POSSESSION of the Devil. Possession and Obsession differ in this, that in Obsession the Devil acts outwardly, whereas in Possession he acts within the Patient. See OBSESSION before. Examples of Possession are common, especially in the New Testament. Jesus Christ and his Apostles have cured great Numbers of such as were possess’d; and Ecclesiastical Historians still furnish us with many other Instances. But as it has been found by many Examples, that often the Credulity of the Simple has been imposed on, by fictitious Obsessions and Possessions; some pretended Free-thinkers have maintained, that all these Obsessions were nothing else but Diseases of the Mind, and the Effects of a distemper’d Imagination: That Persons sometimes thought themselves to be possess’d in good earnest; that others feign’d themselves to be so, in order to carry on some Designs; in a Word, that there never were any real Possessions or Obsessions. The most plausible Arguments that they bring for this Opinion are such as follow:
The Devil cannot naturally act upon our Bodies. He is of a spiritual Nature, and by his Will only cannot move our Limbs, nor act upon our Fluids, nor Organs, without an express Allowance from God. If he had naturally this Power, the World would be full of People that were possess’d or obsess’d; he would be always exerting his Hatred against Man, and would exercise his Power and Authority to the utmost that his Pride and Malice could suggest. How many Men should we see every Day possess’d, agitated, tormented, choak’d, strangled, thrown from Precipices, drowned, burnt, if the Devil had this Power we impute to him? If it be said that God moderates this Power, that he restrains the Devil, and does not allow him to exercise his Malice against Sinners and wicked Men; do not we see on the contrary, that he often possesses or obsesses very harmless Persons? We know what Sufferings he inflicted upon Job; we see Children possess’d, and other Persons, whose Lives seem to have been exempt from any great Crimes or Disorders.
Why do we not see Men and Women possess’d, but only at certain Times, and in certain Countries? That there are whole Nations, where the Thing is not so much as known? How is it that they are only seen in such Countries where the People are generally Superstitious, and in such Persons as are of a weak Understanding, and of a melancholly Temper? That if we examine those Men and Women, who either are or have been possess’d, we shall find none but what have some of the Qualities and Weaknesses now mentioned.
If we suppose the Devil to suspend the Operations of the Soul of the Party possess’d, and to usurp the Office of the Soul to himself; or even that several Devils agitate and possess the same Demoniack, the Difficulty will be still much greater. What Conception can we have of that Soul, that no longer acts in the Body which it animates, and which surrenders up itself to the Devil, as we may call it? How can all these Evil Spirits combine and concur to govern the same Man? If all this can be done without a Miracle, what Proof can there be of Miracles to incredulous People? May it not be said, that all such Things that we call Miracles, are no other than Operations of the Devil? And if a Miracle be requir’d, that a Man should be possess’d of the Devil, it would make God the Author, or at least a Co-operator with the Devil, in his Obsessions and Possessions of Men.
We have so many Examples of natural Things, which however appear to be Supernatural, that there is Room to imagine, that what are call’d Possessions of the Devil, may be of this Kind. So many People have fancy’d themselves to be turned into Wolves, or Oxen; to be made of Glass or Butter; to become Kings or Princes: No one in this Case has Recourse to the Devil, or to a Miracle, to explain the Phænomenon. They tell us roundly, that it is a Disorder in the Brain, a Disease of the Mind or Imagination caus’d by a Heat of the Bowels, or by the Predominance of black Bile. Nobody has Recourse for a Cure to Exorcisms, or to the Priests. They apply themselves to Physicians, take Medicines, use the Baths; they look out for Methods of curing the Imagination of the Patient, or of giving it another Turn. Would it not be the same with such as are possess’d? Would they not obtain a Cure by natural Remedies, by purging them, cooling them, deceiving them dextrously, and making them imagine that the Devil has forsaken them and fled away? There have been remarkable Experiments of this kind; but if we should relate them, the Favourers of Possessions would still say, that these People were not indeed possess’d, and will not deny but there has been much Delusion in this Matter. But they will still maintain, that among the great Number of Demoniacks, it cannot be deny’d, but there must have been some that were really possess’d. The others maintain, that there never were any such, and that whatever has happen’d to those that were reputed to be possess’d, might conveniently be explain’d by natural Means, without having any Recourse to the Devil. This is the whole Knot of this Dispute.
The Defenders of Possessions of the Devil observe, that if this were only an Illusion, Jesus Christ and his Apostles, and the whole Church, would be in an Error, and must wilfully involve us in one too, by speaking, acting, and praying, as if there were real Possessions. Our Saviour speaks to, and commands the Devils, who actuated the Possess’d; which Devils answer’d and obey’d, and gave Proofs of their Presence by tormenting those miserable Creatures, which they were obliged to quit. They put them into violent Convulsions, throw them upon the Ground, leave them for dead, take Possession of Hogs, and hurry those Animals into the Sea. Can this be called Delusion? The Prayers and Exorcisms of the Church [of Rome,] what are they but Pageantry and Grimace, if Possessions be nothing else but whimsical and imaginary Distempers? Jesus Christ alledges it as a Proof of his Mission, that the Luke vii. 20, 21. Mark xvi. 17.Devils are cast out; he promises his Apostles the same Power that he exercised himself against those wicked Spirits. Can all this be nothing but Chimera?
‘Tis allow’d, that there are several Tokens of Possession which are equivocal and fallible, but there are others also which are indubitable. A Person may counterfeit a Demoniack, and imitate the Actions, Words, Motions, Contortions, Cries, Howlings, and Convulsions of one that is possess’d. Some Efforts, that seem to be supernatural, may be the Effect of an heated Imagination, melancholy Blood, or Trick and Contrivance. But if a Person all on a sudden should speak and understand Languages that he has never learn’d, talk of sublime Matters he has never study’d, discover Things that are secret and unknown. Should he lift up himself into the Air without visible Assistance, act and speak in a Manner very distant from his natural Temper and Condition: If all this should happen without any Inducement from Interest, Passion, or any other natural Motive: If all these Circumstances, I say, or the greatest part of them, should concur in the same Possession, can there be any Room to suspect that it is not a real one?
But there have been many Possessions, in which all these Circumstances have concurr’d together. There have therefore been real ones, but especially those which the Gospel declares as such. God was pleased to permit, that in our Saviour’s Time there should be many such in Israel, to furnish him with Occasions of signalizing his Power, and to supply us with more Proofs of his Mission and Divinity.
Joseph. Antiq. l. 7. c. 25.Though we must own, that true Possessions of the Devil are very rare, and very difficult to be distinguish’d, yet it cannot be allow’d that they are miraculous. They do not happen without the Permission of God, but they are neither contrary nor superior to the Laws of Nature. Nobody thinks he has recourse to a Miracle, when he says, that a good Angel inspires him with good Thoughts, or prompts him to avoid any Danger. It is suppos’d in like manner, that the Devil may tempt us to Evil, excite irregular Impressions in our Bodies, or raise Tempests. The Scripture imputes to evil Angels the Death of the First-born of Egypt, and the Destruction of Sennecharib’s Army. It imputes to good Angels the raining of Fire, by which Sodom and Gomorrah were consumed. These Events are miraculous in some of their Circumstances, but not in all. God only suffers the Demons to act; they then only exercise a Power that is natural to them, which was before suspended and restrain’d by the Power of God. Men generally conclude too hastily concerning the Power of a Spirit, which they know so little of.
Tob. vi. 19. viii. 2, 3.Josephus was of Opinion, that Possessions of the Devil, were caused by the Souls of wicked Men, who dreading to repair to the Place of their Punishment, seize upon the Body of some Man, toss it and torment it, and do what they can to destroy it. This Sentiment appears to be peculiar to Josephus; for the generality of Jews did not doubt but that it was the Devils who had Possession of the Demoniacks. The Scripture shews us in Tobit, that the Demon Asmodeus was put to flight by the Fumes of Joseph. Antiq. l. 8. c. 2.the Liver of a Fish. Josephus relates, that Solomon compos’d Exorcisms to drive out the evil Spirits out of the Bodies of those that were possess’d, and that a Jew named Eleazar cured some that were possess’d, in the Presence of Vespasian, by putting a Ring under their Nose, in which was inclosed the Root of an Herb recommended by Solomon. At the same time that the Name of this Prince was pronounced, and the Exorcism that he had taught, the Patient fell upon the Ground, and the Devil ceased to torment him. They believed therefore, that the Devils could act upon Bodies, and that Bodies also made an Impression upon them. Upon this Subject of Possessions and Obsessions of the Devil, the Reader may consult our Dissertation which we have compos’d for that Purpose, and is printed in the new Collection of our Dissertations by themselves, in three Volumes in Quarto, at Paris, 1720.