Preliminary Points on Demons

Belief in demons is still a prominent doctrine among groups like the J.W.'s. This is indicated by one of their publications which comments as follows:

"They ['fallen angels' at the time of Noah] are no longer counted among the sons of God, because they have made demons of themselves. They have become the angels of the great symbolic dragon, Satan the Devil, the first demon. As the leader in demon activities, he has become their prince or ruler. The Bible speaks of him as the 'the ruler of the demons.' As such, he was given the name Beelzebub."¹

Suggested Strategy

1. The following is an analysis showing that what was attributed to demon possession at the time of Jesus is today diagnosed in different terminology but involves the same symptoms. Jesus simply used the vernacular of the times:

   Description	Vernacular at the time of Jesus	Diagnosis Today
   Matt. 12:22 "Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil {'daimonizomai; demoniae', R.S.V.}, blind and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw."	"possessed with a devil {demon}"	blind and dumb
   Mark 5:1-5 "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 anyman tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones."	"a man with an unclean spirit"	insanity,schizophrenia?
   Mark 9:17-27 "He teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away . . . and ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him."	"hath a dumb spirit"	epilepsy
   Luke 13:11-17 "A woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself."	"spirit of infirmity"	arthritis
   See also John 10:20; Mark 3:21 where "he hath a devil and is mad" means "he is beside himself."

2. Patients today with the same symptoms as those said to be possessed with demons in New Testament times, respond to chemotherapy. This is significant, for if indeed the ailment were due to demon possession, as some suggest, how can the patient's recovery through medicine and therapy be explained? Can pills cast out demons?

3. Although the narratives appear to indicate that the "spirits" cried out, it is clear that the vocalization of the sounds came from the demoniac. This is implied in the shift of pronouns in Mark 5:7, 9: "What have I to do with thee?"² cf. "I adjure thee by God that thou torment me not." cf. "My name is Legion: for we are many."

4. After the miraculous cure by Jesus, Legion is described as "clothed and in his right mind." (Mark 5:15). This implies that his affliction was insanity and not the influence of a fallen angel. (The request that the unclean spirits enter the swine is characteristic of some kinds of schizophrenics who fear the return of the insanity).

1. "Things In Which It Is Impossible For God To Lie", (Brooklyn, New York: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of N.Y., Inc., Int. Bible Students Ass., 1965), p. 169. Return

2. This should read: "What have you to do with me . . .?" "I" is not in the Greek text. See The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament: The Nestle Greek Text, 2nd ed. (London: Samuel Bagster and Sons Ltd., 1967). Return