Q. Do pigs have souls? If not, where in the swineherd did Jesus put Legion, the demons that were possessing the Gerasene demoniac?
A. As St. Anselm famously wrote, faith seeks understanding. The use of our human reason allows us to enter more deeply into the truth of God’s creation and thereby come to know God Himself more deeply. This question, regarding the swine in the exorcism reported in the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke, can help us to more deeply appreciate the rich complexity of creation, including our own humanity.
In reading the question, there seem to be two points which are both worthy of being considered. The first regards possession by the demons; can demons possess something inanimate or must the pigs have souls in order for the demons to possess them and, more importantly, to move them, for they obviously rushed over a cliff and drowned in the sea.
As the creation account of Genesis testifies, God has ordered all things in a fitting array and order, with things of a higher nature having dominion over things of a lower nature. Things having a higher or lower nature simply means that certain beings are equipped with the power to act in a way that is more or less noble and complex. Thus, rocks are lower than plants, for plants can produce new life, but animals are higher than plants, for they have a greater capacity for acting in and reacting to the world around them. Thus, Adam and Eve are given dominion over all the material world, for humans have the capacity not only to reproduce and engage their world, but to reason and choose in accord with the immaterial world.
Likewise, the immaterial creatures we call angels are given a certain dominion over all material creatures. For example, our guardian angels, without destroying our freedom, govern and guide us. Because the angels have natures higher than inanimate creatures, the angels can move even inanimate things such as rocks or even objects made by human hands. Eyewitness accounts of possessions and demonic infestations also demonstrate that angels have this kind power.
As stated at the beginning, the second point worthy of consideration would be whether the pigs actually have souls, into which the countless demons could have been sent by our Lord. To fully engage this point, we have to consider how the Church understands the soul.
In a most generic way, the soul is simply that which animates material beings. The Latin word for soul, anima, highlights this animating feature of the soul. Therefore, any material creature which is alive or animated from within is said to have a soul. Thus, humans have souls, animals – including the swine – have souls, and even plants have souls.
As our experience confirms, not all things are animated to the same degree. We said above that some things have a lower nature and some a higher because of the powers with which they are equipped. The powers with which they are equipped are qualities of the soul itself. From this we can say that the soul of a plant only animates that plant in a limited way, namely, for development, growth, and reproduction. In an admittedly unoriginal way, we call this a “vegetative” soul. The souls of animals animate in a more developed way; in addition to the capacities they share with plants, animals can also sense the world around them and react in real, but limited ways, such as protecting young, fleeing from danger, or pursuing a source of food.
The souls of humans are, in a very important way, different from those of plants and animals, for in addition to the capacities they share with plants and animals, humans are capable of reasoning and free choice, both of which allow a certain independence from the body. From this, we would say that, unlike plants and animals, the human soul has the capacity for functioning apart from the human body and therefore must endure even after death, thus being immortal. Thus, while plants and animals, including the swine, have souls, only humans have immortal souls.
Thus, while the fallen angels can animate inanimate beings, the swine into which Legion is sent do have souls which can be possessed.
I would like to make one last comment about “where” in the swine the demons are sent. As in the possession of a human, so in the possession of these swine, the demons do not “replace” the souls of the pigs, as if the pigs’ souls are cast out or removed from the bodies of the pigs.
Rather, the demons “override” the animating power of the swine souls such that the demons, not the souls of the pigs, are animating the bodies of the pigs. The bodies of these swine, then, obey the will of the demons which possess them, and it is by the will of the demons that the swine run off the cliff and into the sea. This can also help us understand what the demoniac is experiencing in himself, namely an overriding of his soul by the demons, prior to our Lord casting the demons out of him and into the swine.
Thanks for the question and for the opportunity to consider in a particular way the richness of God’s creation.
This question was answered by Father Matthew Rolling, academic dean at St. Gregory the Great Seminary in Seward.
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