Do Minor Cases Exist?

The words “demon possessed” suggests a crazed, evil, uncontrollable beast of a person, but there is no such expression as “demon possessed” in the original text of the Bible. It is not two words – one meaning demon and the other meaning possessed – but a single word daimonizomai derived from the word demon (daimon). “Demonized” is a more literal translation. It might be better to think of someone being victimized or harassed by a demon, rather than “possessed”.

The number in a Roman legion (six thousand) and the number of pigs that felt a sudden urge to go for a swim (two thousand) suggests that a vast number of demons were tormenting “Legion.” If he could survive such a plague of demons, it suggests the symptoms of having just one demon could be quite minor. This is further rammed home when we consider that demons apparently differ in rank – suggested by Paul differentiating between principalities, powers, rulers, and so on, all of whom are spiritual and evil (Ephesians 6:12) – with, presumably, Satan presiding over them all. Moreover, individual demons vary according to the damage they can inflict on people. Thus Jesus spoke of a demon finding others that were “more wicked” than itself (Luke 11:26).

Scripture gives only a few examples of those troubled by demons and, as discussed, even these are likely to be extreme examples. Interestingly, their symptoms varied widely from person to person. Here’s a list of symptoms I’ve quickly gathered:

Psychic ability (Acts 16:16)

Seizures (Matthew 17:15)

Physically stooped (Luke 13:11)

Inability to speak (Matthew 9:32)

Deafness (Mark 9:25)

Blindness (Matthew 12:22)

Screaming (Mark 5:5)

Supernatural strength (Mark 5:3-4; Acts 19:14,16)

Refusing to wear clothes (Luke 8:27)

Demonically driven to homelessness (Luke 8:27,29)

Self-harm (Mark 5:5)

Scripture doesn’t say “Legion” cut himself on stones (not, as I once supposed, injuring himself as he thrashed about uncontrollably) but cutting himself with stones.

Fear?

When Scripture says that Saul was troubled by an evil spirit it chose a word meaning to be terrified by (1 Samuel 16:14). When Paul said we have not received a spirit of fear, (2 Timothy 1:7) was he alluding to the existence of such spirits?

Fits of anger? (1 Samuel 18:10-11)

Had Scripture elected to provide a full list of people Jesus delivered from an evil spirit, it might include some who displayed only surprisingly mundane symptoms. Since “Legion” had many demons, it is to be expected that he manifested quite a number of the above symptoms, but there are other people of whom only one of the symptoms is mentioned.

Demons seem to afflict their victims spasmodically, rather than constantly. Thus we read of “Legion,” “many times it had seized him” (Luke 8:29), and of the boy with seizures, “whenever it seizes him” (Mark 9:18). This suggests that, between bouts, a person might have no observable symptoms.

Because of his rebellion against God, King Saul ended up with an evil spirit (1 Samuel 16:14) and yet despite his affliction he was still able to function as king. It was commonly asserted that Jesus had a demon (Mark 3:22,30; John 7:20; 8:48,52). John 10:20-21 reads as if this was a genuine belief rather than mockery and yet, except for his claims and miracles, there was nothing abnormal about him. John the Baptist was also accused of having a demon (Luke 7:33). Clearly, their contemporaries did not think that to have a demon one must be dysfunctional.

All of the above lines of biblical evidence point to the conclusion that, as distinct from the cases Scripture chose to highlight, the effect of having just one minor demon might be so small as to be hard to detect.