IS THERE A PERSONAL DEVIL?
By Rev. Geo. P. Byington
"The Lord said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it." Job. 2:2. THE revisers made no change in rendering the original of this verse, and left no trace in the margin of difference of opinion concerning it, and I will not revise their work. The passage occurs in the prose introduction with which the author prepares the reader to understand his poem of forty chapters which follows. And yet, underlying the simple style of narrative in the verse before us, is a poetic figure which makes the explanation more difficult. The figure is that of God as a monarch on a throne, surrounded by servants whom he sends forth to do his will, and who return from time to time for fresh commands. These are holy angels of God, and among them comes one called Satan. 1. The question is raised as to the real existence of this Satan, and this question belongs with another: Is the whole narrative an allegory, with the names of only fictitious beings occurring in it? or is it partly real and partly fact? It may be answered that the whole has the appearance of being real history; and it requires more than a theory to turn it into an allegory. Its representation of God's holy angels going forth and returning, as ministers of his will, agrees with the general teaching of the Scriptures. The existence of the sons of God (in such association) is not doubtful; and our narrative treats Satan as having the same reality of being as the sons of God, whom he follows to the throne. The same representation also implies the real existence of a man called Job, who is known as a historical person, for Ezekiel speaks of Job just as he does of Noah and Daniel, who are undoubted historical characters; and James holds up Job as an example of patience. The verisimilitude of the scene693also makes Satan here as real as God. They talk together, and we may as well say that the one does not exist as the other; and so it is not probable that God and sons of God and Job in this narrative are all true beings, while Satan, who appears to be just as real, is fictitious! 2. If then our passage implies the reality of Satan's existence, it also implies his personality. He who is styled Satan cannot be a mere evil principle; for such a principle must belong to some personal being; and if God is the only personal being present, then we shall have him (by a figure) talking with an evil principle within himself. But he has no such evil principle. Hence, even poetic license will not permit us to interpret this Satan who talks with God as other than a personal being. He shows, too, the intelligence, self-consciousness, and free moral agency, which make him a person. He recollects the past; he relates his history; he shows a sense of responsibility; the pronoun "himself" is applied to him; he is as real a person as the angel Gabriel; and if we are at liberty to read out, even of this poetic story (in God's word), Satan's real, personal existence, I know not what (in the Bible) we may not read out (or in) at pleasure. 3. Our passage implies that Satan is a creature, finite and limited in power and work. Here he is acknowledging his accountability to God, like one of us. God demands, "Whence comest thou?" Only a being made by God is answerable to him. If there were a second self-created, self-existent, infinite being, God could not ask him to give account of himself. The rest of the narrative brings out, in detail, how Satan is limited by God's will, in what he can do to Job. And other scriptures, which represent Satan as bound by God's chain, agree with this. Our passage will not let us give to Satan the divine attribute of omnipresence (as some of the talk we hear in religious meetings practically does), for Satan represents himself as going up and down in the earth and walking to and fro in it. That is, he is never in two places at once, like a divine being, but he must travel by some process, and take time in order to reach a given point. If he is personally tempting someone in Boston, at this moment, he is not in Middlebury or Paris. No matter how swiftly he may journey, he must consume time (like the limited, created being that he is). Our passage agrees with the rest of the Bible in making it improper to speak (or think) of him as in many places at once. 4. Our passage implies, also, that Satan is an evil being, because God is here calling him to give account of himself. . . . 5. Our passage implies that Satan is the overseer of evil in this world. His journeys to and fro and up and down in the earth are as superintendent of wickedness, to organize, discipline, direct his army, so that the most concerted and effective hindrance to the will and work of God may be maintained. Satan is the restless and mercurial leader, planning his campaign, and passing rapidly from one part of the world-wide field to another, to diffuse his spirit, to communicate his plots. Most of his personal interviews are with demoniac or human leaders. . . . He does not do all the work of tempting the world. He does not need to. He works mostly through agents, and there are plenty of agents. The strongest evidence to-day (outside of the Bible) for the existence and agency of a personal devil is the union of plan and effort on the part of those who are doing evil work,—the sameness of method of those who oppose revivals, or manage the liquor traffic, or scatter the issues of the Satanic press. 6. Our passage implies, also, that Satan's usurped authority over this world will come to an end. For he is the adversary of God, and the time must come when the almighty power and wisdom of God will end all his craft and power. —Rev. Geo. P. Byington, in Cynosure.