I am rereading the Gospels where demons are involved. One thing that surprised me:
Jesus seemed to lay no blame on the demonized.
He called the Pharisees vipers but never claimed that they were possessed; and those that were bothered by demons he had compassion. After the Transfiguration he helped a small boy that may have been demonized since infancy.
So, it seems from the NT, that those demonized were "innocent victims." Jesus opposed the religious leaders the harshest and called them snakes but did not claim that they were demonized (although their father was the devil...does that qualify?) nor didhe try to exorcise them. However, for the demonized, he had compassion and healed them.
But we tend to think of those who claim to have demons today as bringing it upon themselves or dabbling with the occult. And those whom I have encountered that they or their neighbors have claimed to "have demons" had some pretty severe sins or invited in the demons themselves through magic.
Was there a shift that occurred; or are we thinking wrongly about demonization based on the NT record?
Jesus seemed to lay no blame on the demonized.
He called the Pharisees vipers but never claimed that they were possessed; and those that were bothered by demons he had compassion. After the Transfiguration he helped a small boy that may have been demonized since infancy.
So, it seems from the NT, that those demonized were "innocent victims." Jesus opposed the religious leaders the harshest and called them snakes but did not claim that they were demonized (although their father was the devil...does that qualify?) nor didhe try to exorcise them. However, for the demonized, he had compassion and healed them.
But we tend to think of those who claim to have demons today as bringing it upon themselves or dabbling with the occult. And those whom I have encountered that they or their neighbors have claimed to "have demons" had some pretty severe sins or invited in the demons themselves through magic.
Was there a shift that occurred; or are we thinking wrongly about demonization based on the NT record?