Title: Motivated by Wicked Intention: A True Story of Demonic Oppression Caused by Witchcraft in a Small Town
Author: Carol Bell
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 9781532027307
Pages: 128
Genre: Biography / Religion
Reviewed by: Barbara Bamberger Scott
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Pacific Book Review Star
Awarded to Books of Excellent Merit
Motivated by Wicked Intention is a stark revelation of a time of torment in the life of a spiritual seeker beset by demonic threats and visions. Author Bell is a devoted Christian, an ordained minister. Until a few years ago, her life was stable, taken up with a career in childcare and regular church attendance. Then suddenly, her four-year-old grandson died. This tragedy shook her to the core, and, coupled with two small but significant car accidents, made her vulnerable to subsequent events that she attributes to the workings of the devil.
The incidents began with a strange presence that came to her in the night; three times she was “visited” by this ghost-like being that once appeared as the pale, smoky, smiling face of her lost grandson. Living in a small town, in a strange neighborhood, Bell gradually became cognizant that demonic forces were working directly through the people who lived nearby. She began to experience what she calls “severe torture by male and female witchcraft practitioners.” She was in constant pain and felt a sense of intense loss. Even going to church became painful. Bell was convinced that her neighbors were intent on destroying her life bit by bit through spells and magic. They set poisonous snakes on her property, silenced her dogs to keep them from warning her of their deeds, devised numerous “booby traps” and buried certain demonically charged objects in her yard.
Bell constantly speaks of the strength of her Christian faith and her reliance on the Holy Spirit as her protection during this horrific ordeal. She devotes several chapters of her book to sincere expressions of how God works in our lives and helps us ward off such evil attacks; victory comes from “speaking the word of God and praying with all supplication.” The author does not name specific persons involved in this web of evil, nor any motivation that such persons might have had, pointing instead to her exhausted and vulnerable state and the fact that such persons, being themselves possessed by the devil, might attack anyone at any time. In the end, she overcame their dark influence with God’s help, while they, she states, brought retribution on themselves even as she willingly forgave them.
Written in hopes of helping others who might find themselves in a similar situation, Bell’s book could possibly be used by religious study groups or individuals focusing on these ponderous issues. I would recommend this book to all Christians, especially those in mainstream or evangelical churches and for anyone wanting to understand the power of the spiritual unseen world. This book educates in ways about the reality of demons in the spirit world, and gives excellent life teachings and examples from the author’s life. The writing style is engaging, the handling of scripture is careful, and the application highly relevant. Bell handles the subject of spiritual warfare, witchcraft, and demonic oppression with a serious respect for its reality but avoids any excess of sensationalism.
