LCMS, Demons and Mental Illness

[pinacled]

Because I am LCMS.

Are you shooting for some record for asking the most questions of any other poster? Why not contribute to the thread instead of trying to derail it with endless questions.

Seems to me that you're phishing

 

[Faith]

Seems to me that you're phishing

Seems to me that you’re .... oh never mind.

 

[pinacled]

Seems to me that you’re .... oh never mind.

An honest explaination of which lmcs leader taught you demon possession is mental illness would suffice.

Then they'll be turned over to federal authorities

 

[Faith]

An honest explaination of which lmcs leader taught you demon possession is mental illness would suffice.

Then they'll be turned over to federal authorities

No LCMS “leader” taught me that. Please try to follow along.

 

[pinacled]

No LCMS “leader” taught me that. Please try to follow along.

Then how did you come to make such a statement in the op?

 

[Faith]

Then how did you come to make such a statement in the op?

Gosh, re-read, pay attention or whatever.

 

[pinacled]

Back in Biblical times those afflicted by mental illness were probably described as having demons. People were ignorant of the symptoms of mental illness. Since the Lutheran LCMS views The Bible are free from error, how can this be?

No where in the bible is mental illness called demon possession.

Why you focus on lcms is phishing by definition.

 

[Lamb]

@Hope1960 are you looking for Lutheran Only responses? If that's the case we have Prefixes of different denominations in this part of the site for the threads. If you wish to change it to that we can make the announcement here in the thread and then any other responses afterward will be trashed if they aren't Lutheran. It's your call.

 

[Faith]

@Hope1960 are you looking for Lutheran Only responses? If that's the case we have Prefixes of different denominations in this part of the site for the threads. If you wish to change it to that we can make the announcement here in the thread and then any other responses afterward will be trashed if they aren't Lutheran. It's your call.

No, either Lutheran LCMS or those familiar with the LCMS so that they kind of know what they’re talking about.

 

[Castle Church]

I remember reading an article some time ago that I believe was written by a Christian psychiatrist. The gist of what he put forward was that if someone is mentally ill their symptoms will respond to regular medicine and may or may not be helped by prayer and exorcism. If they are possessed or oppressed by demons their symptoms will not respond to medication but will respond to prayer and exorcism.

It seems like a reasonable conclusion to me, for what that's worth.

This sounds prudent to me!

 

[Faith]

Could demons have been more prevalent in Biblical times?

 

[Faith]

Well?

 

[Lamb]

Could demons have been more prevalent in Biblical times?

Since none of us were there it's hard to say really. I wonder what a pastor would say about it though?

 

[Faith]

Since none of us were there it's hard to say really. I wonder what a pastor would say about it though?

I once read somewhere that demonic activity was more prevalent during Jesus’ time on earth. I don’t know if that‘s true or not.

 

[tango]

I once read somewhere that demonic activity was more prevalent during Jesus’ time on earth. I don’t know if that‘s true or not.

At best it's a speculation, unless the author can explain how they draw their conclusion. It's easy to make assertions if you don't need to come up with any evidence.

 

[Pedrito]

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Just because modern authorities choose to lump possible cases of demon possession into the convenient category of mental illness, doesn’t mean that the authorities in Jesus’ time were unaware of, or failed to acknowledge, the difference.

Matthew 4:24: And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. (KJV)

The word translated “lunatick” in the KJV is the Greek word meaning “moon struck”. As Mickleson’s lexicon (an updated Strong’s) puts it: “to be moon-struck, i.e. crazy”. The older translations express it similarly. The Thayer lexicon agrees (although it also includes the common rendering in modern translations), stating:
1. to be moon-struck or lunatic
2. to be epileptic
a. epilepsy being supposed to return and increase with the increase of the moon. This meaning is doubtful as the Greeks knew nothing of epilepsy.

===================================================================================

In English, “moonstruck” means, based on its historical roots, “as if being affected by the moon” – for instance mentally unbalanced, or romantically sentimental. Ancient Greek appears to have had a similar scope of meaning.

So it would seem that the modern trend to play down the recognition of mental illness in ancient times, has even affected modern translators – they seem to feel the need to err on the side of “acceptability” to preclude any inhibition to the acceptance of and sale of their works.

The World continues to intrude, even into what should be protected quarters.

===================================================================================

 

[Faith]

===================================================================================

Just because modern authorities choose to lump possible cases of demon possession into the convenient category of mental illness, doesn’t mean that the authorities in Jesus’ time were unaware of, or failed to acknowledge, the difference.

Matthew 4:24: And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. (KJV)

The word translated “lunatick” in the KJV is the Greek word meaning “moon struck”. As Mickleson’s lexicon (an updated Strong’s) puts it: “to be moon-struck, i.e. crazy”. The older translations express it similarly. The Thayer lexicon agrees (although it also includes the common rendering in modern translations), stating:
1. to be moon-struck or lunatic
2. to be epileptic
a. epilepsy being supposed to return and increase with the increase of the moon. This meaning is doubtful as the Greeks knew nothing of epilepsy.

===================================================================================

In English, “moonstruck” means, based on its historical roots, “as if being affected by the moon” – for instance mentally unbalanced, or romantically sentimental. Ancient Greek appears to have had a similar scope of meaning.

So it would seem that the modern trend to play down the recognition of mental illness in ancient times, has even affected modern translators – they seem to feel the need to err on the side of “acceptability” to preclude any inhibition to the acceptance of and sale of their works.

The World continues to intrude, even into what should be protected quarters.

===================================================================================

So in Jesus’ time they considered epilepsy to be a mental illness?

 

[Lamb]

So in Jesus’ time they considered epilepsy to be a mental illness?

A lot of things were probably deemed as mental illness since people didn't understand the afflictions.

 

[Faith]

A lot of things were probably deemed as mental illness since people didn't understand the afflictions.

This was my OP: <<<<<<Back in Biblical times those afflicted by mental illness were probably described as having demons. People were ignorant of the symptoms of mental illness. Since the Lutheran LCMS views The Bible are free from error, how can this be?>>>>>>


So, how can this be?

 

[pinacled]

A lot of things were probably deemed as mental illness since people didn't understand the afflictions.

Like the blind man healed.
There are many factors within cultural relevance to sift as chaff.