"Minister Lauds Satan."—The above is the title of an article in the Seattle Post Intelligencer of March 10. The rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, as reported in his own words, chooses "to be the devil's advocate." Following are two excerpts from the sermon:
"All glory, laud, and honor to the mission of Mephisto! He stood at the cradle of the human race and taught it the difference between good and evil. He made it possible for men to lay aside the swaddling-clothes of innocence and to put on the armor of virtue!"
"What could the race have accomplished without the aid of Mephisto? It would still climb trees with the orang-outang, it would still chew the cud and howl with the hyenas."
All this is flat infidelity or inexcusable ignorance. Man could have resisted sin without sinning. It is from God's Book that we learn about the devil, his origin, history, power; but it is not, nor was it, in harmony with the will of God that man should fall under the power of Satan. God did not start the race as tadpoles or monkeys or orang-outangs, or as cavemen. They were innocent, children in experience; but under God's tutelage they would have learned to resist evil and do good, and so have developed strong character. No man learns the evil of sin as does he who believes God. Sin deceives him who yields to it or looks upon it.
Never will we view Satan, Satan's work, sin, evil, in a right light or at a right angle till we see it in the visions of God. There will then be no lauding of the devil. This is a bold fulfilment, isn't it? of Rev. 13:4, "And they worshiped the dragon [the devil] which gave power unto the beast!"