Dr. Mark Allen Powell is a highly-regarded theologian.

He is a professor of theology at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio. Amongst his accomplishments, he is the editor of the HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, and the author of twenty-five books and one hundred articles on Christianity.

Prior to becoming a theologian, he was a professional music critic. with over one thousand published reviews of rock and pop bands.

So with a stellar, solid middle-of-the-road Protestant Christian education, you would be surprised to learn that Dr. Powell holds a “well, who can say” attitude about whether a person with epilepsy is possessed by demons or no. (I wouldn’t though, I’ve heard the claim from just about every denomination, and my freakin’ divorce judge in Florida—at least that good Christian judge went to jail for corruption.)

It is because of wingnuts mainstream theologians like this that we still suffer discrimination from Christians in things like employment or child visitation rights during a divorce proceeding.

The Epilepsy Foundation has an article on its site on demon possession and epilepsy, because we still live in the First Century.

Dr. Powell has a video discussion on the New Testament story (3:06) of the man who brings out his child and asks Jesus to cast demons out, because the child suffers (according to the writer of Matthew’s description) from symptoms of what we would describe as epilepsy today.

With well-regarded mainstream theologians like this guy, the epilepsy community doesn’t need any enemies.

Were Epileptic Seizures Caused by Demons? (Chapter 1, Introducing the New Testament)