[koinonia]

Jesus healed many sick and crippled without any mention of casting out demons. Are they saying this ("demons cause illness") based on some Bible passage?

It seems to me that some illnesses can be caused by demons or be the physical and psychological side-effects of possession and obsession by demons; but this is rare. Clearly the vast majority of sicknesses, even in the Gospels, are physical ailments plain and simple. What is more, I've seen many holy people physically suffer more than others do and accept it with supernatural peace based on the teaching of Christ that no disciple is greater than his Master and St. Paul who writes: "Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church." (Colossians 1:24)--suffering as a type of intercessory prayer in union with Jesus for the church.

To put it another way, when considering health issues there are three levels to look at: 1. the physical (rule out the obvious), 2. the mental (psychological--i.e. stress can cause heart conditions, fatigue, etc.), 3. spiritual (People living in serious sin cannot be at peace and this will sometimes have physical and psychological ramifications. Then there are those damned spirits themselves--I've seen people who go to fortune tellers or dabble in the occult or open the door directly to evil spirits and later they, or members of their family, have strange, medically unexplainable physcial illnesses--but the root of the problem is not physical, but demonic, and there are usually other strange phenonomen in their houses, dreams, etc. that make this clear. These souls need to get right with God--repent, change their lives, and if necessary seek deliverance). I'm not an expert in any of these fields, but I can certainly say that in our day and age the spiritual is more often than not completely overlooked.

So that's my take on the issue.

Regarding your question: Do you believe medicine belongs in demonology? No. But can men and demons take a good thing and distort and abuse it? Yes. In the name of medicine Doctors kill babies and nurses kill the sick and elderly (overdoses of morphine or depriving the patient of ordinary means of support such as food or liquids). Also, in a materialistic, atheistic society there is an overemphasis on medicine (chemical and surgical intervention) as the remedy to all woes. What I've noticed is oftentimes people suffer more in seeking a remedy for things (bills, hundreds of tests and visits to doctors, medicines with all kinds of undesirable side effects, etc.) than they would have suffered just accepting their cross and saying some prayers :) At any rate, I'm not afraid of going to a doctor and taking some medicine or undergoing a surgery, but in a proper perspective. We're all going to die sooner or later anyway!

[kosta50]

The word shed in various biblical version translated as "dol," "demon" or "devil" (in Hebrew simply means "god," a ruler, one who can exert control.

OT Judaism doens't know demonology of the later, Post-Babylonian apocalyptic age. Christian demonology is derived mainly from the so called Old Testament "Apocrypha," books which have thrie roots in messianic (apocalyptic) Judaism; books considered scripture by the early Church and to this day by the ROman Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

So, while OT refreences to idols are cursory, and have to deal with worshiping false gods, demonology goes into full blown afterburn in the NT, which ha snothign to do with worshiping idols, but being completely taken over by these spirits. With pages and pages of references to illnesses and cured related to demons.

It seems to me that some illnesses can be caused by demons or be the physical and psychological side-effects of possession and obsession by demons; but this is rare

They can?. What demons? What illnesses? Can we name them? My Blue Letter Bible lexicon makes a note (with my emphases):

In the NT, these [demons] are persons, afflicted with especially severe diseases, either bodily or mentally, (such as paralysis, blindness, deafness, loss of speech, epilepsy, melancholy, insanity, etc.) whose bodies in the opinion of the Jews demons had entered, and so held possession of them as not only to afflict them with ills, but also to dethrone the reason and take its place themselves; accordingly the possessed were wont to express the mind and consciousness of the demons dwelling in them; and their cure was thought to require the expulsion of the demon.

Driving out demons is part of Jesus' ministry and also the duties of the disciples. He even leaves all believers wiht these words:

And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well [Mark 16:17-19]

Do you have any of these "signs?" How do you know then that you are believer, when the Bible is so clear what "those who believed" will do and see?

[Of course you do realize that Mark 16:9-20 do not exist in the earliest reliable sources, so God only knows how many of these demonic references are latter-day addiions by scribes and monks, pretending to be words of God]

Claiming that some illnesses can be caused by demons requires equally extraordinary evidene. I am open to seeing such evidence, although form what I have seen it is without substance.