CHARLOTTE — He is an internationally known speaker, author and journalist who now serves as the editor of Charlotte-based TAN Books, but Dr. Paul Thigpen was not always Catholic, or even a practicing Christian.In his teenage years, Thigpen rejected his Christian beliefs and dabbled in the occult. He turned back to God in 1972 when he was 18, first becoming an evangelical Protestant and eventually a pastor before converting to Catholicism in 1993.
What he came to understand from that experience of turning away from God and towards the devil, and then back to God, has prompted Thigpen to write a "Manual for Spiritual Warfare" which he hopes will make people more cognizant of the spiritual battle being waged for each of their souls.
"Through these activities (in my teen years as an atheist) I began to encounter powerful, malicious non-human intelligences that didn't fit into my world view, but reminded me of certain Gospel accounts I had learned about as a child. So I went back to the Scripture in a desperate attempt to understand better what I was experiencing. That was one of the realizations that eventually led me back to faith in God in 1972.
"In a sense, you could say that I came to believe in the devil before I came to believe in God. And if there was a devil but there was no God, then I knew I was in big trouble. Encountering him sent me running back into the arms of Our Lord.
"In the years both before and after I entered the Catholic Church in 1993, I have continued to find clear evidence (unsought) that demonic powers are real and active in our world. But I also find that most people, including Catholics, either don't believe in the devil at all or are unaware that his demonic allies are at work in their lives to lead them away from God, most often through temptation."
He believes we are in a critical spiritual battle for our souls, whose outcome will determine our eternal destiny – and it is part of Satan's stealth strategy to remain unrecognized through it all.
"So, with the encouragement of my colleagues at TAN Books, I decided to write a book that would alert people to the war raging all around them and within them. Drawing from sacred Scripture, sacred tradition and the lives of the saints, I wanted to help readers identify their spiritual enemy and his strategies, then tell them about the spiritual comrades, weapons and armor that God has given us to be victorious in this battle."
The 341-page manual contains practical advice, prayers and Church resources that readers will find useful. It has been granted an imprimatur by Bishop Peter Jugis and a "nihil obstat" from Father Matthew Kauth, who is currently in residence at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte and serves as the chaplain at Charlotte Catholic High School. An imprimatur is official permission from the local bishop to publish a book about the faith or Catholic moral teaching, and a "nihil obstat" is a judgment by an official of the Church that the book does not contain doctrinal or moral errors.
"St. Paul urges us to 'fight the good fight of the faith,'" Thigpen says, referring to 1 Tim 6:12. "Take this 'Manual for Spiritual Warfare' with you into battle."
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
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At www.tanbooks.com and www.paulthigpen.com: Order the "Manual for Spiritual Warfare" and find other resources from Dr. Paul Thigpen.