Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.—Matthew xvii. 15.
The word lunacy, or lunatic, is one still in common use. It is derived from the Latin Luna, the moon; and persons afflicted with the disease called lunacy, are supposed to be affected by the changes of the moon. The literal rendition of the word, as given in the Concordance, is moonstruck. In its more general sense it is insanity, madness. It is a recognized legal term; and Inquisitions of Lunacy are yet common occurrences in our courts. Juries are called to pass upon the question of the lunacy of persons suspected of being thus afflicted.
Persons who adopt and adhere to religious views which are out of the ordinary and "authorized" lines, are not infrequently accounted lunatic. Only recently we have seen the Second Adventists charged with being lunatics, by one of their religious antagonists of the Methodist persuasion. The Second Adventists are charged with lunacy by their Methodist brother, because they believe in the second coming of Christ in personal form. He thus refers to them: "The Second Adventists have come and gone, and come again and gone, and we exclaim 'cui bono!' what good? They have turned men's heads and women's heads until they have left their business and have become tramps and beggars. . . . Some have brought up in the poor house, and others in the insane asylum," etc. He then proceeds to point out in glowing terms the great benefits which have accrued to mankind as the result of the more practical religion of which he is an exponent. So we see one religious sect sitting, as it were, as an Inquisition of Lunacy upon another religious sect, and pronouncing judgment of lunacy upon it, and condemning it to the insane asylum.
