Diagnosing Demons and Healing Humans: The Pastoral Implications of a Holistic View of Evil and Collusion between Its Forms

Abstract

Demons as a motif in New Testament narrative may express an allusion to the undifferentiated experience of evil and suffering, rather than to distinct, supernatural intelligences. While a strand of New Testament scholarship argues convincingly in this regard, the magisterium teaches that demons exist as disembodied persons. When evaluating requests for major exorcisms, the Church insists that demonic possession is distinguishable from natural ailments so as to associate demons with distinctly supernatural phenomena. This paper argues that, even if demons do exist as free-willed, intelligent persons, their agency may be insidiously intertwined with social and natural forms of evil so as to be experienced in the undifferentiated manner suggested by the biblical authors. The collusion of personal sin and with social sin, recognized in many contextual theologies and in Catholic Social Teaching, offers a broader insight into collusion between the forms of evil. If evil can defy clear categorization in this manner, this may point to the need for a holistic pastoral response. The paper includes a brief case analysis in relation to the tragic death of Anneliese Michel in Klingenberg, Germany, in 1976. This case exemplified an extremely dualistic approach to the pastoral care of a person claiming to be the subject of demonic attack, and influenced the Catholic bishops of Germany to recommend reform in the manner in which such situations are addressed. The case analysis is followed by a survey of New Testament exegesis on exorcism narratives, and a harmatological argument for an interplay between the forms of evil.