Redux on Paula White-Cain and the “Satanic Pregnancies”

What more can we say about this provocative statement?

You may have heard that Paula White-Cain has been reappointed to the Faith Office by the White House. Her role has sparked controversy among many Christians and non-Christians alike. One of her most provocative statements occurred in January 2020, when she prayed for the “miscarriage of satanic pregnancies” at her Florida church, City of Destiny:

In the name of Jesus, we command all satanic pregnancies to miscarry right now! We declare that anything that’s been conceived in satanic wombs, that it will miscarry, it will not be able to carry forth any plan of destruction, any plan of harm.

A viral video of her prayer captured media attention, leading to various interpretations. Some believed that White-Cain was calling for the miscarriages of non-Christian women while others thought that she declared pregnancies were literally “satanic.” Some felt that she was praying for abortion, and others interpreted her prayer as a request to God to terminate other people’s pregnancies.

White-Cain was not asking God to be bring about literal miscarriages or abortions. Instead, she was engaged in a Spiritual Warfare prayer for protection, as I explained in the media and in my book:

We can better understand it as a prayer for protection against Satan’s evil plans; the preacher orders that the devil’s plans be aborted. White-Cain expressed ideas familiar to people in Charismatic and Pentecostal circles, and which refer to certain texts found in the Bible. For Daniel K. Olukoya, it is necessary to believe that God will not allow the enemy (Satan) to give birth to the evil which is conceived against believers; that God will prevent ‘satanic pregnancies’ from materializing. We note the metaphoric use of pregnancy in connection with the ‘conception’ of evil in certain biblical texts: ‘[Corrupt man] conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb fashions deceit’ (Job 15.35); ‘Whoever is pregnant with evil conceives trouble and gives birth to disillusionment’ (Ps. 7.14); ‘Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death’ (Jas. 1.15). In each example, the language of pregnancy is symbolic. One can essentially conceive evil in the ‘womb’ and ripen it. Ultimately, White-Cain’s request is not for the abortion of ‘satanic babies,’ but for the annihilation or miscarriage of diabolic schemes against all Christians.

This perspective on "satanic pregnancies" and the idea of evil plans being conceived by spiritual forces brings to mind a fascinating article by ethnographer Albert de Surgy, which is included in the co-edited volume by André Corten and André Mary titled Imaginaires politiques et pentecôtismes. Afrique/Amérique latine (Karthala 2000). In his article, “Le choix du monde spirituel comme espace public. L’exemple du Bénin” (The Choice of the Spiritual World as a Public Space: The Example of Benin), de Surgy explains how both Pentecostal Christians and Vodou practitioners in southern Benin hold a shared belief: they perceive visible events in the world as the results of an invisible, spiritual process of conception and gestation. According to this worldview, every occurrence—whether it is the birth of an individual or the actualization of a possibility—stems from a hidden spiritual realm before manifesting in the physical world. Once the process of gestation of events is underway, it can be interrupted or disrupted by various spirits present in the intermediate space. These include nature spirits, the spirits of the deceased who have not yet transitioned to ancestors, or those who have been excluded from the ancestral realm, as well as magical forces projected by the living.

I highlighted in my book that White-Cain’s practice of Spiritual Warfare is influenced by an African Pentecostal worldview, as her “spiritual father” is Ghanaian Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, General Overseer of Action Chapel International, an African Independent church ministry.

White-Cain’s “satanic pregnancies” aligns with de Surgy’s description of the shared view of African Pentecostals and Vodou practitioners on the process of gestation (or conception) of events. In both cases, events result from a hidden spiritual world. Demonic forces work at “conceiving” plans to hinder Christians in their daily lives. The actualization of these evil plans can only be stopped by intervening in their mechanisms of production by means of preventing undesirable supernatural agents from interfering at will in the lives of believers. This is the purpose of Spiritual Warfare. The power of the Spirit interrupts the process of evil gestation, thus bringing about the miscarriage of “satanic pregnancies.”

This is another clear example of how of Pentecostal beliefs and practices circulate from the Global South to the Global North.