Demon possession and allied themes - Interdisciplinary Biblical ...

[pic]
Demon Possession
and Allied Themes
(Annotated) By John L. Nevius Introduction by F. F. Ellingwood Editors
Henry W. Rankin
Robert C. Newman Interdisciplinary Biblical
Research Institute
www.ibri.org
CONTENTS Introductory Note, by Rev. F. F. Ellinwood, D.D.
Author's Preface.
Note of Explanation, by Henry W. Rankin
Editorial Note, by Robert C. Newman
I. First Impressions and Experiences.
II. Experiences in Central Shantung.
III. Further Experiences in Central Shantung.
IV. Circular Letter and Responses.
V. Responses to Circular Continued.
VI. More Responses to Circular.
VII. Other Communications from Various Sources in China.
VIII. Demon Possession in India, Japan, and Other Lands.
IX. Demon Possession in Christian Countries.
X. Character of the Evidence Presented and Facts Established by It.
XI. Explanations: Evolution and Other Theories. XII. The Pathological Theory.
XIII. The Psychological Theory. XIV. The Biblical Theory. XV. Teachings of the Sacred Scriptures Continued. XVI. Historical Sketch of Demonism.
XVII. Spiritualism. XVIII. The Facts and Literature of the Occult. APPENDIX I: More Chinese Instances. APPENDIX II: Other Testimonies. INDEXES:
Bibliographical
Biblical
Pathological
General SUPPLEMENT.
INTRODUCTORY NOTE By Rev. F. F. Ellinwood, D. D.
For several years I have been aware that Rev. Dr. John L. Nevius of Chefoo
[Yantai], China, was giving careful attention to certain strange psychical
phenomena which were presented from time to time in the interior districts
of the Shantung [Shandong] Province. I became more interested in the
progress of his inquiries from the fact that upon an acquaintance continued
for more than a quarter of a century I regarded him as a man peculiarly
fitted to examine so intricate and difficult a subject. His philosophic insight, his judicial fairness of mind, his caution and his
conscientious thoroughness, appeared to me admirable qualifications for
such a study. Moreover his thorough mastery of the Chinese language spoken
and written, his intimate sympathy with the people, and his correspondingly
truer interpretation of their innermost thought and life, have rendered him
still more capable of ascertaining the real facts in the case, and of
forming accurate judgments upon them. Antecedently to any knowledge of the New Testament, the people of North
China believed fully in the possession of the minds and bodies of men by
evil spirits. This belief is a part of that animism, or spirit worship,
which has existed in China-as in many other countries-from the very
beginning of history or tradition. It has always been understood that the
personality of the evil spirit usurped, or for the time being supplanted,
that of the unwilling victim and acted through his organs and faculties.
Physical suffering and sometimes violent paroxysms attended the presence
and active influence of the spirit, and not only the particular demoniac,
but all his household were filled with more or less anxiety and distress. When therefore Christianity was introduced into China, and the narratives
of demoniacal possession given in the New Testament were read, the
correspondence that was at once recognized by the native Christians seemed
complete. In relation to this particular form of New Testament miracles there has
never been any difficulty on the part of Chinese Christians, if indeed
among the heathen portion of the community. And what is very striking in
the accounts given by Dr. Nevius, is their uniform confidence shown in the
power of Jesus, or even of an appeal to His name, to expel the spirits and
set the victims free. According to the testimony of many witnesses no
earnest Christian believer has ever continued to be afflicted. This seems
to be a generally accepted fact, by the heathen who have known the
circumstances, as well as by believers. It will be observed that nearly all the incidents related are given on the
testimony not of missionaries, but of native Christians-mostly native
pastors. The cases have been carefully investigated, however, by several
different missionaries, who have shared in the interest taken by Dr.
Nevius, and no one of them appears to have any doubt of the veracity of the
witnesses. Some of the facts also have passed under their own immediate observation. Missionaries in China have all proceeded with great caution in this matter.
Dr. Nevius and others have avoided any measures which might lead the people
to suppose that they claim the power to cast out devils even in Jesus'
name. Nor does it appear that any native minister has claimed any such
power. The most that has been done has been to kneel down and pray to Jesus
to relieve the sufferer, at the same time inviting all present to unite in
the prayer; and it seems a well-established fact that in nearly or quite
every instance, the person afflicted, speaking apparently in a different
personality and with a different voice has confessed the power of Jesus and
has departed. Whatever theory we may adopt by way of explaining these mysterious
phenomena, the idea of intentional fraud on the part either of the
afflicted, or of the Christian witnesses and sympathizers, is excluded. The absence of all motive to deceive, the great number of instances, the
well-tried character of the witnesses, and all the circumstances connected
with their minute and consistent narratives, establish beyond reasonable
doubt their entire sincerity. Whatever the world at large may think, the
native Christians of Shantung are as fully convinced, both of the reality
of demoniacal possessions, and of the available power of Jesus to remedy
them, as were the disciples in the apostolic church. And the number of
coincidences which Dr. Nevius has pointed out between these cases and those
described in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles is certainly
remarkable. In regard to them each reader of the book must form his own
conclusions. The author does not insist upon any particular interpretation,
or any final conclusion. He is evidently impressed with the gravity of his
subject and the possibility of erroneous speculations. But in his extended
researches he has found such speculations already rife, and he has
considered them briefly in some of the later chapters of his book. A belief in demoniacal possession has existed in many lands and throughout
the ages, and many and conflicting theories of explanation have been
advanced by anthropologists and writers on psychology, hypnotism, etc. Some
of these Dr. Nevius has answered, and, as I think, successfully; and on the
whole his mind seems inclined to the view that as yet no theory has been
advanced which so well accords with the facts as the simple and
unquestioning conclusion so universally held by the Christians of Shantung,
viz., that evil spirits do in many instances possess or control the mind
and will of human beings. Hypnotism, making due allowance for a thousand extravagances which have
attended it, does seem to show that one strong and magnetic human will may
so control the mind and will of its subject as by a mere silent volition to
direct his words and acts. Who shall say then that a disembodied spirit may
not do the same? Professor Shaler [Nathan Southgate, 1841-1906] of Harvard in his
Interpretation of Nature [1893] has pointed out the fact of a strong
reaction against the materialism which seemed confident of dominion a few
years ago. Certain biological investigators, flushed with the success of
their researches, were very confident that, if they had not been able to
discover the human soul with the microscope, they had at least identified
it very closely with the substance of the brain and nerves. But now, as the
professor shows, science is beginning to discover realms of spirit lying
beyond the physical, and of which we have as yet but the barest glimpses of
knowledge. Evidently human research has not yet finished its work and is
not ready to rest its case upon any dogmatic verdict. Over against materialistic speculation are the vagaries of spiritualists,
theosophists, and all apostles of Oriental or Occidental occultism. Their
theories are on the opposite extreme, and it is one of their chief claims
for recognition that they hope to save society from the deadening influence
of materialism. Dr. Nevius, after considering both of these extremes, finds no better
account of man's spiritual nature than that which is given in the Word of
God:-No more rational view of his conflicts with evil, no more satisfactory
and all sufficient remedy for that evil. While he does not dogmatize in
regard to the mysterious maladies suffered in Shantung he deems it wise to
state the facts, nor does he disguise the leanings of his own mind, in
regard to them. PREFACE
In this age of super-abounding literature, an author in presenting a new
book to the public, often feels called upon to give his reasons for so
doing. Good and sufficient reasons will no doubt be thought especially
called for in again raising the question: Is there such a thing as Demon-
Possession in this latter part of the Nineteenth Century? The author's apology is, that in the prosecution of his missionary work in
China this subject was repeatedly forced upon his attention, so that it
became absolutely necessary to examine it, and to form an intelligent
opinion respecting it. In this investigation, in intervals of leisure during the past twelve
years, facts have been elic