Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not . . . cast out demons in Your name.” . . . And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” Matt. 7:22
He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. . . . If I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Luke 11:19-20
God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Acts 19:11–13
Resist the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7
Throughout the whole world, and in your city, many of our Christian men have healed numerous demon-possessed persons, exorcising them in the name of Jesus Christ. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.190
We call Him Helper and Redeemer. Even the demons fear the power of His name. At this day, when they are exorcised in the name of Jesus, . . . they are defeated. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.209
He said, “I give unto you power to tread on serpents and on scorpions.” . . . And now we have all the demons and evil spirits subjected to us, when we exorcise them. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.236
Every demon, when exorcised in the name of this very Son of God . . . is overcome and subdued. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.241
Even to this day, the demon-possessed are sometimes exorcised in the name of the living and true God. Theophilus (c. 180, E), 2.97
[ADDRESSED TO PAGANS:] Let a person be brought before your tribunals who is plainly under demon possession. The wicked spirit, ordered to speak by a follower of Christ, will as readily make the truthful confession that he is a demon, as elsewhere he has falsely asserted that he is a god. Tertullian (c. 197, W), 3.37
[ADDRESSED TO PAGANS:] Why, all the authority and power we have over them is from our naming the name of Christ and reminding them of the woes with which God threatens them at the hands of Christ as Judge. For they realize that one day these woes will overtake them. Fearing Christ in God, and God in Christ, they become subject to the servants of God and Christ. So, overwhelmed by the thought and realization of those judgment fires, at our touch, our breath, and our command, they leave the bodies they have entered—unwilling and distressed. For before your very eyes, they are put to an open shame. You believe them when they lie. So why not give credit to them when they speak the truth about themselves? . . . [When exorcised by Christians,] these beings admit that they are not gods. And they confess to you that there is no God, except one—the God whom we worship. Tertullian (c. 197, W), 3.38
The Lord Himself is witness that we have the case of the woman who went to the theater and came back possessed. Accordingly, in the exorcism, when the unclean creature was rebuked for having dared to attack a believer, he firmly replied, “And in truth I did it most lawfully, for I found her in my domain.” Tertullian (c. 197, W), 3.90
We say that there are demons—as though, in the simple fact that we alone expel them from the bodies of men, we did not also prove their existence. Tertullian (c. 197, W), 3.176
We daily hold them up to contempt. We exorcise them from their victims, as multitudes can testify. Tertullian (c. 212, W), 3.106
How many men of rank have been delivered from devils and healed of diseases! Tertullian (c. 212, W), 3.107
The demons themselves confess concerning themselves as often as they are driven by us from bodies by the torments of our words and by the fires of our prayers. . . . Since they themselves are witnesses to the fact that they are demons, believe them when they confess the truth about themselves. For when renounced by the only and true God, the wretched beings unwillingly shudder in their bodies and either at once leap forth—or else vanish by degrees. Mark Minucius Felix (c. 200, W), 4.190
Celsus [a pagan] asserts that it is by the names of certain demons and by the use of incantations that Christians appear to be possessed of power. . . . But it is not by incantations that Christians seem to prevail, but by the name of Jesus, accompanied by the pronouncement of the narratives that relate to him. For the repetition of these has frequently been the means of driving demons out of men, especially when those who repeated them did so in a sound and genuinely believing spirit. Indeed, the name of Jesus possesses such power over evil spirits that there have been instances where it was effective even when it was pronounced by bad men. Jesus Himself foretold this when He said, “Many will say to Me in that day, did we not cast our devils in your name?” Origen (c. 248, E), 4.398-399
A similar philosophy of names applies also to our Jesus. His name has already been seen in an unmistakable manner to have expelled myriads of evil spirits from souls and bodies. This demonstrates how great the power was that was exerted upon those from whom the spirits were driven out. Origen (c. 248, E), 4.406
What spirit must it be that fills her mind and clouds her judgment with darkness? Must it not be one of the same order with those demons that many Christians cast out of persons possessed with them? And this, we may observe, they do without the use of any incantations or curious arts of magic. Rather, they use only prayer and simple adjurations that the plainest person can use. In fact, for the most part, it is unlettered persons who perform this work. Origen (c. 248, E), 4.612
This is also done in the present day. For the devil is scourged, burned, and tortured by exorcists—by the human voice and by divine power. Although he often promises that he is going out and will leave the [unbaptized] men of God, yet he lies in what he says. He repeats the same thing that was done before by Pharaoh, with the same obstinate and fraudulent deceit. However, when they come to the water of salvation, . . . we can know and trust that there the devil is beaten down and the man who is dedicated to God is set free by the divine mercy. Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.402
Oh, if you could only hear and see them when they are adjured by us. For they are tortured with spiritual scourges and are cast out from the possessed bodies with tortures of words. Howling and groaning at the voice of man and the power of God, they feel the stripes and blows and confess the judgment to come. Come and acknowledge that what we say is true. And since you say that you worship these ones as gods, believe even those whom you worship! Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.462
Now His followers banish the same polluted spirits from men, in the name of their Master, and by the sign of His passion [i.e., the sign of the cross]. Lactantius (c. 304–313, W), 7.129
The same demons, when adjured by the name of the true God, immediately flee. Lactantius (c. 304–313, W), 7.130
As long as there is peace among the people of God, these spirits flee from the righteous and fear them. And when they seize the bodies of men and harass their souls, they are adjured by [Christians] and are put to flight at the name of the true God. Lactantius (c. 304–313, W), 7.159
An exorcist is not ordained. For it is a work of voluntary goodness, a work of the grace of God through Christ, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Apostolic Constitutions (compiled c. 390, E), 7.493