THE ADVERSARY OF SOULS

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 13, 1859

THE ADVERSARY OF SOULS.

We cut from one of our secular exchanges the following:

THE DEVIL AN IMAGINARY BEING.—Rev. Dr. Bushnell, a distinguished orthodox preacher in Hartford, Ct., repudiates the old idea of the personality of the Devil. In Dr. Bushnell’s book, entitled, “Nature and the Supernatural,” he says:

“Satan, or the Devil, taken in the singular, is not the name of any particular person, it is a personation merely of temptation, or impersonal evil, the name is one taken up by imagination to designate or embody, in a conception the mind can most easily wield, the all, or total, of bad minds and powers.”

How are we to know from Scripture whether God and angels are real persons or not? How are we to be assured that the Almighty is not simply the first great Cause, a blind Influence or Power instead of a person? How but, from the fact that the Bible always speaks of God and angels as persons, and imputes to them the acts of living agents? It is true that the adversary of souls is not brought forward so prominently as are other persons in Scripture narrative, for he was not the subject upon which the inspired writers employed their pens. But whenever he is introduced it is as a spirit, a being—speaking, acting, working.

In the Old Testament we find laws against witchcraft and sorcery, and the intercourse with familiar spirits; in the New, narratives of possessions of devils, which, on account of attendant circumstances, can by no possibility be regarded as diseases. In the Epistles are allusions to fallen angels who kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation and were cast down to hell. The Bible is chiefly a record of events here on earth. The history of events in heaven, from the creation of the first angel to the creation of the first man, has never been written. Had we such a record, doubtless there would be a full account of the manner and cause of the fall of celestial spirits. As it is, there are here and there allusions to these mighty events, introduced only when needful to throw light upon some doctrine or event in the scheme of man’s redemption. But these allusions, whatever obscurity surrounds them, are clear in this particular; namely, that there is an adversary of souls who is a person. And as in the case of a company of men wandering in the wilderness, none are in so great danger of beasts of prey as they who believe there are no such seeking to devour them; so we may be sure none are in such hazard of that adversary of souls as they who deny his existence. But we curtail our remarks here for the purpose of introducing to our readers an extract from a sermon by Charles Kingsley, author of Alton Locke. The subject is the miracle of our Lord in casting out the legion of devils.—Chris. Mess.

There is a notion got abroad that it is only a figure of speech to talk of evil spirits, that all the Bible means by them are certain bad habits, or bad qualities or diseases. There are many who will say when they read this story, “This poor man was only a madman. It was the fashion of the old Jews when a man was mad to say that he was possessed by evil spirits. All they meant was that the man’s own spirit was in an evil diseased state, or that his brain and mind were out of order.”

When I hear such language—and it is very common—I cannot help thinking how pleased the Devil will be to hear people talk in that way. How can people help him better than by saying that there is no Devil? A thief would be very glad to hear you say, “There are no such things as thieves; it is an old superstition, so I may leave my house open at night without danger;” and I believe, my friends, from the very bottom of my heart, that this new-fangled disbelief in evil spirits is put into men’s hearts by the evil spirits themselves. As it was once said, “The Devil has tried every plan to catch men’s souls, and now, as the last and most cunning trick of all, he is shamming dead.” These may seem homely words, but the homeliest words are very often the deepest. I advise you all to think seriously on them.

But it is impossible surely to read this story without seeing that the Bible considers evil spirits as distinct persons; just as much as each one of us is a person, and that the Lord spoke to them and treated them as persons. “What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?” And again, “If thou cast us out, suffer us to go into the herd of swine!” What can show more plainly that there were some persons in that poor man besides himself, his own spirit, his own person? and that he knew it, and Jesus knew it too? and that he spoke to these spirits, these persons, who possessed that man, and not to the man himself? No doubt there was a terrible confusion in the poor madman’s mind about these evil spirits, who were tormenting him, making him miserable, foul and savage, in mind and body—a terrible confusion! We find when Jesus asked him his name, he answered, “Legion,” that is an army, a multitude, “for we are many,” he says. Again, one gospel tells us that he says, “What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God?” While in another gospel we are told that he said, “What have we to do with thee?” He seems not to have been able to distinguish between his own spirit and these spirits who possessed him. They put the furious and despairing thoughts into his heart; they spoke through his mouth; they made a slave and a puppet of him. But though he could not distinguish between his own soul and the devils who were in it, Christ could and Christ did.

The man says to him, or rather the devils make the man say to him, “If thou cast us out, suffer us to go into the herd of swine, and drive us not out into the deep.” What did Christ answer him? Christ did not answer him as our so-called wise men in these days would: “My good man, this is all delusion, and a fancy of your own, about your having evil spirits in you—more persons than one in you—for you are wrong in saying we of yourself. You ought to say, ‘I,’ as every one else does; and as for spirits going out of you, or going into a herd of swine, or anything else, that is all a superstition and a fancy. There is nothing to come out of you, there is nothing in you except yourself. All the evil in you is your own, the disease of your own brain, and the violent passions of your own heart. Your brain must be cured by medicine, and your violent passions tamed down by care and kindness, and then you will get rid of this foolish notion that you have evil spirits in you, and calling yourself a multitude, as if you had other persons in you besides yourself.”

Any one who spoke in this manner now-a-days, would be thought very reasonable and very kind. Why did not our Lord speak so to this man, for there was no outward difference between this man’s conduct and that of many violent mad people who we see continually in our land? We read that this man possessed with devils would wear no clothes; that he had extraordinary strength; that he would not keep company with other men, but abode day and night in the tombs, exceedingly fierce, crying and cutting himself with stones, trying in blind rage, which he could not explain to himself, to hurt himself and all who came near him. And above all he had this notion that evil spirits had got possession of him. Now every one of these habits and fancies you may see in many raging maniacs at this day.

But did the Lord treat this man as we treat such maniacs in these days? He took the man at his word, and more; the man could not distinguish clearly between himself and the evil spirits, but our Lord did. When the devils besought him, saying, “If thou cast us out, suffer us to go into the herd of swine,” our Lord answers, “Go;” and “when they were cast out they went into the herd of swine; and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.”

It was as if our Lord had meant to say to the bystanders—ay, and to us, and to all people in all

times and in all countries—“This poor possessed maniac’s notion was a true one. There were other persons in him besides himself, tormenting him, body and soul; and behold I can drive these out of him, and send them into something else, and leave the man uninjured, himself, and only himself, again in an instant, without any need of long educating to cure him of his bad habits.” It will be but reasonable, then, for us to take this story of the man possessed by devils as written for our example, as an instance of what might, and perhaps what would, happen to any one of us, were it not for God’s mercy.

St. Peter tells us to be “sober and watchful, because the Devil goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour;” and when we look at the world around, we may surely see that that stands as true now as it did in St. Peter’s time. Why, again, did St. James tell us to resist the Devil if the Devil be not near us to resist? Why did St. Paul take for granted, as he did, that Christian men were of course not ignorant of Satan’s devices, if it be quite a proof of enlightenment and superior knowledge to be ignorant of his devices—if any dread, any thought, even, about evil spirits, be beneath the attention of reasonable men?

My friends, I say fairly, once for all, that that common notion, that there are no men now possessed by evil spirits, and that all those stories of the Devil’s power over men, are only worn out superstitions, has come from this, that men do not like to retain God in their knowledge, and therefore as a necessary consequence, do not like to retain the Devil in their knowledge, because they would be very glad to believe in nothing but what they can see, and taste, and handle; and therefore the thought of unseen evil spirits, or good spirits either, is a painful thing to them. First, they do not really believe in angels, ministering spirits, sent out to minister to the heirs of salvation; then they begin not to believe in evil spirits. The Bible plainly describes their vast numbers; but these people are wiser than the Bible, and only talk of one—of the Devil, as if there were not, as the text tells us, legions and armies of devils.

Then they get rid of that one devil in their real desire to believe in as few spirits as possible. I am afraid many of them have gone on to the next step, and got rid of the one God out of their thoughts and their belief. I said I am afraid; I should have said, I know that they have done so, and that thousands in this day, who began by saying evil spirits only mean certain diseases and bad habits in men, have ended by saying, “God only means certain good habits in man. God is no more a person than the evil spirits are persons.” I warn you of all this, my friends, because if you go to live in large towns, as many of you will, you will hear talk enough of this sort before your hairs are gray, put cleverly and eloquently enough; for a wise man said, “The Devil does not send fools on his errands.” I pray God that if you ever do hear doctrines of that kind, some of my words may rise in your mind, and help to show you the evil path down which they may lead.

From the Congregational Herald.