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The chain of events would be obvious: the demons had left the man and entered the pigs. Without the pigs in the equation, the townspeoples default assumption would have been that the man was only temporarily calm, but not necessarily cleansed. /With/ the pigs in the equation, though, combined with the testimony of the eyewitnesses, the only explanation for the dead pigs was a truly de-demonized man.
So when the pigs died did that also kill the demons? I suspect not. So what prevents the demons from re-possessing the man?
Quote:
The man's account of Jesus driving out a "Legion" into the sea emphasized how Jesus' power, like His kingdom, was spiritual rather than military/political. While some people -- namely, the Zealots -- wanted to drive Roman legions of soldiers into the Mediterranean Sea, Jesus' deliverance was, while similarly powerful, an altogether different quantity.
Or maybe the story of the swine was a parable rather than a true historical account. Pigs were ritually unclean animals and legion was a military Roman term. Perhaps it was intended to convey the message that Jesus was going to drive out uncleanliness from Israel.
If God wanted us to be Atheists we'd be born that way.
