Metropolitan George (Yaroshevsky) of Warsaw (+1923)
In our canonical Gospels, there
is frequent mention of a very interesting and quite widespread phenomenon
during the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ — demonic possession. The
Evangelists often speak of the Savior healing, among others, those who were
possessed by demons (δαιμονιζόμενοι, habentes daemones). Thus, according
to the Evangelists, in Capernaum they brought a demon-possessed man to Jesus,
and He cast out the spirit with a word and healed the sick man (Luke 4:31–36;
Mark 1:23–28). In the same place, others who were sick were also brought to Jesus,
including those possessed by demons and lunatics, and He healed them (Mark
1:32–34; Luke 4:40–42). In the country of the Gadarenes or Gergesenes, Jesus
Christ was met by two demon-possessed men who came out of the tombs (Matthew
8:28; Luke 8:27–33). According to the Evangelist Mark, one of them was
particularly terrifying: “no one could bind him, not even with chains...; many
times he had been bound with shackles and chains, but he tore the chains apart
and broke the shackles, and no one was strong enough to subdue him; always,
night and day, in the mountains and in the tombs, he cried out and cut himself
with stones” (Mark 5:3–5). After healing the woman with the issue of blood, the
Lord Jesus Christ heals a mute man possessed by a demon (Matthew 9:31–33). The
daughter of the Canaanite woman, who was “grievously vexed with a devil,” is
healed by the word of the Savior (Matthew 15:22–28; Mark 7:24–30). After the
Transfiguration, Jesus Christ heals a demon-possessed boy who often fell into
the fire and into the water, and whom the disciples of the Savior had been
unable to heal (Matthew 17:15–18; Luke 9:38–42). In short, according to the
Evangelists, there were many demon-possessed individuals in Palestine during
the earthly life of the Savior. This illness was one of the most widespread
illnesses of that time, almost like an epidemic. Therefore, the Savior, when
sending out His disciples to preach, gave them authority over unclean spirits
so that they would cast them out (Matthew 10:1; Luke 9:1). And the holy
Apostles went out and preached everywhere, casting out many demons, and upon
returning, they joyfully told the Savior: “even the demons are subject to us in
Your name” (Luke 10:17).
In view of the unusual and
exceptional nature of the phenomenon of demonic possession in the present time,
the question inevitably arises: how should one understand this phenomenon,
which the Gospels speak of so frequently — what kind of illness is it?
One of the most widespread views
on demonic possession, especially among scholars of a rationalistic
orientation, is that possession in the time of the Savior was not some
extraordinary illness explained by the supernatural influence of evil spirits —
rather, it was an ordinary nervous disorder, such as violent insanity,
epilepsy, or another similar condition. If such illnesses were called
possession at that time, this is explained by the fact that people were
superstitious then and attributed all striking manifestations of mental and
nervous disturbance to the influence of an evil force — demons. The
Evangelists, it is said, viewed these illnesses, of course, through the eyes of
their superstitious contemporaries, which is why the Gospel accounts speak of
possessions and the possessed. [1] Is this really so? — Indeed, possession
would have to be regarded as mere superstition only if one could assert that
demons, evil spirits, do not exist. However, to deny the existence of evil
spirits means to deny one of the truths of Christianity, clearly expressed in
the Gospel. It also means to deny the gradation of evil power. If we
acknowledge the existence of good angels, then we must also acknowledge the
existence of evil angels. If there is a gradual hierarchy of goodness, with its
highest representatives in the person of the radiant angels and its summit in
God, then there must also exist a corresponding hierarchy of evil with its
highest representatives in the person of demons and its summit in the prince of
demons. Therefore, we have no right to consider biblical possession as
superstition based on the claim that demons do not exist. If that is the case,
can biblical possession be considered superstition on the grounds that,
although demons do exist, they cannot influence a human being? Yet it is in no
way permissible to deny the possibility of influence by evil spirits on man.
When man, through the fall, departed from the will of God and followed the path
of sin, the influence of evil spirits upon man became entirely possible and
understandable. The devil became the prince of this world and, as such, exerted
every possible influence on sinful man. This influence was manifested in
idolatry, in which man, according to the Holy Fathers, [2] entered into
communion with the devil — through sorcery, witchcraft, magic, and similar
practices. All these phenomena, as expressions of misdirected faith, opened the
way for the devil to access the soul of man. Just as true and correct faith
opens the soul to God and to good angels, so false and incorrect faith opened
the soul to forces hostile to God — to the devil and his angels. [3] To what
extent the devil’s influence on man could reach is evident from the story of
Job, who was afflicted with elephantiasis... In light of this, what is so
strange about admitting the idea that the devil could influence man in a
special way through possession? Thus, a priori, the possibility of a
particular illness — demonic possession — caused by the influence of demons is
entirely admissible. The only remaining question is: are we compelled by
anything to see in the New Testament’s possessed persons and possessions a special
operation of demonic evil power?
No one will dispute the fact that
the Evangelists themselves regard demonic possession as an illness dependent on
a particular kind of influence on a person by demons — namely, from their
inhabiting the person. A possessed person is one in whom a demon or demons
dwelled: the demons spoke or cried out from within the person, performed
various actions, recognized in Jesus Christ the Son of God (Matt. 8:29; Mark
5:7; Luke 8:28), expressed desires, requests, asked for mercy (Mark 5:6), and
so on. The only question is whether such a view by the Evangelists is correct
or whether it is to be explained by their superstition. It must be beyond doubt
for us that the Evangelists’ descriptions of the possessed and of possession
corresponded to reality, and that they did not add anything from themselves.
This is guaranteed by the agreement among the Evangelists in their narratives
and by their moral integrity. Herein lies the key to the proper resolution of
the question of the possessed and of possession. First of all, one cannot
ignore the fact that the possessed, according to the Evangelists’ accounts,
recognize Jesus Christ as the Son of God or the Holy One of God. Thus, the
possessed man in Capernaum, upon seeing the Savior, cried out: “Let us alone; what
have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know
You — who You are, the Holy One of God!” (Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34). The Gadarene
possessed men also recognize in Jesus Christ the Son of God. According to the
account of the Evangelist Matthew, they cried out: “What have we to do with
You, Jesus, Son of God?” (Matt. 8:29). The holy Evangelist Luke, referring to
the possessed healed by the Savior in Capernaum, makes the following general
remark: “And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, ‘You are the
Christ, the Son of God!’” (Luke 4:41). Thus, it can be said of the possessed
that they possessed the ability to recognize the Person of the Savior. If
possession were merely a nervous illness (insanity, epilepsy, melancholia,
etc.), it would be incomprehensible how the sick could recognize in Jesus
Christ the Son of God, the Holy One of God. One cannot reasonably suppose that
people suffering from nervous disorders are capable of such theological
insight! From this ability of the possessed to immediately recognize Jesus
Christ as the Son of God or the Holy One of God, it must be concluded that the
possessed were not merely people suffering from nervous illnesses — that
possession is a special kind of illness, and that in the possessed there truly
dwelled an evil spirit or spirits, who, being superior to man in knowledge,
were thus able to recognize Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
We arrive at the same conclusion
based on the circumstances surrounding certain healings. Particularly important
in this regard is the context of the healing of the Gadarene demoniacs (Matt.
8:28–33). The demons (a legion), expelled by the Savior from the possessed men,
“went into the herd of swine: and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep
bank into the sea and perished in the waters” (Matt. 8:32). The destruction of
the swine in the sea becomes understandable only under the condition that it was
indeed demons who were expelled from the possessed. Otherwise, this destruction
is inexplicable. It cannot be supposed that the herd of swine was frightened by
the cries of the healed and ran off the cliff and drowned. [4] The possessed
who were healed had long dwelt in the region of the Gadarenes, striking fear
into everyone. They were exceedingly fierce, and according to the Evangelist
Mark, one of them “always, night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains,
was crying out and cutting himself with stones” (Mark 5:3–5). Yet, despite
their cries and convulsive movements, nothing of the sort had ever occurred
before — it happened only at the moment of healing. Clearly, something
extraordinary happened to the swine; they were not frightened by the cries —
which they had heard before — nor by the convulsions and seizures — which they
had seen before — but they felt the touch of some foreign, terrifying power, which
caused them to rush into the sea and drown. “The swine,” as Delitzsch rightly
observes, “feeling themselves seized by some foreign power, rushed into the
sea.” [5] All the more must such an explanation be accepted given the
Evangelist Matthew’s observation (Matt. 8:30) that the swine were at a
considerable distance (“far off”) from the possessed, and therefore could
hardly have heard the cry in full volume or clearly seen the convulsions that
occurred at the moment of healing.
Finally, that possession was a
distinct illness — an illness of demonic origin and not merely a nervous
disorder — is evident from the manner in which the Lord healed it. The Lord
Jesus Christ casts out demons, forbids them to speak about Him as the Christ
(Mark 1:34), sends them into a herd of swine, and so forth. It is, of course,
impossible to suppose that Christ Himself was infected with the superstitions
of His contemporaries. As the God-man, He was entirely free from superstition. Nor
can it be thought that Jesus Christ, in healing the possessed, was merely
accommodating Himself to the superstitious ideas of the people, who considered
those with nervous illnesses to be possessed. To think this would be to suppose
that Jesus Christ affirmed the people in their superstitions, in their false
conceptions. But such a supposition is forbidden by the moral character of the
Person of Jesus Christ. Can one really allow the thought that Jesus Christ,
knowing that there was no demon or demons in the afflicted person, nevertheless
cast them out, sent them into a herd of swine, commanded the Apostles to cast
out demons, and so forth? Would this “be worthy of the King of Truth?” exclaims
Bishop Trench. [6] Such a thought would degrade Jesus Christ to the level of
persons not entirely upright. And even rationalists who deny the divinity of
Christ do not dare to cast a shadow upon the flawless moral image of Jesus
Christ.
Thus, based on the analysis of
the Evangelists’ accounts concerning the possessed, one must come to the
conclusion that possession was an illness of a special kind, that it cannot be
considered superstition, and that it truly depended on the inhabitation of a
demon or demons within a person. These demons took hold of the person, spoke
through him with a terrifying and strange voice, threw him to the ground,
confessed Jesus Christ as the Son of God, made requests, and so on. The demonic
nature of the illness can be denied only by those who consider the Evangelists’
accounts to be false and not corresponding to reality.
If, according to the Evangelists’
accounts, we must acknowledge in possession an illness arising from the
inhabitation of a demon or demons within a person, then the question arises:
how should one understand this power of demons over man — how did the demons
take hold of a person and subject him to themselves?
The possession of a person by a
demon or demons can be understood in two ways — either in the sense that the
demon or demons took hold of the soul of the person and, as a result, compelled
the person to perform certain actions, or in the sense that the demon or demons
took hold only of the person’s body, of his nervous system, paralyzed the soul,
and themselves carried out certain actions. The first view cannot be accepted
as correct. It contradicts the very concept of the freedom of the soul. If a
demon could take possession of a person’s soul and force it to do what it
wished, then that would mean he could deprive the human soul of its essential
characteristic — freedom. It is absolutely impossible to allow that a demon
could have such power over a person. Even God never takes away human freedom! That
in demonic possession one cannot see the taking over of the human soul by a
demon is evident from the fact that the possessed person at times acts
independently, not in accordance with the will of the devil. Thus, the Gadarene
demoniac runs to Jesus and bows before Him (Mark 5:6). Had the demons possessed
his soul, they certainly would not have allowed him to approach and bow down
before Christ. Therefore, if possession consisted in the seizure of the soul,
then undoubtedly only sinful souls could be subject to such possession, for
only they would voluntarily give themselves over to the devil’s power. However,
we see that not only sinful people were possessed. For example, after the
Transfiguration, the Lord Jesus Christ healed a possessed person who had been
afflicted with this illness since childhood. “How long has this been happening
to him?” the Lord asked the father of the sick boy. He replied, “From
childhood” (Mark 9:21). If this is so, then there can be no question of the
sinfulness of this possessed person — thus, the demon could not have possessed
his soul, for that would mean depriving of freedom a soul that had not yet had
the chance to develop! If we were to allow for the possibility of such
possession, the question would arise: why does the devil not take possession of
the souls of many, if not all, from childhood? The Roman Catholic scholar
Dieringer, who studied the question of demonic possession in depth, came to the
conclusion that “with regard to the soul, there can only be obsessio by
the demon, but not possessio” [7] — that is, only “oppression,” “siege,”
but not “seizure” or “ownership.” Consequently, it must be understood that in
the illness of possession, the demon or demons did not take possession of the
soul but rather of the human body, of its nervous system, and through it
besieged the soul. Having paralyzed the soul, they controlled the human body
and carried out various actions. This possession of the body could be either
complete or partial. Thus, at times the demon would take hold only of the optic
nerves (“spirit of blindness”), or of the vocal cords (“spirit of muteness”), or
the auditory nerves (“spirit of deafness”), etc. There were also cases in which
the demons divided between themselves the possession of the human body, as a
result of which several demons came to dwell in one person. Thus, from Mary
Magdalene, the Lord Jesus Christ cast out seven demons (Mark 16:9), and from
the Gadarene demoniac — a legion (Mark 5:9). The nervous system, whether in its
entirety or in part, being under the devil’s control during possession, no
longer obeyed the authority of the person. It was directed by the demon. He
carried out various movements, uttered certain words, caused the person to
convulse, thrash about, foam, etc. If the demon seized any part of the nervous
system permanently, then that part forever ceased to be under the control of
the person’s soul — as, for example, in the case of the spirit of muteness,
blindness, or deafness. The person permanently lost control over those bodily
faculties. If the demon possessed the person’s body only at certain times — for
instance, during the new moon (Matt. 17:15) — then the person lost control over
his body only at those times.
In what state, then, was the soul
of a person during possession, and how did it relate to what the demon
accomplished through the person’s body? Some believe that the soul was filled
with foreign content as if it were its own, and was thus compelled to carry out
what the demon, through the first system (the nervous system), suggested to it.
This situation, they say, is the same as what is observed in magnetic sleep.
“In magnetic sleep,” says Delitzsch, “the individuality of one person passes
into the individuality of another. If the patient is pinched, he feels nothing;
if the operator is pinched, the patient feels it as if he himself were pinched
and complains of pain in the corresponding part. If a piece of rhubarb root is
placed in the patient’s mouth, he senses no taste; if it is given to the
operator, the patient tastes it and names the substance as if it were in his
own mouth.” [8] In cases of possession, the demon took the place of the
mesmerist — through the nervous system, he filled the person’s soul with
content foreign to it, which appeared to the soul as its own, and the soul
performed what the demon suggested. During possession, then, the soul of the
person served as an instrument of the demon, since it experienced the
consciousness of the demon as its own and took his desires to be its own
desires. But such an intrusion of the demon into the human soul via the body is
hardly admissible. In this conception, the demon not only filled the person’s
consciousness with his own content and paralyzed his will, but also acted
through them as he pleased. This interpretation grants too much power to the
demon: through the nervous system, he could force the person to experience
whatever he wished and to serve him. It is better and closer to the truth to
conceive of the state of the possessed person’s soul during possession in this
way: the person’s soul was agitated but not compelled to fulfill the devil’s
will. The demon used only the person’s body but did not gain power over the
person’s soul. Kerner, in his work Accounts of the Phenomenon of Possession,
says the following about the state of the soul during possession: “Some of
those afflicted, when the demon enters them and begins to speak through them,
close their eyes and lose consciousness, and the demon speaks from them without
their awareness; in others, their eyes remain open, and consciousness remains
as well, but the afflicted person, despite mental strain, is unable to resist
the voice speaking from within him [9]; he hears it as the voice of an entirely
different individuality residing within him, which he cannot silence.” [10] Under
this latter understanding, it follows that the soul of the possessed person
during possession might not submit to or serve the demon at all: it was either
entirely put to sleep, deprived of its usual content (by being cut off from
control of the body), and did not receive any specific content; or, being
conscious of what was happening, it nevertheless could not counteract the
demon’s actions. In the latter case, what happens is similar to what is
observed in people suffering from paralysis. A person afflicted by paralysis
cannot control a certain part of his body, though the desire to act remains. “The
possessed person,” says Rudloff, “stood in relation to his bodily organism as
does a person who has lost the use of his hand due to paralysis; he is unable
to use his hand, but his independence of will is in no way diminished — only
the ability to carry out his will is limited.” This is the understanding that
must be accepted. It is beyond doubt that the demon could never make the human
soul his instrument. He could only either lull it into unconsciousness or,
while it remained fully aware, control its body against its will. The latter
case must be assumed to occur in partial possession, when the demon took
control of specific bodily organs — for example, in the case of the demon of
muteness, blindness, etc. It must be assumed that the partially possessed
person was not lulled into unconsciousness in that part of his awareness which
related to the partial illness. It is hardly conceivable that a blind possessed
person had no desire to see or did not feel the burden of his misfortune; or
that a mute possessed person did not wish to speak; or that a deaf possessed
person did not wish to hear. It is entirely reasonable to assume that the
partially possessed person had all these desires but simply could not use the
corresponding bodily organs, because they were paralyzed for him by the power
of the demon. It can be assumed that only the fully possessed had no desires,
being lulled in their consciousness, since the soul was deprived of possession
of its entire body, which is necessary for the soul’s earthly awareness. To
clarify this thought, let us use the following comparison: the soul of the
possessed person resembles people besieged in a fortress. As long as only part
of the fortress is captured, the besieged retain freedom of will and action,
resist the enemy, fight with him, being powerless only in the part of the
fortress held by the enemy — although the desire to retake that part from the
enemy remains with them. But when the entire fortress is taken and is in the
hands of the enemy, then the besieged necessarily renounce their desires,
surrender, and their freedom of will and action is suppressed. The
consciousness of the besieged, in its previous form, in relation to the
fortress and the enemy, can be said to cease — it is as if it no longer exists.
The same occurs with the possessed during possession. When only a certain part
of his body is under the devil’s control, the person retains his will and can
resist the demon, being powerless only in that part of his body which is under
the demon’s control — although even in this he is not without the desire to
regain command over the disobedient part of his body. But when the entire body
of the possessed person is under the control of the demon, then his soul, in
relation to the body and the body’s actions, becomes unconscious, loses its
desires, and is, so to speak, lulled — although it does not serve the demon nor
lose its higher consciousness in relation to the heavenly world.
If one understands demonic
possession as the taking over of a person’s body by a demon, then it is clear
that the possessed cannot be regarded as great sinners. The previously
mentioned fact that possession sometimes occurred from childhood (Mark 9:21) speaks
against the view that the possessed were the greatest of sinners. On the
contrary, it must be thought that in their possession they were in no way
morally culpable through their personal life. Quite rightly, on this point, the
aforementioned Rudloff observes: “Where Satan has dominion over a person’s
soul, there is no need for him to allow one of the demons of his kingdom to
take possession of the person’s body.” [11] The reason why the devil took
control of the bodies of certain people likely lies in the devil’s desire to
prevent them from growing in spiritual and virtuous life. The soul can grow in
virtue on earth only through the cooperation of the body. Therefore, it should
be assumed that the demon took possession of the bodies of those people who
were dangerous to the devil’s kingdom — that is, in any case, not of worse
people. The time when the illness of possession became widespread was the time
when the Kingdom of God was being established on earth. The Son of God, in
human form, appeared and lived on earth. The kingdom of the devil was being
destroyed. The devil had to employ all his power to hinder the establishment of
the Kingdom of God on earth. For this purpose, he chose the method of seizing
human bodies. Why exactly this means was chosen is difficult to say. Likely,
the reason lies in the fact that at this perilous time for the devil — when the
Savior was destroying his kingdom, building His own, and calling people to
participate in it — the devil sought to paralyze the soul’s access to the
Savior. Since the devil was often powerless to subject the soul to himself to
the extent that it would be unable to be captivated by Christ’s teachings and
deeds, he bound the soul by means of the body, taking possession of it. The
soul receives sensations, perceptions, and impressions through the body,
through the nervous system — therefore, to take possession of the body or
nervous system of a person is effectively to close the soul off from
sensations, perceptions, and impressions — in this case, to deprive it of the
possibility of being captivated by the teaching and works of the Savior. This
may also explain why the demon, if he did not take over the entire body, at
least took possession of its principal organs — namely, those which, when
functioning properly, could harm the devil’s dominion and lead a person to
serve the Kingdom of God. Thus, for example, the demon would bind the sense of
hearing so that the soul could not be captivated by the sweetness, loftiness,
and depth of Christ’s teaching; sight — so that the soul could not be drawn by
the vision of the Divine face of the Savior and His wondrous deeds; speech
(Matt. 9:32) — so that a person could not bear witness to what he had seen and
heard. Moreover, in choosing such a method to oppose the planting of the
Kingdom of God, the devil likely aimed to combat the Savior with the same kind
of weapon. The Son of God took on human flesh in order to establish the Kingdom
of God among men. The devil, in order to resist this, began to dwell in the
bodies of men, thus presenting a kind of “demonic incarnation” as a
countermeasure to the Incarnation of God — though, of course, there is no
complete parallel between these two phenomena. Nevertheless, it is beyond doubt
that the means chosen by the devil obstructed the establishment of the Kingdom
of God on earth by removing from it capable and, perhaps, even the best people.
As a result, the Savior always healed the possessed — even without any request
from their relatives, sometimes even at some material cost to the surrounding
people — and He told them to proclaim what God had done for them (Mark 5:19–20;
Luke 8:39).
What, then, were these unclean
spirits that took possession of the human body and paralyzed the soul? — This
question has been, and continues to be, answered in two ways. According to one
view, the possessed were inhabited by the evil souls of deceased, corrupt
people. Thus, St. Justin the Martyr, in his First Apology, speaks of
people “possessed by the souls of the dead and thrown down, whom all called
demoniacs.” [12] Josephus Flavius, in his work The Jewish War, notes
that at that time it was a prevailing opinion that the demons possessing people
were the souls of godless deceased individuals. [13] Philostratus, in The
Life of Apollonius, recounts the story of a young man who for two years was
possessed by a demon. The demon said that he was a man who had fallen in war. [14]
In Kabbalistic literature, the dominant view is that the demons in the
possessed are the souls of the damned. Thus, in one of the oldest Kabbalistic
writings, it is told of a possessed Jewish woman the following: in response to
the rabbi who was exorcising the demon, the demon said that he was a Jew who
had died twenty-five years earlier and was relentlessly pursued by three angels
of destruction for his sins. The demons cast out by the German pastor Kerner
all, without exception, claimed to be the souls of deceased people and
recounted facts and events from their lives which, upon investigation, were
found to be accurately reported. Rudloff, in his work The Doctrine of Man
According to Divine Revelation, agrees with this opinion concerning the
demons, though he allows that “the demons possessing people could also be other
spirits of darkness.” [15] Despite a certain rationale, this view concerning
the demons in the possessed cannot be considered correct. It is entirely
inadmissible to suppose that the devil, prior to the final and decisive
judgment, could make use of the evil souls of corrupt individuals to serve him.
The fate of sinners may be changed through the prayers of the Church, and
therefore the devil cannot make use of them as if they were undoubtedly his
servants. Nor is it admissible to suppose that the souls of wicked people
themselves torment the living by entering their bodies. The souls of the
wicked, like all souls, depart from this world at death and can no longer
wander the earth. St. John Chrysostom says the following about this: “The souls
of sinners immediately depart from here. This is evident from the parable of
Lazarus and the rich man... Hear the rich man, who made a request and did not
receive what he desired. If it had been possible (for a soul to descend to
earth), he himself would have come and declared what was happening there. From
this it is clear that souls, once they depart from here, are taken to another
place and, no longer having the ability to return, await that fearful day.” [16]
Moreover, if one were to allow that the souls of wicked people could enter and
torment the living, then that would mean they acted in the manner of demons and
essentially became demons themselves. But such a transformation is
impermissible. “That the souls of the dead become demons is something that must
never even be imagined in the mind... This is impossible with respect to the
invisible soul, which no one can transform into a demonic being,” says the same
holy father. [17] But how can this be denied, if the demon himself, speaking
through the possessed, says that he is the soul of such-and-such a person? St.
John Chrysostom responds to this perplexity as follows: “You will say that the
possessed themselves cry out: I am the soul of such-and-such a person. But this
is a trick and deceit of the devil. It is not the soul of a deceased person
that cries out, but a demon pretending to be such, in order to deceive the
listeners.” [18] Thus, it was in fact a demon, an unclean spirit, and not the
soul of any deceased sinful person, that dwelled in the possessed.
Finally, to have a clear
understanding of the remarkable phenomenon of demonic possession, one must also
answer the following question: Was the possession spoken of by the
Evangelists something that belonged only to the time of the Savior’s earthly
life, or did it exist earlier as well as later—and does it still exist today?
Some believe that the illness of possession was known only to the people of the
time of the earthly life of Jesus Christ. [19] However, this opinion is
completely erroneous. The illness of possession occurred among people both
before the coming of the Savior and after His Ascension into heaven. Among
various ancient writers, we find a series of testimonies confirming this. Thus,
Josephus Flavius testifies that the pagans knew of this illness before the
coming of the Savior. [20] The same is affirmed by Justin Martyr in Dialogue
with Trypho the Jew: “Some of your (Jewish exorcists),” says Justin to
Trypho, “exorcise the possessed using techniques similar to the pagans,
employing incense and amulets.” [21] Clearly, the illness of possession was
known to the pagans and was not some newly arisen affliction. Similar
testimonies are found in Plutarch (Symposiacs VII, 5) and Lucian (Philopseudes,
16). They even describe specific types of incantatory formulas by which pagans
attempted to cast out demons. [22] That the illness of possession was known to
the Jews before the coming of the Savior can be concluded from the words of the
Savior Himself: “If I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast
them out?” (Matt. 12:27), as well as from the account in the Acts of the
Apostles, which speaks of “certain itinerant Jewish exorcists,” including the
seven sons of the Jewish high priest Sceva (Acts 19:13–14). Josephus Flavius
even mentions means used by the Jews for casting out evil spirits, specifically
the root of the plant Baaras, which grew in the valley of the same name north
of Jerusalem. [23] In short, there can be no doubt that this illness existed
after the Savior’s Ascension into heaven and continues to exist to this day.
The Savior’s promise, given for all times — “in My name they shall cast out
demons” (Mark 16:17) — clearly speaks to the continuing presence of the illness
of possession. That the possessed indeed existed after the Savior’s Ascension
is clearly affirmed by St. Justin Martyr, a second-century writer: “Many of our
people even now heal many who are possessed by demons throughout the world and
in your city (Rome), by exorcising them in the name of Jesus Christ.” [24] Furthermore,
the testimonies of all peoples and from all periods of the Christian era,
conveyed in authentic sources, confirm that demonic possession always existed,
still exists, and continues to this day. Kerner and Pastor Blumhardt, who
exorcised demons (in the mid-19th century), rightly stated that the illness of
possession is still encountered. The lives of the holy ascetics — including
even our Russian saints (e.g., St. Seraphim of Sarov) — confirm the same. If
there is any difference in the phenomenon of possession between the time of
Christ the Savior and the times before and after, it would seem to lie in a
quantitative aspect: during the Savior’s earthly life, the illness of
possession probably occurred more frequently than before or after. During the
earthly life of the Savior, it manifested itself as an epidemic. The prince of
darkness, who has always exerted — and continues to exert — his power over
mankind in the form of demonic possession, found it necessary during the
Savior’s life on earth to intensify this illness to the level of an epidemic,
and precisely in the region where the Savior lived and taught, establishing His
Kingdom — in Palestine.
From all that has been said, it
is evident that the possession spoken of by the Evangelists was not merely a
nervous disorder — it was a particular kind of illness, an illness of demonic
origin. The indwelling of a demon or demons in a person is not superstition,
but fact. As difficult as it may be to admit and comprehend this phenomenon, it
must be stated that there is much in the world that is mysterious and not fully
understood, over which one ought to ponder — but not deny. Biblical possession
belongs precisely to such phenomena.
Notes
1. Semler, De daemoniacis (Halle, 1740). Fischer, Somnambulismus
(Basel, 1839).
2. See Justin Martyr, Apology II, 5. Monuments of
Ancient Christian Literature, Moscow, 1862, Vol. III, p. 119.
3. F. Delitzsch, Biblische Psychologie. Leipzig, 1861,
p. 306.
4. Thus Lange, Ewald.
5. Ibid., p. 298.
6. The Miracles of Our Lord Jesus Christ, trans.
Zinoviev, Moscow, 1883, p. 122.
7. See Rudloff, Die Lehre vom Menschen auf dem Grund der
göttlichen Offenbarung, Vol. 2, p. 471.
8. Ibid., p. 303.
9. Ibid., p. 473.
10. See Rudloff, p. 472.
11. Ibid., p. 474.
12. Monuments of Ancient Christian Literature in
Russian translation, Vol. 3: Writings of the Ancient Christian Apologists,
Moscow, 1862, pp. 55–56.
13. The Jewish War VII, 6.3.
14. The Life of Apollonius, Book III, § 3. See
Rudloff, p. 476.
15. Ibid., p. 477.
16. Collected Works of Our Holy Father John Chrysostom,
Vol. 7, Book 1, St. Petersburg, 1901. Commentary on the Gospel According to
Matthew, Homily 28, pp. 317–318.
17. Ibid., p. 317.
18. Ibid., p. 317.
19. See Rudloff, p. 476; Archbishop Trench, p. 129.
20. The Jewish War VII, 6.3.
21. Previously cited Monuments of Ancient Christian
Literature, p. 288.
22. See Rudloff, p. 467.
23. The Jewish War VII, 6.3.
24. Cited in Monuments of Ancient Christian Literature,
Apology II, pp. 120–121.
Russian source: Христианское чтение [Christian
Reading], 1912, Nos. 7-8, pp. 775-790.
Online: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Georgij_Yaroshevskij/demonicheskie-bolezni/
