By Adam Van Der Stoep

Read in 6 minutes

Published October 28, 2024

There is always a more natural explanation of things. This was the repeated lesson I had come to learn as a young’n who watched nearly every episode of Scooby Doo (my all-time favorite TV show) while growing up. 

The mysteries of life that would baffle and terrify the masses never seemed to deter or disillusion Fred, Thelma and the gang. They would always get to the bottom of things to uncover the truth: that behind every superstitious and supernatural event one can find a reasonable, more simple and grounded explanation. 

The narrative was always the same: fools get trapped by their small thinking. Darkened minds fall back on religious perspectives to explain how they see the world. When confusion strikes those who are weak-minded, their capacity for rational thinking goes out the window. This, of course, is what made the villains so effective and ruthless. They would exploit other's by leveraging their worldviews against them. 

But with the use of sound reasoning and principled investigation, anyone (and their dog) can know plainly what is real and what is not. Those who can dismantle supernatural narratives are the credible, reliable and have a truly enlightened people of the world.

These lessons have stuck with me as an adult, for which I am grateful. It’s good to be a good thinker. 

But as a Christian who believes that the world is also filled with the supernatural, I sometimes find myself wondering what lens on life helps me best see the world as I aim to be a faithful thinker and believer.

Such was the case for me of the little Ugandan boy who was possessed by a demon. 

Was his actually the case of a mental health episode?

Was trauma presenting itself in ways that his community did not understand: resulting in unusual signs and symptoms?

Was his problem psychosomatic stemming from some underlying, preexisting condition? 

“What was really going on here?” I thought to myself. 

I wrestled privately with these questions as my friend Kyle and I were eating supper with Godfrey, a missionary partner and friend of ours in a small Ugandan jungle village. 

While we were trying to enjoy our evening meal in peace with one other, we could hear, from a distance, the unsettling and terrifying shrieks of a young boy screaming from inside the walls of a small home coming from over the hillside. 

We could also hear, of course, a group of men praying and singing over the boy as they worked to “exercise the demon”. Godfrey explained that this exorcism had been going on for several hours - well before we had even arrived. 

When we fished our food, I had grown increasingly more concerned (and curious) about the situation. “Demonic manifestations” aren’t something we see everyday in midwest America. 

I wondered near the house by myself after our meal. I never went inside or came closer than 100 feet of its front door. But there came a point where I stopped dead in my tracks and began praying earnestly for that little boy. 

I prayed as I had been taught: that the demon would be bound and cast out from that boy in Jesus’ name and sent to the dry places (a biblical reference to the wilderness). 

Then… all of a sudden…silence. 

The screaming stopped and the songs grew louder and louder. 

“Did that just happen?” I asked myself. “Did God answer my prayer?”

Or…I dared to ask…

“Was that really a more natural explanation?”

Not long after this happened Kyle, Godfrey, and myself hoped in the jeep and went home. I said nothing, unsure of what to make of it all. 

The next day as the three of us were eating breakfast together, we processed what had happened with the boy. Thankfully enough, we found out that he was doing fine and was well once again. 

I finally worked up the courage to share my experience as we sipped our morning tea. 

“You are filled with light,” Godfrey said to me, “and that is why God answered your prayer.”

“Really?” I thought, “Am I, with all of my doubts and questions, and flaws… be filled with light?”

Could there be another (more rational or natural) explanation?…

Questions For Reflection: How do you see the world?

• Do you think science can explain everything about the universe?
• Do you think religious perspectives can explain everything about the universe?
• What can science offer in explanations that religious perspectives cannot?
• What can religious perspectives offer in explanations that science cannot?
• What the difference between these two questions: "What is a human being?" and "What does it mean to be human?