Then, in connection with the different categories of attack against our faith, we may enumerate the different manifestations of satanic opposition. We will distinguish between two major types of manifestations, and divide the second type into several categories.

The first type may be called supernatural manifestations, since demonic involvement is more obvious with them. One example comes from Acts 16 in which a woman with a spirit of divination harassed Paul and his companions. The biblical and apostolic method for dealing with an obvious manifestation of demonic power is to confront it as such and seize authority over it by force. And thus Paul said, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" (Acts 16:18).

The other method for dealing with demonic manifestations is apparently to convince ourselves that they no longer occur, naturalize the manifestations and rename them as neurological disturbances, and hand them off to non-Christian psychiatrists, perhaps to drug them or to lock them up in mental institutions. Bravo! What a way to fulfill the Great Commission. Oh, would to God that we could also lock up those who think that these manifestations still occur today. Then this ostrich policy, this theology of denial, this defiance against Christ, this cessation of faith, would not look so bad.

The second type may be called natural manifestations, where demonic involvement is less obvious. These may be further divided into several categories. Again, they are not exact, but the distinctions are made to increase awareness.

Political persecution occurs when the civil authority of a people ratify and enforce legislations that hinder or even criminalize the affirmation, propagation, and application of the Christian faith. This kind of persecution occurs even when it is claimed that there is religious freedom for the people, because there is often some legislations that threaten believers against preaching and practicing their faith truly and fully. Perhaps there is nowhere in the whole world where Christians are completely free from political persecution.

Ecclesiastical persecution is similar to political persecution, only that it is carried out by the religious authority of a people rather than the civil authority. Religious leaders would sometimes use the means available to them to silence or punish dissenters. When biblically authorized leaders exercise their power to discipline individuals in biblically approved manners for the sake of the doctrinal and moral purity of the church, the honor of God, and the salvation of the offender, then it is the proper use of church discipline, and does not amount to ecclesiastical persecution. But we are referring to a use of authority by unauthorized individuals or for unauthorized reasons, such as to protect their own control over the people or to preserve unbiblical doctrines and traditions. This kind of persecution can take the form of an official rebuke, a "blackballing" or defrocking of a minister, or even a conspiracy to murder the troublemaker.

Social persecution can occur in many settings, including the workplace, the school, the family, or a circle of strangers or friends. The actual persecution can take the form of ostracism, slander, insult, loss of employment or expulsion from school. Note that the last two examples have similarities with political and ecclesiastical persecution. A more general manifestation of this kind of persecution is a broad disapproval and mockery of the Christian faith in society. This type of persecution occurs constantly and almost universally.

Intellectual persecution refers to any opposition against the Christian faith that appeals to the minds of believers and unbelievers. This does not mean that it is a rationally sound opposition, although it is often presented as such. In fact, elsewhere we have demonstrated that intellectual oppositions against the Christian faith are never rationally sound, but always fallacious and misleading. Among other things, these can assume the forms of assertions, arguments, and narratives. Many false assertions are made against the Christian faith, and some people believe them without question. Sometimes arguments are made against Christianity in educational institutions by professors and instructors, but they are always easy to refute.

It is important to increase awareness on the use of narratives as a weapon of attack against the Christian faith, since this method is more subtle. Although history can be distorted in the attempt to discredit the faith, I am here referring to fictional narratives. For example, a non-Christian author can produce a novel, a play, or a movie in which the Christians are hateful hypocrites and the non-Christians are self-sacrificing heroes. One can make anyone say and do anything in a work of fiction. This is often an effective method to influence careless individuals, who as long as they are engaged and amused, tend to forget the fictional nature of the work they are viewing, and the relative omnipotence of the author in designing the characters and the plots. Fiction thus effectively bypasses their ordinary defenses to instill in them unbelief and contempt against the Christian faith.

Physical or corporeal persecution is often an extension or result of the previous manifestations of natural opposition against the Christian faith. It will assume different forms depending on the culture of the day. In the first century it included jailing, whipping, stoning, burning, and crucifying the Christians. Today we will have to add shooting to the list, at least for some parts of the world. But not every instance of physical persecution is so extreme. For example, it is not unheard of for a parent to strike his child for converting to the Christian faith.

The church does not face only external attacks, that is, those that come from outside of the community of believers, from those who call themselves non-Christians. Rather, the church also faces internal attacks, partly through the infiltration of non-Christians (who claim to be or falsely consider themselves to be Christians), and partly through the manifestation of remaining sin in believers, at times acting all on its own, and at times stirred up by the infiltration of non-Christian ideas into the church. These attacks materialize in the doctrines and practices of professing Christians, attempting to erode from within the covenant community of Christ.

There is much doctrinal confusion among believers. There are those who claim to be Christians, but who deny the infallibility of Scripture, the blood atonement of Christ, the Trinity of God, and so on. Church divisions seem undesirable, but under certain circumstances they are necessary, and increasing fragmentation occurs if we deal with doctrinal problems only when the yeast has already taken over the whole dough. In terms of practice, adultery, divorce, abortion, and homosexuality run rampant, and because the community has been infiltrated by a staggering number of false converts who in fact favor non-Christian beliefs and values, these things do not disturb them, but the people love to have it so, such that in many cases the acceptance of divorce, abortion, and homosexuality is even regarded as a badge of true Christ-like compassion.

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