daughters of the Rabbis dabbled in it (Gittin 48a). Members of the Sanhedrim were obliged to possess a knowledge of it; so as to be able to act as judges in such cases (Sanh. 17a). The claims of rampant sorcery are well set forth in the story that R. Yannai was once presented in an inn with a magic potion by a woman. Being suspicious, he poured out some of the draught, which turned to scorpions. He then said to the woman, I have drunk of thine, now thou shalt drink of mine. So the woman drank and became an ass, on which the gallant Rabbi rode to market. But the ass was restored to womanhood by a friend who broke the spell (Sanh. 676). Again, by intense study of the "Book of Creation," Rabba succeeded in creating a man whom he sent to R. Zira. But this recent creation was not endowed with the gift of speech; and R. Zira said to the new man, Thou art a fabrication (of the necromancers). Return to thine original dust! At once the dumb figure returned to nothing (Sanh. 656).

Wholly remote from these magical practices are the miracles of our Lord. Their fine humanitarian tone alone thoroughly differentiates them from the vulgar glorification of the theurgist or the hateful spite of the sorcerer. "He went about continually doing good."

CAUSE OF CHRIST'S FREEDOM FROM SUPERSTITION One large section of Jewish demonology was inconsistent with a pure monotheistic faith and morality.

The malignity, caprice, and independence allowed to demons were compatible only with a polytheistic creed; and intensely alien to Israel's prolonged experience of Jehovah's goodness, righteousness, and power. A rigid application of the monotheistic principle would have abolished those crooked superstitions which impinged upon the majesty of God and the moral freedom of man. The fuller illumination possessed by Jesus rendered these irrational beliefs unthinkable for Him.

Another large section of Jewish demonology was inconsistent with a true knowledge of Nature. The error here could only be removed by clear insight into natural processes. That has been wrongly denied to Jesus. He evinced a deep insight into the processes of health and disease on many occasions; as when He asked the Gerasene for his name, or appointed rest and diet for the daughter of Jairus, or made a physical examination of the ears and tongue of the stammerer. On these and other opportunities, He showed that He was not working in the dark. Hence His superiority to ordinary superstitions, which in others were the product of sheer ignorance of Nature.

CHAPTER III

MEDICAL ASPECTS OF DEMONIC POSSESSION

THESE

DATA OF THE PRESENT INQUIRY

\HESE are primarily the narratives of the New Testament. But the descriptions often savour of the terminology of the animistic philosophy. 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 of

1 Appendix B, Nomenclature of the New Testament.

clinical 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-Phoenician 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. The exhibition of the physical basis of possession. 2. The testing of the value of "psychological explanations."

3. The demonstration of the historicity of the Gospel narratives.

4. The discovery of the proper criterion of genuine demonic possession.

SIMPLE EPILEPSY IS NOT POSSESSION

In the Authorised Version, we read that Christ healed "those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy" (Matt. iv. 24). The term lunatic (oeλnviatóμevo) is a misnomer. Bruce alleges here" a certain want of strictness in the use of But Matthew's language is most exact.

terms.

" 1

The σεληνιαζό

1 Miraculous Elements in the Gospels, p. 176.

μevo are the epileptic. The evidence on this point is unimpeachable. Aretæus, in his treatise on Chronic Diseases, remarks that epilepsy is regarded as a disgraceful disease; for it is supposed to be inflicted on persons who have sinned against the moon.1 Galen, another physician, in his work on Critical Days, says that the moon governs the periods of epileptic seizures. Lucian, in his Philopseudes, describes certain persons as falling to the ground by moonlight, rolling their eyes about, and foaming at the mouth. Alexander Trallianus, in his medical disquisitions, alludes to a cure which he had learned from a countryman in Etruria. The latter was cutting rue, when his companion, being epileptic (σeλnviakós), fell down. The σεληνιαζόμενοι of Matthew are therefore most clearly the epileptic, and are here distinguished from the possessed. Apart from this notice, there is no reference to this class of sufferers in the New Testament. Weiss is wrong in supposing that the boy at the Hill of Transfiguration was simply epileptic. It will be shown that he suffered from epileptic idiocy.2

1 Hobart is mistaken in asserting that Aretæus admits the “ ' possibility of this disease being produced by diabolical agency." Aretæus states that epilepsy "is reckoned a disgraceful form of disease; for it is supposed to be an infliction on persons who have sinned against the moon, and hence some have called it the Sacred Disease; and that for more reasons than one; as from the greatness of the evil, for the Greek word iepós also signifies 'great'; or because the cure of it is not human but divine; or from the opinion that it proceeded from the entrance of a demon into a man. From some one or all of these causes together, it has been called 'Sacred '" (Chronic Diseases, Bk. I. iv.).

2 The popular idea that there is some connection between the moon