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:—
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Author: John Epps
Keywords: mute spirit, demon, demons, devils, foul spirit, dumb spirit, evil spirit, deaf spirit, baalzebub, baalzebul, unclean spirit, Casting out, Casting out devils, Casting out demons, Demon possession, Madness, Epileptic seizure, Devil possessed, Possessed by demons, moonstruck, moon struck, possession, possessed by the devil, Mental illness, Demonology, Wicked spirits, Demoniac, Epilepsy, Epileptic
Bible reference(s): Leviticus 17:7, Deuteronomy 32:17, 2 Kings 1:2, 2 Kings 1:3, 2 Kings 1:6, 2 Kings 1:16, 2 Chronicles 11:15, Psalms 106:37, Zechariah 13:2, Matthew 4:24, Matthew 7:22, Matthew 8:31, Matthew 9:33, Matthew 9:34, Matthew 10:1, Matthew 10:8, Matthew 11:18, Matthew 12:24, Matthew 12:27, Matthew 12:28, Matthew 12:43, Matthew 17:15, Matthew 17:18, Mark 1:23, Mark 1:26, Mark 1:27, Mark 1:34, Mark 1:39, Mark 3:11, Mark 3:15, Mark 3:22, Mark 3:30, Mark 5:2, Mark 5:8, Mark 5:12, Mark 5:13, Mark 6:7, Mark 6:13, Mark 7:25, Mark 7:26, Mark 7:29, Mark 7:30, Mark 9:17, Mark 9:25, Mark 9:38, Mark 16:9, Mark 16:17, Luke 4:33, Luke 4:35, Luke 4:36, Luke 4:41, Luke 6:18, Luke 7:21, Luke 7:33, Luke 8:2, Luke 8:27, Luke 8:29, Luke 8:30, Luke 8:33, Luke 8:35, Luke 8:38, Luke 9:1, Luke 9:42, Luke 9:49, Luke 10:17, Luke 11:14, Luke 11:15, Luke 11:18, Luke 11:19, Luke 11:20, Luke 11:24, Luke 13:32, John 7:20, John 8:48, John 8:49, John 8:52, John 10:20, John 10:21, Acts 5:16, Acts 8:7, Acts 19:12, Acts 19:13, Acts 19:15, Acts 19:16, 1 Corinthians 10:20, 1 Corinthians 10:21, 1 Timothy 4:1, James 2:19, Revelation 9:20, Revelation 16:13, Revelation 16:14, Revelation 18:2
Source: A Biblical Exposition of the Truth Concerning “That Old Serpent, the Devil and Satan” (London: Sherwood & Co., 1842)
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