JIM JONES & HIS MODERN-DAY SUCCESSORS

By Akin Ojumu

There are preachers today who claim they possess the spiritual gifts of “word of knowledge” and “word of wisdom.” Ever the inveterate show artists, these scoundrels like to put up an elaborate show and choreographed display of these purported gifts at their meetings and gatherings just for the dramatic effects.

Like magicians laying on their tricks, they call out random people in the audience about whom they claim to have just received a word of knowledge or word wisdom about some issues the individuals are dealing with in their lives. And the script usually goes like this.

“There’s somebody here,” he’d say, “You have chronic pain in your lower back that makes it difficult for you to sit, stand, or walk. You’ve consulted with and spent a fortune on doctors, to no avail. Now, I want you to stand on your feet wherever you are in the audience. Let me pray for you.”

Knowing that all eyes are on him, the showman on the pulpit performs his magical routine; he corks his head to the left and to the right. He mutters gibberish, as he jerks back and forth. With the practice ease of a skilled Hollywood performer, he slowly stretches out his hand towards the target of his scam. In a booming voice, he issues a command to the pain:

“Spirit of back pain, I bind you! I command you gone, NOW!! Woman, I decree and declare, you are healed!!!” 

Although he always punctuates his command and declaration with, “In Jesus Name,” that’s really an unnecessary perfunctory posturing for the benefit of the audience. Since he believes he is equal with the Lord Jesus in power and authority, saying “in Jesus Name” is a mere formality to avoid argument.

In the heightened euphoria of the moment, and with dopamine flooding her brain and clouding her judgment, the unwary mark responds as she has been programmed and conditioned to respond in such moments. Excitedly, she jumps up and down, yelling and screaming on top of her lungs:

“The pain is gone. I am healed. The pain is gone. I am healed”

Believing they’ve just witnessed a miracle in real life, the mesmerized crowd goes berserk. Not realizing they’ve just been conned and oblivious of the fact they’ve become willing participants in a well-rehearsed religious scam, they hysterically burst out in a raucous chorus of:

“Wow! Praise God Almighty!! Glory Halleluiah!!!”

Having been duped, whatever doubt or hesitation they might have harbored about the authenticity of the fake healer quickly evaporates. Instantly, the Gospel huckster grows into a larger-than-life figure in their eyes, and they esteem him as a religious rock star. And as it’s always the case, the victims pour out effusive praises on their victimizer, and the scammed bring their life savings as gift offerings to the feet of their scammer.

Accolades and plaudits notwithstanding, modern-day charlatans and fake healers are like one-trick ponies; they aren’t that particularly innovative. There’s nothing unique about their trickery or chicanery. They all learned their trade from their progenitors in this type of religious scam. The same guile and craftiness you see them perform today were already performed even to a greater deadly degree in the 1970s by Jim Jones, the religious cult leader who led nearly one thousand of his followers to drink cyanide-laced Kool-Aid, an act, i.e., the Guyana Tragedy aka Jonestown Massacre, which, till today, remains one of the largest mass suicides in history.

Jim Jones and his modern-day descendants who demonstrate their purported gifts of “word of knowledge” and “word of wisdom,” by claiming to be able to know things, see things, and say things that are hidden from everybody else, do so under the influence of the spirit of divination. This is the same demon that possessed the priestesses of the Oracle of Delphi in ancient Greek.

For the sake of the reader not familiar with the Oracle of Delphi, here are some tidbits, courtesy of Google AI.

The Oracle of Delphi was a religious institution in ancient Greece, where a high priestess delivered prophecies believed to come directly from the Greek god Apollo. Located within the Temple of Apollo on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, Delphi was revered as the omphalos, i.e., the literal “navel” or center of the world. Active from at least the 8th century BCE until its closure by Roman Emperor Theodosius I in the late 4th century CE, the Oracle guided everything from everyday farming decisions to major political alliances and wars.

After purifying herself in the sacred Castalian Spring, the priestess, who held the title of Pythia, (i.e., Greek word for python), would sit on a bronze tripod over a geological fissure in the adyton (the inner sanctum) of the Temple of Apollo. The Pythia would inhale sweet-smelling geological gases rising from the intersecting fault lines beneath the temple. 

The fumes induced an altered, trance-like state of “divine possession.” In their state of drug-induced euphoria, the priestess would mutter fragmented or ecstatic phrases, i.e., gibberish speaking. While the possessed Pythia is in her trance, the male priests present would interpret the gibberish she is muttering to waiting customers. 

The Oracle of Delphi was essentially the ancient world’s premier intelligence and diplomatic clearinghouse. Because people traveled from all over the known world to ask questions, the temple priestesses and priests possessed unmatched geopolitical knowledge. Emperors, kings, and generals would not declare war, sign peace treaties, or found new colonies without paying hefty sums to consult the Pythia. 

Sadly, certain individuals at the Church at Corinth, many of whom formerly consulted the priestesses of the Oracle of Delphi in their previous lives as unbelievers, brought this practice of ecstatic gibberish speaking while in a state of euphoria and ecstasy into the Church. They Christianized it, “speaking in tongues.” It was this counterfeit “gift of tongue” that Paul, with vehemence, condemned in 1 Corinthians 12-14.

Of course, the demons that possessed the priestesses of the Oracle of Delphi often lied to them. Many of their prophecies never materialized, or when they did, the exact opposite event happened. A case in point was the prophecy given to King Croesus of Lydia. 

When King Croesus asked if he should invade Persia, the Oracle assured him of swift and decisive victory. They promised him that he would “destroy a great empire.” Well, based on the assurances of the priestesses of the Oracle of Delphi, Croesus went ahead and invaded Persia. Lo and behold, he lost badly. And the great empire he ended up destroying was his own. 

Now, if you are reading this and you conclude that the story of the Pythia (or python) of the Oracle of Delphi is something made for secular history books and not necessarily relevant to Christianity, you are sorely mistaken. In actual fact, the Bible records an encounter between Apostle Paul and a young slave girl possessed by the spirit of the Delphic Oracle in Philippi.

Acts 16:16-18 

“As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.”

The word “divination” in Acts 16:16 is the Greek word “python” which is the same word as Pythia, the title of the priestess of the Oracle of Delphi. 

Here’s a footnote on this from the Strong’s Concordance:

Divination: (English, “python”), in Greek mythology was the name of the Pythian serpent or dragon, dwelling in Pytho, at the foot of mount Parnassus, guarding the oracle of Delphi, and slain by Apollo. Thence the name was transferred to Apollo himself. Later the word was applied to diviners or soothsayers, regarded as inspired by Apollo. Since demons are the agents inspiring idolatry, 1Corinthians 10:20, the young woman in Act 16:16 was possessed by a demon instigating the cult of Apollo, and thus had “a spirit of divination.”

The slave girl was possessed by the spirit {pneuma} of divination {Python}, who earned a large income for her masters {kyriois} by fortune-telling or soothsaying. Pythia is the title of the priestesses of the Oracle of Delphi.

Many of the charlatans you find today who profess to possess the gift of “word of knowledge” or “word of wisdom” are nothing but fortune-tellers and soothsayers operating by the power of the spirit of divination. These are people who have, wittingly or unwittingly, yielded their souls to be possessed by the serpentine (python) spirit of the Oracle of Delphi.

This commentary is yet another trumpet being sounded to warn all those in my orbit and everyone who’ll read it. If you care at all about your soul, you will mark and avoid the fake healers, diviners, and soothsayers of the modern-day Church.