Occult Bondage and Deliverance (1984)

Archive Notes

Part Christian manual, part demonology handbook, Occult Bondage and Deliverance occupies a particularly strange corner of twentieth-century religious literature.

Written by German evangelical theologian Kurt E. Koch, the book approaches occultism not as folklore or entertainment but as a genuine spiritual danger. Fortune-telling, magic, spiritism, parapsychology and mediumship are discussed alongside demonic possession, spiritual warfare and methods of Christian “deliverance.” Koch attempts to distinguish psychiatric and medical conditions from what he regarded as supernatural affliction.

The contents are incredible: “Occult Subjection,” “Possession,” “The Return of Evil Spirits,” “The Weapons of His Warfare,” and an entire section asking whether schizophrenia, epilepsy, depression, neurosis, psychopathy and dementia might be demonic in origin.

This copy has clearly been read and engaged with. Numerous passages have been highlighted and there are reader markings throughout. Given the nature of the book, it was written as guidance for Christians counseling people believed to be affected by occult practices.

There is something wonderfully unsettling about finding another person's emphasis preserved in a book concerned with demons, possession and deliverance. You get to see exactly which warnings mattered enough to them.

Details

• Author: Kurt E. Koch, with contribution by Dr. Alfred Lechler
• Title: Occult Bondage and Deliverance
• Origin: Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
• Date: 1984 reprint; First American Edition originally published 1971
• Publisher: Kregel Publications
• Material: Printed paperback
• Subject: Demonology, occultism, possession, deliverance, spiritual warfare, parapsychology and Christian counseling
• Features: Reader highlighting and markings throughout; period illustrated cover
• Pages: 198
• ISBN: 0-8254-3006-2
• Dimensions: [INSERT]
• Condition: Well-read vintage condition. General rubbing, soiling, creasing and edge wear to wrappers; age toning and handling wear throughout. Tear to the upper portion of the first interior leaf/title area as photographed. Numerous passages have been highlighted and/or marked by a previous reader. Binding remains intact. All reader annotations and wear have been intentionally left as found and form part of the history of this copy. Please review photographs carefully.