16. Have the curses which God has pronounced on the world made
it better?
17. Is there any place in the record, accounts of the Devil's stealing,
robbing, and murdering?
18. Are there not numerous stories in the Bible recounting the
robberies and murders perpetrated in the name and by the sanction
of God? Some times the people of God destroyed five thousand, ten
thousand, twenty thousand, fifty thousand, seventy thousand, and
in one instance six hundred and seventy thousand, as in the case
of Pharaoh and his hosts in the Red sea. Did Satan ever try to do
anything as hellish as this?
19. Is the Devil the father of lies? When did he tell a deliberate
falsehood? To Eve? Oh no, it was the other party who did that business.
20. Did he lie when he took Jesus up into an exceeding high mountain,
etc., and saith unto him, "All these will I give thee," etc.? (Mat. 4 :
8.) It is claimed that old Beelzebub lied on this occasion. It
would hit the bull's eye in the center if we were to say that the
writer of this story about Jesus being carried off bodily into an
exceeding high mountain, was the boy responsible for this lie. But
without resting the case there let us see how it opens out. It is
urged that "the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof;" but
it may be urged that the Devil is called "the prince of this world,"
implying that he has just claims both by conquest and possession;
and therefore he could have given at least a quitclaim deed.
The Devil is an expensive luxury of the church. It costs about
$1,000,000,000 annually for preaching against the Devil. Even if there
is less said derogatory to his Satanic Majesty now-adays, yet it costs
just as much, and more too, for drawing it mild, than it did formerly,
for describing the split hoof, horns, and spear-headed tail, hell,
etc. Notwithstanding the fact that the people want less Devil and
more bread and beef, yet they must have some Devil. Hence the church
clings to its Devil-idol with which to scare the people. To give up
the Devil is to break up house-keeping all around. If there be no
Devil then there is no hell; and if no hell, there is no salvation;
and if no salvation there is no need of preaching; and "no preach no
pay." How could a fat minister with a fat salary, look such a ghost
as that in the face? Yes, it would be impossible for the church to
survive without the Devil. The clergy have to fall back upon him in
times of revival to stir up the fears of uninformed people.
The Devil has had many hard names heaped upon him, for example: The
Tempter; the Adversary or Satan; Beelzebub; the Prince of Devils; the
Strong One; the Enemy, or the Hostile One; the Serpent; Lying Spirit;
Lucifer; Son of the Morning; Prince of Darkness; Prince of the Power
of the Air; the Accuser; Angel of the Bottomless Pit; Angel of Light;
Mammon; Belial; Legion; the Foul Spirit; the Unclean Spirit; the God
of this World; the Great Red Dragon; Abaddon; Apollyon, the Destroyer,
etc. Besides these sacred titles, he is equally well known by certain
house-hold names, as, Old Nick; Old Splitfoot; the Old Scratch; Old
Harry; Old Horny; the Old Boy; the Deuce; the Dickens; auld Clouty;
Nickie; Ben; his Satanic Majesty, etc. It must be confessed that
these names do not carry much sanctity with them, nor do they leave
us in love with the character they represent. But before we proceed
further, it is only simple justice (that is giving the Devil his due),
to call attention to the various names by which God has been known.
The early Hebrew literature speaks of gods, not God. We find the
following names ascribed to them: El; Elohim; El Shaddai; Shaddai;
Elvoh; Yahve, or Jah. The following is a personal photograph as nearly
as we can draw it, of the Jewish Jehovah as described in the Bible:
"There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth
devoured: coals were kindled by it." (Ps. 18 : 8.) "Round about him
were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies." (Ps. 18 : 11.) "His
head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes
were as a flame of fire." (Rev. 1 : 14.) "And his feet like unto fine
brass, as if they burned in a furnace." (Rev. 1 : 15.) "He had horns
coming out of his hand." (Hab. 3 : 4.) "And burning coals went forth
at his feet." (Hab. 3 : 5.) "In the midst of the seven candle-sticks
one like unto the son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot
and girt about the paps with a golden girdle." (Rev. 1 : 13.) "And
he had in his right hand seven stars; and out of his mouth went a
sharp two-edged sword." (Rev. 1 : 16.)
This God has violated all the moral laws he ever gave to man. He
approved of lying, robbing, adultery, murder, war, and all the great
crimes known to man.
Is it any wonder that Theodore Parker should say to the Calvinist who
was trying to convert him, "The difference between us is simple,--your
God is my Devil."
The reader has his choice--or he may say "good Lord good Devil,"
and float with the current. There is, however, no disguising the fact
that between God and the Devil, as described in the Bible, the Devil
sustains the better moral character of the two. He is not spotless
and clean, it is true, but he has infinitely less bloodshed to answer
for than Jehovah.
Where the Devil did he come from? I am reminded of this form of
expression by a little incident related of a Scotch preacher, who took
for his text, on one occasion, the following passage: "The Devil, as a
roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour." (1 Peter 5 :
8.) It must be borne in mind, in order to better understand the full
force and beauty of the preacher's division of the text into three
heads, that it was common in earlier times to repeat the pronoun in a
sentence, for example, John Smith, his book, Mary she has come home,
etc. In charming accord with this old style, the minister divided his
text into three parts. He said, "My brethren, we will first inquire
where the Devil he was walking to? and secondly, who the Devil he
wanted to devour? and thirdly, what the Devil he was roaring about?"
Having gratuitously thrown in this gem, we proceed to answer the
question, "Where the Devil, did he come from?"
It is evident that the earlier Hebrew literature is almost wholly
free from any traces of a personal Devil, and that later writings of
the same people show strong outline of such a personality of evil.
While it is true that Satan is a Hebrew word, it is equally true that
the word does not denote a being at all, but means anything adverse or
opposing. We may cite in illustration a few passages. Second Samuel
19 : 22: "David said, What have we to do with you, ye sons of Jeremiah,
that ye should this day be adversaries unto me?" First Kings 11 :
14: "And Jehovah stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the
Adomite." First Kings 11 : 23: "And God stirred up another adversary,
Rezon, the son of Eliadah."
In these instances, the word rendered adversary or adversaries,
is Satan, and means nothing more than an opponent.
When the Jews were carried captives to Babylon, they came into
immediate contact with a people, the Persians, who believed in a good
being and a bad one. Ormazd was their good God, and Ahriman their
Devil. The latter was as clearly defined in the duality of Zoroastrian
theology, as the former. During their seventy years' captivity it
could not be otherwise, than that the enslaved people should imbibe
some of the customs and beliefs of their masters. If they went so far
as to change the characters of their language from the original Hebrew
letters to those of the Chaldas, it is easy to see that they would
of course, adopt this notion of an evil principle and personality,
so prevalent at that time in Chaldea. After the Babylonian exile the
doctrine of a Devil became a part of the Jewish belief, and the evil
spirit was termed Satan, as he was the foe or adversary of God. In
First Chronicles 21 : 1, there is a circumstance related in which
Satan or the Devil is the principal agent. The words are: "And Satan
stood up against Israel and provoked David to number Israel." Now the
book of Chronicles being written after the captivity, it was quite
natural that the writer should consider and designate the enemy of
God, the Devil or Satan. But the same event is mentioned in another
of the Jewish books, written before the captivity, and the temptation
of David is referred to entirely another being. Here the words are:
"And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and
moved David against them, to say, 'Go number Israel and Judah,'
Thus in the earlier books, the affair is attributed to the Lord,
but in the books written after the Jewish connection with the
Chaldeans and Persians, Satan is blamed for the same act. This,
beyond doubt proves the source of the Christian superstition
respecting the Devil." ("The Devil," by John Watts.)
"With this dualistic system the Jews came in contact during their
captivity at Babylon, and are supposed to have retained permanent
traces of it in their subsequent theology. The conception of the
Devil and of a lower kingdom of demons or devils is the evident
illustration of this. (Ency. Brit. V. Devil.)
"The reason why there was no Devil in the early books was because
none was needed then. The gods considered themselves as being
quite equal to any emergency that might arise in the way of
wickedness."--M. D. Conway.
In other words, the Devil is a myth coming out of the terrible
darkness of remote ages. Every fear that the primitive man and men
of barbarous races have had, painted devils before their minds of
every description. The master mind has said:
"'Tis the eye of child-hood
That fears a painted Devil."
The thought that millions of people commonly well informed on general
matters, still believe in this barbarous myth, must shock and oppress
like an incubus every sensitive and well-informed mind. Such people can
smile pleasantly over the homely myth of Santa Claus, but the Devil
is altogether a different personage. An old lady was once told that
the Devil was dead. She sat silent for a moment, and then replied,
"Well, you may think so, but we hope for better things."
As the horrid doctrine of witchcraft under the light of advancing
knowledge has had to retire into the background of oblivion; as the
Puritan doctrine of infant damnation has been relegated to the limbo
of forgetfulness; as hell's fire has burned to ashes and the ashes
become cold, so too, is the doctrine of a personal Devil retreating
from the minds of all sensible people.