The religion known as "Christianity" was invented by God himself to
repair in part the wreck and ruin that had resulted from the Devil's
work.
Take the Devil from the scheme of salvation--from the atonement--from
the dogma of eternal pain--and the foundation is gone.
The Devil is the keystone of the arch.
He inflicted the wounds that Christ came to heal. He corrupted the human
race.
The question now is: Does the Old Testament teach the existence of the
Devil?
If the Old Testament teaches anything, it does teach the existence of
the Devil, of Satan, of the Serpent, of the enemy of God and man, the
deceiver of men and women.
Those who believe the Scriptures are compelled to say that this Devil
was created by God, and that God knew when he created him just what he
would do--the exact measure of his success; knew that he would be a
successful rival; knew that he would deceive and corrupt the children of
men; knew that, by reason of this Devil, countless millions of human
beings would suffer eternal torment in the prison of pain. And this God
also knew when he created the Devil, that he, God, would be compelled to
leave his throne, to be bom a babe in Palestine, and to suffer a cruel
death. All this he knew when he created the Devil. Why did he create
him?
It is no answer to say that this Devil was once an angel of light and
fell from his high estate because he was free. God knew what he would do
with his freedom when he made him and gave him liberty of action, and
as a matter of fact must have made him with the intention that he should
rebel; that he should fall; that he should become a devil; that he
should tempt and corrupt the father and mother of the human race;
that he should make hell a necessity, and that, in consequence of his
creation, countless millions of the children of men would suffer eternal
pain. Why did he create him?
Admit that God is infinitely wise. Has he ingenuity enough to frame an
excuse for the creation of the Devil?
Does the Old Testament teach the existence of a real, living Devil?
The first account of this being is found in Genesis, and in that account
he is called the "Serpent." He is declared to have been more subtle than
any beast of the field. According to the account, this Serpent had a
conversation with Eve, the first woman. We are not told in what language
they conversed, or how they understood each other, as this was the first
time they had met. Where did Eve get her language? Where did the Serpent
get his? Of course, such questions are impudent, but at the same time
they are natural.
The result of this conversation was that Eve ate the forbidden fruit and
induced Adam to do the same. This is what is called the "Fall," and for
this they were expelled from the Garden of Eden.
On account of this, God cursed the earth with weeds and thorns and
brambles, cursed man with toil, made woman a slave, and cursed maternity
with pain and sorrow.
How men--good men--can worship this God; how women--good women--can love
this Jehovah, is beyond my imagination.
In addition to the other curses the Serpent was cursed--condemned to
crawl on his belly and to eat dust. We do not know by what means, before
that time, he moved from place to place--whether he walked or flew;
neither do we know on what food he lived; all we know is that after that
time he crawled and lived on dust. Jehovah told him that this he should
do all the days of his life. It would seem from this that the Serpent
was not at that time immortal--that there was somewhere in the future a
milepost at which the life of this Serpent stopped. Whether he is living
yet or not, I am not certain.
It will not do to say that this is allegory, or a poem, because this
proves too much. If the Serpent did not in fact exist, how do we know
that Adam and Eve existed? Is all that is said about God allegory, and
poetic, or mythical? Is the whole account, after all, an ignorant dream?
Neither will it do to say that the Devil--the Serpent--was a
personification of evil. Do personifications of evil talk? Can a
personification of evil crawl on its belly? Can a personification of
evil eat dust? If we say that the Devil was a personification of
evil, are we not at the same time compelled to say that Jehovah was a
personification of good; that the Garden of Eden was the personification
of a place, and that the whole story is a personification of something
that did not happen? Maybe that Adam and Eve were not driven out of the
Garden; they may have suffered only the personification of exile. And
maybe the cherubim placed at the gate of Eden, with flaming swords, were
only personifications of policemen.
There is no escape. If the Old Testament is true, the Devil does exist,
and it is impossible to explain him away without at the same time
explaining God away.
So there are many references to devils, and spirits of divination and of
evil which I have not the time to call attention to; but, in the Book of
Job, Satan, the Devil has a conversation with God. It is this Devil that
brings the sorrows and losses on the upright man. It is this Devil that
raises the storm that wrecks the homes of Job's children. It is this
Devil that kills the children of Job. Take this Devil from that book,
and all meaning, plot and purpose fade away.
Is it possible to say that the Devil in Job was only a personification
of evil?
In Chronicles we are told that Satan provoked David to number Israel.
For this act of David, caused by the Devil, God did not smite the Devil,
did not punish David, but he killed 70,000 poor innocent Jews who had
done nothing but stand up and be counted.
Was this Devil who tempted David a personification of evil, or was
Jehovah a personification of the devilish?
In Zachariah we are told that Joshua stood before the angel of the Lord,
and that Satan stood at his right hand to resist him, and that the Lord
rebuked Satan.
If words convey any meaning, the Old Testament teaches the existence of
the Devil.
All the passages about witches and those having familiar spirits were
born of a belief in the Devil.
When a man who loved Jehovah wanted revenge on his enemy he fell on his
holy knees, and from a heart full of religion he cried: "Let Satan stand
at his right hand."