The manifestations of demoniac possession are very varied in NT. In the case of the Gadarene he IS compelled to dwell amon^ the tombs, whicli are associated with solitude and uncleanness. As water is connected with purity and cleansing, the demons have a preference for waterless spots. Demons are, however, chiefly associated with abnormal forms of human life, especially disease. Dumbness (Lk 9**, Mk 9"), deafness and dumbness (Mk 9^), blindness and deafness combined (Mt 12^), and epilepsy (Mk l-« 9-'°, Lk 9^), are the mani festations of demoniac influence. Of all the synoptic evangelists, Luke is the most power- fully impressed with this conception. Even high fever is attributed to demoniac agency, as we can clearly infer from the fact that, in the case of Peter's mother-in-law, Jesus stood over her and rebuked the fever which possessed her (Lk 4"'-^", cf. 13'"). It is to be noted, however, that in this Gospel a saying of our Lord is reported which expressly distinguishes between ordinary cures and expulsion of demons, ^A;/3dXXw Sai/j-ityia Kal Idffsis dTTOTcXui (Lk 13'-). The demons, moreover, were able to speak, and exerci.'ied mastery over the vocal organs of the human subject. Thus in one case, as the demon came forth, it cried with a loud voice ( Mk 1""). It was possible for many demons to possess a human being at the same time. Seven demons were cast out froniMaryMagdalenebyJesus(Lk8-), while the Gadarene demoniac was possessed by a legion.
As regards the method of procedure adopted by Jesus, we observe the stress which is laid upon His own personality. The power which He wielded in His person is- placed in direct oiipositiou to the kingdom of moral and physical anarchy. Faith was necessary in order tliat the exorcist should accomplish his task (Mt l"'*-'"), and this was aided by prayer (Mk 9'-*). Faith was sometimes required on the part of near relatives, as in the case of the father of the epileptic patient (Mk 9''''--^), in order that the cure might be efl'ected. In the.se circiim- stances Jesus relied upon a simple direct command addressed to the demon, ' Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee come out of him ' (Mk 9^), or 'be nmzzled and depart' (Mk 1^). 'He cast out spirits with a word, and healcil all who were sick.' He Himself declared that He did this by the linger or spirit of God (l.k 11", Mt 12"). There was no use of magic formuhc. In the case of the
woman who had been bound by Satan for eighteen years. He merely laid His hand upon her (Lk 13''). In Mt 12-'' He appears to place His own expulsions
of demons on a footing of equality witli those ' ; out her
ere it is im-
worked by Jewish exorcists; possible to deny that there is irony latent in the question, ' By whom do your sons east them out !' It is a.--ked by way of argument rather than direct statement, and is intended to apply to tlic special belief and standpoint held by His Jewisli opponents. This power of delivering men from unclean
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DEMON. DEVIL
DENY
Bnirit3 Jesus bequeathed to His disciples (Mt 10'). They effected tlieir cures simply by naming the name of Jesus (Mk 16", Ac 3"). Tliis belief in the powerful efficacy of the name comes from a hoary Semitic past (see Sayce's Hihbert Lcct. pp. 302-307). It should be remembered that name meant to an ancient Semite personal power and existence, and hence involved to those who invoked the name of Jesus belief in the actual presence and might of tlie divine Saviour of mankind.
Before passing from the subject of the Gospel narratives in tlieir relation to demonology, it should not be forgotten (1) that we are dealing with the reports of chroniclers whose minds were necessarily coloured by the prevailing beliefs of the age, psychic and cosmic; (2) that the properly demoniac element is almost wholly absent from the Fourth Gospel. In S'" 10™ the language employed by the Jews is quoted, while in 6'" Judas is called Jid;3oXot and not 5ai^6>'io>'.
St. Paul, however, sliared the conceptions of his contemporaries respecting devils. Several passages may be cited in illustration. In the first place, the much ditiputed passage I Co 10''- ^ points, in our opinion, to the conclusion adopted by Baudissin, and more recently by Everling {Die Paulinische Anqclologie u. Ddmonologie, p. 27 ff.), that St. Paul had borrowed from Alexandrian Judaism the belief that the offerings to heathen deities were offerings to demons (cf. above the demonology of the Bk. of Enoch and the Sibylline books). In 1 Co 10*" Paul argues, ' But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God : and I would not that ye should have communion with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils.' He is pleading that it is not permissihle to partake of the heathen sacrificial offerings. He quotes the two examples of the Christian Lord's Supper and the Jewish sacrifice. In both cases there is a real com- munion between the participator and the object of worship. The statement in 8* 'We know that no idol is anything in the world,' does not involve any inconsistency. For St. Paul the gods as such are creatures of the imagination ; yet he does not hold that nothing at all exists behind the image- worship of the heathen, but that demons lurk there and the kingdom of Satan, and that partici- pators in heathen feasts are drawn into the circle of their evil influence (so Holsten).* Moreover, Everling (i6. p. 33 ff.) has shown with considerable probability tnat the reference in the obscure phrase 1 Co 11" 'for this cause ouglit the woman to have power over her head on account of the angels ' is to be found in the legend of the inter- course of the fallen angels with the daugliters of men. Book of Enoch (ch. 6) and other citations from the Book of Jubilees, Apocalypse of Baruch 50" in Charles' ed., and the Testaments of tlie Twelve Patriarchs (test. Reuben 5), show the im- portant place held by this tradition in the litera- ture that preceded the time of St. Paul.