560 D iE M 
fellor. People are often under the influence of an over¬ 
heated imagination with regard to fome one thing, and 
cool and fober as to every thing elfe. There is a fourth 
way of refolving this difficulty, fuggefted to us by the 
very words which he ufed in his Defence. He therein 
intimates, that whereas others were accuftomed to ex¬ 
pert events from “ Birds, Omens, Tokens, Diviners;” 
he relied on Providence, and aferibed all to Providence, 
which he called his Daemon. See Socr. Apol. Xenopli. 
p. 386. Simpfon’s Edit. Memorabilia. 
DAiMO'NIAC, f. [from daemon.'] A human being, 
whofe volition and other mental faculties are overpow¬ 
ered and reftrained, and his body poflefled and actuated 
by fome created fpiritual being of fuperior power. Such 
feems to be the determinate fenfe of the word ; but it is 
difputed whether any of mankind ever were in this un¬ 
fortunate condition. It is generally agreed, that neither 
good nor evil fpirits are known to exert fuch authority 
at prefent over the human race: but in the ancient hea¬ 
then world, and among the Jews, particularly in the 
days of our Saviour, evil fpirits at leaf; are thought by 
many to have been more troublefome. 
The Greeks and Romans imagined, that their deities, 
to reveal future events, frequently entered into the pro¬ 
phet or prophetefs who was confulted, overpowered 
their faculties, and uttered refponfes with their organs 
of fpeech. Apollo was believed to enter into the Py- 
thonefs, and to dictate the prophetic anfwers received 
by thofe who confulted her. Other oracles befides that 
■‘of Delphi, were\ fuppofed to unfold futurity by the 
fame machinery. And in various other cafes, either 
malignant daemons, or benevolent deities, were thought 
to enter into and to actuate human beings. In all thefe 
cafes however, the perfons pretending to infpiration were 
not called but ; a diftinCtion 
which ought to be noticed : for although the Englifh 
language fcarcely affords us words, by which to inter¬ 
pret thefe terms varioufly, yet we may be allured a 
Greek, in the ufe of them, conceived and affixed diffe¬ 
rent ideas to them. Among the ancient heathens, there¬ 
fore, it appears to have been a generally received opi¬ 
nion, that fuperior beings entered occalionally into men, 
overpowered the faculties of their minds, and actuated 
their bodily organs. They might imagine that this hap¬ 
pened in inftances in which the effects were owing to 
the operation of different caufes; but an opinion fo ge¬ 
nerally prevalent had furely fome plauffble foundation. 
The Jews too, according to Jofephus, appear to have 
believed in daemoniacal pofleflion. The cafe of Saul 
may be recollected as one among many in which fupe¬ 
rior created beings were believed by the Jews to exert 
in this manner their influence over human life. The 
general tenor of their hiftory and language, and their 
doctrines concerning good and evil fpirits, prove the 
opinion of daemoniacal pofleflion to have been well known 
and generally received among them. 
In the days of our Saviour, it would appear that dae¬ 
moniacal polfeflion was very frequent among the Jews and 
the neighbouring nations. Many were the evil fpirits 
whom Jefus is related in the gofpels to have ejected 
from patients that were brought unto him as poflefled 
and tormented by thofe malevolent daemons. His apoftles 
too, and the firft Chriftians, who were mod aCtive and 
fuccefsful in the propagation of Chriftianity, appear to 
have often exerted the miraculous powers with which 
they were endowed on fimilar occafions. The daemons 
difplayed a degree of knowledge and malevolence which 
fufficiently diftinguiflied them from human beings: and 
the language in which the daemoniacs are mentioned, and 
the aCtions and fentiments aferibed to them in the New 
Teffamentj Ihow that our Saviour and his apoftles did 
not confider the idea of daemoniacal pofleflion as being 
merely a vulgar error concerning the origin of a difeafe 
or difeafes produced by natural caufes. 
The more enlightened cannot always avoid the ufe of 
2 
D iE M 
metaphorical modes of expreflion, which, though found¬ 
ed upon error, have yet been fo eftablifhed in language, 
by the influence of cuftom, that they cannot be fuddenly 
difmifled. When we read- in the book of Jofhua, that 
the fun on a certain occafion flood (till, to allow that 
hero time to complete a victory ; we ealily find an excufe 
for the conduit of the facred hiftorian, in accommodating 
his narrative to the popular ideas of the Jews concerning 
the relative motions of the heavenly bodies. In all fimi¬ 
lar inftances, we do not complain much of the ufe of a 
fingle phrafe, originally introduced by the prevalence of 
fome groundlefs opinion, the falfity of which is well 
known to the writer. But in deferiptions of characters, 
in the narration of facts, and in the laying down fyftems 
of doCtrine, we require different rules to be obferved. 
Should any perfon, in compliance with popular opinions, 
talk in ferious language of the exiftence, difpofitions, 
declarations, and actions, of a race of beings whom he 
knew to be abfolutely fabulous, we furely could not 
praife him for candid integrity; we niuft fuppofe him to 
be either exulting in irony over the weak credulity of 
thofe around him, or taking advantage of their weaknefs, 
with the diflionefty and the felfiffi views of an impoftor- 
And if he himfelf ffiould pretend to any connection with 
this imaginary fyftem of beings, and ffiould claim, in 
confequence of his connection with them, particular ho¬ 
nours from his contemporaries; whatever might be the- 
dignity of his chaiaCter in all other refpefts, nobody 
could hefitate even for a moment to brand him as an im- 
poftor of the bafeft character. 
Precifely in this light muft we have regarded the con¬ 
duct of our Saviour and his apoftles, if the idea of dae¬ 
moniacal pofleflion had been confidered merely as a vulgar 
error. They talked and aCted as if they believed that evil 
fpirits had actually entered into thole who were brought 
to them as poflefled with devils, and as if thofe fpirits 
were actually expelled by tlieir authority out of the un¬ 
happy perfons whom they had poflefled. They expeCted 9 
they demanded too, to have their profeffions and decla¬ 
rations believed, in confequence of their performing fuch 
mighty works, and to be honoured as having thus tri¬ 
umphed over the’ powers of hell. The reality of daemo¬ 
niacal pofleflion Hands upon the fame evidence with the 
gofpel fyftem in general. Neither is there any thing ab- 
furd or unreafonable in this doCtrine. It does not appear 
to contradict thofe ideas which the general appearance 
of nature and the feries of events fuggeft, concerning 
the benevolence and wifdom of the Deity, and the conn- 
fels by which he regulates the affairs of the univerfe. 
We often fancy ourlelves able to comprehend things to 
which our underftanding is wholly inadequate ; we per- 
fuade ourfelves, at times, that the whole extent of the- 
works of the Deity muft be well known to us, and that 
his defigns muft always be fuch as we can fathom. We 
are then ready, whenever any difficulty arifes to us, in 
confidering the conduCt of Providence, to model thing* 
according to our own ideas; to deny that the Deity can 
poflibly be the author of things which’we cannot recon¬ 
cile ; and to aflert, that he muft aCt on every occafion 
in a manner confiftent with our narrow views. This is 
the pride of reafon and it feems to have fuggefted the 
ftrongeft objections that have been at any time urged 
againft the reality of daemoniacal pofleflion. But the Deity- 
may furely conneft one order of his creatures with ano¬ 
ther. We perceive mutual relations and a beautiful con¬ 
nection to prevail through all that part of nature which 
falls within the fphere of our obfervation. The inferior 
animals are connected with mankind, and fubjeCted to 
their authority, not only in inftances in which it is ex¬ 
erted for their advantage, but even where it is tyranni¬ 
cally abufed to their deftruCtion. Among the evils to 
which mankind have been fubjeCted, why might not 
their being liable to demoniacal poffeflion be one ? While 
the Supreme Being retains the fovereignty of the uni¬ 
verfe, he may employ whatever agents, he thinks proper 
ii\ 
