The hereafter - Addendum

-3 - Plato claimed that demons make people possessed. Socrates virtually mentions that demons have an influence on the insane . Plutarch writes: ‘Certain domineering demons search for a living soul within a terrestrial body in order to satisfy their lusts, because (as bodiless spirit entities) this is the only way they can gratify their terrestrial passions so they stir up people to riot, salaciousness, wars of conquest and this is how they can savour the things they crave.’ Josephus said: ‘Demons are the souls of evil people.’ Possessing spirits are often mentioned in the Old as well as the New Testament: I. Samuel 16; 23: ‘David would get his harp and play it. The evil spirit would leave and Saul would feel better and be alright again.’ The belief in spirits and possessions was so common place at the time of the apostles that the ability to exorcise evil spirits was understood to be one of the most important characteristics of genuine discipleship; and one has to admit that a considerable number of miracles ascribed to Jesus were cases of exorcised evil spirits. Just a few cases from the New Testament should suffice. Matthew 10; 1: ‘Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits…’ Mark 1; 39: ‘So he travelled all over Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and driving out demons.’ Luke 8; 27, 29, 36: ‘As Jesus stepped ashore he was met by a man from the town who had demons in him…because Jesus had ordered the evil spirit to go out of him…Those who had seen it told the people how this man had been cured.’ Luke 6; 18: Those who were troubled by evil also came and were healed.’ Acts 19; 12: ‘Even handkerchiefs and aprons he had used were taken to the sick and their diseases were driven away and evil spirits would go out of them.’ Mark 9; 17, 21, 25, 27: ‘A man in the crowd answered, Master I have brought my son to you, because he has an evil spirit in him…How long has he been like this, Jesus asked the father? Ever since he was a child he answered…Jesus noticed that the crowd was closing in on them so he gave a command to the evil spirit. Deaf and dumb spirit he said, I order you to come out of the boy and never go into him again…But Jesus took the boy by the hand and helped him rise and he stood up.’ Very similar incidents are certainly not something extraordinary in psycho-pathological research.” Bad Salzuflen, March 2009