(August 7, 2014 at 8:07 am)alpha male Wrote:(August 6, 2014 at 2:07 pm)Cato Wrote: Conflation isn't even possible here, this isn't a case of mistaken identity.I disagree.
Quote:The contention is that one causes the other.The contention is that they believed one caused the other, and the facts show otherwise:
- there are instances in which a demon is cast out, but the posessed person is not otherwise described as being diseased.
- there are instances in which a person is cured of disease, with no mention of a demon.
- there are lists of things that Jesus did, or tasked his followers with, which include healing disease and casting out demons as separate items
- one instance has been given in which a boy had a demon cast out of him. Two translations said the boy was ill, but the other 28 make no mention of illness or disease.
Translations be damned. I just looked at your list and the majority say epilepsy, lunacy, or shaking. All still symptoms of disease.
Maybe you don't understand the definition of disease:
Merriam-Webster Wrote:a condition of the living animal or plant body or of one of its parts that impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms
The boy was diseased and was cured by casting out a demon. The logical conclusion is that the demon was the cause of the disease. Earlier I gave you the only logical way around this by asking if you believed that the disease had a non-demon cause that cured itself at the time of exorcism; you said no.
Perhaps you'll understand the point another way....
If your son frequently threw himself in fire and water while imitating a paint shaker, would you take him to a doctor or an exorcist?
