Sickness and Unclean Spirits

I do like science. What I don’t like is when scientists pretend that science holds all the answers. If you could somehow measure the total amount of knowledge concerning how the created universe and spiritual world operate, scientists probably haven’t even discovered 10% of it. So, it bothers me when people dismiss demons or “unclean spirits” as myths of the Dark Ages, not just because the Bible says otherwise, but also because it can be arrogant to be emphatic about their nonexistence. After all, nonexistence logically cannot be proven.

One of the things most ridiculed about the Bible is the connection of demons with sickness. “Obviously,” the skeptic says, “sicknesses are physical problems and not related to imaginary spirits causing mischief.” Well, as it turns out, many illnesses—especially mental illnesses—are still not understood. That many mental illnesses are not caused by evil spirits is quite possible, but that doesn’t mean that some of them can’t have a demonic link, whether it is a causative or an augmentative link.

According to the Bible, fallen angels have significant power. They can cause storms (Job 1:12; 1:18-19), physical ailments (Job 2:7), and mental illness (Mark 9:20). Obviously, a meteorologist is going to say that storms follow predictable patterns completely governed by the laws of physics. 99% of the time that may be the case; but, as anyone knows, meteorologists are often incorrect in their predictions, which implies that they do not understand weather as well as they would like. Occasionally storms don’t seem to follow the standard models, in which case who knows what caused the storm to develop? Now, I’m not saying that science won’t be able to better and better predict the weather, but I’m saying that science doesn’t always explain every storm. Furthermore, I am fully convinced that demons are intelligent enough to conceal their operations from meteorologists. If they trigger a tornado, for instance, it’ll probably be in such a way that meteorologists won’t observe a sudden mysterious change in pressure.

Throughout the Bible, illnesses are viewed as either primarily rooted in a spiritual oppression or in a simple physical defect caused naturally (cf. Matt. 10:8; Mark 1:34). What one would expect, if demons are real and powerful, is that some instances of cancer, mental illness, deafness, etc. have their origination with demonic forces. The Bible tells us that that is the case. A woman, for instance, in Luke 13:11-12 had a “spirit of infirmity” for 18 years. Her spinal column was apparently damaged, but the Bible says that the physical problem was caused by demonic powers. Rarely can science trace down the way that a disease started. When people today are diagnosed with an illness, the problem is found, but the cause of the problem is often unknown. So, how can science rule out the possibility that some diseases are caused by unclean spirits? It cannot.

It is important, however, to make it perfectly clear that illness is not always caused by unclean spirits. The Bible does not say that behind every sickness there is a demon. That is absurd. The Fall of Adam and Eve is enough to account for most illnesses. An example where unclean spirits were not blamed for a physical aliment is in Mark 3:1-5. No spirit was rebuked or cast out of the man with the withered hand. So also in Hezekiah’s case his boil was apparently healed by natural means, not by casting out an evil spirit (Isaiah 38:21-22). Other cases can be found, certainly.

Also, demonic possession in the New Testament is portrayed as an extreme condition where the person possessed has little or no control over their physical body. Demons take control. Mild forms of mental illness may or may not be related to demons. We see that distress/fearfulness can be caused by demons according to 1 Sam. 16:14, but certainly not all fearfulness is caused by evil spirits. The same goes for seizures: some could be triggered by evil spirits (Luke 9:42), but there is no reason that all of them would be.

Just because neurologists today can pinpoint some brain chemistry difference with people with mental problems does not prove that demons aren’t behind it. We have to keep in mind that the spirit, mind, and brain are all intimately interconnected such that the spirit affects the physical brain. A spiritual problem will likely manifest itself by a physical dimension in the brain.

We should not underestimate the power of angels, fallen or un-fallen. They can do things that scientists today would consider “magic.” “Magic” is just unknown science, however. Unlike God, the angels are governed by rules of nature just like everything else. They have their limitations, but causing illness isn’t one of them.