What are your thoughts about hypnotism?

This question has been raised in regard to an advertisement distributed throughout our town which promoted hypnotism in order to stop smoking and to lose weight. In reply, I would like to write briefly about this practice. Hypnosis is not a common word for us. It is derived from the Greek language, as the Greeks had a god named Hynos, who was the god of sleep. Even this fact should make us move away from the suggestion of hypnotism. The hypnotist, or person who hypnotizes, transfers his client to a sleeplike condition, in which the subject loses consciousness but responds, although with certain limitations, to the suggestions made by him. This will explain the request in the advertisement, "Please bring a pillow and a comfortable mat to lie on."

Is hypnotism something new? No, it is not. During my elementary school days in the Netherlands, I recall hearing about it. If asked how old this practice is, I would have to answer that I do not know, but I fear that it is as old as the spirits of darkness.

Should we condemn the use of hypnotism altogether? Some claim that it can be used properly both for diagnosis of ailments and for necessary therapy. But if we should not use it for healing diseases, how would we use it rightfully for other purposes? I am more in agreement with a statement made by Dr. Paul Tournier, a famous doctor in Geneva, who said, "Every form of hypnosis is an invasion into the personality of man."

Dear friends, beware of the deceiving talk of the devil. To the one he says, "I will give you new knowledge and understanding;" to another, "I will give you the keys to the last secrets of creation." To a third he promises the very help of heaven, and to our first parents he said, "Just eat; you shall not surely die." We know the sad results of all this. Dr. Kurt Koch, a world-famous and well-known Christian counsellor in Germany, wrote in his book, The Devil's Alphabet, as follows:

Time and again transference can take place when a doctor uses hypnosis.

He illustrates this with the following example.

A mother had suffered from severe colic due to gallstones. Once when she was in severe pain the family doctor was called. Instead of giving her a pain-relieving injection he hypnotized her, and the pain left within a few moments. However, after this treatment the mother's character altered completely. She developed such an evil temper that at times it bordered on madness … This is not just one isolated case. Transferences of this nature have often been confessed to me in the course of my counselling work.

Let us not provoke God to anger with strange vanities, such as are spoken of in the last verse of Jeremiah 8,

When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me. Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the Lord in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked Me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities? The harvest is past, the sum­mer is ended, and we are not saved. For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.

To this the prophet adds the questions, "Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?"