July/August 2000

Psychic Powers

Dangerous Deception

by Doug Trouten

Pick any number from one to 10. Multiply by nine. If the result is a two-digit number, add the digits together. Got it? Good. Now subtract five, and choose the letter from the alphabet that corresponds with the result (one is "a," two is "b" and so on). Finally, choose a country whose name begins with your chosen letter, and concentrate on the name of that country.

Wait -- I'm picking up a strong impression here. Are you thinking of Denmark?

What you've just experienced could seem like a display of psychic powers, but it's really a simple trick. Still, with tricks no more sophisticated than this one, so-called "psychics" are raking in huge profits from gullible people who are looking for answers and who hunger for a touch of the supernatural.

The occult has long been part of our culture, but today we're seeing increased acceptance of "occult lite." Movies like The Sixth Sense and television programs like The Others reinforce beliefs in the paranormal. Astrology columns are published daily in respectable newspapers. Tarot card readers set up shop in shopping malls. And psychics are just a phone call away -- at $4.99 per minute.

Psychic phenomenon has become so mainstream that the New York City Human Resources Administration started a program to give welfare recipients training as psychics to get them off public assistance. (The Psychic Network paid "workfare" recipients $10 per hour after they received training through the city. Applicants needed only a high-school diploma and the ability to read and speak English. At least 15 welfare clients passed a class in Tarot card reading and were hired by the company before a report in the New York Times forced the cancellation of the program.)

The biggest telephone psychic operation, Psychic Friends, was taking in $150 million per year before it went bankrupt, done in by fierce competition from many smaller companies. (Shouldn't they have seen it coming?) Buoyed by high-tech infomercials and computerized billing connected to 900-numbers, the telephone psychic industry is estimated to reach $1.4 billion this year, up from $670 million in 1994, according to Telemedia News & Views.

Is any of this psychic phenomenon real? Is it dangerous for Christians? How should the church be responding to America's growing fascination with psychic phenomenon?

Is it real?

Though seekers may be tempted to believe that their "psychic friends" have real powers, the truth can easily be uncovered in a simple thought experiment. Ask yourself this: If you had the ability to see the future, would you spend your day talking on the phone with strangers for 20 to 25 cents per minute (the typical wage for a phone psychic)? Or would you spend your time buying lottery tickets and playing the stock market? If there really are people out there with psychic abilities, they're probably not waiting for you to call.

The "big name" psychics are no better. Supermarket tabloids are filled with psychic predictions by "top psychics," but few -- if any -- ever come true. For instance, psychic predictions for 1999 included O. J. Simpson confessing to murder, Wynona Judd quitting country music to become a woman wrestler, the Statue of Liberty losing both arms in a terrorist blast and marijuana replacing petroleum as the nation's fuel of choice. Nobody predicted the massive earthquake in Turkey or the death of John F. Kennedy, Jr.

Many paranormal practitioners -- from astrologers to palm readers -- rely on a psychological principle known as the "Barnum effect," which states that people tend to accept vague and general personality descriptions as uniquely applicable to themselves without realizing that the same description could be applied to just about anyone.

In a classic experiment, psychologist B.R. Forer gave a personality test to students, ignored their answers, and gave each one the same analysis:

"You have a need for other people to like and admire you, and yet you tend to be critical of yourself. While you have some personality weaknesses you are generally able to compensate for them. You have considerable unused capacity that you have not turned to your advantage. Disciplined and self-controlled on the outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure on the inside. At times you have serious doubts as to whether you have made the right decision or done the right thing. You prefer a certain amount of change and variety and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by restrictions and limitations. You also pride yourself as an independent thinker and do not accept others' statements without satisfactory proof. But you have found it unwise to be too frank in revealing yourself to others. At times you are extroverted, affable and sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary and reserved. Some of your aspirations tend to be rather unrealistic."

Student evaluations of this personality assessment ranged from "good" to "excellent." This works because most people are so narcissistic that they don't want to believe how much they have in common with everyone else. Charlatans use this psychological principle to make gullible people believe they have psychic powers. Other fakers use simple magic tricks. Recent televised specials featuring street magician David Blaine showed spectators ready to ascribe supernatural power to Blaine in response to card tricks.

Tal Brooke, head of the Spiritual Counterfeits Project, believes there is a demonic reality to some psychic phenomenon. "In the Book of Acts we see a girl with a soothsaying spirit who followed an apostle around. He rebuked her and the spirit because it was trafficking in the supernatural and trying to credit to God that which was coming from dark forces. We can go back to Moses and the court of Pharaoh and see supernatural events that were not of God. We do not have an impotent devil or impotent demons. They can do things within a certain range. The Old Testament warns against Israel trafficking with familiar spirits. The biblical view is that it's not just a three-dimensional universe -- that there's much more going on."

Christian illusionist Andre Kole disagrees. While some psychics may truly believe they are gifted and others use trickery to support their claims, Kole says both groups have one thing in common -- a complete lack of psychic power.

"I've investigated this all over the world and have not found any genuine phenomenon presented by anyone in the occult, Satanism or witchcraft," says Kole. "I back up my statements with a $25,000 challenge to anyone who's involved in any of these things and can demonstrate a true supernatural power. In 35 years, no one anywhere in the world has even been able to pass a preliminary test."

Kole, who is recognized as one of the magic world's leading inventors and works with top magicians such as David Copperfield, is uniquely qualified to uncover phony psychics because of his vast knowledge of magicians' methods. Kole also puts on a program demonstrating how trickery can be used to simulate psychic phenomenon. "I contrast illusion and reality, and demonstrate how channelers and spirit mediums work to create physical manifestations. I make it obvious that everything people see is being accomplished by natural means, that magic is using natural means to create a supernatural effect."

Though many Christians believe some psychics get their information from demons, Kole disagrees. "People used to say that Jeanne Dixon got her information from demons," he explains. "Well, with all of the prophecies she missed, if she was possessed by demons it was a dumb bunch of demons. If demons have supernatural knowledge they should be able to come up with accurate information. These people play up the things they hit right and hope everyone forgets the ones they miss. In the Jon Benet Ramsey case the police called in psychics, and four different ones gave four different stories."

Kole says it's a mistake to ascribe supernatural power even to demonic forces. "From the Christian point of view this is important because the apologetic argument that Jesus used was a miracle. Jesus said if you have a hard time believing in me, believe because of the miracles. The bottom line is we are undermining the miracle as the apologetic argument of Christ when we suggest that anybody else has true supernatural powers."

Terry Howell, who pastors Heartland Community Church in Medina, Ohio, was director of research for Kole from 1987-1996. He says that because Christians know there is a supernatural world, we have a tendency to see supernatural power where none exists. "If we don't understand it, we have a tendency to say that it's supernatural," he says. "My belief is that if you don't understand it, it simply means that you don't understand it."

For instance, psychic Uri Geller was well known for demonstrating his psychic ability by bending spoons with his mind. "Some folks would say that's demonic, while others would say it's a God-given ability. Still others would say it's a latent ability anybody would have if they develop it," explains

Howell. "My position is that before we credit any source, we should make sure the spoon really bends."

When magicians and researchers create controlled conditions to eliminate trickery, psychic phenomenon disappears, says Howell. "It's amazing that the Christian community buys into this," he notes. "Even though the Bible says we walk by faith and not by sight, we want to see something, rather than just accept the fact that there's a supernatural world out there."

Richard Howe, associate professor of philosophy and apologetics at Southern Evangelical Seminary in North Carolina, takes a middle view. "The large majority of it is just bogus -- some hucksters and some who really believe," he says. "But having said that I believe it does occur that people actually tap into an intelligence, a spirit realm of sorts. In some instances information is being conveyed, and information is a hallmark to intelligence. I would argue that these intelligences these people have contacted are demonic. So you have some hucksters, some gullible people and some who have actually stumbled onto demonic entities."

Is It Dangerous?

While Christian experts may disagree on whether or not psychic phenomenon is real, they agree that getting involved is dangerous. "Absolutely, whether there's demonic power or not," insists Gretchen Passantino, co-director of Answers in Action, a California-based Christian apologetics ministry (www.answers.org). "The first danger is that you're disobeying God, and in doing that you take yourself outside God's will for your life. Secondly, even if you don't want to believe it, you can be subtly drawn into it emotionally, spiritually and psychologically."

Passantino gives an example from a Christian obstetrician who specializes in fertility problems. A Christian patient was anxious about her inability to conceive a child and had a friend who urged her to seek psychic advice. She didn't want to go because she knew it was wrong, but her friend convinced her. The psychic told her, "The good news is that you're pregnant right now, but the bad news is that your baby will never be born alive. The good news is that you'll have more children, and they'll all be healthy." The girl was devastated and went to the doctor to see if she was pregnant. She was. And even though everything was fine with the pregnancy the girl was so worried about the prediction that she had an abortion, fulfilling the prophecy by her own action.

Howell agrees that dabbling in occult phenomenon poses a danger for Christians, even if there are no demons involved. "The danger is that it pulls you away from the true and living God and from his Word," Howell explains. "I don't think it's a dangerthat demons are going to come inhabit your home if you have a Ouija board in your home or there will be supernatural manifestations. The danger is that you're moving away from God, which is why I believe God put the prohibitions on those things in Deuteronomy. They were pagan practices other nations were using, and God was saying don't look at the creation, go to the Creator."

How Should the Church Respond?

While the persistent interest in occult phenomenon may be troubling for Christians, it also points to an opportunity for the church.

Howell says, "Surveys have shown that there's a great spiritual hunger in America. The problem is that the place where they should be looking -- the church -- is not where they're looking. It's like people are hungry for a hamburger, but they keep driving past McDonald's. Many times it's because we've turned them off. But there's a real desire out there, and I think the church can capitalize on it."

Howe agrees, "There's definitely an opportunity. If people are open enough to the possibility that there is a realm they can't see, in a sense it might be easier to try to contact them than those who are so steeped in materialism and won't even consider the possibility that there might be a God. It may be something we can address as a church: You want to know what the future holds? God has told us everything we need to know about the future, and you can have hope in the future if you do things God's way."

Passantino explains, "People are attracted to fortunetellers and psychics because they're looking for someone with more power, more information and more control, someone to tell me that my fears are unwarranted. Some people join Christian churches because they're looking for that.

In order to attract someone in the first place you need to address their 'felt needs' -- otherwise they don't care what you have to offer. But their felt need may not be what they really need. As Christians there's nothing wrong with attracting people to the gospel by addressing felt needs, but if we don't give them the full gospel message we're not addressing their real need."

She continues, "There's a great opportunity. We can recognize and acknowledge those needs and express that those needs can be met in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, in a Bible-believing church of Christians who are committed to each other in accountability with love and mutual support." 

Evangelical Press Association president-elect Doug Trouten is editor of the Minnesota Christian Chronicle and director of the Evangelical Press News Service.

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