In a nutshell, it’s another faux-documentary horror film, cashing in on the success of the Paranormal Activity franchise. A woman named Isabella embarks on a mission in Italy to discover what really happened to her mother, who allegedly murdered three people during her own exorcism. Isabella joins up with two unauthorized exorcists and becomes involved in a series of exorcisms while she tries to discover the truth.
I personally loved the acting, particularly by the demon-possessed mother, played by Suzan Crowley.
The way the filmmakers depicted the possessions and the exorcisms were gruesome and terrifying. Unfortunately, the movie did broadcast many of its moves and there were very little surprises storyline wise, but it kept my attention because I had no idea how these things were going to take place.
And it felt rather short—only 83 minutes.
But this isn’t supposed to be a movie review. This is the story of where my mind went after seeing it. That next Sunday my preacher taught on prayer on fasting, using The English Standard Version of Mark 9:14-29
14 And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. 15 And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. 16 And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” 17 And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. 18 And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” 19 And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” 20 And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 21 And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said “I believe, help my unbelief!” 25 And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. 28 And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” 29 And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting.”
This is a familiar passage, but one that has always puzzled me. Why could the disciples not cast out the demon? Why is this demon different from all the others? Why does Jesus make a point to ask how long this has been happening?
So here is my real question: Is it heresy to suggest that the boy was not possessed at all? That the “demon” who throws the boy down, making him foam at the mouth, grind his teeth, and become rigid, is actually just a medical condition, such as epilepsy?
Could this be why the disciples were not able to help the boy? Jesus gave them authority over demons, not over this—they were pastors, not doctors. Jesus knew when He saw the boy that this was no demon, which was why He asked how long the boy had been like this. It was a life-long condition, not a recent possession. And to “expel the demon” was actually to heal the child.
But how to explain that to his disciples? Jesus said, in verse 29, that “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting.” Could this be His commandment to his disciples for how to help heal the sick? Could this be Jesus’ way of saying, “Medicine won’t be able to heal this boy for thousands of years. For now, pray and fast, and let God do the rest?”
For thousands of years, people have taught and believed that the boy was demon possessed.
The Bible, no matter the translation, says the word “demon.” I suggest that it could be otherwise. Is this heresy?
perhaps I'll be the heretic for a moment and ask the opposite question- how many "sicknesses" today are actually demon possession?
ReplyDeleteI will also add though that the translation you posted (which one?) actually does not say demon but spirit. And the word spirit is used in a wide variety of ways in scripture sometimes indicating the supernatural while at other times simply indicating the inner man or the heart of man or sometimes other things (i.e. 1 Corinthians 2:1, 5:3, 14:14). We also read on numerous occasions the power of prayer in healing from "sickness..." Thoughts?
My bad. I meant to include the translation but forgot at he last minute. I took it from the English Standard Version (I'd be interested to know which translation you prefer). And you bring up a great point. After looking through various translations I found that the "demon" in Mark 9:17 is described as a "spirit," an "evil spirit," or a "dumb spirit."
ReplyDeleteWith that being the case, I think that there is even more evidence to suggest a physical ailment rather than a spiritual one. The language is still troubling (i.e. verse 20: "when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy," which suggests the "spirit" is separate from the boy) but Jesus' advice to his disciples does match the numerous other examples of healing through prayer and fasting.
And I often wonder about modern demon possession. I heard a protestant pastor once say that he called a priest to help with a demon-possessed boy because Catholics are much more prepared for things like that. I have no idea why that is or if there are teachings in protestant denominations on demon possession that I am unaware of. In modern society, you would be brave (foolish?) to suggest demon-possession before some kind of disorder, when so many like cases are successfully treated through counseling and medication.
But maybe it still happens. I find the whole idea intriguing because demon possession is physical evidence of things unseen. For nonbelievers, or those in-between, an account of demon possessions shows that there really is something beyond what we think we know.
The Greek word used for the word "demon" is pneuma, meaning spirit. I would say that it is a possibility that it could have been an illness like epilepsy except that Jesus says that it is a "mute and deaf" spirit (v.25). Evil spirits are talked about in other texts in the NT (Luke 7:21; 8:2; Acts 19:12,13).
ReplyDeleteThe line from Jesus to the disciples about "this kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting" seems to be instruction to the disciples about the need for them to rely on the Lord for these healings. The disciples had the ability to cast out demons (Matthew 10:8, etc.). "Fasting" is a textual variant, and most likely added later to the NT text. Prayer, we know, is communication and reliance on God. The disciples could not cast out the evil spirit without asking and relying on God. Eventually, that is what they do because the call Jesus (God with us) to cast out the demon.
As I understand it, this was in the very early part of the disciples' ministries. They had not matured enough in their faith to take care of this demon/spirit. They still had a long way to go. My wife and I use the ESV. It's really easy to read, and a lot of well-known preachers use it.
ReplyDeleteAdam, great to hear from you. Your reply make me wonder what the differences were between the demons the disciples could cast out, and those they couldn't. I also never knew that fasting was a textual variant. Fascinating.
ReplyDeleteAndrew's comment mirrored my own view on the topic for most of my life, and I think it's the conclusion most of us come to when we first read it. The disciples were learning, they came upon something they hadn't seen before, and they had to call in Jesus to help them out. Whether or not they ever learned enough to cast out all of the demons is another interesting question.
Yeah. According the UBS4 Committee, it is a textual variant (It is an "A" reading that fasting was not original to the text).
ReplyDeleteThe point I was trying to make earlier was that I believe that the disciples could have cast out this demon, but because they did not rely on God in this situation, the exorcism did not occur.
Hope you're well!
Adam