Two years ago, about 25 students in a public high school in the Philippines suffered seizures and shortness of breath due to what the principal of the school has attributed to being “possessed by evil spirits.” The victims, mostly girls, pointed to evil spirits apparently angered by the cutting of a 30- to 40-year-old tree at the school backyard. A mass was offered by a Catholic priest at the ...more

Two years ago, about 25 students in a public high school in the Philippines suffered seizures and shortness of breath due to what the principal of the school has attributed to being “possessed by evil spirits.” The victims, mostly girls, pointed to evil spirits apparently angered by the cutting of a 30- to 40-year-old tree at the school backyard. A mass was offered by a Catholic priest at the request of frightened students, and local shamans have sacrificed two black pigs to appease the angered spirits.

Because Christianity in the Philippines, both Roman Catholic and evangelical, is syncretistically mixed with superstition and paganism, many Filipinos are terrified of demon-possession, and readily believe in exorcisms. While I’m not discounting the possibility that these students are actually "possessed," I suggest that this is a case of mass hysteria. Why do I say so? The answer is in the following sermon on Mark 5:1-20:

http://www.twoagespilgrims.com/doctrine/?p=351less