Friday, February 5, 2010

Differentiating mental illness, demon harassment, and demon possession

What do these terms mean by themselves?

Mental Illness, in my own words: A condition of the physical brain (hardware), or the ontological operation of the mind (software and synaptic operation), that causes abnormal function in the affected person's will, decision making, intelligence, social adaptability, mood regulation, or physical function of the body, or any combination thereof.

For example, some people who have survived physical brain injury on the right side of the head may have anger or rage problems. This is a mental illness caused by a defect in the hardware. Defects in synaptic operation may result in clinical depression or schizophrenia.

Demon harassment, in my own words: Acts of the fallen angels meant to torment God's people by interacting with other people, animals (including microscopic creatures), or the mind in a way that brings about emotional, physical, and/or spiritual pain and anguish.

I don't know of any harassment of a non-believer, though I'm sure it is possible. Compare Matt 12:25-26 with 1 Peter 3:19-20.

Examples from the Bible: Acts 16:16-18 A demon (inside a woman) was following Paul for days and shouting at him. 1 Timothy 4:1 Says that demons will teach false things and mislead people. In Job 1 and Job 2, Satan himself destroyed everything and everyone in Job's life and gave him serious physical illnesses. 1 Peter 3:19-20 Indicate that demons had to be imprisoned due to their disobedience in the days of Noah. These are probably demons who participated in the deep and drastic moral decline before the flood and participated in people's sins such that the Lord had no choice but to wipe out all living things on the planet.

Demon possession, in my own words: A spiritual interaction with the physical realm whereby a person or animal is spiritually indwelt by one or more fallen angels. The interaction results in violent or destructive physical behavior, super-human strength, multiple simultaneous vocalizations, languages spoken by a host who does not know such languages, knowledge of things that are normally impossible for the host to know (such as personal secrets of others or knowledge of the future), or any combination of the above.

It is impossible for a believer to be demon possessed: Matthew 12:29 and others. I will not debate this with anyone. Period.

Examples from the Bible: Matt 8:28 (violent), Mark 5:1-5 (super-human strength), Acts 16:16 (knowledge of the future)

No comments:

Post a Comment