I have nothing new to offer on this old subject, and I therefore warn
the reader not to expect any wonderful revelations. The Devil is not
an object of recent discovery. He is as old as the hills. Everybody
seems to know him, and he seems to know everybody. It would therefore
be in vain for me to attempt to give any information respecting
this old friend. However, as there are some thoughts which persist
in bolting into my mind regarding old Nick, I have concluded to jot
them down for those who have a taste for devilish reading.
It was always a question that greatly perplexed me, when a boy, why
God should create the Devil. I never could see it in any other light
than that of an egregious blunder. Why should an infinitely good being
create an infinitely bad being? Why did not the Creator make all of
his creatures perfect? Why did he not save them from being lost? Why
did he form man to place him in the garden to be tempted and ruined
when it was in the Creator's power to prevent his fall? Why did he not
create him so good and so strong that it would be impossible for him
to do wrong? Why was the Serpent (the Devil) made so much stronger and
wiser than man? If Adam had only been made a great deal stronger, and
the Serpent less seductive, the human race might have had a glorious
and brilliant career. But as it was a powerful serpent-devil on the
one hand, and on the other, a weak-headed know-nothing man, is it
not clear that better results could not have been expected?
Why did not the author of the red man (Adam) tell him that he was
going to have a severe temptation?--that he was soon to meet his great
adversary? It is highly probable that Adam could have made a better
showing if he had only been advised of the situation in time. But as
it was he did not have a fair chance. It would have been no more than
justice to have told Adam and Eve all about the Serpent-devil which
was hid away somewhere in the garden like a snake in the grass. It
would have been only fair to have posted on all the fences and walls
about the garden, this sign, "Adam and Eve, Beware of Snakes!" This
would have given them a chance for their lives. Poor Adam and Eve! They
were not a bad lot, but were transplanted too early, and were nipped
in the bud by the great original Serpent, who was acting according
to his nature and circumstances, and therefore we cannot find it
in our hearts to be too severe on his Satanic Majesty. If Satan was
great, it was not won by his own powers, he had greatness thrust upon
him. Let us be just; let us give the Devil his due. I have no doubt
but he has grievances, if there were any court where he could offer
his complaints.
The Creator made both man and Serpent-devil, knowing just what would
and must come to pass, and he did it all for his own glory. He
also made hell for his own glory. Surely the Lord's ways are not
our ways. For no Modoc Indian would entertain such a design toward
his children, no matter how bad they might be, or how vicious his
own nature.
We cannot think of a creator without seeing that he as the author of
all things, is responsible for good and evil, for right and wrong,
for ignorance and knowledge, for truth and error. Man is therefore, no
more responsible for his nature than a steam engine is responsible for
its defects. The defects must be attributed to the maker in both cases.
Adam knew good and evil without eating of the tree of knowledge. He
had a brain, and his thoughts were imperfect; sometimes they were
relatively correct, and then again they were wholly wrong or in
error. This was knowing good and evil, therefore he knew good and evil
without eating of the prohibited fruit, just as surely as he had a
brain. The tree of knowledge is a very childish story. Knowledge does
not grow on trees, nor does much of it exist in heads which entertain
such fables as a divine revelation.
Man was created with a brain to do his thinking and knowing, and by
its very nature of knowing he must know good and evil, and yet he
is cursed for knowing good and evil. As well might the Creator give
the bird wings, toss it in the air and then damn it for flying. But
even supposing the story to be true, namely, that the fruit of the
tree made one to know good and evil, why should such desirable fruit
be forbidden? What would the world be without the knowledge of good
and evil? Man cannot know good without also knowing evil. They are
inseparable. God himself knows good and evil, and if it is good for
him to have such knowledge, then it surely must be good for you and
me. The love of knowledge is the fountain of life. Man must have
knowledge or his life is a mere cipher. All hail then to Mother Eve,
who first tasted of the tree of knowledge, who first quenched her
thirst at this fountain from which the whole race of thirsty souls
have delighted to drink. Mythology abounds in stories about the gods;
about their imperfections and weaknesses, but this account of the
Serpent-devil and the tree of knowledge is the silliest fable of
all, and has entailed indescribable misery upon the human race. The
prohibition of knowledge has left an inherited twist in human
nature. Even now in the afternoon of the nineteenth century mankind
does not know much--and it is largely due to this first commandment
not to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Has not the
church always prohibited knowledge? Has she not stood in the way of
every great reform? Knowledge is not important. Only believe. Believe
in the Bible, but believe it only as the priest explains it.
It seems that the Serpent-devil knew more about the nature of man,
and what would result from his eating the fruit of the tree of
knowledge than God did. Jehovah told Adam in plain terms, that if
he ate of the fruit of that tree he would die that very day. But
the Serpent-devil told Eve (in French I suppose) that she and her
"hubby" would do no such a thing, but on the contrary it would be
a great blessing to them, and that they would become as gods (there
were lots of gods in those days and many of them "no great shakes"),
knowing good and evil. It turned out just as the Serpent-devil had
told Mother Eve; they did not die. And when God saw what Adam and Eve
had done he called a conclave of gods, and after due deliberation
voted to drive them out of the garden penniless, to live upon the
cold charities of an unfriendly world. And this is the same God who
commands us to forgive and to love our enemies. That would not be
god-like, and therefore I hold the commandment invalid.
In this august assemblage of the celestial hosts, one of their number
assigns the reasons for expelling Adam and Eve from the garden in these
words: "Behold the man (and woman) has become as one of us to know
good and evil." (Gen. 3 : 22.) Here we see it is a surprise to the
gods that man had become as one of them, knowing good and evil. Yet
these gods are supposed to know all things from all eternity to all
eternity. Do the gods forget things as we poor mortals do?
The Serpent had told Eve just what would happen, and God told Adam
just that which did not happen. The Serpent said: "For God doth
know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened,
and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Ye shall not surely
die." (Gen. 3 : 5, 4.) The Serpent gave it straight, and God made a
mistake to say the least. In all this story about the fall of man,
the Devil appears to be a better friend of man than his Creator.
The Serpent was in reality not the enemy, but the friend of man. He
spoke words of truth and encouragement to Adam at a time when he needed
good counsel. It is not to be forgotten that he spoke the truth. The
poisonous tongue of malice has called him the father of lies, but this
saying is a lie itself--and a bald-headed lie of sufficient antiquity
to be itself most appropriately called the father of lies. The Devil,
Lucifer, is the light-bearer, the truth revealer; but the world at
large has an impression that there is a screw loose somewhere, and
have unwittingly ascribed the evil to the Devil, when a very slight
study of his character and deeds will show that "the Devil is not
half as black as he is painted."
The next account we have of him is in the book of Job (not a Hebrew
writing), where he appears under the title of Satan. It is to be
borne in mind that he has many names. In the book of Genesis we left
him a serpent with a curse pronounced upon him: "Because thou hast
done this thou art cursed above all cattle [what kind of cattle is
a snake?] and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly thou
shalt go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life." (Gen. 3 :
14.) Prior to the great fall of Adam and Eve, when they fell upward
and became as the gods, it seems the Serpent had always hopped along
erect, on the tip end of his tail, but because he had divulged some
court secrets, he was condemned to crawl upon his belly the rest
of his natural life (which is, I should remark, uncommonly long);
but in the book of Job he says of himself that he has been "walking
up and down in the earth." Who told him to get up? Was he not cursed
to go on his belly for all time to come? How could he walk? A snake
has no legs. When, where, how, and by whom was this transformation
of a hideous serpent into a prince-like man, accomplished? I don't
know. Perhaps it is a sort of Santa Claus story, coming down to us
from the childhood of the race. All peoples have similar traditions
which spring from early myths. Our Devil story will have to get in
line and march in the procession of fables. There are many people,
and people of the very best kind, who do not have any Devil. He
has left them and gone on a permanent vacation. On the other hand,
there are folks who could not feel happy if they thought there were
no Devil. To all such, who may read this, I would ask a few questions
which if they will intelligently answer, I shall be greatly obliged.
Did the Serpent talk? How could he speak without having the
vocal organs necessary to human speech? Who taught him the use of
language? What language did he speak? Was it French? I merely suggest
the French, as Adam and Eve took French leave of the garden. Did the
Serpent reason like a man? How could he with such a small head and not
even a spoonful of brains, know so much more than Adam and Eve? Yea,
he even knew more than God himself--for God did not know, or else
he fibbed, that man would not die if he ate the forbidden fruit. He
did not seem to know that man would become as the gods by partaking
of this tree, but the Serpent knew all this and possibly much more;
but how could so much superior knowledge be crowded into so small a
head? Some of our congressmen with domes of unusual dimensions do not
know as much as this inexperienced Serpent did. How are we to account
for this? Let some devilishly wise man explain to a benighted world
why Satan has been so wickedly traduced.
In the book of Job we have a second account of the Devil: "Now there
was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the
Lord, and Satan came also among them. And the Lord said unto Satan,
Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord and said, From going
to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the
Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there
is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that
feareth God and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the Lord and said,
Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast not thou made a hedge about him,
and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou
hast blest the work of his hands and his substance is increased in
the land. But put forth thine hand now and touch all that he hath,
and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan,
Behold all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not
forth thy hand. So Satan went from the presence of the Lord." (Job 1 :
6-12.) Then follows an account of the destruction of the cattle and
children of Job, and yet he would not curse God. Satan then suggested
that to afflict him in person would bring out his weakness and deeply
hidden wickedness. Job was tormented with boils, and three gratuitous
advisors, and did not curse God, but came very nearly giving his
counselors a cuss word or two. They exasperated him beyond measure.
Now while it must be admitted that the Devil does not show up to
as great advantage in this fable as he does in that relating to the
tree of knowledge, yet we should not jump to our conclusions. Let us
review this Job story.
We are surprised at the dignified manners of Satan. He walks in with
lordly airs among the sons of God. No one present said to him, "Get
out of here." He struts around in the gay company as one of them. We
hardly know how to understand such familiarity possible between the
sons of God and Satan. If, however, the sons of God in those days
were no better than the sons of God are in these, it is not in the
least surprising that Satan should conduct himself as well as the
best of them. But why did God permit him to do these cruel things to
Job? In a certain book by God, we are told to "resist the Devil and
he will flee from thee." This would have been splendid medicine for
the doctors who prescribed it. Satan did not come there so far as
we see to work any temptation. It was God who set up the temptation
before Satan. He began by asking Satan what he thought of Job. What
mattered it what his opinion of Job might be? Why should his opinion
be asked? Was it not showing respect to him? God should have said,
"Get behind me Satan."
Satan had seen many men who could not stand in the hour of trial,
and not knowing Job he took him for a man of that kind; God, however,
knew Job to be a "perfect" man and ought to have protected him from
all evil. Yet he did nothing of the kind, but on the contrary, clothed
Satan with power of destroying his cattle and children, and afflicting
him with tormenting boils. We see then that it is not Satan who is
responsible for the sufferings of the patient man, but God himself,
who first shows respect to Satan's presence and his opinions, then
gives him power by which he does a monstrous wrong to a good man
and his family. But if Satan's part is bad God's is worse. He is
the author of all of Job's miseries. If God had been just, he would
not have led off to his Satanic Majesty with such a temptation as to
ask him his opinion of Job. It was immaterial what his opinion was;
but it was all important that if there were a God in Israel that he
should protect and honor the "perfect" man, Job.
But aside from the barbarities of this myth, look at its childish
absurdities. How could the omniscient, whose eyes are in every place,
beholding the evil and the good, need to ask Satan where he came
from! Was not God, the omnipresent, everywhere on earth? If Satan had
been going up and down the country would he not of necessity have met
God again and again? Obviously these great opponents must have often
met. Again, it was useless for God to ask Satan what his opinion of
Job was, or would be after he tested him, as he knows all things past,
present, and to come, in heaven, earth and hell (I mean hades). It
is evident that Satan's opinion is not needed or cared for, because
after all the trials Job suffered were ended, there is not one word
given as to what Satan's opinion of Job was, and yet in the beginning
of the story this seems to be its sole object. After Job suffers a
long time from bodily sores and "miserable comforters" Satan vanishes
from the scene in a very obscure way, and God blesses Job with twice
as much as he had before. He had more sheep, more camels, more oxen,
and more asses. He became father of seven sons and three daughters,
the same number of sons and daughters that were slain by Satan,
instigated by God. Why were these ten innocent persons murdered? Had
they no rights that a just God was bound to respect? Shall not the
judge of all the earth do right? Certainly he ought to. But in this
case the judge pleads guilty of this crime. In reply to Satan God
says: "Although thou movedst me against him to destroy him without
cause." (Job 2 : 3.) Here is an unqualified confession of wronging
Job and his children without a show of justice; and even the cattle,
I imagine, would protest against the outrageous slaughter perpetrated
on them. If these asses were like Balaam's, I am sure they would
enter suit for damages.
"So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning,
for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a
thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. He had also seven sons
and three daughters." (Job 42 : 12, 13.) It is clear that the Lord
had nothing to do whatever with these blessings. Job had had sheep,
camels, oxen, asses, and children before, without any assistance from
the Lord; and if he secured a similar stock of cattle and a family
of children it was by his own management and husbandry.
But supposing them a gift from God as damages sustained by Job at
the hand of Satan through the instigation of God, yet they could
not assuage his grief for the loved ones ruthlessly torn from his
embrace. It is easy to see that this story is nothing more than
an oriental tale--a myth. It is wanting not only in fact, but it
teaches very bad morals. There is nothing ennobling in it. 1. God
had no moral right to permit Satan to come unrebuked into the company
of the sons of God. An earthly father teaches his children to avoid
"evil communications," but on this occasion the heavenly father did
not scorn the company of Satan, but treated him respectfully. 2. Again,
the infinite being would not need to ask the Devil what his opinion of
Job was, for he would know beforehand. 3. The infinitely good being
would not want the Devil's opinion--nor would he value it a straw,
if it were given before it was asked. 4. The infinitely just ruler
of the universe would not give the great adversary of man and God
such diabolical power over that "perfect and upright man" Job. Nor
would he have permitted the three "miserable comforters," reeling
mentally under the blind staggers of a blind theology, to have added
more torment to that imposed by his Satanic Majesty. Nor would he
have permitted him to murder the seven sons and three daughters, as a
mere matter of experiment in testing Job's staying powers. All this
is so horrible that the afterthought of more camels and asses, as a
compensation is an insufficient patch to cover the unqualified wrongs
done to the man of Uz. Even Job does not shine as conspicuously in
all this as he should. Job ought to have protested with all his might
and main against both God and Devil, that his individual rights were
invaded. He should have taken a change of venue, to have a hearing
before some other god, where there was a slight hope of securing more
justice. But he didn't and the consequence is we are all advised,
when suffering the outrageous wrongs of despotism, to "be patient
like Job." It has been a great evil to the human family that Job
was no "kicker;" it has opened wide the flood gates of tyranny, and
transfused the cowardly blood of sheep into the veins of men. Oh,
that Job had kicked and taken an appeal, what an inspiration it would
be to the fold of God now, to resist the shears of the fleecers! to
rebel against the rule of robbers!
Some questions to be answered by the man who pounds the Bible and
claims to understand the Greek scriptures: