Page:The Power of the Spirit.djvu/67

62 gives us here the word 'powers' only in the margin. Now 'powers' never means in the New Testament a work not brought about by natural agency, which is the meaning of a miracle: the word is sometimes used vaguely, but generally of faith-healing or the casting out of daemons; indeed, in no case does it in the New Testament necessarily connote more than this. But occurring, as it does, in S. Paul's list, between healing and prophecy, the word must mean more than mere healing. It may therefore be meant to include exorcism and such-like powers of quelling psychic disturbance; or—more probably, one would think—it includes a wider exercise of spiritual mastery. As for exorcism, we are only at the beginning of our knowledge: dual personality is an established fact; 'possession' we do not hear much about in Christian countries, but most people who have lived close to life in Asia or Africa are full of queer stories, some of which have been carefully recorded. If, as seems probable,