You are correct in that the spirit is referred to as being deaf and mute. However, may I ask, are you implying that this somehow meant that it was not an evil spirit? It is very clearly an evil spirit (vs. 22 and 25), and in fact (and you are free to list the Scriptures that show otherwise), any time a spirit other than the Spirit of the Lord Himself was mentioned in the Bible, it was always an "unclean", or evil spirit. There are no "good" or even "neutral" spirits mentioned in the Bible that I know of (but you are free to prove otherwise by listing the passages, please. I'd be very interested in knowing what passages to look for if I'm not remembering or understanding correctly.)
This demon was also said to throw the boy into fire and water as it tried to kill him (vs. 22), so there is no question that this spirit was indeed evil.
If you read the context of this entire story, Jesus says nothing of how the father raised his son, but rather, admonishes him for not believing that Jesus can do something about the boy's current condition. Nothing is said as to how the boy obtained this spirit or why it chose to torment him.
Additionally, as a footnote for the original poster of this thread (who might find this interesting): the father tells Jesus that his son has been has been like this (apparently affected by this demon) "since childhood" (vs. 21.) From the descriptions (foaming at the mouth, convulsions), you can also see why I mentioned in my first post that some in the modern medical community might, at first glance, diagnose this as epilepsy.
I was also thinking about the other example of the "slave girl" who had a spirit by which she could tell the future. Although the Bible does not mention her age, it does clearly state that her owners knew that her clairvoyant abilities came from an evil spirit. This is just a guess, but I'm thinking it was probably with her for some time, perhaps several years (therefore, quite possibly beginning with childhood), because I would assume (and anyone out there, please correct me if I'm wrong) that it would have a considerable amount of time to have built up a track record of her predictions that was reliable enough to convince people to pay large sums of money for them.
Jesus Heals a Boy Possessed by an Impure Spirit
[SUP]14 [/SUP]When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. [SUP]15 [/SUP]As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.
[SUP]16 [/SUP]“What are you arguing with them about?” he asked.
[SUP]17 [/SUP]A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. [SUP]18 [/SUP]Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”
[SUP]19 [/SUP]“You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
[SUP]20 [/SUP]So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
[SUP]21 [/SUP]Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”
“From childhood,” he answered. [SUP]22 [/SUP]“It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
[SUP]23 [/SUP]“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
[SUP]24 [/SUP]Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
[SUP]25 [/SUP]When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”
[SUP]26 [/SUP]The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” [SUP]27 [/SUP]But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
[SUP]28 [/SUP]After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
[SUP]29 [/SUP]He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.[SUP][
a][/SUP]” (Some versions are written as saying, "This kind can only come out by prayer and fasting.")