First Veritas Forum at Harvard: Conversion from Paganism and the Demons Flee

John C. Rankin

(March 12, 2014)

In the fall of 1996, I addressed the first Veritas Forum at Harvard, a series on university campuses begun by my fellow student  at Harvard, Kelly Monroe, editor of Finding God at Harvard, in which I contributed a chapter.

A fellow Christian panelist and contributor to the book was a medical doctor. She told a remarkable story of how she came to Christ in a third world country. When she led her mother to Christ, the next morning her mother ran through the village praising God. It was the first night in her life she was not plagued by demons.

Such a blessing is far easier to pass on than the old curses. The second of the 10 Commandments reads: “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:4-6).

The simplicity is this — blessings are far more power than curses, for darkness by definition flees the dark. This is why we have power through the Holy Spirit to “bless those who curse you” (Luke 6:27).

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