Demon Possession in the Greco-Roman World A Term ….pdf

Demon Possession in the Greco-Roman World ____________________ A Term Paper Presented to Professor Richard Oster Harding Graduate School of Religion Memphis, Tennessee ____________________ by Alan B. Howell Fall 2001 1 In the Greco-Roman world the importance of the spiritual realm was expressed in daily life through religion.1 MacMullen notes that everyone believed in a spiritual reality, and “‘spirits’ or however they may be 2 termed could, be found everywhere.” As we attempt to understand this spiritual realm around the time that the New Testament was written, one confusing aspect is determining the position of the δαιµονιον or the demons in the typical world-view.3 This paper will survey the pagan conceptions of demons in the ancient world, focus on the pagan understanding of demon possession and exorcism, and conclude by examining the early Christian view.4 Demons in the pagan worldview Before we can accurately deal with the topic of 1Hans-Josef Klauck, The Religious Context of Early Christianity, Studies of the New Testament and Its World, trans. Brian McNeil (Edinburgh: T T Clark, 2000), 12. 2Ramsay MacMullen, Paganism in the Roman Empire (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981) 82. 3Frederick E. Brenk, “In the Light of the Moon: Demonology in the Early Imperial Period,” in Aufstieg und Neidergang der romischen Welt, ed. Hildegard Temporini und Wolfgang Haase (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1980), 2:16:3:2069. 4This paper, while lightly touching on the Jewish backgrounds, will slant toward the pagan understanding of the demonic. For a survey of the understanding of demons and exor