Posted on 01/27/2005 3:33:40 PM PST by franksolich
What is meant by "the miracle of the Gaderene Swine"?
I assume this is a Biblical reference, but I cannot locate it anywhere, even in a dictionary.
Thank you.
It refers to the time when Jesus cast the "Legion" of demons, and allowed them to go into the herd of swine nearby, which then ran off into the water. Matthew Chapter 8 has the reference, I'd have to look up where it is in the other gospels.
See Matthew 8:28-33; Mark 5:1-21; Luke 8:26-40
"...the Miracle of the Gadarene Swine, Jesus and his followers confront two men whose half-dressed, unkempt state indicates that they are possessed by evil spirits. Jesus performs an exorcism, transferring the demons into a herd of swine. Matthew the Evangelist wrote that the herd of swine then “ran violently down a steep place into the sea,” where “they perished in the waters.” "
Gadara was the ancient city of Palestine southeast of the Sea of Galilee and subsequently destroyed. The name was later adopted by a district east of Jordan and called Gadarenes, or Gergesenes. It was the site of the famous miracle of the swine, in which Jesus conjured demonic spirits into the body of swine and let them perish in the sea. The story is recounted in the Synoptic Gospels.
It may be a reference to when Jesus cast the demons out of the lunatic and into the swine, whom then stampeded off the cliff.
Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.
Luke 8 26-39
Thank you all; I wondered about this, but checking various indexes, I could find nothing on the matter.
Uh, I doubt Prince Albert was "advanced" on religious matters, if the author uses "skepticism" to measure such things. I am always confused that the skeptics, the doubters, the misanthropes, the cynics, are "advanced," while those who accept that not all things in this world can be understood by the rational human mind are "primitive."
Bah, humbug.
Hmmm. Anyone know an exorcist? I think every teenager in town is possessed!
"I think every teenager in town is possessed!"
LOL!
Yeah, I got a chuckle out of that too.
But what about the pissed-off swineherd who grabbed Christ and started screaming "hey! - WTF did you do to my pigs!?". (they always leave THAT part out)
"I think every teenager in town is possessed!"
I'm hardly an expert on such things, but I understand there are degrees of demonic influence and oppression short of actual possession.
And I personally believe that there's a lot of that going around.
In otherwords, Jesus invented deviled ham.
Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 01-31-05, Memorial, St. John Bosco
"Jesus and his disciples came to the other side of the sea, to the territory of the Gerasenes."
Bump for the Catholic Daily Caucus Readings.
Apparently it was, Madam, although I pulled the quote from a biography of Queen Victoria--and I thank you.
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