Demonic Possession in the New Testament; Its Historical, Medical, and Theological Aspects (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III Medical Aspects Of Dkmonic Possession Data Of The Present Inquiry rpHESE are primarily the narratives of the New -- Testament. But the descriptions often savour of the terminology of the animistic philosophy.1 To the latter, demons and spirits are natural enough; but to modern psychological medicine, these are unknown as causes of disease. They involve a theory which is alien to the principles of scientific pathology. Investigation would thus be blocked at the outset, had not the Synoptists also furnished us with an account of the symptoms manifested by the possessed. These phenomena constitute the fundamental facts for the elucidation of the real nature of the derangement called " possession." In the case of the demoniacs of Capernaum and Gerasa, with that of the boy at the Hill of Transfiguration, these symptoms have been recorded in profusion. There are also duplicate or triplicate narratives of these three cases, which may be called " typical." The details are not identical; but they are never divergent. Their wealth ofclinical material furnishes the clue to the right understanding of the physical basis of the " demoniac state." By the help of these three typical cases, we are able to explore the more obscure. The ailments of the Syro-Phcenician girl, the dumb demoniac, the blind and dumb demoniac, Mary of Magdala, and the infirm woman, are thus cleared up. The investigation of these proceeds with a great degree of confidence; for in the earlier analysis, the " demoniac state" has attained to the precision of a scientific conception. The uses of a correct diagnosis are many, some' of which may be indicated here? 1 Appendix B, Nomenclature of the New Testament. 1 Miraculous Elements in the Gospels, p. 176. 1. The exhibition of the physical basis of po...