If you hear a note of confidence in Josephus as to the efficacy of these cures, you are not mistaken. And he left behind him the manner of using exorcisms, by which they drive away demons, so that they never return.” – Antiquities of the Jews VIII, 45 He composed such incantations also by which distempers are alleviated. “God also enabled him to learn that skill which expels demons, which is a science useful and sanative to men. Public Domain)ĭavid’s son, Solomon, was the wisest person in history, and Josephus wrote: If you can catch a demon before it catches you, that’s preventive medicine.ĭavid Playing the Harp to Saul. These bowls are believed to have been demon traps. They are called incantation bowls because of the spells written on them. Archaeologists have found bowls turned upside down beneath the foundations of excavated houses in Mesopotamia. The first line of defense was not to become possessed in the first place. Preventive medicine might preclude the need to employ more aggressive methods later. Healers in the past developed their own methods of treatment for the possessed. In the past the existence of demonic entities was far more accepted as reality. There are other such doctors, but this outlook is not mainstream.Īncient Preventative Medicine for Demonic Entities He had cases which simply did not conform to psychiatric theory. During his career he, like Peck, became convinced of the reality of the demonic. Simone Morabito was a highly respected physician, nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine by the Paris Institute of Sciences. He was present at several exorcisms held in hospitals. During his career he became convinced that demonic possession is a reality in the lives of some patients. Peck was a psychiatrist who taught at Case Western Reserve. In these books he took up the issue of evil and how evil works. Peck wrote People of the Lie and Glimpses of the Devil. Public Domain)Įven among psychiatrists and psychologists today there have been exceptions. Sant’ Apollinare Nuovo (Ravenna), Mosaik, Heilung des Besessenen. Possession is really mental illness, or epilepsy. 5.)Īll supposed demonic activity now has a scientific explanation. Twentieth Century theologian Rudolf Bultmann said: “…it is impossible to use electric light and the wireless and to avail ourselves of modern medical and surgical discoveries, and at the same time to believe in the New Testament world of demons and spirits.” (Kerygma and Myth: A Theological Debate, p.
It was often thought that these individuals’ bodies had been taken over by spirits other than their own, and stronger. In Greece, Egypt, and Assyria to name but a few countries, there were people who set out to understand the strange, antisocial actions of certain individuals, and to try to heal them. Modern psychiatry (“healing of the soul”) actually has its ancient origins in the problem of demonic possession. One missionary friend told me of a person in Tanzania who was driven by a demon to walk and not stop until he died. Often physical behaviors accompany mental illness in the individual believed to be possessed. But for those who believe they have experienced an attack by malevolent spirits, past or present, the suffering has been unique and painful. Some find it fun to imagine such things for a little while, and from a safe distance. It’s a pretended retreat into the dark past with its belief in witches, ghosts and other spirits.
But take heart I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33 (ESV)Įach October the people of the Western world allow themselves that brief escape from reality known as Halloween.
“ I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. The contrast between Jesus and other healers, then and now, tells us some important things about him. Even now in parts of the world, possession by spirits is taken for granted, and some individuals attempt to confront those spirits on behalf of the suffering. Summary: Belief in demonic possession has been prevalent across cultures throughout human history.
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