The Saviour bade them go, not as yielding to their request, but that by the death of the swine, an occasion of man’s salvation might be offered.
“But they went out, (to wit, out of the men,) and went into the swine; and, lo, the whole herd rushed violently headlong into the sea, and perished in the waters.”
Let Manichaeans blush; if the souls of men and of beasts be of one substance, and one origin, how should two thousand swine have perished for the sake of the salvation of two men?
Reproduced in full. Translation: Oxford 1841 (Newman), public domain (Public domain).