The Gadarene Demoniac: 2 – The Demoniac
Many have pondered over the state of the Gadarene Demoniac portrayed by the Synoptic writers in their accounts of this story. Did demonic spirits really possess him, and if so, how did it happen and what was the nature of these beings? In the first part of this series, we explored his cultural and geographic background, which feeds into who he was and his probable beliefs. In this part we shall explore the Gadarene Demoniac himself, asking what might have led to his unfortunate state and what can that teach us today? As the series is about the Gadarene Demoniac, we shall not be discussing other New Testament cases of possession, some of which can more easily be explained as diseases of the mind.
So, let’s begin with the initial text…
They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him
Mark 5:1-6 (NRSV)
Purely A Mental Health Issue?
Could there be a rational explanation for the state of the Gadarene Demoniac, as writers such as Sanders’ suggest [1], with modern psychiatry being able to explain his condition? There is currently no overall consensus amongst mental health specialists on the etiology of dissociative possession and trance disorders [2]. Certainly, there are cases of possession which could be understood as purely mental health issues. Due to space constraints, I will not address these and wish to leave such diagnoses to healthcare experts. We have to tread carefully when attempting to read ancient texts with modern psychological understandings and cannot ignore the cultural background of the New Testament which believed that
- sin could cause disease in a person, and
- demonic influence as a cause of disease.
It is a worthy study to explore how ancient doctors treated what we class as psychological illnesses today, but this is not our purpose here.
In the light of the blood-soaked landscape discussed in the previous part, and the nature of the spirits we shall explore in the next part, perhaps we could be looking at some form of warfare-related mental health issue linked through his ancestry (inferred by possible ancestor veneration/worship which we explore below)? But enough speculation beyond my expertise. I might be seen as copping out on dealing with this aspect further. Still, as a non-specialist in mental health issues, I deliberately choose to remain silent any further, deferring comment to experts to assess whether the Gadarene Demoniac’s condition is purely psychological.
However, as a Christian who believes in the reality of personal, evil entities, which can afflict people in a myriad of ways in body, mind and spirit, I accept they may be a root cause of him presenting as a mental health issue which impacted his physical health. We read in v15 that his mind was not healed until after Jesus’ exorcism ritual had been completed, and that he was a changed man, itself an incredible witness to the compelling power of Christ.
A Pig of a Problem
Any purely psychological explanation must address how Jesus’ healing of this man could cause 2000 pigs to commit suicide. Are there cases of mass hallucination amongst animals caused by a personal mental health issue on record? Any suggestions are welcome in the comments section below.
One could attempt to avoid addressing the pigs issue and permit a purely psychological reading of this passage. However, this requires assigning it to the status of a non-historical narrative, possibly understanding it as a story or piece of polemic writing. However, as already seen, Mark was not writing a polemic, and the earliest churches believed that the account was historically accurate. As such, I shall take the passage as it is with a plain reading: a historical account of an encounter between Jesus and a person possessed with many spirits. These spirits were a cause of disease in mind and body, whilst providing him with a source of preternatural strength and knowledge, which caused him not to attack Jesus but bow down before him.
Sleeping with the Dead
Mark mentions several times the preoccupation with the dead that the Gadarene Demoniac has regarding his abode and activities amongst the tombs. We cannot know for certain whether the man was already possessed beforehand and ended up living there as a result, or became demonized whilst living in the tombs, possibly after engaging in spiritualistic/necromantic practices. We cannot analyse the former, due to lack of available information. However, we can explore the latter possibilities due to the information about him dwelling amongst the tombs.
Anyone reading Mark’s account at the time would have been familiar with the Septuagint (LXX) translation of Isaiah 65:3-4 and would be reminded of the activities practised by those who frequented tombs to commune with the dead for divinatory purposes. This activity was practised by both Jews and Gentiles alike [3].
‘a people who provoke me
Isaiah 65:3-4
to my face continually,
sacrificing in gardens
and offering incense on bricks;
[LXX – to the daimons which are not]
4 who sit inside tombs,
and spend the night in secret places;
who eat swine’s flesh,
with broth of abominable things in their vessels;
Note that the LXX has extra information missing from the Masoretic, which expands upon what was happening in the gardens and who was being offered incense to… v3: τοις δαιμονίοις α ουκ έστιν – “to the daimones which are not” [4].
Death and Dreams
The man’s dwelling amongst the tombs, or ‘unclean place[s]’ [5] is reminiscent of those who practised divination by dreams, known as oneiromancy, where, instead of seeking information from Yahweh, it was sought from the dead. Here, one slept amongst the dead to divine knowledge from them [6]. The Second Temple Period Babylonian Talmud, Niddah 17a [7] speaks of the dangers of sleeping in a cemetery: ‘one who sleeps in a cemetery places himself in danger… this is the case if he does so in order that a spirit of impurity will rest upon him, as sometimes the evil spirits in the cemetery endanger the one who sleeps there.’
It is clear that both oneiromancy and spending the night amongst tombs was understood to be a spiritually hazardous activity. It may well have been the vector for possession of this unfortunate man – especially if his intention was to initiate contact with the dead.
Cutting for the Dead
Necromantic practices also included cutting oneself for the dead (prohibited in Lev. 19:28; 21:5; Deut. 14:1), and we are told that the man regularly cut himself (5:5 KJV). Schmidt speaks of the practice of self-mutilation as appeasing ghosts [8], and is reminiscent of the account of Elijah and the prophets of Baal (1 Kgs. 18:20-40). Duncan and Derrett suggest his possession may have come from a mourning ritual which involved such activity and became out of control [9], and link Jesus’ teaching in the account of the Return of the Unclean Spirit (Mt. 12:43-45) with not just an initial possession of the man, but a subsequent invasion of other spirits which afflicted him.
“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but it finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ When it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So will it be also with this evil generation.”
Matthew 12:43-45 (NRSV)
Conclusion
We have explored the man in his original context, seeing that, whilst there would have been psychological issues involved with this case, there was also a supernatural element which was probably driving the fracturing of his mind, leading to all sorts of self-harm. This was a man for whom traditional medical practices, which could have included the possibility of exorcism due to the belief that demons would have been behind this, failed.
Perry [10] and Richards [11] concur that magical and necromantic practices provide opportunities for possession, so perhaps it was not just living in the tombs, but activities practised within them that opened him up to possession. Blumhardt in his exorcism of Gottliebin Dittus also noted that her possession began through engagement with spiritistic practices that opened her up to her infestation.
Whatever the initiation into his state, Perry [12] and Richards [13] would diagnose spirit “possession” as the state of the Gadarene Demoniac. This would be due to his preternatural strength, which could break chains (5:5), and preternatural knowledge of who Jesus was. His need was that of the healing power of deliverance through Jesus so that he might be restored to his right mind.
Next Time – we take a look at the spirits themselves, listening to what they say and how they negotiate with Jesus. How Mark records the event also provides illumination to their potential identity, and a possible new, sensible, answer as to why 2000 pigs ended up being destroyed due to the exorcism. Part Three of our study on the Gadarean Demoniac continues here.
Bibliography
Bhavsar, V., Ventriglio, A. and Bhugra, D. (2016), Dissociative trance and spirit possession: Challenges for cultures in transition. Psychiatry Clinical Neuroscience, 70: 551-559. Available here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/pcn.12425 [Accessed 11th April 2021].
Duncan, J. and Derrett, M. (1979a) ‘Contributions to the Study of the Gerasene Demoniac’, Journal for the Study of the New Testament, May 1, pp. 2-17.
Duncan, J. and Derrett, M. (1979b) ‘Spirit-Possession and the Gerasene Demoniac’, Man, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 286-293.
Ogden, D. (2001) Greek and Roman Necromancy. Woodstock: Oxford University Press.
Perry, M. (1996) Deliverance – Psychic Disturbances and Occult Involvement, London: SPCK.
Richards, J. (1974) But Deliver Us From Evil: An introduction to the demonic dimension in pastoral care. London: Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
Sanders, E. (1995) The Historical Figure of Jesus. New York: Penguin Books.
Schmidt, B. B. (1996) Israel’s Beneficient Dead: Ancestor Cult and Necromancy in Ancient Israelite Religion and Tradition, Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.
Sefaria.org (2019) Niddah 17a, Available at: https://www.sefaria.org/Niddah.17a.7?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en [Accessed 20 Aug. 2019].
Footnotes
[1] Sanders, 159.
[2] Bhavsar, Ventriglio and Bhugra,
[3] Duncan and Derrett, 1979a:10.
[4] Werner Bible Commentary: https://wernerbiblecommentary.org/?q=node/672
[5] Duncan and Derrett, 1979a:5.
[6] Ogden, 18-19; Schmidt, 260-262.
[7] Sefaria.org, 2019.
[8] Schmidt, 167.
[9] Duncan and Derrett, 1979b:287-288.
[10] Perry, 52-58.
[11] Richards, 21-22.
[12] Perry, 124.
[13] Richards, 156.
