saying, Let us alone, &c. Well, but might not this be the Man himself that cried out so? Therefore read a little on, v. 35. And Jesus rebuked him, viz. him that spake, saying to the same still, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. Which must be another Person distinct from the Man himself, and who was that? It follows, And when the Devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, the same Devil that spake; that our Saviour rebuked, and commanded to come out, which could be no other than a real evil Spirit.
And that those ejected Devils were not Diseases appears farther, Mat. 12. v. 22. There was brought unto him, one possessed with a Devil, blind and Dumb, and he healed him, insomuch (to wit, the consequence of the ejecting of the Devil was) that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. The Pharisees v. 24. impute this casting out Devils to a Confedercy with Beelzebub the Prince of the Devils; our Saviour there argues, that then Satan should be divided against himself; namely, Beelzebub the chief, against the inferiour Devils that he cast out, who are of his Kingdom, and doing the work of it; for there it follows, That his Kingdom could not stand, v. 26. These things will be hardly applyed to Diseases.
Fourthly and lastly, If the Evangelist should call Diseases Devils, and unclean Spirits, and speaking of casting out Devils in an History with all the plainness and expressness of Words, Phrase, and Circumstance, that such an action could be described by, and yet mean nothing of it, what would this suggest, but that they falsly ascribed to Christ Wonders that he never did, and consequently, that they were Lyars and Deceivers, and vain Imposters? For clear it is, that whoever shall read those Passages in the Gospel, without a pre-possest Opinion, will be led into this Belief by them, that our Saviour did really cast Devils out of Persons possest. And if there be really no such thing as Possession by evil Spirits, but only Diseases by the ignorant and credulous People taken for such, then the History imposeth on us, and leads Men into a persuasion of things done by the Power of Christ that never were. And what Execution this will do upon the Truth and Credit of the whole History, is very easy to understand.
