pos esslim so manifest in the Synoptic t:ospels, and the Talmudic literature. It has been observed that in no (gospel are all diseases referred to demoniac po::ession, and that .)lark eon tines to psychical maladies such a- insanity and epi lepsy, while Alattlievv and Luke add instanee, of purely bodily diseases. The selection of Mark may be connected with the great importance that his Gospel to the superhuman insight possessed by the demons, and it can scarcely be asserted with safety that lie drew a sharp dis tinction between psychical and physical disease, or that he differed from the tither in regard to the tarsi' tf ordinary nialadie..
scholars have maintained that Jesus did not really believe in demoniac possession. but only aveommodated himself to the current belief. This is a highly improbable view and the di- recorded in ',Matt. xii. 22 et seq.,. seems to be decisive against it. Dere Jesus assumes that members of the Pharisai• party are able to ea-t demons. but point: to hi, own extraordinary success a: a sign that the of heaven i, coining, and attributes his own work to a spirit working through him that must nit be blas phemed. That exorcists formed a recognized pro fession among the dews of the period may also be inferred from Talmudic literature. in which denioniaeal posses-ion and the possibility of eN the dellions tile in unoornus at •epted filets.
.luting the Celtic, I:erinanie. and Slavic na tions there wore many higher or lower natme spirit s to O hose influence various were a( tributed, ;Ind, though it cannot he Ileti nitely proved. there is reason to suppose that possession was not unfamiliar to them. lint
their ronversion to Christianity made them at once aelpla int ell with New Testament demonology it nal with 1111 t lia t recognized exorcist- as a delica I order. I Exotic Is'r.I who contrived to vvor-hip in the :thee-trot gods, even after they had been offieially deelarell to be demon- by the rhuirells were a- possessed. This would be the with old \N011i•n who a beret] most per-istt•ntly to the ancient Since obstinate clinging, to wrong beliefs could only be accounted for by demoniac influence, heretics were also regarded as bewitched. In its battle with the demons, the Church never struck a lea vier blow than when Innocent VII L. (q.v.), un December 5, 11S4. sent out his bull .1d utu nom ref m•nwritint. The methods of carrying out its recommendations Were set forth, with brutal frankness. in the Molleus .1/a/eficarums written by his chief inquisitor, Jacob Sprenger. It has been estimated that a V114 number of lives were destroyed as a result of these methods of deal ing with demoniacal possession. As Luther and other leading reformers continued to cherish the belief, it maintained its hold upon the Protestant churches, and was responsible for much persecu tion, until, undermined by the attacks of deists and rationalists. it gradually disappeared before the progress of modern science. Consult: Sem ler. De Dernonineis (Halle, 1769) ; Sttibe.Judisch loabylonisehe Zauberle•te IS95) ; Nevins, Demon. Posscssion (Chicago, IS95); Slaspero, Dawn of cirilization (Eng. trans. New York. 1894 ) ; Alexaunder. Don ono ic Possession in the ,Vew Tcctumrnt ( Edinburgh. 19011: Townsend, Natan and Demons (Cincinnati, 19uu2).