Abstract
The aim of the paper is to offer a recapitulative survey of the theme of exorcism in the Bible. The reader will be acquainted with the main methodological approaches and difficulties in the contemporary research in the issues of demons, evil spirits and exorcism from the point of view of terminology and theological interpretation.
The first part deals with different categories of demons in the Hebrew Bible, with a transformation of the theological approach to them within the history of Israel, and with few cases of exorcist activity in the Old Testament and in the literature of Hellenistic Judaism. The main focus of the article, however, is on the exorcist activity of Jesus of Nazareth that is interpreted as one of the mighty signs of the eschatological era.
They are witnessed by logia of Jesus and by the ancient Christian tradition on Jesus exorcism miracles in the Synoptic Gospels. Farther the absence of this tradition in the Fourth Gospel has to be clarified which is not an easy task.
Probably, the author of the Gospel transformed the ancient tradition into his own Christological prospective. In John's vision, the essential exorcism of Jesus is the victory of love manifested on his Cross.
In the last paragraph of the paper a brief overview of the exorcist activity of the early Church in the Acts of the Apostles is presented. The conclusion offers a couple of suggestions of hermeneutical character.