Demonic Possession or Insanity?

Possession isn’t something you only see in movies, but it can actually happen in real life. There is science behind possession, it’s just the matter of finding all of the right information. A physician by the name of Richard Mead denied the existence of possession in 1749. He believed that there was no such thing as demonic possession, but that people were just mentally ill. Many people have their own different views on possession. Some people believe it to be true and others think that it could just be a mental illness. The Bible also has some facts about possession as well. Some physicians actually question the Bible and the possessions in it. People opened up Asylums, for the people they claimed to be mentally ill and not possessed.

A man by the name of James McKee worked at Northampton General Lunatic Asylum, wrote a long annual report on his asylum. He said, insanity is attributed to a disorder of the nervous system, and yet it is to be cured not by medicine, but by “moral and religious treatment.”(Journal of the history of ideas Volume 74, Pg. 555) On July 1, 1855 Joseph Souter’s article was in the Journal. It was titled, “Does Any Analogy Exist between Insanity and Demonical Possession?” He claimed that insanity was the result of demonic possession. He believed that people couldn't just get possessed by demonic spirits for no reason, but they had to have some type of mental illness that lead to possession.

Souter also disagreed with the existence of demonic possessions in the Bible. He came to his own conclusion that Satan has a limit of powers in the modern world. He said that Satan doesn’t have that much power to allow demons to possess a human body. Yet they believed Satan was the route of possessions, that he influenc...

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...ays falls back to mental illness. The other reasoning is relating back to the Bible. Believing that Demonic possessions did and still can happen. That Jesus, when he was walking on earth actually healed those who were possessed by evil spirits.

Works Cited

Ossa-Richardson, Anthony. Possession or Insanity? Two Views from the Victorian Lunatic Asylum 74: 553-575. Print.

Strafford, Betty. "The Journal of Spirituality and Paranormal Studies." The Growing Evidence For "Demonic Possession": What Should Psychiatry's Response Be?: 23-40. Print.

William, Monter. "Mattaincourt 1627-31." The Catholic Salem: How the Devil Destroyed A Saint's Parish (Mattaincourt, 1627-31). : , . . Print.

Duffey, John. The Anneliese Michael Exorcism. New York: WIPF and STOCK Publishers, . Print.

Duffey, John. The Anneliese Michael Exorcism. New York: WIPF and STOCK Publishers, . Print.