One thing that seemed to be “irrefutable evidence for the validity of Christianity” for me, when I was a practicing Christian, was demonic possession. American culture has a rather eerie fascination with the idea of a person being possessed by evil spirits. It seems that 90% of popular horror movies deal with demonic mediums. So, is demonic possession real? Does the Bible address it?
Let’s do a quick examination of this doctrine of demonic possession. Christianity, particularly Catholicism but not limited to it, holds that Satan has evil minions roaming throughout the earth, preying upon vulnerable souls. These spirits, known as demons, sometimes enter a person and steal their soul. This doctrine is nothing new, but it has become a major avenue of Christian thought since the 1970s.
1973 saw the release of one of the most infamous movies of all time, The Exorcist. The film created a media frenzy, with reported cases of suicides, breakdowns, and demonic possession increasing dramatically following its release.1 The film’s influence prompted the Catholic Film Newsletter to highlight, the following year, that “the rarity of exorcism in the Catholic Church and the fact that ‘modern knowledge of psychosomatic disorders [explained] why the Church in recent times has rarely approved the use of the rite of exorcism.'”2
The phenomenon of demonic possession has endured in the decades following The Exorcist. The Omen, Paranormal Activity, and The Conjuring film series have all capitalized on the Christian idea of demons taking over vulnerable people. But what does the Bible actually say about demon possession? Is it even real? Let’s take a closer look at the text and the science of possession.
The Context
First, we must understand that the Bible was composed long before major scientific and medical breakthroughs, particularly those involving mental illness and the human brain. Obviously, these authors were not familiar with psychosis, schizophrenia, or dissociative personality disorders. The Biblical authors, including the prophets, were not future-tripping crystal ball gazers. Many of them were hardly educated.
Seeing a man displaying intermittent seizures (Mark 9:14-29) or self-harm (Mark 5:5), these authors would not open their DSM-5 and identify mental disorders. They thought in terms of what their culture informed. Science was underdeveloped at the time; religion was prominent. If one of the New Testament authors were to tour a modern psych ward, every individual patient would be diagnosed with demonic possession. Those displaying psychiatric illness were viewed as being controlled by unclean spirits; the behavior was not normal, and thus it could only be explained by the supernatural.
Demons: A Christian Invention?
In the Old Testament, we find no references to demons. While our modern English Bibles contain the word, the text in its original language does not. Deuteronomy 32:17 is one such example. The verse says, “They sacrificed to demons, non-gods, gods that they had never known, new gods that had come up lately, which your ancestors had not feared” (CJB). “Demons” in this passage are not shadowy, slithering minions of Satan, but false gods.
English Christians have adopted the word “demons” from Christian theology and applied it to Hebrew Scriptures. Much like modern English translations identify “the adversary” in Job as “Satan,” here we have an instance of Christianization. The original Hebrew term that is often mistranslated is shedim, meaning false gods. But the New Testament authors did not invent demons, either.
The word “demon” comes from the Greek word daimona. In ancient Greek culture, demons were not inherently evil; daimona refers to any spirit, good or evil.3 Pre-New Testament Greek mythology believed that “the Olympian gods could possess mortals through avenging spirits. These possessions could explain pathologies such as what was called “the sacred disease, which can [now] identify with epilepsy.”5
As a result of this cultural belief, possession by evil spirits became a recurring theme in the Gospels and Acts. New Testament writers, inspired by this belief, believed that these “possessions” were supernatural, rather than mental. In keeping with the Hebrew Bible, early Christians demonized spirits/deities other than God.6 With the advent of the New Testament and its contagious popularity, daimon became a word that designates evil spirits.
Legion, the Schizophrenic
Of the stories of demonic possession and exorcism scattered throughout the New Testament, the most popular is probably that of Legion. The Synoptic Gospels contain the story of a Geresene man who encounters Jesus in the most spectacular way (Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39; Matt. 8:28-34). We are told that this man is possessed by an unclean spirit, lives in burial caves, screams incessantly, and practices self-harm.
Jesus speaks to the demon, demanding that they leave the man. They initially refuse. Jesus asks the demon’s name, to which it answers “My name is Legion… for we are many” (Mark 5:9, NIV). The demons beg Jesus to send them into a herd of pigs, feeding on the hillside. He grants the demons permission, and they enter about 2,000 pigs, who instantly run into the water and drown.
Most of the “possessions” Jesus heals are physical. The individuals suffer from what today we would consider epilepsy, blindness, or muteness.7 But the Gerasene man would be diagnosed by a modern psychiatrist as suffering from schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.8 It can easily be argued that the Gerasene is suffering from a psychotic or dissociative episode, as he obviously suffers from a loss of identity and reality. Furthermore, it has been argued that this man’s possession is not so much possession as it is trauma.9
What Can We Learn from this Episode?
In the ancient world, medical and mental knowledge was limited. Obviously, people suffering from mental illnesses existed in this time. But the New Testament authors were not trained psychiatrists; the closest we have is Luke, a physician, who produced some of the most detailed and historically/medically accurate literature in the corpus. But even he would not have had access to today’s science of the human psyche. In this culture, religion played the role science plays in our world today. Thus, someone not acting “normal” was treated as a spiritual illness.
Don’t get me wrong, spiritual health and mental health go hand in hand. I would have not recovered from my psychotic episodes or struggles with substance abuse without spirituality. But do I believe I was possessed by demons? I do not. Two thousand years ago, I probably would believe I was… if exorcism worked to cure my ailments.
What we can take away from, and the Logos we can live by, in the stories of possession and exorcism in the New Testament is that love is the cure to such psychological or spiritual diseases. Jesus did not say of the Gerasene demoniac, “This man needs to be locked up in a psych ward.” He showed the man compassion. He showed the demoniac love. He practiced spiritual healing. Can we do the same when we are faced with a crisis? What about our loved ones?
When faced with a crisis, usually the greatest help we can provide is by listening and loving. We do not have to be medical experts to do so. Jesus was not. When I suffered from a psychotic episode and wanted to end my life less than a year ago, one statement from a crisis counselor pulled me out of the dark. She told me, “Sometimes, when you have a calling to help others, your first patient has to be yourself.” My voice was heard. I was shown compassion. Can we do the same for those struggle with such mental or spiritual illnesses?
1 Chambers, Amy C. “‘Somewhere between Science and Superstition’: Religious Outrage, Horrific Science, and the Exorcist (1973).” History of the Human Sciences 34, no. 5 (2021): 38.
2. Ibid.
3. Forcén, Carlos Espí, and Fernando Espí Forcén. “Demonic Possessions and Mental Illness: Discussion of Selected Cases in Late Medieval Hagiographical Literature.” Early Science and Medicine 19, no. 3 (2014): 260. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24269375.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Lynn, Heather. Evil Archaeology : Demons, Possessions, and Sinister Relics. Newburyport: Disinformation Company Limited, 2019. 50.
7. Cook, C.C.H. (2020), “Mental Health and the Gospel: Boyle Lecture,” 2020. Zygon, 55: 1114. https://doi.org/10.1111/zygo.12656
8. Hogeterp, Albert. “Trauma and Its Ancient Literary Representation: Mark 5,1–20.” Zeitschrift Für Die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft Und Die Kunde Der Älteren Kirche 111, no. 1 (March 2020): 5. doi:10.1515/znw-2020-0001.
9. Ibid.