Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
When you witness the onset of mental illness, such as a debilitating psychosis, it's sometimes hard not to consider demons. I'm not sure we can say definitively one way or the other in every case.
We can, however, be quite certain to say that when the Lord Jesus cast out demons, that was not just some "neurological disorder."
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To me, it isn't necessary to accept the first century understanding of pathological phenomena. What is important is that Jesus as savior has the power to heal. Salvation is related to the word salve or healing ointment. Jesus was famous in the first place for being a healer. All true forms of healing I credit to the Spirit of Christ.
In "The Varieties of Religious Experience" 19th century American philosopher and psychologist William James set out a distinction between “The Religion of Healthy-Mindedness” and “The Sick Soul.” The healthy-minded religious person has a deep sense of “the goodness of life,” and a soul of “sky-blue tint” Healthy-mindedness can be involuntary, just natural to someone, but often comes in more willful forms. Healthy mindedness is exemplified by the turn of Christianity away from a morbid “old hell-fire theology”.
For “The Sick Soul,” in contrast, “radical evil gets its innings”. No matter how secure one may feel, the sick soul finds that “[u]nsuspectedly from the bottom of every fountain of pleasure, as the old poet said, something bitter rises up: a touch of nausea, a falling dead of the delight, a whiff of melancholy….” These states are not simply unpleasant sensations, for they bring “a feeling of coming from a deeper region and often have an appalling convincingness”. Some sick souls never get well, while others recover or even triumph: these are the “twice-born.” James focuses on what he calls “the state of assurance” healthy minded persons achieve. Central to this state is “the loss of all the worry, the sense that all is ultimately well with one, the peace, the harmony, the
willingness to be, even though the outer conditions should remain the same”.