#339 The Dark Side of Deliverance: Pagan Roots and Spiritual Abuse, with Anna Kitko

The Alisa Childers Podcast

Alisa Childers

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality, Spirituality

4.8 • 5K Ratings

🗓️ 30 October 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In today's conversation, Alisa Childers is joined by Anna Kitko—a researcher and clinical expert on spiritual abuse—to unpack the historical, biblical, and psychological roots of deliverance ministry. Together they explore how many of today’s practices trace back not to Scripture, but to ancient pagan rituals, and how that can lead to deep spiritual and emotional harm for sincere Christians seeking help.Drawing from her research into ancient Akkadian medicine, Second Temple Judaism, and modern charismatic movements, Anna explains that Jesus’ exorcisms were unique precisely because only Yahweh Himself could command evil spirits. Alisa and Anna also discuss:The four ancient categories of “demons” and what they reveal about how we understand possessionWhy much of deliverance ministry functions like spiritualized mental-health care—without accountability or clinical ethicsThe concept of iatrogenic harm (when “healing” practices actually wound people)How Bethlehem’s “SOZO” prayer model parallels ancient pagan rituals and can lead to spiritual abuseWhat true, biblical deliverance and spiritual warfare look like—prayer, truth, and faithfulness under Christ’s authority aloneThis episode is a sober but deeply encouraging reminder: Christians are delivered when they trust in Christ and are delivered from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God. ------------------------------------------------------------------This video is sponsored by:RANGE LEATHERAmerican-Made Craftsmanship from WyomingGo to www.rangeleather.com for more informationUse my code: ALISAA'DEL NATURAL COSMETICSElevate your skincare routine with A'del's toxin-free cosmetics. Experience the difference in quality and purity. Go to www.adelnaturalcosmetics.com for more information. Use my code: ALISA FOUNDATION WORLDVIEWFoundation Worldview creates curriculum series that will empower your child to thinkBiblically in a deceptive world. Go to www.foundationworldview.com for more information! Use my code: ALISA--------------------------------------------------------------------To Purchase the new CD, “Beauty from the Ash”, go to www.alisachilders.com/musicThere you can get the CD, backing tracks, string charts, rhythm charts and stems.Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/alisachildersTo order “Another Gospel”: www.alisachilders.com/another-gospel/To order “Live Your Truth": www.alisachilders.com/live-your-truth-and-other-lies/To order “The Deconstruction of Christianity”: https://alisachilders.com/the-deconstruction-of-christianity/For Alisa's Merch: https://alisachilders.creator-spring.comTo see what gear Alisa uses to record her podcast, go to:https://kit.co/alisachildersPotential Sponsors: https://alisachilders.com/sponsor-request-form/Product links are affiliate links which means if you buy something we'll receive a small commission.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	The problem with modern deliverance ministries is that they are taking for themselves Christ's job.
0:07.8	They are actively making idols of themselves by behaving like they can do what only Christ can do.
0:15.5	We do not take on Christ's mantle and say I ever. So we beseech Christ and we do not address any
0:26.4	demonic entity, fourth party, or above, without Christ being the person in control.
0:32.6	You would never say I. That's why it makes it, it makes my skin crawl every time I see it.
0:36.6	It's like, and they're like,
0:37.8	in Jesus's name, I command you. Like, no, never.
0:51.4	Well, hey, everyone. Welcome to the Elisa Childers podcast. It's always my goal here to help equip Christians to identify the core beliefs of historic Christianity, discern its counterfeits, and proclaim the gospel with clarity, kindness, and with truth. And today's episode, you guys, it really blew my mind. I'm very excited to bring you this conversation I had with Anna Kitko,
1:12.9	who is so incredibly smart, so incredibly knowledgeable. And this is actually going to be
1:19.4	most likely the final installment in our Deliverance Ministry series. We'll probably continue
1:25.4	to do episodes here and there about deliverance ministry,
1:28.1	but for anybody who hasn't been following along so far, let me give you a little bit of context.
1:32.9	So I grew up in a church that did deliverance ministry. It's kind of been a part of circles
1:37.8	I've been adjacent to my whole life. And so we throughout the course of this series have just
1:43.3	been thinking through the particular
1:45.5	teachings and claims of deliverance ministry in general.
1:49.7	Now, I don't think you have to catch up with all the episodes.
1:53.1	I think there's like six or seven maybe so far.
1:55.8	You don't have to watch all of those for this episode today to be relevant to you.
2:00.5	Today we're going to be talking
2:01.6	about it more from a clinical perspective, the actual damage that can be done to people when some
2:07.4	of the unbiblical practices of deliverance ministry are done. And I really want to ask you to keep
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Alisa Childers, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Alisa Childers and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.