A demoniac is spoken of as the dwelling-ijlace of a demon (Mt 12'"), and a number of demons can dwell in one person (Mt 1'2*'', Mk 5-', Lk 8-). Some- times the demon is ditt'erentiated from the man possessed (Mk l--"), at other times the two are identified (Mk 3") ; striking in this respect is the passage Mk S'""";! dillerentiation is strongly marked when an expression .such as that in Lk 6'^ is used : ol ^vox^oOp.ei'Oi dwb TrvevpLaTLov aKaddpTioy, Lastly, the same outward signs are at one time spoken of as possession, at another as ordinary sickness (cf. Mt 4-^ 17'' etc.).
(d) Christ and the demons. — One of Christ's chief works on earth was to annihilate the power of demons ; the demons themselves realize this (Mk ]■*, Lk 4^-', and cf. 1 .hi 3") ; tlie destruction of their kingdom was necessary for the establishment of the Kingdom of (Jod. (.'inist s attitude towards demons may be brielly suiiniied up as follows : — With two exceptions (viz. tlie case of the woman 'bound by Satan' for eighteen years, Lk 13"- "*, and that of Peter's wife's mother, Lk 4^") no in- stance is recorded of His laying His hands upon, or in any way coming in direct contact with one who is possessed by a demon. On the other hand. His words are never severe when addressing the pos.sessed ; very reiiiarkable, iinaei)\er, is the fact
that even when lie -pe,ik- t.. llie ,lei 1 itself,
Christ's words are iie\ci- aii-is' ; He ' uliukes' the demon (Mk 1-', l.K !■ ), Imt ilie ^^,,nl-, .,1 rebuke are simply: ' Hold thy iic;icc and cdinc .ml nf him,' or a command that He should noi ]••■ mule known J (Mk3'=,butcf. LkS=-'); on .,ne o, ra-ion t li- request of^ demons is granted i M i s'- -Mk 5'--'= = Lk 8'-). The power which (luisl lias over demons is absolute, they are wholly siilijc. t unto Him, and are compelled to yield llim id.i dieiice (Mk 1-', Lk 4'"); that it is an unwilling obedience is obvious, and this is graphically brought out, e.g. when it is said of a demon that before coming out of a man it threw him down in the midst (Lk 4«).§ The recognition of Christ by demons is of a kind which
* See, further, Delitzsch, S;/stem der bill. Psi/eholoffu
t ' What in the demoniac strikes us most is the stra: fusion of the physical and the tis\chic.al, cacli intriRl the proper domain of the otlirr' (Tr.nr-li, l//r<r.-'' , rr' /
t For the reason of Cliri--f^ m. i m, --.,,,. i,, !., ,..,1, see Sanday in J77i4'(, V. (I. , i , , i \. : -'
kenntnis der Diinionen Iiii M ni n \ '
§ Cf. .also, in the precciniL: Mi-r, l]i. , • l,n,,:i..ii pleasure,' E»(=anN).
10.
442
DOrOX, DE^rONIACS
DEMON, DEMONIACS
is very striking, for He is not only recognized as Jesus of Na.zaretli, i.e. as one born of men, but is also addressed as the ' Holy One of God' (Lk 4«), and as the 'Son of God' (Lk 4^'), i.e. as one of Divine nature, and this latter title is emphasized by their knowledge of His power to cast them into the abyss (Lk 8^'), -which also accounts for their fear of Him. The power of Christ over demons is regarded as something new * (diSaxv Kairq, JNIk 1-') ; this was because the method of exorcism which was familiar to the Jews hitherto was the pro- nouncing of a magical formula over the possessed. In the Gospels, as a rule, the casting out of a demon is stated without specifying by what means it was done (Mk 1«, Lk 7"' S-), but we learn this from a number of other pas>a^. - : ^ , Mt 8"), fV TT^.-.^ari OfoC (Mt 12-*), e.' o. iK 1 1""),
f'7reriV7;o-eJ' (Mt 17'"), i"rd7fTe (M ^ >Mk5',
Lk 4^') ; on one occasion the \\'iiil> ai'' aiMiussed to the mother of a child who is possessed : yi:i'i)$riTw croi us eiXeis (Mt 15=*, Mk 7='), the possessed child not being in His presence (Mk 7*'), so that His power did not depend on His visible personality. I' Christ transfers this power of castin" out demons (Mt 10', Mk S'-") ; when His disciples cast them out it is by virtue of His namef (rv o-y oyS/xan Sai/xdi'ta (iepi\o/xfi>, Mt 7", Lk 10"), but they are not able to do this without faith (Mt 17-") ; we read, howe\er, in ilk 9^-'" of one who was not a follower of Christ, but who was, nevertheless, able to cast out demons in His name (cf. Mt 1'2-", Lk IP). In Mk 3~ the scribes say of Christ that 'he hath Beelzebub,' and in 3^" occur the words, ' because they said. He hath an unclean spirit.' That Beelzebub the ' prince of the demons ' and ' unclean spirit' are synonymous with ' demon ' cannot be disputed. Christ is thus declared to be possessed ;§ nevertheless, it is not this which calls forth His words, 'whosoever shall sin against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness' (v.-»), but the fact that He was accused of being in league with Beelzebub ; this is important, as it would seem to support the theory, which is elsewhere adumbrated in the Gospels, that possession was not necessarily, po- sc, a moral disorder ; there is also reason to be- lieve that at least some forms of possession were regarded as mental derangement : Christ speaks of John the Baptist having been looked upon as possessed (Mt 11", Lk 7*"); he was so regarded, because there seemed to be something eccentric about his behaviour ; in Jn 7='' Christ is said to be possessed by a demon, because He said they sought to kill Him ; Jn 8«- ■•'■', where it is said : ' Thou art a Samaritan and hast a demcm,' iioiiit~ to the fact that a man who was possessed wa^ (li-|ii-ril Ijeeause he spoke what W'as deemed non-m-c: al>u, the supposed connexion between iHisr-es-ioTi and mental derangement is pointedly brought out in Jn lO'-'" ' He hath a demon and is mad.' While fully realizing that the Fourtli Gospel stands by itself, it must be conceded that it contributes one very important con^iileration, especially as the idea of possession UmmY tlieic i^ not without parallel in the Synoptic Co-i"!-, a^ ^huwn above. The belief that possession wa^ a s)ircies of mental derange- ment, wholly unconnected with the question of morality, is what the Fourth Gospel teaches ; but then it niu<t be remembered that 'the devil' and 'Satan,' wlio nv identified!! (as in the Synoptic