Pensee

I've heard it said on this board several times that, according to the NT, Jesus tried to cast demons out of people who were mentally ill. Does anyone know exactly what these mental illnesses actually were in the "demonically possessed" people of the NT?

If there's a thread on this already somewhere, please point me that way. Thanx.

Mad Kally

Guess what Pensee? They still do. My mom is convinced I have the demons of depression. She does not believe in mental illness.

Sorry for the sidetrack. I have some strong feelings about this subject.

Epileptics used to be burned or hung because their seizures were proof of being possessed. This may have happened here in the USA before we had a WALL of separation of church and state. Witch hunts and all that fun stuff. Heretics killed for not going to church, and so on...

Sabine Grant

Hello Pensee... Frankly I was not aware that there was a biblical ref to the fact that those folks were actualy mentaly ill. That a person believes that Christ was healing people who were mentaly ill does not mean that it is biblicaly correct. Do you know if the folks who "said" that according to the NT he was casting demons out of mentaly ill people posted refs to verses affirming that fact or were they sharing their personal interpretation?

I think most educated christians do not consider a person diagnosed with a neurone defficiency which results in behavorial problems as " posessed by demons". Science has explained and demonstrated the source of most mental illnesses and to my knowledge no " casting of demons" will improve the state of misery a mentaly ill individual experiences. I am grateful for the medication and treatment my mother can access so she can live a fairly independent and balanced life ( she suffers of a psychosis borderlining cyclic schizophrenia).

Tourette's syndrom for example is a target of opportunity for people who demonize anything in sight.

The fact is that there are many christians who suffer of depression. However they entrust meds to improve their condition. That they seek the support of other christians and counseling is also beneficial.

I am not sure how the particular clergy who has been trained to practice exorcisms differentiate what they percieve as demonic posession from a mental illness. I recall reading in Italy a report from the Cappucini monks who practice exorcisms which detailed the symptoms of possible demonic posession :
_ ability to speak existing foreign tongues without any previous knowledge.
_ extreme physical strength abnormal for the individual
_ presence of exterior and spontanous wounds on various parts of the body not self inflicted
_blasphemious vocabulary
_inability to drink or eat
_levitation
That is all I can remember.

I personaly doubt that most of those symptoms( if they really have occured according to that article) can be produced by a chemical unbalance of some sort. There is also the fact that the victim of a demonic posession is delivered and the symptoms disappear in the course of the exorcism rites.

I would say that the cases of demonic posessions Christ delt with are not related to any mental illness. It was written that they were delivered. However the semantic changes when it comes to healing that pertains to blindness for example... they were healed.

But of course that is my personal interpretation and another christian may offer a different view on that topic.

Mad Kally

_blasphemious vocabulary


Oooohh kill me now! I'm going back to the photoshop thread.

philechat

It must be seen as related to the ancient Greeks' belief of madness as divinely possessed. According to the Greeks, the Muses are the origin of artistic inspiration, and people struck by their powers may appear "mad" to a common observer. Mildly unbalanced people are sometimes interpreted as prophets and revered as such.

As of "speaking-in-tongues" and exorcism rites, it is not a singular cultural phenomenon but exist also in East Asia (a predominantly non-Christian society). Speaking-in-tongues in religious rites often takes the form of ancestor-possession, and "demonic" madness are sometimes treated with charms, spelled papers, and chicken blood.

Shamanistic rites in many tribal societies also include "miraculous" healing events where people with various mental or physical illness are cured by spells and magic objects alone. They are recorded in many anthropological texts and each tribe usually associate these events with their own tribal dieties or ancestor spirits.

It's a widespread cultural phenomenon, indeed.

hezekiah jones

"... according to the NT, Jesus tried to cast demons out of people ..."

The Jeez wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.

SmartBlonde57

I'm no shrink, but I have heard that schizophrenia could explain it.

Bobzammel

You know, none of this demon stuff is really in the OT. God is clearly potrayed as the guy in charge of illnesses and diseases. It's possible the belief that demons cause illnesses was based partially on Satan afflicting Job with sores, something God tells him to do in the Book Of Job.

8of9

If you're wondering what mental illnesses may have been confused with demonic possession in the past (or in the NT), you might look up ergot poisoning and demonic possession .

Sabine Grant

Hello Philechat... It is interesting to me that you mention the "speaking in tongues". I had understood from Paul's reference in Corinthians that the "speaking in tongues" refers to the " tongues of men and angels"and applies to a non existant tongue. the article I had read was specific that it was the ability to use an existing foreign language without any prior knowledge of the language. I was not refering to what is considered a spiritual gift in charismatic circles. Though I met a charismatic christian who claimed he had prophecized in mandarin chinese.
However I tend to believe that " the speaking in tongues"as described by Paul is a non existing language.