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What I'm looking for:

Scriptures said

'See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you... (Luke 10:19)

Is the Authority & Power only given during Jesus time or can any Christian believers can possess it even during our times?

Is the Authority only given to Church Authority, or to elders in the community?

I will limit the desired answer to be based upon Roman Catholic Church teaching and any biblical basis it provides.

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    Hello and welcome to the site. You have written a lot of questions which are at risk of being closed. It may help to read these discussions on our Meta site: Types of questions that are within community guidelines, What makes a good focused question?
    – curiousdannii ♦
    Commented Mar 14, 2018 at 14:27
  • The issue here is that different Christian groups have different interpretations of what the passage means. You would have to ask which Christian group you want to know about.
    – DJClayworth
    Commented Mar 14, 2018 at 16:19
  • Are you aware that elder = presbyter=priest?
    – KorvinStarmast
    Commented Mar 15, 2018 at 14:50
  • in terms of elder i'm speaking of a leader of community or movement just like a catholic charismatic community wherein the head/leader can cast-out/submit spirit. or in christian community wherein elders/pastor can cast-out demons or can a simple believer claimed this verse as power given by Jesus to all believers to submit spirit...So in this premise, I'm asking to clarify sound & correct interpretation to avoid danger of misinterpretation..Godbless
    – jong ricafort
    Commented Mar 15, 2018 at 17:01
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    Hi Jong – I edited out your final comment regarding biblical interpretations from other groups. It's not fair to answerers to ask for more than what can be reasonably provided in a single answer. If you also want the biblical basis for a particular view, please ask that separately.
    – Nathaniel is protesting
    Commented Mar 19, 2018 at 13:27

1 Answer 1

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The Catholic Haydock Commentary says on Lk. 10:19:

Ver. 19. Given you power, &c. By these words our Saviour seems to insinuate, that the venom of serpents, and the other noxious qualities of some animals, proceed from the malice of the devil. These are the arms and the instruments he makes use of to kill us, being the prince of death and a murderer from the beginning, as the Scripture styles him. The Jews attributed sickness, poisons, and every thing of the same kind to evil spirits.

cf. also what St. Thomas Aquinas collected, in his Catena Aurea, from the Fathers on this verse

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