck's clients suffered a kind of psychotic or schizophrenic disorder that simply has not yet been identified; one that does not meet DSM criteria? Could this disorder involve a dissociation of personality or delusion that makes the person think they are possessed by the Devil?
Peck states the two exorcisms were videotaped, but unfortunately I was unable to locate a tear-out anywhere to buy them on DVD. Similarly, original documentation of the women's psychological exams or therapy records are not provided in full or part. Even if they were, these things could still be questioned. And one can read the text with the supposition that it is entirely untrue, but that preconceived decision, I think, ruins the value of the book. The spiritual realm, for good and for ill, has always been one susceptible to empirical criticism.
Peck writes in his conclusion that though he believes there is enough foundational evidence (well specified, in the text) to make demonology a legitimate science, an "incipient subspecialty of psychiatry and psychology," he admits practically "the acceptance of demonology into the scientific is not going to happen--at least not until history itself is reformed, not until a 350-year-old separation of the world of supposed natural phenomenon from the assumed world of supernatural phenomenon is revisited, and recognized by all concerned as having been a gigantic mistake."
Do I recommend this book? Sure. As always Peck has good insight, and his text is entertaining while at the same time intellectual and profoundly readable. If you are remotely interested in the topic you will devour the approx 250 pages in a day or two. Though, at $26.00 in hardcover I wouldn't rebuke you for waiting until it appears in paperback (while you wait, Peck's 1983 book People of the Lie, a text on human evil, describes one of these exorcisms in less detail, and can be found used on Amazon today for $4.44).
In the end, Peck adds a worthy and significant contribution to the topic of demonic possession, and my prediction is that as generations become more postmodern, the 350-year and waiting natural-supernatural segregation will crack like the foundation under my house and the exploration and explanation of the `supernatural' will be allowed once again. We will see plenty more books like this in the future.
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55 of 66 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Ground-breaking Work of Love and Redemption..., January 9, 2005
This review is from: Glimpses of the Devil: A Psychiatrist's Personal Accounts of Possession, Exorcism, and Redemption (Hardcover)
A Ground-breaking Work of Love and Redemption: M. Scott Peck's Psycho-spiritual Magnum Opus!
I have waited over 15 years for this book to be written. It is simply a gift.
GLIMPSES OF THE DEVIL supplements his previous, classic work on the topic of evil PEOPLE OF THE LIE, which itself scientifically expanded on--in psychological depth and breadth--father Malachi Martin's pioneering masterpiece on demonic possession HOSTAGE TO THE DEVIL, forming a trilogy of hope, healing, and redemption. These works have also greatly shaped my personal understanding, as well as that of countless others, of the reality of evil, providing a clearer road map with which to better navigate through the trials and travails of existence, ultimately saving me time and suffering in my encounters with evil in everyday life.
Dr. Peck pays particular attention to the process nature of exorcism, and the utilization of deliverance as a prerequisite means of uncovering the demonic within before finally employing the more formal, drastic measure of the ancient rite itself. Even through the darkest moments of finally uncovering Satanic interference as the motive force of self-destruction in the lives of two of his patients, and their subsequent deliverance and exorcisms, Peck's courage and humanity--in psychospiritual and even physical combat with preternatural evil--radiates like a beacon of love, shattering not only the "Pretense" of the devil's victims, but also the cold silence of a largely disbelieving world, exposing the raw nerve of man's ultimate freedom to choose absolute good or summary evil.
I expect this book to be met with resistance across the medical and religious spectrum, and it already has, but, as with any ground-breaking and important work that threatens complacency and post-modern belief structures, also with significant acclaim. GLIMPSES OF THE DEVIL rises above much of the confusion and hyperbole surrounding this rarefied topic, dares to make judgments on the limits of personal behavior, and offers no apologies for what it says. For it merely speaks the truth: Evil is real, the devil is real, and real prices are paid in suffering by the victims of possession and those heroic exorcists who must brave soul-scathing demonic attacks to free people from temporal strangulation and eternal damnation.
If secular, corporatized medicine ever evolves out of its atheistic limiting belief structures and affirms the condition of the human soul as the ultimate foundation for the formation of a healthy mind-body-spirit paradigm, only then will the science of exorcism finally be codified by the mental health establishment and both human evil and demonic possession recognized as the debilitating, psycho-spiritual pathologies that they truly are. Medicine will have Fr. Martin and Dr. Peck to thank.
For, if Malachi Martin is truly the father of modern-day possession and exorcism, then M. Scott Peck is its godfather. Already hundreds, if not thousands, have chosen to renew their contract with God and life, and have discovered true liberation from the shackles of the devil through the work of these daring men of compassion, as, undoubtedly, many more will do in the future.
*Note: Fr. Martin's unparalleled spiritual and theological expertise--wedded to Dr. Peck's ground-breaking psychological insights and experience--form a synthesis of psychospiritual and psychotheological understanding from which the truth about the mysterious phenomena of exorcism and possession are only now beginning to fully emerge. But mysteries, by their very nature, remain: the mystery of good versus evil, of free will; the paradox of why a little child can have the will and reason of an adult in some areas; hence, a younger age of "accountability" and higher susceptibility to possession; why the demonic chooses one person over another, etc., ad infinitum...
Dr. Peck chose to write a book that laypeople could understand and relate to. This does not mean that there isn't a wealth of information, anecdotal and otherwise, to back his assertions. For instance, there has been an increase in demonic possession amongst children at an early age. In addition, exorcists are seeing more cases of people in their 20s and 30s who have, for egoic or mercenary reasons, entered into "pacts" with the devil for personal gain. If you are too sophisticated or judgmental to believe that a "pact" with the devil or "selling one's soul" is possible, you deny the truth. Father Martin's book HOSTAGE TO THE DEVIL, as well as the experience and writings of other exorcists, confirms the subtleties of the phenomenon of selling out.
I heard one Protestant exorcist describe how someone, because of a violent car accident, incurred demonic interference. He speculated that the psychophysical trauma caused some sort of "separation." We know that all individuals have susceptibilities, dispositions, and predispositions to all sorts of conditions, medical and otherwise. It is known that the demonic are attracted to "negativities" in people's lives. We speculate about the triune nature of man and the interdependence between mind, body, and spirit. There is evidence that in some individuals, the induction of trauma or abuse can cause the psyche to separate or split, and, because of certain psychospiritual mechanisms, facilitate possession.
The problem with some of the more intellectually-dishonest reviewers of this book is that they cannot tolerate the criticism, direct or indirect, that Peck's work creates in their own minds. Some choose to ignore the facts, while others are just ignorant. Some individuals, weilding a neurotic world view, accept the "ideal" of a secularized psychology or spirituality while rejecting the "real" of the preternatural or supernatural; thereby, creating a lacuna with reality. Instead of bridging this reality gap with love or knowledge of the truth, or scientific inquiry, they fill it with fear or the hot air of their egos, puffed up with pride, and become veritible intellectual blimps.
Alas, in their selfish reason and narcissistic pride, they foolishly believe that the totality of objective reality can be grasped exclusively via the fallible subjectivity of the senses, and posit a static cosmological bias against the dynamic verities of faith, like Heaven and Hell--or angels and demons--and a moral universe of being. Instead of a holistic approach, they favor a fragmented or wholly naturalistic interpretation of life--contra right reason, experience and evidence--that excludes the knowable but immesurable forces of God and the supernatural. This is the proper theology of insanity!
As Dr. Peck says in PEOPLE OF THE LIE, in order to grow intellectually and spiritually, they would have to expend energy and suffering in order to revise their ontological road maps to conform to reality, which is a painful process. So, instead of shedding further light on the subject at hand, they generate heat and project their conflict outwards through ad hominem attacks against those with whom they disagree; thereby, taking the easy way out and lazily avoiding the conflict within themselves that critical self-examination would engender. And, "the unexamined life," as one philosopher so aptly put it, "is not worth living." Besides, performing exorcisms requires the virtues of self-sacrifice and courage, which many--in the economy of today's hedonistic society--simply lack.
The first condition of learning is humility. While Dr. Peck's acceptance of mystery--itself an act of humility--facilitates the open-mindedness required to further scientific investigation and discovery in this rarefied area, others' arrogance and lack of humility stifles further scientific and theological progress, tethering them to unreality, while muting the spiritual quest, not unlike the possessed. And, as Dr. Peck says, "sanity is the adherence to reality at all costs." Therefore, one might logically and reasonably ask, "are they insane?"
These faithless critics--medical and clerical professionals alike--would do better to first cast the Empire State Building of disbelief out of their own eye before admonishing Dr. Peck to cast the mote from his.
To the discerning and educated observer, one of the quantum leaps of understanding provided by this book, and a fascinating topic for further scientific inquiry, is the phenomenon of the manifestation of the "Pretense"--in its many variations--outside of the formal rite of exorcism. In this case it was Jersey's pretense of schizophrenia, and its purpose as a ruse to confuse Dr. Peck, but more importantly his therapeutic use of it as a diagnostic tool to uncover the existence of an authentic possession, since confusion--taken in context as a manifestation of the lie--is a hallmark of evil, preternatural and otherwise. In other words, the evil spirit within Jersey desired to confuse Dr. Peck into thinking she was schizophrenic and not actually possessed, to preclude it's discovery and final expulsion.
Similarly, another area for further research is the mini clashes of will between an evil patient and his therapist, above and beyond the normal resistance encountered in traditional psychoanalytic psychotherapy. These tend to have a peculiar, existential quality. For instance, an unnatural and patently hostile aversion to stated religious truths, that Dr. Peck experienced outside of the main "Clash" of wills seen during a deliverance or formal exorcism, can aid in the diagnosis of evil when triangulated with other phenomena.
Superimpose this knowledge, and apply it to some of the case studies of evil personalities in Dr. Peck's PEOPLE OF THE LIE, and a clearer picture emerges that perhaps Peck's intuitive, hypothetical...
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