How do Christians who believe in exorcisms respond to skeptics demanding convincing evidence?

Fr. Carlos Martins ([profile](https://www.catholic.com/profile/fr-carlos-martins) , [personal YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@Fr.CarlosMartins)) , author of [The Exorcist Files](https://www.amazon.com/-/dp/B0BS8ZN4B2) , has made the following declarations in a recent interview entitled *[Famous EXORCIST Reveals His Worst CASE](https://youtu.be/IF0YS30hr5o)* : > So in the room, when an exorcism is occurring, there might be different signs that you see, like I said, inanimate objects moving, sudden fluctuations in temperature, bizarre bodily contortions on the part of the victim, and so forth. So, but something that you need to know, that your viewers need to know, that these, that such things are only done to scare the exorcist and his team. So, if I were to bring you into a room--I'm just talking as a thought experiment--if you were to be present at an exorcism, if I were to invite you to come along and be as an intercessor, you walk in the room and all of a sudden you see a chair starting to float in the air by itself. So that might raise your blood pressure up a little bit, right? Okay. It might make you a little bit apprehensive, okay? So my immediate counsel to you, so how I would instruct you before even going into the room, is I would say never ever ever run. Because the Devil is a minor reality. And if you ... the devil is more afraid of you, as a baptized Christian, as a Son of God the Father, than you are of him. If you run, then you've bought into the lie that he's trying to create. Right. So now let's say I brought you into the room, that chair floated, you made it through that experience. Let's say on another exorcism I come in, I bring you in again, and you see a chair floating again. Would you be as scared as you would be the first time? No. What about the 22nd time you see a chair floating? Would you be as scared as the first time? No. Absolutely you're right. And after time 122 you would be even less. In fact, you might not even put down your cup of coffee [...] Fr. Carlos has also said in a [video](https://youtu.be/QdF9w4-1_BY) on his channel: > You know, people are fixed on the devil's power. They're fixed on what he can do. And they ask me what have you seen, have you seen levitation, have you been hit with objects flying through the air, and I'll say ... yeah, I've seen all of these things. But you know what? They're not the scary stuff. When you see a chair levitate for the 83rd time it gets old, but confronting the mind of the devil, the source of every perversion, every sin, every wickedness, every bad thing, that's scary. Despite testimonies from exorcists like Fr. Carlos Martins, many skeptics remain unconvinced, demanding substantial evidence such as actual footage of an exorcism or an exorcism conducted in a controlled setting with comprehensive measuring and recording devices. How do Christians who believe in exorcisms respond to skeptics demanding convincing evidence? --- **APPENDIX - Quotes from skeptical sources** > After initially advertising his “skeptical” approach to evaluating claims of possession, Gallagher commits the common error of confusing skepticism with cynicism. He states, “while the American Psychiatric Association has no official opinion on these affairs, the field (like society at large) is full of unpersuadable skeptics and occasionally doctrinaire materialists who are often oddly vitriolic in their opposition to all things spiritual.” Unwillingness to entertain a remarkable claim (cynicism) differs greatly from demanding evidence that is as remarkable as the claim (skepticism). A skeptical thinker could, in principle, be persuaded to consider the possibility of demonic possession if the data were overwhelming. **Nothing that Gallagher offers as evidence for demonic possession, however, approaches the realm of the extraordinary**. > > Source: [Superstition Masquerading as Science](https://skepticalinquirer.org/2017/02/superstition-masquerading-as-science/) , by Dean McKay, Rachel Ammirati, Scott O. Lilienfeld > NOTE FROM TED: **While demonic possession is a myth unsupported by any scientific evidence**, several claims in this talk around dissociative identity disorder and mental health are only representative of the speaker’s personal understanding. As the speaker states, please consult a mental health professional and do not look to this talk for medical advice. > > Source: the description under the video [The myth of demonic possession | Hassaan Tohid | TEDxUAlberta](https://youtu.be/ZbyoDl37mXk)