EDITED TITLE: Need Questions Answered Please (On Demons & Possession)

[Clovis]

When I look at The New Testament there are things which confuse me. One is the demon possessed; was this the ancients way of saying someone was aggressive and mentally ill? (Edited)

 

[buffalo]

When I look at The New Testament there are things which confuse me. One is the demon possessed; was this the ancients way of saying someone was aggressive and mentally ill? (Edited)

No - there are demons and there is metal illness.

Distinctions are made between the two in the NT.

 

[Tomster]

When I look at The New Testament there are things which confuse me. One is the demon possessed; was this the ancients way of saying someone was aggressive and mentally ill? Also, the whole concept of redemption. I, unlike many, believe Christ was very pessimistic of life on earth and excruciatingly ominous, yet I here so many Christians overjoyed with hope and the certainty of Christ’s love; since Christ mentions only the Gospels as having importance in the end times, where in the Gospels can it be found, this hope and Christ’s love?

In his work, “The Spirit of Catholicism,” Karl Adam states: An estimate of the nature of the Church in the light of our Lord’s eschatological teaching yields two points: In the first place we see that the foundation of the Church is in the direct line of His thought. For the very reason that the Kingdom of Heaven is established in the immediate present and must by the Father’s will wait a long time yet for the Coming of the Bridegroom, it is necessary that the pearl of great price should be provided a protective shell, that the new spirit of God’s governance should have a body, in order to pass unscathed through history. But since this present Kingdom is completed only in the future, therefore the life of the Church also is ordinated to that future. The Church, founded on the one Peter, is a society awaiting the parousia, and her nature is fundamentally eschatological. And so her dogma is in its purpose a preparation for the future vision. “Now we see in only in a mirror . . . but then face to face.”

Tomster

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Do not be afraid, speak out, and refuse to be silenced; I am with thee, and none shall come near to do thee harm; I have a great following in this city. - Acts 18: 9-10

 

[GandalfTheWhite]

One is the demon possessed; was this the ancients way of saying someone was aggressive and mentally ill?

This is a good question because I wanted to ask it ask well. About a year ago I listening to a homily who said that these possessions are actually simple illnesses but the ancient people associated such things with demons. I personally do not to believe this because many passages refer to the demons speaking etc. I don’t see how one can make such an argument.

 

[buffalo]

This is a good question because I wanted to ask it ask well. About a year ago I listening to a homily who said that these possessions are actually simple illnesses but the ancient people associated such things with demons. I personally do not to believe this because many passages refer to the demons speaking etc. I don’t see how one can make such an argument.

From what I read excorcists can tell by looking in the eyes. Something about the way they roll up.

First off, medical conditions must be ruled out before moving on to demons.

Demonical Possession

 

[dylanschrader]

When I look at The New Testament there are things which confuse me. One is the demon possessed; was this the ancients way of saying someone was aggressive and mentally ill?

In the time of the New Testament, there was not a general consensus about the existence of angels and demons. Actually, it was controversial as the Acts of the Apostles tells us in chapter 23.

And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. Then a great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and contended sharply,“We find nothing wrong in this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?”

The Gospels also make a clear distinction between illness and possession, e.g., in Mark 6:13 it says that the apostles, “cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.”

I, unlike many, believe Christ was very pessimistic of life on earth and excruciatingly ominous, yet I here so many Christians overjoyed with hope and the certainty of Christ’s love;

Christ wasn’t optimistic or pessimistic about anything: he knows the truth, the real objective truth about each one of us and about life on earth.

He tells us (John 16:33):

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Not to mention John 3:16-17:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

since Christ mentions only the Gospels as having importance in the end times, where in the Gospels can it be found, this hope and Christ’s love?

Does Christ mention that only the four books of the Gospel will have importance in the end times?

 

[jpaul]

When I look at The New Testament there are things which confuse me. One is the demon possessed; was this the ancients way of saying someone was aggressive and mentally ill? Also, the whole concept of redemption. I, unlike many, believe Christ was very pessimistic of life on earth and excruciatingly ominous, yet I here so many Christians overjoyed with hope and the certainty of Christ’s love; since Christ mentions only the Gospels as having importance in the end times, where in the Gospels can it be found, this hope and Christ’s love?

Peace and all-good!

Demon refers to fallen angels (Spiritual) and mental illness refers to brain illness (Natural).

The Healing of Two Blind Men (Mt. 20: 29-34) is good for reflection. There is the “crowd” (people rejecting each other and hinder the “blind men” to reach Jesus), the “blind men” (people in need of healing and acceptance) and of course, **Jesus Chirst **(He not only heals us, but He is the only true Love). Let us all be like Jesus to all our neighbors.

Our Lord Jesus Christ said,*** “I came that they might have life and have it to the full.” ***(John 10:10).

Ave Maria!

jpaul

 

[Michael_Francis]

Questions have been split into two threads so the OP gets better answers.
MF