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demonic possession
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IR_2017

136 Posts
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April 5, 2021 - 3:08 pm

 ‘He is possessed by Beelzebul,’ and ‘He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons

 

Matthew and Luke drop the language of being possessed . My question is, was there a belief that Beelzebul would empower his human exorcists to perform exorcisms?  

were there satanists or  witch doctors   who used to perform exorcisms back then ? 

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Stephen
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April 5, 2021 - 9:47 pm

were there satanists or  witch doctors   who used to perform exorcisms back then ? 

I’m not competent to discuss the larger issue but it seems likely.  One of the chief characteristics of the apocalyptic viewpoint shared by Jesus and his disciples was that the world was under cosmic demonic oppression.   By depicting Jesus as a healer and an exorcist the gospel writers, especially Mark,  emphasize his power over the demonic world.   It would have followed that Jesus’ enemies would have accused him of being demonic since for them the world was under demonic oppression. 

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Robert
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April 6, 2021 - 2:14 am
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