Why possession should manifest itself in one country rather than another, why it should have been so common in the time of Christ and so comparatively rare in our own, why even in Palestine it should have been confined almost entirely to the province of Galilee are questions on which theologians have speculated but on which no sure conclusion can ever be reached (cf. Delitzch, “Sys. der biblis. Psychol.”, Leipzig, 1861; Lesetre, op. cit.; Jeiler in “Kirchenlexikon”, II, s.v. “Besessene”; St. August, X, xxii, De civ. Dei, 10, 22). The phenomenon itself is preternatural; a humanly scientific explanation is, therefore, impossible. But it might fairly be expected, we think, that since Christ came to overthrow the empire of Satan, the efforts of the powers of darkness should have been concentrated at the period of His earthly life, and should have been felt especially in the province where, with the exception of a few brief visits to neighboring lands, His private and public life was passed.
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