Epilepsy (from the Ancient Greek ἐπιληψία (epilēpsía) — "seizure") is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures.[1][2] These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.[3] About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases are discovered in developing countries.[4] Epilepsy is more likely to occur in young children, or people over the age of 65 years; however, it can occur to anyone at any time.[5] As a consequence of brain surgery, epileptic seizures may occur in recovering patients.
people who are possessed may be thrown on the floor by the demon, such as the child in the gospel story. this may have been called 'epilepsy' at the time. this is different to the present medical use of the word 'epilepsy' which is a physical disease caused by measurable abnormalities in the brain and treated with medication. people who have epilepsy are not demon possessed. but people who are demon possessed (and i expect you will not see much of this) can sometimes be thrown on the floor. they will also go around shooting people, swearing, desecrating churches, beating their children and other similar things; none of which are features of the medical condition of epilepsy.
if you see someone fall to the floor, it is 99% likely it is a medical problem, not a spiritual problem. (i am assuming you are not living with a devil worshiping cult who cut themselves and dance around praying to get possessed) ;)
No. Disease is a result of our fallen, mortal and corrupt nature. As a result of this corruption, we are prone to disease and sickness. It has nothing to do with demons.
I think there still are lots of mysteries surrounding epilepsy. Is it a spiritual phenomenon? I think different spirits may play an important role in different individuals.
For example, the great Russian writer Dostoevsky, whose writings are among the worlds greatest literature, had a rare form of temporal lobe epilepsy termed "Ecstatic Epilepsy". Dostoevsky kept records of 102 epileptic seizures during his last two decades, which mainly occurred at night and were tonic-clonic or grand-mal. Seizures which occurred in the daytime were often preceded by an ecstatic aura, which has led neurologists to theorize that he had temporal lobe epilepsy with secondary grand-mal epilepsy.
Dostoevsky used his experiences to create characters with epilepsy in four of his twelve novels
I would be glad to know more about Epilepsy from a spiritual stand point. In the mean time, I found this interesting psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud on Dostoevsky's Epilepsy:
there exists something called 'pseudoseizures' which is when someone throws themself on the ground and jerks around, but medical tests show it is not epilepsy. they are usually due to a psychiatric problem.
the phrase 'my mum will have a fit if she hears this...' show that informal speech has always recognised a non-medical cause of some 'fits'. i think it's likely that some of the strange people described in history had pseudoseizures, and of course a state of severe anger could be linked to the effect of demons.
anyone can be affected by demons. did u ever feel like doing something really mean to someone and look forward to hurting them? probably a demon suggested to you that you should 'get even' and take revenge. this does not mean you are 'possessed'. possession is a state of constant evil doing that usually follows someone forcibly rejecting help from God. possible historical examples of this are adolf hitler and nicolae ceaucescu (romanian ex-dictator who get himself transfused with young mens' blood to stay young and who killed all his enemies in a horrible way).
so, in theory a 'Christian' could become possessed after turning to violence and witchcraft to take revenge on his enemies and rejecting all help from God over many years. that person is not someone we would call a 'Christian' if we met him/her in a dark alley!
if you get angry sometimes and don't always want to help people and miss church sometimes, you are not demon possessed, so don't worry! there is a big difference between someone who is going through a rebellious time and doesn't always tidy their room and someone who kills lots of people to stay in power. ;) just turn to God, don't be afraid to ask questions and always pray. God is stronger than any demon and can save all who really repent. :)
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this is different to the present medical use of the word 'epilepsy' which is a physical disease caused by measurable abnormalities in the brain and treated with medication.
people who have epilepsy are not demon possessed.
but people who are demon possessed (and i expect you will not see much of this) can sometimes be thrown on the floor. they will also go around shooting people, swearing, desecrating churches, beating their children and other similar things; none of which are features of the medical condition of epilepsy.
if you see someone fall to the floor, it is 99% likely it is a medical problem, not a spiritual problem.
(i am assuming you are not living with a devil worshiping cult who cut themselves and dance around praying to get possessed)
;)
ok, have u ever heard that all diseases come from the devil? is that true?
No. Disease is a result of our fallen, mortal and corrupt nature. As a result of this corruption, we are prone to disease and sickness. It has nothing to do with demons.
I think there still are lots of mysteries surrounding epilepsy. Is it a spiritual phenomenon? I think different spirits may play an important role in different individuals.
For example, the great Russian writer Dostoevsky, whose writings are among the worlds greatest literature, had a rare form of temporal lobe epilepsy termed "Ecstatic Epilepsy". Dostoevsky kept records of 102 epileptic seizures during his last two decades, which mainly occurred at night and were tonic-clonic or grand-mal. Seizures which occurred in the daytime were often preceded by an ecstatic aura, which has led neurologists to theorize that he had temporal lobe epilepsy with secondary grand-mal epilepsy.
Dostoevsky used his experiences to create characters with epilepsy in four of his twelve novels
I would be glad to know more about Epilepsy from a spiritual stand point. In the mean time, I found this interesting psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud on Dostoevsky's Epilepsy:
http://www.utoronto.ca/tsq/DS/09/107.shtml
By the way, can Christians be demon-possessed?
the phrase 'my mum will have a fit if she hears this...' show that informal speech has always recognised a non-medical cause of some 'fits'.
i think it's likely that some of the strange people described in history had pseudoseizures, and of course a state of severe anger could be linked to the effect of demons.
anyone can be affected by demons. did u ever feel like doing something really mean to someone and look forward to hurting them? probably a demon suggested to you that you should 'get even' and take revenge.
this does not mean you are 'possessed'. possession is a state of constant evil doing that usually follows someone forcibly rejecting help from God.
possible historical examples of this are adolf hitler and nicolae ceaucescu (romanian ex-dictator who get himself transfused with young mens' blood to stay young and who killed all his enemies in a horrible way).
so, in theory a 'Christian' could become possessed after turning to violence and witchcraft to take revenge on his enemies and rejecting all help from God over many years. that person is not someone we would call a 'Christian' if we met him/her in a dark alley!
if you get angry sometimes and don't always want to help people and miss church sometimes, you are not demon possessed, so don't worry! there is a big difference between someone who is going through a rebellious time and doesn't always tidy their room and someone who kills lots of people to stay in power.
;)
just turn to God, don't be afraid to ask questions and always pray.
God is stronger than any demon and can save all who really repent.
:)