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The Jewish people were heavily influenced by the nations that conquered and ruled them, starting with the three times Babylon took Jewish people back to Babylon. Babylon usually took the upper echelon of Jewish society, leaving behind poor, uneducated Jews. While a small percentage of the Jews in Babylon held true to their faith, the majority had assimilated into Babylon society and began to incorporate Babylon mythology into Judaism. After Persia defeated Babylon, the Jews began incorporating Persian mythology into their belief system. When a small percentage of Jews returned to Israel, most were far removed from Torah teaching. Ezra had to teach the Torah to these Jews, Ezra 7:10, Neh 8:1. After the Greeks conquered Persia and had control over the Jews, the Greeks made a concerted effort to Hellenize the Jews, as they did with all of the nations they conquered and ruled. And some of the Greek mythology began to infiltrate the minds of the Jewish people. The Greek culture had the most extended influence on the Jewish people. All this information is historical fact, having been researched by hundreds of scholars and historians, biblical and secular. Many books and articles, hundreds of books, thousands of articles, have been published on the history of the Jewish people.
While the Old Testament doesn't have many stories of insane people, it is evident that the Jews were familiar with insane people, as every nation and people group had its share. Before the Babylon captivity, the Jews attributed insanity to the hand of God. What did the pagans believe?
Babylon believed that diseases and mental disorders were of a supernatural cause, evil demons, spirits or personal gods.
Persia believed that mental disorders were the work of devils (not to be confused with satan)
Greeks believed that mental illness was the direct work of angry gods. The Greeks introduced the idea that demons (daimons) could possess a human.
Around the middle east, other cultures believed that mental illness was attributed to either an evil or demonic spirit, a god's displeasure, eclipses, gravity, curses or sin. You must remember that all of these pagan cultures did not have the Torah. God didn't instruct them. Their mythologies were developed from the minds of men who knew nothing about what God taught or what the Jews knew.
This poses a question. Why is it people today don't believe that gods, eclipses, curses or sin can cause a person to be possessed and act insane but are okay with the idea that evil spirits or demons can possess people and make them insane? They all stem from what the pagans believed. How do you differentiate between the idea that gods are not responsible for possession and demons are?
Starting with Hippocrates, there was a growing trend among many intelligent men who along with a better understanding of mental illness, felt that mental disorders were not due to "possession" but rather a result of malfunctions in the brain. That mental disorders were physiological rather than having a supernatural cause. Unfortunately, as the Catholic Church gained control and power, advanced thinking was squashed and, that demonic possession was reality was very amped up and crammed down people's throats. There is a reason why the era when the Catholic Church dominated Europe is known as the dark ages.
Every culture has different figures of speech to describe or explain things. We have different ways to describe insanity. We can say:
He's nuts.
He's crazy.
He's bananas.
Nut case.
Lunatic.
Deranged.
Whacko.
He is off his rocker.
Demented.
Out of his mind.
He's lost it.
Went off the deep end.
He lost his mind.
Not right in the head.
If we say a person is nuts, are we saying he is a cashew? If we say a person is "bananas," do we mean he is the same as a banana we eat? If we say, "he is off his rocker," do we mean he was sitting on a rocking chair and fell out of the chair? No, they are just figures of speech.
What if in the 1st century, among the Jewish people, their way of expressing a crazy person, the jargon they used to describe an insane person was to say, "He has a demon, evil or unclean spirit? And to "cast out an evil spirit," or "cast out devils" was just a way to express that a person was healed from sickness, disease or insanity? Whether an individual believed or didn't believe in a supernatural cause, the same terms would be used to describe mental or physical healing.
We have some examples in Scripture where people thought Jesus was insane or called him crazy.
Mark 3:18-32...And when his friends heard of it, they went to lay hold of him because they said, "he is beside himself (He is out of his mind) ... Verily I say to you...Because they said, He has an unclean spirit. Then, his brothers and mother came to him and couldn't get through because of the crowd. They sent word to him, calling him. Those close to him in the crowd told Jesus, "Your mother and brothers are looking for you."
Why did Mary and his brothers come to try and get him to go home? Why did people say Jesus had an unclean spirit? Because Mary, his brothers, and others believed that Jesus was talking and acting like a crazy person. Is there any way possible that an unclean spirit possessed Jesus? Or was it a common phrase used to describe a person who was thought to be insane?
John 7:19-20 Did not Moses give the law? Yet none of you keep the law. Why do you want to kill me? The people said, "you have a devil! Who is trying to kill you?
Did Jesus have a devil? Was he possessed?
John 8:47-49 He that is of God hears God's word. You do not hear God's word because you are not of God. The Jews said to Jesus, "Do we not correctly say that you are a Samaritan and have a devil?" Jesus replied, "I don't have a devil..."
John 10:19-20 There was a division among the Jews about the things Jesus had said. And many of the Jews said, "He has a devil and is mad (crazy); why do you listen to him?"
You can't separate Jesus being accused of having a devil or unclean spirit from the others in the New Testament who are described in the same way. The exact words or phrases are used.
I will do one more post on this subject.
While the Old Testament doesn't have many stories of insane people, it is evident that the Jews were familiar with insane people, as every nation and people group had its share. Before the Babylon captivity, the Jews attributed insanity to the hand of God. What did the pagans believe?
Babylon believed that diseases and mental disorders were of a supernatural cause, evil demons, spirits or personal gods.
Persia believed that mental disorders were the work of devils (not to be confused with satan)
Greeks believed that mental illness was the direct work of angry gods. The Greeks introduced the idea that demons (daimons) could possess a human.
Around the middle east, other cultures believed that mental illness was attributed to either an evil or demonic spirit, a god's displeasure, eclipses, gravity, curses or sin. You must remember that all of these pagan cultures did not have the Torah. God didn't instruct them. Their mythologies were developed from the minds of men who knew nothing about what God taught or what the Jews knew.
This poses a question. Why is it people today don't believe that gods, eclipses, curses or sin can cause a person to be possessed and act insane but are okay with the idea that evil spirits or demons can possess people and make them insane? They all stem from what the pagans believed. How do you differentiate between the idea that gods are not responsible for possession and demons are?
Starting with Hippocrates, there was a growing trend among many intelligent men who along with a better understanding of mental illness, felt that mental disorders were not due to "possession" but rather a result of malfunctions in the brain. That mental disorders were physiological rather than having a supernatural cause. Unfortunately, as the Catholic Church gained control and power, advanced thinking was squashed and, that demonic possession was reality was very amped up and crammed down people's throats. There is a reason why the era when the Catholic Church dominated Europe is known as the dark ages.
Every culture has different figures of speech to describe or explain things. We have different ways to describe insanity. We can say:
He's nuts.
He's crazy.
He's bananas.
Nut case.
Lunatic.
Deranged.
Whacko.
He is off his rocker.
Demented.
Out of his mind.
He's lost it.
Went off the deep end.
He lost his mind.
Not right in the head.
If we say a person is nuts, are we saying he is a cashew? If we say a person is "bananas," do we mean he is the same as a banana we eat? If we say, "he is off his rocker," do we mean he was sitting on a rocking chair and fell out of the chair? No, they are just figures of speech.
What if in the 1st century, among the Jewish people, their way of expressing a crazy person, the jargon they used to describe an insane person was to say, "He has a demon, evil or unclean spirit? And to "cast out an evil spirit," or "cast out devils" was just a way to express that a person was healed from sickness, disease or insanity? Whether an individual believed or didn't believe in a supernatural cause, the same terms would be used to describe mental or physical healing.
We have some examples in Scripture where people thought Jesus was insane or called him crazy.
Mark 3:18-32...And when his friends heard of it, they went to lay hold of him because they said, "he is beside himself (He is out of his mind) ... Verily I say to you...Because they said, He has an unclean spirit. Then, his brothers and mother came to him and couldn't get through because of the crowd. They sent word to him, calling him. Those close to him in the crowd told Jesus, "Your mother and brothers are looking for you."
Why did Mary and his brothers come to try and get him to go home? Why did people say Jesus had an unclean spirit? Because Mary, his brothers, and others believed that Jesus was talking and acting like a crazy person. Is there any way possible that an unclean spirit possessed Jesus? Or was it a common phrase used to describe a person who was thought to be insane?
John 7:19-20 Did not Moses give the law? Yet none of you keep the law. Why do you want to kill me? The people said, "you have a devil! Who is trying to kill you?
Did Jesus have a devil? Was he possessed?
John 8:47-49 He that is of God hears God's word. You do not hear God's word because you are not of God. The Jews said to Jesus, "Do we not correctly say that you are a Samaritan and have a devil?" Jesus replied, "I don't have a devil..."
John 10:19-20 There was a division among the Jews about the things Jesus had said. And many of the Jews said, "He has a devil and is mad (crazy); why do you listen to him?"
You can't separate Jesus being accused of having a devil or unclean spirit from the others in the New Testament who are described in the same way. The exact words or phrases are used.
I will do one more post on this subject.
