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sion of Christ , the Heathens believed that the departed souls of good men became good demons , and the departed souls of wicked men became wicked demons : that these ghosts of the wicked , called demons , were regarded as the authors of many of the most distressing maladies aud
calamities with which men were afflicted , by eateriDg into their bodies and taking possession of their whole franae : and that the Jews adopted these and other opinions , though in opposition to their Scriptures , from the Heathens , during their long captivity in Babylon , and subsequently in the Platonic school of Alexandria . He further represents
that the most learned and skilful practitioners of those times disbelieved , controverted and disproved these absurd and superstitious ideas , and that the medical practitioners of the
present day can trace the several causes in which these diseases , anciently attributed to the possession of the human frame by evil demons , originate : whence he infers that in the times of
our Lord and his apostles , there were no actual possessions . by demons or devils , but then , a 3 well as now , each and all of those disorders termed demoniacal , proceeded from a great variety of causes , but all of them connected with the diseased state of the animal economy . Pp . 308 , 309 .
The critical examination of the case of the Gadarene Demoniac , in the XlVth Lecture , is masterly . The remarks upon his supposed worship of Jesus , ( pp . 318—324 , ) are deserving of particular attention . In the following valuable passage , the reader will see a fair specimen of this part of the work :
" From the preceding examination of the actions and language of this Gadarene maniac , it appears that his was a species of insanity which is not uncommon in our own times . And if the Devil were the author of this afflicting malady then ,
as matiy of his believers assert why , is he not so now ? Or , if the » e evil spirits , these departed ghosts of wipk ^ jj men , called demons , occasioned this aberration ° f the huwanmind , Ui all its stages , m the time of oup Lord , why dp tttey not cause it now t r Fbe various agrees of mental derangement are now oc # * sioned by some disorganization of tlm ' animal economy , i >* od # cpd eUKer by an , iujeinperate ; u * e » f s ^ roflg * ^ aud pajjtf ^ lairty , ^' spirituous % iojra ; or l * yej | ge * i # pursuing
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vicious courses , and then making use of pernicious ^ qeans to counteract their e £ - m fects ; or by giving way to violent fjassions ; or by indulging in enthusiastic notions of every kind , religious enthusiasm not excepted \ iind also by what is termed » natural causes . The human system , if we may judge from aualysis , or from the
description given us by medical writers of that age , and of the present , does not appear to have undergone any change since tbe time of our Lord . Man was then formed of the same component parts as he now is . Similar causes , therefore , allowing for difference of climate , and a
diversity m the manner of living , the habits , the pursuits , aud the . occupations of men , must produce similar diseases * Knowing these things to be facts , we are not required in the Scriptures to believe what contradicts our senses or our experience ; nor are we to regulate our faith
by the credulity or superstitious notions of others concerning this or any other disease , in this or any other age . h have already , endeavoured to account , and I hope satisfactorily , for our Lord and his apostles making use of the popular language , concerning certain diseases which >
they removed : their compliance in this respect , does not render it necessary for us to believe an absurdity , nor to credit * an impossibility . Some of you may reply , All things are possible with God . True ; but goodness and benevolence are essentially necessary to the perfection of his
nature and character *; malignity , therefore , can form no part of his moral government . These unclean spirits , these - ghosts of deceased wicked men , called by Jews and Heathens , demons , cannot be employed by him to inflict diseases on mankind , because the avowed design of
these demons , in thus entering into men , was universally acknowledged to be malignant . Aud malign in its consequences must that system of religion be , which is founded on the employment , or , at least , the permission , which amounts to the same thing , of a powerful , evil , malicious
spirit , to act as the * implacable enemy , tempter , and tormentor of the human race ; ' or to allow his coadjutors or agents to indulge thetnselves € in the malicious pleasure of making whom they pbasesseS , partakers of their torments . * Such * > system is calculated , from the hoiror and dreadful agitation it produces iu
some minds , to become an abundant source of mental derangement . Its-tendency does not bespeak it tOf hethe glcuf tidings of the gospel , nor to be peace on earth , or good will to meiw Gan 4 t . be glad Mings tq nieu toUetald that ^ tr , Creator , emptoy ^ » powe r fu l , maieypleu ^ * and implacable eueiuy to . seii ^ e theju ,
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Review . —Scot ? s Lecture * on the Demi . 723
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1823, page 723, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1791/page/43/
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