Is the Devil a Myth?Wimberly, C. F. (Charles Franklin)
Religion
Is the Devil a Myth?
Wimberly, C. F. (Charles Franklin)
Devil; Good and evil
There are maniacs, violent, desperate, incurable, to-day as truly demon
possessed as was the man who lived among the tombs. This, however, is not
his modern _modus operandi_; desperate maniacs could then terrorize a
whole community. Our great asylums have solved this problem; even the
immediate family is relieved of the burden and fear. Those who do not
accept the theory of demon possession should explain a case at present in
one of our institutions. It is a boy, at the time it attracted attention,
only twelve years of age, thin, emaciated, and by no means abnormal in any
particular. This child would remain quiet for days; during this time he
possessed no strength beyond one of his age. At unexpected moments he
would be seized with violent contortions, frothing at the mouth, and
snapping like a mad dog; and a continuous flow of the most obscene
language and blasphemy while the spell lasted. This is not the strangest
part: he had the strength of a giant; it required four or five men to
overpower him. One man was helpless in his hands; he would literally hurl
them to the floor. Compare this story with the one in the fifth chapter of
Mark: "And when He was come out of the ship, immediately there met Him out
of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the
tombs; and 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 any man
tame him."
In countries where the gospel light has not yet shown full-orbed, demon
possession with manifestations similar to those of Bible times are known
to be common. F. B. Meyer relates numerous cases in Russia; many by prayer
were cast out in the name of Jesus Christ. "I confess," he says, "these
incidents have greatly impressed me. I wonder how far it would be right to
deal with certain forms of drunkenness and impurity as cases of
demon-possession. It may be there is more of this demon work among us than
we know, and especially in cases of mania." Dr. Howard Taylor, of the
China Island Mission, it is said, was accustomed to diagnose the symptoms
of demon-possession in the same way as of any other disease. Dr. Nevins,
of the Presbyterian Mission Board, tells of hundreds of cases, witnessed
by himself, where by faith in the Son of God the demons were cast out, and
the victims were clothed and in their right mind.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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