HYPNOSIS – RIGHT OR WRONG?
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from the Afrikaans Version: Hipnose – Reg of verkeerd?
Translator: Lynda Botha
Someone wrote to me the following:
"I would like to know, what your view on hypnosis are?"
Here is my view on this matter:
I would just like to mention, from the start, that I do not believe that hypnosis is wrong or a sin, when it is used in the correct manner.
Just as I don’t think that drinking alcohol is wrong or a sin. Hypnosis as well as alcohol and a number of other things and practices that I could name as well, is also not wrong or a sin, unless you misuse it or use it in the wrong way.
It is in some cases unfortunately so, that many people, and you get this among us Christians as well, that we sometimes personally do not like, or just hate something, and then, to put it this way, it would then be considered within our personal reasoning that this something is then wrong, a sin or evil.
For example: A person will tell you that it is evil to play the lottery but contradictory to this is to pay a church bazaar of all places R5.00 to guess the number of beans in a jar, in order to stand a chance to win a sheep.
In my personal opinion, it is also the case with hypnosis. There were many arguments about this topic and why it should not be practiced by Christians, but I would like to share with you briefly a few things that I have encountered in my life, and simultaneously show why I believe that hypnosis itself is not evil.
One of the reasons why some Christians say that hypnosis is evil according to the Word of God, is that it is written:
Galatians 5:22: "But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Galatians 5:23: "gentleness and self control. There is no law against these things!”
Then the argument would go something like this: We have the Holy Spirit and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we must therefore practice self control and if you let yourselves be hypnotized, it gives another person control over you therefore losing self control.
If you want to be consistent with that type of reasoning, then you also need to be against operations like open heart surgery. Because you allow yourself to be sedated and placed in someone's hands, to do with the temple of the Lord as he/she sees fit, with no regard whether that person who is going to do the surgery is a Christian or not:
1 Corinthians 3:16: "Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and the Spirit of God lives in you?”
Then people also sometimes argue that, under hypnosis, you actually allow to become the servant of the person who hypnotized you, and that it is a sin unto death. They then quote:
Romans 6:16: "Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.”
Here again I could’ve used a lot of examples to show the person who used this verse against hypnoses that he/she has not been consistent. Take for example your work situation.
Still there are arguments by some Christians arguing that Christians should not use hypnosis, but they are all, in my personal opinion, just as inconsistent as all of the above arguments.
For example, Morphine, can be a deadly drug, but is wonderfully used by medical practitioners.
Can I then say that morphine is of the devil?
For example, our Lord has given us doctors, who a lot of times and in some other cases for extended time periods, take completely over the lives of some of their patients and doing wonderful work. But be careful, because just as there are many good doctors, there are also many bad doctors.
Just as, I believe, that our Lord gave us wonderful hypnotists, who a lot of times, for a specified time period, control the lives of their patients completely and do a wonderful job. But again, be careful because just as there are good hypnotists, there are also many bad hypnotists.
Finally, with the Word as my benchmark, I look at this topic of hypnosis and I remember:
Philippians 4:8: "And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
Greetings,
Sakkie