07 - The Demoniacs
CHAPTER 7.
- The Gadarene and Gergesene demoniacs.
- Their dispossession, and the madness of the swine examined and explained.
- The language of our Saviour and of his Apostles correspond to the opinions of men.
- How the demoniacs confessed Christ
IT has been demonstrated that the daimones, and the daimonia, are not diaboloi, “devils,” “false-accusers.” It has been demonstrated that the first term (daimon) is expressive of a “departed human spirit,” and the second term (daimonion) of such “spirit” supposed to be in possession of living human beings. It has been shown that the belief in possessions prevailed amongst almost all the nations, the Jews included, at the time of Christ and of his apostles; while the assertion that such beings existed was a lie palmed upon mankind by an enslaving priesthood; and Paul, when referring to such “departed human ‘spirits’” deified and worshipped by the Gentiles, as plainly as words can express, declares them to be nothing: declares them to be delusions of the imagination: to be a lie. On this declaration of the apostle we might rest; we might say we know they are nothing: but still though Paul thus asserts, and thus gives the divine sanction to the believer’s freedom from all the absurd bugbears and dangerous errors connected with such “possessions,” some professed followers of Christ still hug the Pagan delusion, and guard its preservation with as much care as if it were one of the gifts of Divine wisdom and of Divine love - as if it were an ark of the Lord too holy to be looked into by any one except by George Fox’s “black bodies.” It is true that they think they have some grounds for their belief in such wanderers from the Hades of “departed ‘spirits’”: No, they say, we do not say they are “departed human ‘spirits’” that wander; but they are devils. But this is not the case: if they will have these “devils” they must have daimones = demons and not diaboloi = “devils”. They say we read of these demons being cast out: and how could they be cast out unless they were there to be cast out? We read, say they, of these demons talking: and how could they talk unless they were there? We read, say they, of these demons acknowledging Christ to be the Son of God: and how could they acknowledge Christ unless they were there? And, to conclude the queries, they ask, Can any one read the history of the Gadarene demoniacs without acknowledging that there were demons; and that, as a consequence (it must be added for them, for they will not so add), Paul made a mistake in saying that they were nothing?
It will be necessary, therefore, in replying to all these queries, and, in so doing, to prove Paul’s assertion to be true, to consider the case of these demoniacs. The history is given by Matthew, Mark, and Luke: there is some difference between the history given by Matthew and that given by Mark and Luke: Matthew thus describes the event:-
“And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed-with-devils (daimonizomenoi) coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass that way. And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? And there was a good way off from them an herd of swine feeding. So the devils (daimones) besought him, saying, If thou cast us out suffer us to go, away into the herd of swine. And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine; and behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told everything, and what was befallen to the possessed-of-devils (daimonizomenon). And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought [him] that he would depart out of their coasts,” Matthew 8:28-34.
Mark and Luke give the account thus:
“And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, [thou] son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, [thou] unclean spirit. And he asked him, What [is] thy name? And he answered, saying, My name [is] Legion: for we are many. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea. And they that fed the swine fled, and told [it] in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. And they come to Jesus, and see him that was-possessed-with-the-devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind; and they were afraid. And they that saw [it] told them how it befell to him that was-possessed-with-the-devil (daimonizomenon),* and [also] concerning the swine. And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts. And when he was come into the ship, he-that-had-been-possessed-with-a-devil (ho diamonisthesis) prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.” (Mark 5:1-43 v1-20).
“And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in [any] house, but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, [Thou] Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not. (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil (daimonion)into the wilderness.) And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils (daimonia) were entered into him. And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep. And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them. Then went the devils (daimonia) out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked. When they that fed (them) saw what was done, they fled, and went and told [it] in the city and in the country. Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils (daimonia) were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. They also which saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils (daimonia) was healed. Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart from them; for they were taken with great fear: and he went up into the ship, and returned back again. Now the man out of whom the devils (daimonia) were departed besought him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away, saying, Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him. (Luke 8:1-56 v26-39).
Matthew, it will be perceived, places the event as occurring in the country of the Gergesenes: Mark, and Luke, as taking place in the country of the Gadarenes; a distinction worthy of record, because Gergesa and Gadara were distinct cities. Matthew makes two to meet the Saviour, “there met him two possessed”: Mark and Luke make one man to meet the Saviour. The other parts of the accounts are very similar, still the; above differences seem to convey that the two events may be distinct. This will not, however, much affect the argument.
The whole agree in the possessed being in the tombs, and coming out therefrom to meet Jesus. Matthew describes the two as being so fierce that “no man might pass that way.” Mark states, that he was so strong that no man could bind him, no, not with chains: “Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been, plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces; neither could any [man] tame him,” Mark 5:4. Luke describes him as being in the tombs or in the mountains, “crying and cutting himself with stones.” Luke describes the man as “wearing no clothes,” and Mark further describes him as a man with “an unclean spirit.”
What are these evidences of? What, if a person was observed doing such things in the present day, should we infer? Should we refer the same to demonism? No, every one would call him insane, and he would be confined in an asylum; and now, thanks to science (which is God in nature discovered) would be tamed without any chains at all. These persons were mad, and being so - madness being deemed by the ancients the result of possession - were said to be “possessed” (daimonizomai); but such a belief does not prove “possession” to be actual - it merely shows that it was the belief of the ancients.
But say the advocates of demoniacal possession, the demon spoke: How do they know? The Scriptures say so. Matthew is the only place in which the daimon is mentioned, and is said to have spoken. But this does not prove that there were any demons in the possessed to speak: but proves that the opinion prevailed at the time that when the paroxysm of madness was on the individual, whatever he said or did then was believed to be said or done by the demon. That this belief was the prevalent one, full authority can be presented. Lucian expressly, states, “the patient is silent: the demon returns the answers to the questions that, are asked.” Apollonius, addressing a youth who had insulted him, but who was supposed to be possessed, remarks, “Not you but the demon has loaded me with insult” (Philostratus. Vit. Apollon., p. 157, ed. Olear) Plato expressly asserts, “It was not the inspired or possessed person himself, but the demon in him who spake by his voice.”
This explains the fact, already referred to, that the daimon, which, as has been shown, occurs only once in Scripture, occurs in connection with these dispossessions now under consideration: and the term expresses, most minutely the opinion, that when a conversation took place, then the daimon spoke: for the use of the word is in connection with the beseeching permission to go into the herd of swine.
The daimonia spoke before, namely, “What with us and thee Jesus, Son of God? art thou come to torment us before the time?” records Matthew: and the man himself, in Mark and Luke, is said to have addressed Jesus in a similar way: but when the conversation comes, then the word daimones, by Matthew, is brought in; so very exact was he in recording the opinion prevalent at the time on the subject.
But it has been argued in behalf of the existence of the demons in these individuals, and against the doctrine that it was merely madness that possessed them, that the individuals acknowledged Christ to be the Son of God. This, it is maintained, and rightly too, is no sign of insanity - to acknowledge Christ. True, but it would be a sign of egregious folly, yea, of insanity in a demon to acknowledge and spread abroad the knowledge that Jesus was the Son of God. To this it is replied, “but he was constrained to acknowledge the Son of God.” To this, again, there is an immediate answer. It is to be found in the following: “And in the synagogue there was a man, with the spirit of an unclean devil (daimonion), and cried out with a loud voice, saying, let us alone; what have we to do with thee thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the holy one of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, hold thy peace and come out of him,” Mark 1:23-28. Jesus commanded him, “Hold thy peace.” And, in passing, it is worthy of remark, that here the demon, daimonion, is designated as “unclean,” so that the daimonia were not essentially unclean. But what, in regard to this constraining, to testify, is still more striking, is “And unclean spirits” (not demons), “when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, ‘Thou art the Son of God’,” Mark 3:11.
So that Jesus did not want their testimony. In fact, it would have done harm: because if the demons testified in his favour it would, in the eyes of the Jews, be as bad as to us would be a rogue attesting the character of an honest man.
Though the argument of the demons being constrained to attest Christ’s mission is an unsound one, it may be useful to enquire how it came to pass that these insane people did attest the mission of Christ.
There is hardly any one insane who has not occasional intervals of sanity. The fame of Jesus in expelling demons, was spread abroad and reached the ears of those affected ones, who, being insane, were deemed by others - and, most likely, by themselves - to be infested. These poor unfortunates were often tormented by the various means used to expel demons - chains, fetters, and various other cruel means of which the history of the treatment of witches in our own country will give some idea. Dreading a repetition of such treatment, when the man saw Jesus “he ran and worshipped him (query: How could a demon worship Christ?) and cried with a loud voice, and said, What with me and thee, the Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God that thou torment me not,” Mark 5:7. The man was beseeching to be freed from further bodily torment, all means having been hitherto ineffectual; and not knowing the effectual means Christ could use.
Another opinion prevailed among the ancients regarding demons, namely, that, if dispossessed, they wandered about, and were subjected to torments. This enables any unprejudiced mind to understand the passage, “Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?” This will also explain the intense desire on the part of the Gergesene and Gadarene demoniacs to be sent into the herd of swine. The poor insane men fancied that they were possessed by demons, and, as such, fancied that the evils, to which they supposed themselves liable in the imaginary separate state, would be inflicted if dismissed. The fact that the demon was supposed to speak is evidenced by the answer given to Christ when he asked the man his name: instead of giving his name, he answered, “My name is Legion, for we are many”: an answer very similar to what insane people give even now when asked their name - a decided proof of insanity.
It is stated Jesus suffered them: and it is stated that “they entered into the swine.” The meaning of the phrase “entered in” was explained in the examination of diabolos entering Judas Iscariot. In this case the demon entering the swine conveys merely that the swine became affected with the same disease as that which the Gadarene and Gergesene demoniacs had been afflicted with, namely, madness: and being mad they ran down the steep into the sea, which no sensible pig would have done. Such, then, is a brief, but, it is hoped, clear explanation of this interesting account of the entering of the demons into the swine.
One objection, however, to this view (it applies almost as forcibly to the common view) is, what good was done by destroying such a large number of animals by allowing this madness to affect them? As was said, the objection applies equally to the common view, only substituting this phrase - “by allowing these demons to enter the swine and destroy them.” One reason may be noticed, Gadara and Gergesa were cities in the province of Damascus. Both these, in the reign of Herod, belonged to Judea, and were inhabited by Jews to a great extent. The Jews were forbidden by the law of Moses, as; is well known, to eat pork; and their law-giver, Hyrcanus, had passed laws which forbade the keeping of swine. The Saviour, therefore, in destroying the swine, punished the violators of the law, and that such view is the likely one is evidenced by the fact, that they besought Jesus to depart out of their coasts, for fear he should destroy more. They regarded not the miracle; they regarded the loss of the pigs; and thus their selfishness was punished.
Against this view that the history of the dispossession of the Gadarene and of the Gergesene demoniacs is a description of the history of the affection and the cure of madmen, the language of the description being that which the people of that day would understand, it has been asked, how could God in Christ allow such an error to be perpetuated by permitting the writers of the gospels thus to describe such an event?
The answer to this is simple, and, it is to be hoped, satisfactory, it is this: Jesus Christ did not come into the world, nor did Moses the prophet, to teach man natural science: that is, God in creation: they came to teach moral and religious truth. This being the case, a very casual examination of the Scriptures will demonstrate that the Scriptures, in referring to natural events, teach what is the opposite to fact: they teach, if such a phrase is permissible, scientific untruths. Thus, the sun is said to go his journey round the earth: to go forth in the morning like a strong man to run a race: which all know, although the same expressions are still used for convenience’s sake, is not true. It is true that the Romish priests persecuted and imprisoned Galileo because he taught the real truth, which, they maintained, was contrary to the Scriptures: whereas, had they understood what Moses, the prophets, and Jesus in the highest degree came to teach, they would not have thus attacked the philosopher. The Saviour told his disciples that there were many things he had to tell them, but they were not able to bear them. This applies extensively; and as he, in his wisdom, thought fit to use the common phraseology in regard to demons, might it not be that to have taught the natural truth that it was mere madness would have been useless to them. The power of Christ was as much manifested in the one way as the other: a man presents with the phenomena of madness, which the Jews referred to “possession;” Christ removes the phenomena; he restores the man to his right mind: in the Jewish opinion he dispossesses the demon. The power is the same: this is the point in which the matter must be looked at.
Do not people even now talk of lunacy - that is, “struck by the moon,” though none but the ignorant believe in any power of the moon so to act? And do not people talk of St. Anthony’s fire, without at all believing that St. Anthony has anything to do with erysipelas, for which this is the common name? Do not person’s dilate respecting St. Vitus’s dance, although no one now associates St. Vitus with the dance? Names continue even after the belief in the existence of the things named has ceased; and if because persons used the phrases “lunacy,” “St. Anthony’s fire,” “St. Vitus’s dance,” it should be inferred that if they believed in the moon power, the St. Anthony’s power, or the St. Vitus’s power, it would indeed be absurd: but not more absurd than to imagine, because the evangelists use the phraseology of the time in regard to “possessions,” that we therefore are bound to believe in “possessions” which Paul says are nothing.
The whole history of these Gadarene and Gergesene demoniacs may be summed up in this: three madmen presented themselves to Christ: Christ cured them: and to punish the Jews he caused the madness to affect the swine.