Supernatural Religion (Discovering the Reality of Divine Revelation). Walter Richard Cassels

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СКАЧАТЬ reigning over devils and evil spirits, and having the power of expelling them from the bodies of men and animals, and also of delivering people to them.(1) It was indeed believed that the two demons Asa and Asael taught Solomon all wisdom and all arts.(2) The Talmud relates many instances of his power over evil spirits, and amongst others how he made them assist in building the Temple. Solomon desired to have the help of the worm Schamir in preparing the stones for the sacred building, and he conjured up a devil and a she-devil to inform him where Schamir was to be found. They referred him to Asmodeus, whom the King craftily captured, and by whom he was informed that Schamir is under the jurisdiction of the Prince of the Seas, and Asmodeus further told him how he might be secured. By his means the Temple was built, but, from the moment it was destroyed, Schamir for ever disappeared.(3) It was likewise believed that one of the Chambers of the second Temple was built by a magician called Parvah, by means of magic.(4) The Talmud narrates many stories of miracles performed by various Rabbins.(6)

      The Jewish historian, Josephus, informs us that, amongst other gifts, God bestowed upon King Solomon knowledge of the way to expel demons, an art which is useful and salutary for mankind. He composed incantations by which diseases are cured, and he left behind him forms of exorcism by which demons may be so effectually expelled that they never return, a method of cure, Josephus adds, which is of great efficacy to his own day. He himself had seen a countryman of his own, named Eliezer, release people possessed of devils in the presence of the Emperor Vespasian and his sons, and of his army. He put a ring containing one of the roots prescribed by Solomon to the nose of the demoniac, and drew the demon out by his nostrils, and, in the name of Solomon, and reciting one of his incantations, he adjured it to return no more. In order to demonstrate to the spectators that he had the power to cast out devils, Eliezer was accustomed to set a vessel full of water a little way off, and he commanded the demon as he left the body of the man to overturn it, by which means, says Josephus, the skill and wisdom of Solomon were made very manifest.(1) Jewish Rabbins generally were known as powerful exorcisers, practising the art according to the formulae of their great monarch. Justin Martyr reproaches his Jewish opponent, Tryphon, with the fact that his countrymen use the same art as the Gentiles, and exorcise with fumigations and charms [——]—], and he shows the common belief in demoniacal influence "when he asserts that, while Jewish exorcists cannot overcome demons by such means, or even by exorcising them in the name of their Kings, Prophets, or Patriarchs, though he admits that they might do so if they adjured them in the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and

      Jacob, yet Christians at once subdued demons by exorcising them in the name of the Son of God.(1) The Jew and the Christian were quite agreed that demons were to be exorcised, and merely differed as to the formula of exorcism. Josephus gives an account of a root potent against evil spirits. It is called Baaras, and is flame-coloured, and in the evening sends out flashes like lightning. It is certain death to touch it, except under peculiar conditions. One mode of securing it is to dig down till the smaller part of the root is exposed, and then to attach the root to a dog's tail. When the dog tries to follow its master from the place, and pulls violently, the root is plucked up, and may then be safely handled, but the dog instantly dies, as the man would have done had he plucked it up himself. When the root is brought to sick people, it at once expels demons.(2) According to Josephus, demons are the spirits of the wicked dead; they enter into the bodies of the living, who die, unless succour be speedily obtained.(3) This theory, however, was not general, demons being commonly considered the offspring of the fallen angels and of the daughters of men.

      The Jewish historian gives a serious account of the preternatural portents which warned the Jews of the approaching fall of Jerusalem, and he laments the infatuation of the people, who disregarded these Divine denunciations. A star in the shape of a sword, and also a comet, stood over the doomed city for the space of a whole year. Then, at the feast of unleavened bread, before the rebellion of the Jews which preceded the war, at the ninth hour of the night a great light shone round the altar and the Temple, so that for half an hour it seemed as though it were brilliant daylight. At the same festival other supernatural warnings were given. A heifer, as she was led by the high-priest to be sacrificed, brought forth a lamb in the Temple; moreover, the eastern gate of the inner court of the Temple, which was of brass, and so ponderous that twenty men had much difficulty in closing it, and which was fastened by heavy bolts descending deep into the solid stone floor, was seen to open of its own accord, about the sixth hour of the night. The ignorant considered some of these events good omens, but the priests interpreted them as portents of evil. Another prodigious phenomenon occurred, which Josephus supposes would be considered incredible were it not reported by those who saw it, and were the subsequent events not of sufficient importance to merit such portents: before sunset, chariots and troops of soldieis in armour were seen among the clouds, moving about, and surrounding cities. And further, at the feast of Pentecost, as the priests were entering the inner court of the Temple to perform their sacred duties, they felt an earthquake, and heard a great noise, and then the sound as of a great multitude saying: "Let us remove hence."(l) There is not a shadow of doubt in the mind of Josephus as to the reality of any of these wonders.

      If we turn to patristic literature, we find, everywhere, the same superstitions and the same theories of angelic agency and demoniacal interference in cosmical phenomena. According to Justin Martyr, after God had made the world and duly regulated the elements and the rotation of the seasons, he committed man and all things under heaven to the care of angels. Some of these angels, however, proved unworthy of this charge, and, led away by love of the daughters of men, begat children, who are the demons who have corrupted the human race, partly by magical writings [——]—] and partly by fears and punishments, and who have introduced wars, murders, and other evils amongst them, which are ignorantly ascribed by poets to God himself.(1) He considers that demoniacs are possessed and tortured by the souls of the wicked dead,(2) and he represents evil spirits as watching to seize the soul at death.(3) The food of the angels is manna.(4) The angels, says Clement of Alexandria, serve God in the administration of earthly affairs.(5) The host of angels and of gods [——]—] is placed under subjection to the Logos.(6) Presiding angels are distributed over nations and cities, and perhaps are also deputed to individuals,(7) and it is by their agency, either visible or invisible, that God gives all good things.(8) He accuses the Greeks of plagiarizing their miracles from the Bible, and he argues that if certain powers do move the winds and distribute showers, they are agents subject to God.(9) Clement affirms that the Son gave philosophy to the Greeks by means of the inferior angels,(10) and argues that it is absurd to attribute it to the devil.(11) Theophilus of Antioch, on the other hand, says that the Greek poets were inspired by demons.(12) Athenagoras states, as one of the principal points of belief among Christians, that a multitude of angels and ministers are distributed and appointed by the Logos to occupy themselves about the elements, and the heavens, and the universe and the things in it, and the regulating of the whole.(1) For it is the duty of the angels to exercise providence over all that God has created; so that God may have the universal care of the whole, but the several parts be ministered to by the angels appointed over them. There is freedom of will amongst the angels as among human beings, and some of the angels abused their trust, and fell through love of the daughters of men, of whom were begotten those who are called Giants.(2) These angels who have fallen from heaven busy themselves about the air and the earth; and the souls of the Giants,(3) which are the demons that roam about the world, work evil according to their respective natures.(4) There are powers which exercise dominion over matter, and by means of it, and more especially one, who is opposed to God. This Prince of matter exerts authority and control in opposition to the good designed by God.(5) Demons are greedy for sacrificial odours and the blood of the victims, which they lick; and they influence the multitude to idolatry by inspiring thoughts and visions which seem to come from idols and statues.(6) According to Tatian, God made everything which is good, but the wickedness of demons perverts the productions of nature for bad purposes, and the evil in these is due to demons and not to God.(1) None of the demons have bodies; they are spiritual, like fire or air, and can only be seen by those in whom the Spirit of God dwells. They attack men by means of lower forms of matter, and come to them whenever they are diseased, and sometimes they cause disorders of the body, but when they are struck by the power of the word of God, they flee in terror, and the sick person is healed.(2) Various kinds of roots, and the relations of bones СКАЧАТЬ