... All theology aside, let's look at the raw facts and see if we can come to an honest assessment of the material presented in this book by Dr. Brown (Ruth Irene Bailey).

1) The supposed ritual that "Elaine" (another pseudonym) claims was used to crown her as the "Bride of Satan" is pure plagiarism from another fictional work "From Witchcraft to Christ" (1973) by Doreen Irvine. Irvines story was cribbed from "Anatomy of Witchcraft" (Peter Haining, 1972), which in turn was cribbed from a "confession" of a Mrs. Sarah Jackson in the "Sunday Pictorial" (1955). It worked for them, must be a good story, let's use it, maybe nobody will notice? Uhh, wrong answer.

2) Dr. Brown prescribed massive doses of Demerol for many of her patients, who often become addicted to the drug and had to undergo detoxification treatment to get unhooked. She also shot Demerol herself to "share" the patients' disease. Sound like God given advice to you???

3) After other doctors became aware of these inappropriate activities, Dr. Brown came up with the scheme that since she was the special messenger of God and the other doctors were against what she was doing, they must in fact be literal demons, devils and evil spirits hidden in the form of real doctors. Hmmm, sounds reasonable...yeah RIGHT!

4) A psychiatrist who examined Dr. Brown made this diagnosis:

She suffered from "acute personality disorders including demonic delusions and/or paranoid schizophrenia." Well, he must have been a demon as well I imagine...

There is a lot more, but don't have the time right now. ...

Ciao,
Bill


A Skeptic's Changed View   May 8, 2000
 38 out of 48 found this review helpful

I have read the book, and all of the "reviews". I wish to say that I am an American evangelical Christian who used to believe that "all that demonic stuff" in the Gospels and NT happened a long time ago, or on foreign mission fields today. Until I met a person who had been Satanically ritually abused, that is. Many of the things Rebecca describes in the book are eerily the same as the experiences I have had over the past 8 months. I am trying to understand and follow Jesus Christ throughout this trial. My experience resonates with so many of the readers' comments, particularly anointing my home after repeated demonic harrassment and declaring in the name of Jesus Christ null and void all curses and incantations coming against me.

I find the writing style hard to wade through, and some of the Biblical interpretation weak. However, I have a convinced mind that much of what Rebecca writes is the truth. One thing I find notable is her repeated admonitions to test what she writes by asking our heavenly Father to confirm or refute it.

Once you have witnessed first-hand the attacks that she describes, your "worldview" is never the same. I have not seen everything she describes, but I am certain of these things: demonization of believers and non-believers , child sacrifice, and astral projection.

The two things I've learned which have helped me the most are: 1) Satan is a liar, and always seeks to deceive -- I was one of his victims for awhile (please read the "anti" reviews with that in mind;) and 2) Jesus is LORD! There is victory in Jesus. The only weapon Satan has is FEAR, but brothers and sisters, focus on JESUS. He will come to you as you seek Him! I have never rejoiced more that OUR GOD REIGNS!


Ignore At Your Eternal Peril.   August 9, 2002
 33 out of 52 found this review helpful

The author's account of her faith and obedience filled walk with God and her extensive experiences in spiritual warfare must be read.

She herself openly declares that everyone should not take her word as the absolute truth but that everything she writes and it's context should be weighed and measured against the written Word of God in the Holy Bible.

It is against this that we should weigh her experiences and accounts, and nothing else. The latter is the final and only Authority in this matter.

Personal hostility towards the author is to be expected, but this too should be weighed against the same principles of Scripture.

I have read many books related to spiritual warfare and personally find the books by Rebecca Brown to be among the very best. The worldwide spread of Satanism and the occult is alarming and we need to be aware of what the Holy Bible says about dealing with this increasing menace. This is fully dealt with by the author.

We need to be aware of the depth of deception that is spread by Satanism even through the channels of the 'church' itself. This is a vast subject that we ignore at our eternal peril. We need to be aware of where the true Christian stands in these matters and the Authority and Deliverance available to them through the Word.

When you see other reviewers professing to be Christians whilst rubbishing the author and suggesting you read Stephen King novels to obtain more information about the devil, then you can see where these people are coming from. Even more so if you have read the books by Rebecca Brown.

Take care.


Setting Captives Free through Distorting the Bible??   August 1, 2005
 33 out of 42 found this review helpful

To provide background to my review I feel it is important to make clear that I am a devoted Christian who has walked with the Lord for over 20 years now. I've studied the Bible seriously for over 15 of those 20 years, and I have learned New Testament Greek and studied some Hebrew, as these are the original languages of the Bible and are important to the correct understanding of the Bible. I have been in the ministry of apologetics (defending the faith) for about 15 years, and I can say without fear of credible contradiction that by God's grace I can discern truth from error with a decent level of proficiency.

The reason I prefaced my review like this is because what I am about to say regarding Ms Brown's book will seem shocking to the many Christians who have a favorable view of the book. It is a sad day in Christian history when a good number of us in society, including some pastors and ministers of the Gospel, apparently cannot tell when writers like Ms. Brown are teaching false doctrine. If anything, despite what other reviewers might think, satan DOES want you to read this book and be deceived. Now I know some people are wondering how in the world I can say this. That's easy. Have we forgotten so quickly the words of 2 Corinthians 11:13-15:

"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness..."

So please begin to think with me here, as I seek to demonstrate that Ms. Brown may well be a TOOL of satan, not some deliverer who is teaching solid, Biblical truth.

In all the reviews of this book I've seen so far, none of them addresses the key problem with Ms. Brown and her thesis. And that key problem is that she does NOT know the Bible well. But you don't pick this up unless you yourself know the Bible thoroughly. It's not that everything Ms. Brown says is untrue. That is part of the deception, since we know that the best way to pull off a deception is not to tell a whole lie, but to tell a half-truth. Let me try to briefly demonstrate my point.

Although Ms. Brown does correctly tell us to "Seek the Lord's confirmation and guidance before you trust anyone" (p. 270), and "Don't accept anything anyone else tells you without checking it out with the scriptures and asking the Lord about it" (p. 271), the problem is when you do this with a sincere heart and accurate and extensive knowledge of the Bible, you find that Ms. Brown herself is teaching unbiblical heresy.

The foundational heresy Ms. Brown teaches is that Christians can be demon possessed and need "deliverance." Please see my review of the book "Demon Possession and the Christian: A New Perspective" by C. Fred Dickason for more information on the fallacies of this teaching.

After reading and studying God's Word and prayerfully considering Ms. Brown's statements in her book, I was able to determined that out of the 17 main Scriptures she used to support her views, ALL OF THEM were taken out of context and/or misinterpreted in some way. We cannot fall into the trap of thinking that just because someone can quote a few Bible verses while making a point that this must mean they know the Bible and that their view is Biblical. Jehovah's Witnesses quote the Bible. The devil in Matthew 4:5,6 quoted the Bible. But both the JWs and satan are notorious for quoting Scripture out of context. And we must understand that quoting the Bible out of context is not of God, and therefore any teaching based on verses taken out of context cannot be true.

Since space is limited, let me give 5 examples of why Christians should not trust the teachings of Ms. Brown or other "deliverance" ministries.

1. On pages 123-127, Ms. Brown relates how she talked with a being she perceived to be an angel from God. Interestingly enough, he had "blue eyes" and "golden hair," which is seen nowhere in the Bible. She related how she stopped his conversation and began to "test" him to see if he was truly an angel from God the Father. When the alleged angel said "I am your guardian angel," she did not immediately believe him. She went on to ask, "Who is your master? Whom do you serve?" She still didn't like the response from the alleged angel. Finally, the alleged angel tells her what she apparently wants to hear. After this answer she accepts the alleged angel as one sent from God, and then concludes from this answer that "I knew no demon would make such a declaration, Satan would tare him to shreds on the spot if he did" (p. 124).

Notice here that Ms. Brown forgets a fundamental truth of Scripture. In the Bible, demons are routinely shown to speak the TRUTH about Jesus and spiritual things. They said to Jesus in Matthew 8:29: "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God?" We see the same thing in Luke 4:34, 41 and Acts 16:17. Over and over again, the verdict is the same: demons know the truth and can tell it. So how is it that Ms. Brown seems to think that satan would "tare" a demon to "shreds" for telling the truth? That is not a Biblical view. They can and will tell the truth as long as you get fooled.

2. On pages 125-127 Ms. Brown, fooled by this demon in disguise, relates an almost 2 hour conversation where she is told by this alleged angel that she needs to put on the armor of God, and that this armor goes on her "spirit body." He then tells her that she needs to "search your scriptures further on this." Ms. Brown says she found 1 Corinthians 15:44 the following day. Now it is true that this passage says that "there is a natural body and there is a spiritual body," but the very disturbing problem is that this alleged angel's reference that Ms. Brown found is not talking about a "spirit body" in the sense Ms. Brown thinks. This verse is talking about, in context, the difference between the mortal, physical body and the new body believers will get in the resurrection of the body from the dead (please read 1 Corin. 15 entirely).

But for the sake of making the point quickly in this forum, perhaps the alleged angel should have corrected Ms. Brown and told her not to misquote the verse out of context and to read verses 35, 42, 51-54. I will only quote one of these: "So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption" (42). 1 Corinthians 15 is about the fact that believers will inherit an incorruptible, resurrection BODY just like the glorious body of Jesus. It is not about a "spirit body" that we must put an armor on. So are we to believe that an angel of God gave Ms. Brown false information and made reference to the Bible out of context? I don't think so.

3. Foundational to Ms. Brown's theology is the idea that we need to separate our soul from our spirit. On page 165, she misreads Hebrews 4:12 to mean that we must separate the soul from the spirit, when the fact of the matter is that the passage says no such thing. It says that God's word is so powerful that it CAN accomplish this, but it does not tell us to go around doing it, or that it is "necessary" for this to be done to stop satan from taking advantage of us learning to use our "spirit bodies" (pp. 165-177). This idea, once again, is not taught in the Bible. It is read into the Bible by a woman who simply does not know how to properly interpret the Bible.

4. Ms. Brown wants us to believe that there are "wer beasts" (something like werwolves?) that truly exist in the world and that the Bible supports this view. She quotes Leviticus 26:6, 22. Verse 6 in the King James Version uses the words "evil beasts," while verse 22 of the same Version has "wild beasts." She then falsely assumes that there is a distinction between the two and asserts that "there are numerous references to wild beasts belonging to the Lord, but never to evil beasts belonging to Him" (p. 225). From this she argues that "wer beasts" are these "evil beasts" produced by demons that make humans take on "animal-like" shapes. Problem.

First, the KJV does not accurately represent the original Hebrew of the Leviticus passages she quotes. All she had to do was check other versions, like the Amplified Bible, to see this. Second, she assumes, based on a faulty English version, that there is a distinction when there isn't one in the Hebrew. Finally, in the context of Leviticus 26, it should be clear that the "beasts" in both verses refer to the same kinds of animals, not demonically changed humans. Once again we have eisegesis, not exegesis in the theories of Ms. Brown.

5. And finally, Ms. Brown tries to argue on page 184 that, "...many scriptures show that the human physical body can still live when the spirit is separated from it. This is not true of the soul. Once the soul leaves the physical body, the body dies." But our brother James has a problem with that, for he said in James 2:26: "For as the body without the SPIRIT is dead, so faith without works is dead also." This is a clear passage. This means that Ms. Brown has once again misinterpreted the Bible (perhaps 1 Corin. 5:1-4) to come up with false teaching.

Now there is much more I could go into, but neither time nor space will permit me to elaborate. For those seeking a more comprehensive response to Ms. Brown, I would recommend visiting this website: http://www.geocities.com/adaniels700/GospelAnswers.html.

I only hope that this review has helped people, especially Christians, to realize that Ms. Brown, despite perhaps any good intentions, has been cleverly deceived and is deceiving others. Despite any good points in the book, the overriding thesis is so wrong and thoroughly against the Bible that I cannot recommend it, especially to new believers who are not mature and knowledgeable enough to recognize the sophistry of books like this.

There is a spiritual battle going on and Christians do need to fight the good fight of faith. But "Dr." Brown is not the one to lead us in this battle. I recommend "A Holy Rebellion: Strategy for Spiritual Warfare" by Thomas Ice and Robert Dean, Jr. These guys know the Bible and do not distort it while attempting to teach us how to fight spiritual battles.


AWESOME! EYE OPENING!   March 25, 1999
 27 out of 40 found this review helpful

I read this book for the first time in high school. God really opened my eyes to what battles really occur in the spiritual world. I too had some questions regarding who is this Rebecca Brown etc... I have prayed extensively about this, and feel at complete peace with this book. I do challenge the rest of you to pray and ask the Lord to show you the Truth in this book as you read it. I have tried sharing this book with a lot of my friends and family... funny how people seem to always have an excuse why they shouldnt read it, or "God doesnt work that way", or "It's too deep for me"... hmmmm... i have never felt such objection to one book before. Maybe because its TRUE??? And Satan DOES NOT want you to read this material? Sure its really hard to believe 100 percent, but pray...ask God to reveal to you in your heart what is right...He will show you! For me God has used this book to shake me up a bit and head me on the right track. I am just a normal average California guy who was heading down the wrong road. God has brought me out of the "Gay Lifestyle" and is totally bringing me closer to him. This book has shown me what a deception Satan has brought on us! Anyone involved in ANYTHING to do with the occult, no matter if its drugs, alcohol, sex homeosexuality, martial arts, witchcraft etc... take a second look at what you are doing! If you need to, take a third or a fourth look :) This book will not solve your problems, but it WILL show you ways to battle Satan and step out of the darkness and into the light, onto the battlefield. The road is not easy, it never will be! Are you that comfortable with the life you are leading to continue on with it as if nothing is going on? PLEASE...! read this book for yourself! YOU who proclaim to be Christians! (yes i am talking to you too!) open your eyes! Dr Brown IS sharing Satan's deceptions. Do you really think Satan is going to make her look wonderful? He is the master of lies! Of course people will write reviews saying horrible things to lose her credibility! This IS Satan's world! Do you expect he would do anything less to someone trying to mess up his plan? The road IS NOT easy, just pray and ask God to put you where he wants you. SOOOO! I challenge YOU who are reading these reviews to really pray about what you should do. I can't wait for the day when i can meet Rebecca and tell her thanks for following the Lord! I will be praying for you both, Rebecca and Elaine, for your safety and your relationships to grow stronger for the Lord. Thru you both, God was able to bring me back! (phewww!) Ok enough...(read the darn book) (smile)