There is in Man Something Akin to the Diabolical
Mark 1:32-34
And at even, when the sun did set, they brought to him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.…


He is subject to violent and wasting passions, often dominated by a fierce and ungovernable temper; exhibits, upon slight provocation, anger, impatience, hatred, revenge; is ill-natured, moody, capricious, sullen; ready at times to take up arms against all the world, and shunned and detested in turn for his spirit of malicious mischief. We have all seen pronounced examples of this sort — probably have suffered from their malice and ill-temper. They may be persons of great energy and ability. They are not indolent or shiftless. They know how to make money, and how to use it for their own advantage. They are keen, shrewd, and successful in business. Sometimes they bestow magnificent gifts — exhibit strange freaks of generosity; but of true kindness and amiability, or the disposition to make others happy, they have but little. They seem, in short, to be possessed by a devil. The fault may be often due to inherited qualities, or to neglect of early training. They were not disciplined to self-control. One of the princes of the old French monarchy manifested in childhood and youth an unhappy disposition of this kind. But he was placed under the care of a wise and pious teacher, who laboured so successfully to correct his violent temper, that he became one of the most amiable of men. A painstaking Christian mother often amends the faults of nature.

(A. H. Currier.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.

WEB: At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to him all who were sick, and those who were possessed by demons.




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