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chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. [...] Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "My name is Legion," he replied, "for we are many." And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. The demons begged Jesus, "Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them." He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs." (Mark 5: 2-13)

From this passage we learn that more than one demon can possess a human simultaneously; they impart greater than human strength to that human, not to mention very anti-social behavior; and they apparently crave remaining in a body, ANY body, even that of a pig instead of being cast out to nothing.

Their over-arching desire to inhabit a human body is also seen in this passage:

"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house [body] I left.' [...] Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. "(Matt 12:43-45)

They apparently can only find rest when they inhabit a person, thus driving them to do so constantly. Jesus goes on to explain in the above passage that the demon can return, and with friends, if the inhabited person does not experience a true conversion.

But what about today? Do these human/demon encounters still continue today?

In the fascinating book "Demon Possession" by John L. Nevius, a missionary to remote parts of China, dozens of encounters are described that exactly fit the Biblical model of demons. He collected eye-witness accounts from many missionaries spread throughout the desolate regions of rural China and compiled them.

The behaviors described are remarkably consistent with each other across distances that were never traveled by the local people. The general trend is that a demon would enter a member of a household, causing convulsions, violence and poltergeist-style effects about the house. The person affected almost never had any recall of the event. (The possession usually seemed to be sporadic, not constant. The observers could not tell if the demon left in between "events" or remained, but was "quiet".) Demands, made through the mouth of the entranced victim, would be on the rest of the family for worship

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