demons ability to read minds/perdict the future QUESTION from Jane on January 23, 2003 Dear Bro.Ignatius
I was reading the Q&A; section of your web site and found something I'd like to address. I noticed a few people writing in with questions about a demons ability to read minds or predict the future.
Well I'd like to respectfully disagree with your answer.I read in the Catholic Encyclopedia under divination that it is possible to evoke demons that can foretell the future. I would also like to mention that I have had dreams that I call deja'vu dreams. I have dreamt about something and soon after wards it happens. Several of my friends and family members have experienced the same thing.
My question to you is why is it possible for me and almost everyone I know to experience prophesy but it isn't possible for demons to tell the future? And also, what about tarot cards and ouija boards? If fortune telling isn't possible then why are these things considered forbidden instead of just silly games?
Thank you for your time and God Bless all of you,
Jane
ANSWER by Mr. Joe Meineke on January 28, 2003
Dear Jane, Thank you for your question. You will likely benefit from reading the question that I just answered in this forum titled Clarifications on demons abilities. I will not repeat the text in this post, but I will summarize some key points. There appears to be some confusion about the definition of predicting or foretelling the future and actually knowing the future. Knowledge of future events is a divine attribute. In other words, only God knows the future. Now, who He chooses to reveal it to and why is another matter altogether. Did God reveal to you or your family members what was going to happen before it happened? Yes, that is one possibility. If you are interested in a good source on how Catholics should treat private revalation of this sort, I would recommend Father Benedict Groeschel's book, A Still Small Voice. There are many examples of God reavealing things to people in dreams in Catholic writings, including Sacred Scripture. For example, St. Joseph was warned in a dream to flee with Mary and Jesus to Egypt to avoid the slaughter of the children that was about to take place. However, we must not make the mistake of attributing the ability to predict the future to St. Joseph (or ourselves should it happen to us). Scripture is very clear that God sent the warning. Also, I have read the definition of Divination contained in the Catholic Encyclopedia and see nothing in there that contradicts what we have presented in this forum. On the contrary, I am seeing only support for what we are presenting. Perhaps if you cited the paragraph that you are referring to, we might be able to explain it. From the Catholic Encyclopedia under divination, for example, we learn (with my comments interspersed in italics, and with key text bolded for emphasis): Let St. Thomas answer in substance: Future things can be known either in their causes or in themselves. Some causes always and necessarily produce their effects, and these effects can be foretold with certainty, as astronomers announce eclipses. Other causes bring forth their effects not always and necessarily, but they generally do so, and these can be foretold as well-founded conjectures or sound inferences , like a physician's diagnosis or a weather observer's prediction about rain. (Demons are masters of this realm, and to us who do not have the same abilities as them, their performances can lead us to believe that they have true knowledge of future events. In reality, however, they simply know far more than you and I do about many things and can therefore be far better predictors of future events. Note I said predictors of the future and not knowers of the future. There is a huge difference.) Finally there is a third class of of causes whose effects depend upon what we call chance or upon man's free will, and these cannot be foretold from their causes. We can only see them in themselves when they are actually present to our eyes. Only God alone, to whom all things are present in His eternity, can see them before they occur . Hence we read in Isaias (41:23), Show the things that are to come hereafter, and we shall know that you are gods. Future contingent things, the effects of the third class, spirits cannot know for certain, except God reveal them, though they may wisely conjecture about them because of their wide knowledge of human nature, their long experience, and their judgents based upon our thoughts as revealed to them by our words, countenances, or acts. (And this paragraph sums it up best. Here we see clearly that God alone KNOWS the future before it happens).
Spirits can know better than men the effects to come from the second class of causes because their knowledge is broader, deeper, and more universal, and many occult powers of nature are known to them. Consequently they can foretell more events and more precisely, just as a physician who sees the causes clearer can better prognosticate about the restoration of health. The difference, in fact, between the first and second classes of causes is due to the limitations of our knowledge. The multiplicity and complexity of cause prevent us from following their effects. Lastly, you ask If fortune telling isn't possible then why are these things considered forbidden instead of just silly games? First, Fortune telling is possible, but it has as its source either 1) the demonic or 2) con artistry. Second, scripture is clear as to why these things are forbidden. The Catholic Encyclopedia definition of divination does a great job in pointing out why.
I hope that this has helped. God bless you, Joe Meineke Assistant to Bro. Ignatius Back to Index Page