Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

Was Jesus Schizophrenic?

Yup, the only church .. blah blah blah blah .. superstition has it's rewards, i guess .. now to something most important .. LOL

PATSPEARS [e-mail]
Sat, 10 Jan 1998 19:10:38

WAS JESUS SCHIZOPHRENIC?

The thesis put forth in this essay is that the descriptions of Jesus' life,
as offered by the New Testament, are strikingly consist with both
schizophrenia and paranoid personality disorder, as defined by standard
diagnostic criteria. Whether or not the comparison is accurate will depend,
in large part, upon one's personal assessment of both the New Testament
record and the standard diagnostic criteria, neither of which are as
reliable or as concise as would be needed for a definitive comparison.

Yet the comparison is a disturbingly striking one. The similarities of
Jesus' thought, discourse, and actions with the standard diagnostic criteria
are too close to be attributed to chance alone. While the nature of the
similarites may be disputed, the fact that close similarities exist cannot
be. If nothing else, the comparison should serve to clarify the distinction
between the ancient world-view, where a predilection for psychosis always
established one as the village shaman, stick-shaker, or rainmaker, and the
modern worldview, where the shaman has been replaced by the science of
psychiatry. The two worldviews presupposed by the standard diagnostic
criteria and by the NT are vastly different, and this comparison will also
serve to highlight that difference.
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SOCIAL OR OCCUPATIONAL IMPAIRMENT

One or more major areas of functioning are impaired, including work,
interpersonal relations, or self-care are markedly below the level achieved
prior to the onset. When the onset is in early childhood or adolescence,
failure to acheive expected level of interpersonal, academic, or
occupational acheivement.
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>From a purely secular point of view, Jesus was both socially and

occupationally impaired. While he is called a "carpenter" by Mark (6:3),
Matthew rewrites the very same passage to suggest that he was merely a
"carpenter's son" (13:55). Regardless, all accounts agree that after the
first reported incidence of psychotic disturbances, which occured during his
baptism (MK 1:10-11), Jesus remained without normal employment, and remained
homeless for the rest of his life, and even told his companions that anyone
who left their house, their family, their children, and their property for
his sake, and the gospel's, will be rewarded an hundredfold in the "world to
come, " and would live forever (MK 10:29-30).

It is also true that the majority of cases of schizophrenia originate among
low-income populations. Jesus, coming from Galilee, would most likely have
lived and developed in a somewhat impoverished enviroment. Combined with the
general socio-economic conditions of the area at the time, we see a variety
of societal stressors which are not only consistent with known schizophrenic
etiology, but which seem to have been integrally related to the content of
Jesus' paranoid beliefs concerning his messiah-ship and the impending end of
time.

Jesus seems to have become severely interpersonally impaired after the onset
of symptoms. Mark tells us that Jesus' own family [specifically his mother
and brothers] demonstrated concern about Jesus' bizarre behavior,
unsuccessfully, specifically commenting, "He is out of his mind!" (NIV
3:21). Jesus evades his "mother and brothers" attempt at intervention,
saying, "'Who are my mother and my brothers?' And looking around on those
who sat about him, he said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever
does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother'" (3:33:35).
Likewise, Jesus is not thought to ever have been married, or to have raised
children. According to our criteria, which does not differentiate between
saviours and psychotics, Jesus' social-occupational profile fits well with
observable trends among shizophrenic populations.

On at least one occasion, apparently not long after the first reported
symptoms (MK 1), Jesus is said to have become unpredictably violent, and to
have unprovokedly assaulted inhabitants of the temple in Jerusalem. He is
said to have used "a scourge of small cords" to "drive out" both the animal
and human inhabitants, and to have engaged in the destruction of property as
well (JN 2:15).
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DISORGANIZED SPEECH

Speech shows frequent derailment or incoherence. In derailment, a person's
ideas slip off one track and onto another that is completely unrelated or
only obliquely related. In incoherence, a person's speech or thinking is
essentially incomprehensible to others because words or phrases are joined
together without a logical or meaningful connection.
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Jesus' discourse fits this description very well. The following account is
strikingly consistent with the type of thought association/dissociation
observed in schizophrenic patients today:

"... if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to
enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable
fire.

And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. it is better for you to
enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable
fire.

And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to
enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable
fire.

where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.

For every one will be salted with fire.

Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its saltness, how will you season it?

Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." (MK 9:45-50).
In the first three statements, Jesus advises his disciples to cut off their
hands and feet, or pluck out their eyes, if those body-parts should cause
them to "sin." In light of the fact that "sin," by Jesus' defintion (MT 6),
is unavoidable, this is poor advice. This aside, all three statements follow
one another in a logical manner. Statements 4-7, however, display precisely
the sort of oblique word-association process prevalent among schizophrenics.
The last 3 statements are obliquely connected by the word "salt," but are
grouped and expressed in a way which is incomprehensible. His train of
thought also seems to become "derailed": the statement starts out focused on
the advice to pluck out one's eye's so as to avoid going to Gehinna, but
concludes by saying, seemingly irrelevantly, "Have salt within yourselves,
and be at peace with one another."
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AUDITORY-VISUAL HALLUCINATIONS

Internally sees objects, people, or images that other people can't see. This
excludes illusory perceptions, in which an actual external stimuli is
misperceived or misinterpreted. Internally hears sounds, usually voices,
that seem "real" but that occur without external stimulation of the ear.
Thus hears things that others can't hear. This excludes illusory auditory
perceptions, in which an actual external stimulus is mispercieved or
misinterpreted.
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Jesus appears to have been subject to such experiences. A good example is
the account of the Baptism offered by 'Mark,' where Jesus is alleged to seen
"the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:"
(1:10), and to have heard a voice saying "Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased" (1:11). Mark's account definitely suggests that the
experience was of an entirely personal nature, and does not suggest that
anyone other than Jesus was witness to these phenomena. This is the first
reported occurence of internal stimuli.

Mark relates another story in which Jesus, Peter, James and John all
undergoe one such experience, in which they believed themselves to have seen
Elijah and Moses, and to have heard a voice which literally emanated from a
"cloud" (9:4ff). Peter was evidently convinced of the physicality of the
apparitions, for he said to Jesus, "Let us put up three shelters--one for
you, one for Moses and one for Elijah" (9:5). Our first clue that this
describes a delusion rather than a supernatural occurence is the fact no one
knew what either Moses of Elijah looked like, and our second is that
"Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them
except Jesus" (9:8). The fact that Peter mistakes the apparitions for
physical-existing persons, offering to build "shelters" for them and for
Jesus, clearly qualifies as an halluination, at least on his part.
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DELUSIONS OF BEING CONTROLLED

Believes that his/her thoughts, feelings, or actions are not his own, but
are controlled by an external force despite all evidence that this belief is
impossible, incredible, or false.
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Jesus frequently espouses his belief that he has been sent by god, (JN 4:34,
8:42, etc.), and that his actions are in accordance, not with his own will,
but with the will of 'god' (MK 14:36). Evidently, Jesus himself, at the time
of his death, came to feel that his god had forsaken him (MK 14:33).
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GRANDIOSE DELUSIONS

Has an exaggerated belief in his/her power, knowledge, or importance despite
all evidence this belief is impossible, incredible or false.
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>From a secular point-of-view, Jesus apparently suffered from exaggerated

belief in his power. Aside from claiming to be the Son of the Jewish god, he
had a propensity for making grossly exaggerated statements.

(1) "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, `Go, throw
yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that
what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I say unto you,
What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them,
and ye shall have them" (MK 11:23ff NIV).

(2) "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they
cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues [glossalia frequently
accompanies mental illness, especially in non-western countries]; They shall
take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt
them" (MK 16:17-18).

(3) "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in
my name, he will give it you." (JN 16:23)
Each of these three statements present testable assertions. Since all three
of them are demonstrably false, it follows that Jesus was either making
grossly exaggerated claims about the power of belief, or, worse, actually
believed that mountains could be moved by belief, and that the drinking of
poison would not hurt believers. In either case, it is these assertions are,
as per our criteria, "impossible, incredible, or false."
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PARANOID DELUSIONS

A common motif of schizophrenic disturbances is a feeling of "impending
doom," or the feeling that the world is about to undergoe destruction. This
arises naturally out of a con-fusion of internal stimulus with objective
reality. Once again, Jesus definitely seemed to harbor such delusions, for
the primary basis of his ministry seemed to be the mistaken belief that the
end of the world was at the "very door" [MK 13:29], and that this cataclysm
would occur within the lifetime of his listeners.

Mark outlines Jesus' eschatological beliefs. First, Jesus stated that the
wars and battles of his own day indicated that the end was soon to come
(13:7). Jesus conjectured that the end would include "affliction, such as
was not from the beginning of the creation" (13:9), the darkening of the sun
and moon (13:24), the stars 'falling from heaven,' (13:25), [which is a
clear indication of delusion, because stars don't 'fall' to the earth at
all, except in ancient cultures, where gravity is not well understood, and
where the earth was mistakenly understood to be the center of the universe].
Jesus also stated that, at the time of the end, the "powers that are in
heaven shall be shaken" (3:25), that he would return riding upon the "clouds
with great glory and power" (13:26), and that, at that time, he would send
"angels" to gather his special peer group [the "elect"] from the "four
winds" (13:27).

Lastly, and most indicative of mental illness, is the statement that "this
generation shall not pass, till all these things be done" (13:30). Some have
argued that Jesus actually referred to some future "generation," yet this is
a clearly false apologetic attempt to mitigate the obvious failure of his
paranoid predictions, for elsewhere he says, referring ostensibly to the
same events, "there be some of them that stand here [ie. in Jesus' immediate
company], which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of
God come with power" (Mark 9:1). The facts that the stars did not fall, the
sun and moon were not darkened, and that apparently no one spotted the Son
of man riding on the clouds, regathering his peer group from the four
winds --these facts serve to fully satisfy the criteria of paranoid and
grandiose delusion.
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DELUSIONS OF REFERENCE

Believes that events, or other people's actions or words refer specifically
to him/her or have a special meaning for him/her despite all evidence that
this belief is impossible, incredible or false.
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Following from his belief that he was the son of Yahweh, Jesus apparently
believed that the entire Epic of Jewish writings referred specifically to
his own life (JN 5:46; LK 24:44). A few instances will clearly demonstrate
that this belief is "impossible, incredible, or false." Jesus' specific use
of prophecy is not well recorded, except for a few specific incidents (MT
14:20; MK 13:40). I will base this analysis primarily on the gospellers' use
of prophecy, assuming that it accurately reflects Jesus own beliefs.

MT 1:23 suggests that Isa 7:14 was a prophecy for the virgin-birth of Jesus.
Not only does the passage in question describe a conception which has
ALREADY occured [~600BCE], it does not describe a virgin-birth at all. The
problem arises here as a result of the fact that Jesus [or just 'Matthew']
used the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, known as the
Septaugint, which was created in Alexandria around 250 BCE. The Septaugint
mistranslates almah [young maiden] as parthenos [maid OR virgin], and Jesus
[or Matthew] constructs this prophecy entirely on the basis of that
mistranslation.

MT 2:23 draws a 'prophetic' connection between the hebrew word "Nasar"
[Isaiah 11:1], which means "root or branch," and the name of a town,
Nazareth. The prophecy in question merely stated that the messiah would be a
descendent, or "branch," of the line of David, and not that the messiah
would live in Nazareth. The connection is an oblique one, and is based
entirely upon the similarity of the words in question. In short, it is clear
that the use of Isa 11:1 as prophecy for the events described in MT 2:23 is
impossible, incredible, and false, because the fulfillment is based upon a
mistaken reading of the prophecy.

John 7:38 has Jesus say to his listeners, "He that believeth on me, as the
scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."
Not only is it entirely unclear what Jesus' might mean by "living waters"
flowing out of one's "belly," it is also false that any "scripture hath
said" that any such thing would occur. Nowhere in any known Hebrew
"scripture" is this "prophecy" to be found.

It is clearly false that any one of the NT's cited "prophecies" refer
*specifically* to Jesus in any clear way. Whether Jesus thought his life was
somehow symbolized by the OT is irrelevant; it is the fact that he thought
that the OT referred *specifically* to him which satisfies the criteria for
a "delusion of reference."
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CONTINUOUS SIGNS OF THE DISTURBANCE PERSISTED FOR AT LEAST 6 MONTHS

This six-moth period must include at least one month of (or less if
successfully treated) of: (1) delusions, (2) hallucinations, (3)
disorganized speech, (4) grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior, or (5)
negative symptoms. This 6-month period may include periods of prodromal or
residual symptoms. During these prodromal or residual periods, the signs of
disturbance may be manifested by negative symptoms or two or more of the
symptoms (1) through (4), in attenuated form.
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Once again, the NT has Jesus fully satisfy this criteria. It is unclear
exactly how long Jesus' taught before being killed, but all accounts agree
that it was longer than six months, and that the positive symptoms were
present from the onset until the time of his death. There is also some
indication of the precense of negative symptoms as well, such as affective
blunting. At his trial, for example

"Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor questioned him: 'You are
you the King of the Judeans?' Jesus said, 'If you say so'" ... when he was
accused by the chief priests and elders, he made no answer . Then Pilate
said to him, 'Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?' But
he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge; so that the governor
wondered greatly" (MT 27:11-14; Scholars Version).

The fact that Jesus refuses to respond to the charges against him, which
caused the governor to "wonder greatly," and that he is hesistant to admit
that which he had openly taught earlier, seemingly indicates affective
blunting relative to his previous state. This is also supported by the
precense of profound depression immediately preceding his arrest. "My soul
is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death" (MK 13:44 NIV). His death
cry, "My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?" (MK 15:34) suggests that
his final thoughts were of confusion and abandonment, and that perhaps the
negative-phase symptoms of depression and affective blunting had become more
prominant.

The shoe seems to fit pretty well, I'd say.
Patrick

http://blondguys.net/1998/jan98/000205.html