| Summary: | This dissertation has investigated the phenomenon of "Demonic Possession and Exorcism in the Gospel of Mark: Liberation from Empire." In Part I, analytical research done by twelve scholars is examined, explaining and establishing the parameters of the three methodologies employed in Part II: narrative criticism, social science criticism, and postcolonial criticism. In Part II, texts and references in the Gospel of Mark that refer to demonic possession and exorcism, including the Beelzebul controversy, are scrutinized. People, like Peter, in Mark's story can act Satan-like and, in Mark's construction, the Roman Empire is analogous to the kingdom of Satan. The Marcan narrator writes from an anti-imperialistic point of view with allusions to, yet never directly addressing, the Roman Empire. In his baptism, Jesus was authorized by God and empowered by the Holy Spirit to wage cosmic war with Satan. Jesus' first engagement, his testing in the wilderness, followed immediately; during this contest, Jesus bound the strong one, Satan. This encounter is explained by Jesus in the Beelzebul controversy episode. Jesus' ministry continues the ongoing battle with Satan, binding the strong one's minions, demonic/unclean spirits, and spreading holiness to the possessed, until Jesus is crucified on a Roman cross. The battle is still not over at Jesus' death, for at Jesus' parousia is God will make God's final apocalyptic judgement. Jesus' exorcisms have cosmic, apocalyptic and anti-imperial implications. For Mark, demonic possession was different from sickness/illness and exorcism was different from healing. Demonic possession in Mark was being totally under the control of a hostile non-human force; exorcism was full deliverance from a domineering existence that restored the demoniac to family, to community, and to God's created order. Jesus commissioned the twelve with the same authority to exorcize that he had been given; their call was to be with Jesus (and to learn from him) and to proclaim the kingdom of God in word and deed by participating with him in healing and exorcism. Jesus expands his invitation to participate in extending the kingdom of God to all those who choose to become part of his new dyadic family.
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