I am not concerned in the present argument with the words and actions which they have attributed to the demoniacs; but with the words and actions attributed to Jesus. We know that some madmen labour under the delusion, not only that they are emperors and kings, but even in a few instances that they are God himself. This being so, it is quite possible that a maniac may confuse his personality with one or more demons; and speak and act consistently with the delusion. The maniacs may have given utterance to exclamations resulting from mere delusions; but the Evangelists in recording these utterances gave simple statements of facts. It is quite possible, that the demoniac of Gadara may have imagined himself possessed by a legion of demons, and have spoken and acted accordingly, whilst he was at the same time labouring under simple mania. Now, on the assumption that possession was simple mania and nothing more, the following suppositions are the only possible ones. First, that our Lord really distinguished between mania and possession; but that the Evangelists have inaccurately reported his words and actions, through the media of their own subjective impressions, or, in short, have attributed to Him language that He did not really utter. Second, that our Lord knew that possession was a form of mania, and adopted the current notions of the time in speaking of it, and that the words were really uttered by Him. Third, that with similar knowledge, He adopted the language in question as part of the curative process. Fourth, that He accepted the validity of the distinction, and that it was a real one during those times. These alternatives demand our careful consideration, not for the purpose of determining which is the correct one, but of estimating the results which flow from either of them on the central character of the Gospels. The position which I take must be clearly stated. It is this: If possession be mania, there is nothing in the language which the Evangelists have attributed to our Lord which compromises the truthfulness of his character. If, on the other hand, we assume that possession was an objective fact, there is nothing in our existing scientific knowledge of the human mind which proves that the possessions of the New Testament were impossible. Let us consider the first alternative.