What conclusion can we draw about mental illness and demons? (part 4)

After examining what Scripture teaches about demonic influence in part one, two, and three of this series, now we're able to draw some conclusions regarding demonic influence and mental illness in the Bible. There are three of them.

1. The Bible recognizes mental illness. As we've tried to show throughout this website, the Bible does recognize mental illness. You won't find the words "mental illness" in Scripture, but you can read about it. Just because David never says, “I’m depressed” doesn’t mean he never experienced what we would recognize as depression today. The Bible may not use the words “mental illness,” but we can see the impact of mental illness in the lives of the people we read about. Scripture recognizes troubles of the mind such as depression, suicidal thoughts, and manic highs. It also acknowledges related abnormal behavior, describing persons as “insane” (1Sam.21:12-15), a “maniac” (Jn.10:20), and “mad” (Acts 26:24-25). Scripture certainly recognizes mental illnesses, but the writers didn’t use modern terms to describe it. They had categories for pointing to them, but not the same vocabulary or capacity to understand in the way we do today.
   

2. The Bible does recognize demonic influence in people’s lives. As we’ve seen in earlier posts, Scripture acknowledges the fact that Satan and demons can interact with humans and influence their thoughts and physical bodies. Only once can we say that the person influenced also had symptoms of mental illness (Mark 5).

3. In fact, the Bible never establishes a connection between the two. Most references to demonic influence involve ideas, temptation, affecting the larger world, and physical ailments. When the biblical writers use the word translated “demon-possession” in our English texts, there is only a single case where it might be considered “possession” or “control.” The bottom line is that we don’t have a lot to work with because the Bible never tries to establish a link between mental illness and demonic influence. The writers certainly could have done so, but most likely didn’t see any reason to.

Now we must ask the question, “Why do we often connect the two?”

The answer is simple: there is confusion surrounding the topics of mental illness and demonic activity. Not only are they confusing, but they also can be a bit scary, if we’re honest. What it means to be demon-possessed is not entirely clear in Scripture. It is disingenuous to use a single occasion—the Gerasene—to define demonic influence. There are many other references to demonic activity that don’t involve scary behavior. In fact, most references don’t refer to behavior at all.

Likewise, the reason we might be inclined to associate mental illness with demonic influence is that many in the church aren’t sure what exactly constitutes a mental illness either. The key to move beyond this is to learn about mental illness. And more importantly, we should take the same approach as Jesus. He didn’t see “demon possession,” he saw people. People suffering with mental illness are not an "other" or a diagnosis. They are someone’s child, mother, brother, father, sister, neighbor, and co-worker. They have a life apart from their diagnosis.

He saw this in the man of Gerasenes too. Day after day as the man stared out of the cave he might have seen the outline of a town he once called home. He was no longer a part of that world, where kids ran down the streets and the smell of fresh bread drifted through the air. He longed to be there, but they didn’t want him anymore—the scars on his ankles and wrists were a reminder of that. Before everything began to spin out of control, he too had a family and a place he belonged.

The different responses to him couldn’t be more different. The townspeople responded with fear, strength, and eviction. When Jesus looked at the same man, he saw someone who wanted to be whole again. The fear response resulted in isolation and torment, but Jesus’ compassionate response resulted in wholeness and restoration. Our role as servants of Christ is to resist fear and confusion surrounding mental illness and move toward people with grace and compassion. The first step to doing this is to learn what mental illness is.

What about the Old Testament?

Before leaving this topic we need to address a question that may have arisen: why are the majority of these in the New Testament?

Whereas Jesus’ interaction with demons gives us the most detail, the Old Testament looks at it with a wide-angled lens. The Old Testament clearly paints a picture of a spiritual world in which God interacts with Satan and evil spirits (Jdg.9:23; 1Ki.22:19-2; Zech.3:1; Job 1:6-12). Satan appears in the first few pages (Gen.3:1) and then later in Job (1-2). His origin is alluded to in the prophets (Isa.14:12-19; Ezk.28:11-19). Demons are seen as objects of worship (Lev.17:7; Deut. 32:17; Ps. 106:37)—primarily as false gods worshiped by the nations and then adopted by Israel. They might also be seen as beings who can be contacted/interacted with (Lev.20:27; Isa.8:19; maybe Deu.18:10-11).

Interestingly, in the Old Testament they are usually presented as something other than, rather than something that affects a person’s behavior. Something outside rather than within.

There is not really a New Testament-style incident of demonic influence in the Old Testament. Only when Jesus begins his ministry does the idea of demonic oppression become a real topic of conversation. The people may have heard of it (Matt.12:27), but when Jesus appears demons become as common as worms after a hard rain. When he steps into humanity, demons are forced to identify themselves.

Maybe there is a progression of demonic involvement in Scripture that reveals just how deep evil has invaded and warped God’s good creation. The first whisper from Satan into Eve’s ear has become an evil influence that can affect not only thoughts, but also behavior and afflict with sickness and death. Who alone but God himself could stop this surging tidal wave of evil? Who alone can conquer the evil without and within?

There is only One—Jesus.