The Supernatural in the New Testament, Possible, Credible, and Historical / Or, An Examination of the Validity of Some Recent Objections Against Christianity as a Divine Revelation

by C. A. Row

It is important to keep steadily in view the fact, that the New Testament invariably represents possession as consisting in the action of a stronger mind on a weaker one. The influence which the demon exerted on the bodily organs might have been effected through the agency of the man himself. It is never described as involving a visible manifestation of the demon, but his action is one which is purely mental and spiritual. His presence and his departure were simply judged of by their effects.

It follows, therefore, that the denial of the possibility of an influence of this kind must rest on a very wide principle. It cannot be confined to such action alone, [pg 274] but must go to the extent of denying the possibility of the action of all spiritual beings on the mind of man. The only principle on which the denial can rest is, that our mental science has so far succeeded in analyzing all the past and present operations of the human mind, that it is justified in affirming that they all originate entirely within the mind itself; and are never brought about by an action on it from without by any invisible agent. If this is the principle on which the denial rests, it will be equally valid to exclude the action of God on our minds, as well as that of all other invisible beings. It will doubtless be urged that it is only intended to deny the action of invisible evil beings. But if it is true that our mental philosophy has ascertained that all our thoughts originate either in the mind itself, or in the mind acted on by external nature, or by other men, the principle must be valid for proving that all other spiritual agency exerted on the mind is impossible, and that all supposed instances of it are delusions. It is impossible on this principle to exclude the evil agency, and not to exclude the good also.

It is evident that this principle is far too broad to be used for the purpose of affirming the impossibility of the action of external evil agents only. It is based on the supposition that our mental philosophy is so complete as to be able to assign even the most abnormal portions of our mental action to definite and known forces, all of which originate within the mind itself, and are never due to external influences. If mental philosophy could establish this as a fact, it would doubtless prove that possession was impossible; but it could prove a great deal more, even that God never acted on or influenced the spirit of man. But if there is any one phenomenon of the mind, of the origin of which we are ignorant, the whole principle is vitiated, [pg 275] for that very phenomenon may be caused by the action of an external power. The real point of the controversy therefore is, Is our mental science thus complete? Has it been able to reduce all our mental phenomena, including the most abnormal of them, to the action of known forces? Has it analyzed our mental powers to their inmost depths? Until it has done this, it is impossible to affirm that the abnormal actions of the mind may not be occasioned by an external agency.

It will probably be urged, that although our philosophy has not yet succeeded in assigning all our mental phenomena to the action of known forces, it hopes to accomplish this hereafter; and that its past conquests ought to be accepted as a pledge of its future performances; and that the time will certainly come, when it will be able to refer every mental phenomenon to a cause originating in the mind itself, and acting in conformity with invariable law. Promises, however, are not performances; what is requisite to impart validity to wide affirmations is present actual knowledge, not the hope that future scientific conquests will be extended over the entire regions of the unknown. Science professes to walk by sight and not by faith. In a subject of this kind it is most unphilosophical to assume that the possibilities of the future are the realities of the present; and to enunciate propositions whose validity rests solely on the fact that they are so.

I will now definitely state the principle which can alone give any scientific value to the assertion, that such demoniacal action as that which is described in the New Testament, is unbelievable. It is as follows: that we have so completely ascertained the nature of the forces which act on our minds, and the laws which regulate them, that we know as a scientifically [pg 276] established truth, that they all originate either in our own mental organization, or in the action of other men on our minds. The statement of the principle in this distinct form at once shows that it is invalid.

It is impossible for one moment to affirm that our knowledge is so complete, that we have a scientific acquaintance with the causes of all our varied mental phenomena, and the laws which regulate them. We have ascertained the nature of several of our mental processes; but how small a portion of man's mental activity do they embrace. I need only particularize a few of which we are in complete ignorance, as to the forces which generate them, and the laws which regulate their action.

First, with respect to Genius. Genius is a mental power which manifests itself only on rare occasions. Who can affirm that we have ascertained the law which regulates its birth? We may judge from analogy that this, as other things, follows a law of some kind; but respecting the causes which give it birth our philosophy is profoundly ignorant. Nor have we any knowledge of its mode of action. It manifests itself in various forms. There is the genius which makes the poet, the philosopher, the scientific discoverer, the orator, the politician, and many others. How those who are possessed of this power effectuate their mental operations, or how their great ideas originate in their minds is a subject which exceeds the limits of our scientific knowledge. Take for example the genius of the poet. Whence came, and what was the nature of that intuitive power with which Shakespeare was endowed, or how was it called into exercise? We call such powers intuitions. We say that a great poet is endowed with a species of inspiration. What is this but to confess our entire ignorance both of the [pg 277] origin and the mode of his mental operations. Probably the poet himself would be unable to give us any analysis of the origin of his own thoughts, or of the laws that regulate them. How then can we venture to affirm that they must all originate in the mind itself, and not be due to the action of some external power? The habit of speaking of his inspirations, from which scientific men are not exempt, proves our complete ignorance both of its nature and origin.

But to descend to a humbler sphere—our own minds. We are all conscious that thoughts rush into them in a most unbidden manner, and that we pass through mental states which our analysis is unable to explain. Can any man affirm, however deep may be his philosophy, that the known laws of association of ideas are adequate to account for all the mental phenomena of which he has been conscious? Who has not had experience of severe efforts to realize something in thought, which have ended in failure, and that the right thing has suddenly come into his mind uncalled and unbidden? Not unfrequently has a sudden thought entered the mind (we know not whence it came) which has entirely changed the whole current of a previous life. Still more frequently has a happy idea occurred to us, the origin of which it is impossible to trace. Who again has not had experience of the sudden rushing of a temptation into his mind with an all but overwhelming force, even while his thoughts were occupied with subjects in no way allied to the suggestion? Many of our mental phenomena may be explained by the principle of association of ideas and other known mental powers; but who can venture to affirm that they are adequate to account for all the various states of which he has been conscious, or that some of them have not originated in suggestions from without? [pg 278] Scientific knowledge is certainly able to make no such affirmation.

Next: there are numerous abnormal conditions to which the mind is unquestionably subject. Who will venture to affirm that he has penetrated to their depths, or ascertained the laws which regulate their action? These have a most important bearing on the present subject. They are best designated by the term phrenzy. Their aspect is very varied. They differ in many respects from mania, though they are closely allied to it. They are confined to no one race of men, but are co-extensive with human nature. They were prevalent in the ancient world, and connected with various forms of religious belief. They display themselves with peculiar violence in the religious rites of savages. In Oriental countries at the present day, they frequently manifest themselves and assume a great variety of aspects. Examples might be easily adduced. The phrenzied fanatic often presents indications of his mind being acted on by an overwhelming external influence; and when under the influence of the rites of a degraded religion, the symptoms present no little resemblance to those which accompanied demoniacal possession.

I have no wish to affirm that such phenomena must be due to an action of this kind, but to draw attention to the fact that we are ignorant of the power in which they originate, and that such being the case, it is quite possible that their most violent and terrible forms may be aroused by the influence of a power external to the mind itself. Equally ignorant are we of the causes of even their milder manifestations. Whatever may be the hopes which are entertained of the future triumphs of science, it is not too much to assert, that it has not yet reduced these abnormal conditions of the mind to any thing like a scientific law, and that it has not succeeded [pg 279] in tracing the phenomena to the exclusive operation of a force acting within the mind itself. In truth our mental science is ignorant of their causes: and for aught that it can affirm to the contrary, many of them may be due to causes human, superhuman, or a combination of the two. In cases where we are profoundly ignorant, dogmatical assertions should be carefully avoided. While such phenomena are incapable of explanation by the action of known mental forces, the students of mental science are not justified in affirming that possession contradicts its known truths.