Demonic Diseases: A Theological-Psychological Essay

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/