preacher, as the mouth piece of the whole, thanks the Deity for favours which many for whom he speaks are regardless of, for mercies which they are continually abusing, professes to reverence that Being on whose goodness they never reflect, and to admire those laws which they only live to violate! How long will such things last-how long will the system which encourages such things be esteemed, by an enlightened age, the work of reason and the gift of God? Your's, &c.

Hackney Road, Jan. 24, 1814.

W. C.

ON THE EXISTENCE OF THE DEVIL.

To the Editor of the Freethinking Christians' Magazine.

SIR,

MY long silence on the subject in which I had engaged may be considered as sanctioning the error you had committed, in stating my former letter to be a conclusion, instead of a continuation, as stated in the manuscript;-but, Sir, serious indisposition, united with other causes, is the apology I have to offer to your readers, and trust the interval has not been sufficiently long to give the adversary an opportunity of recovering the wounds I may have inflicted, and that for the future I shall be enabled during the present combat to deal out blows more deadly and fatal than on any former occasion.

In examining those passages in the histories of Jesus, which contain the words Devil or Satan, we shall clearly perceive that many of them are unconnected with the present enquiry into the existence of a being, which superstition has designated by those names; among which number are, as I have observed in a former letter, all those connected with possessions, in which Jesus is represented as holding conversation with devils, who acknowledge, "we know thee who thou art, the holy one of God." All such passages belong to the doctrine of demoniacal possessions; one only will require examination in the present discussion. The Pharisees, when they observed the wonderful power of Jesus in casting out demons, or curing those diseases which ignorance or a false theology imputed to demoniacal possession, ascribed that power to Beelzebub, (Matt. xxiv. 26)

"he casteth out demons by Beelzebub the prince of the demons," which Beelzebub is generally understood as ano

ther name for the supernatural being called the Devil or Satan; but on referring to 2 Kings i. 2, we shall find that Beelzebub was a very different personage - he was one of the heathen gods whom Ahaziah sent to consult "the god of Ekron;' one who like all the gods of the heathen was a departed human being, which superstition had deified, and placed in an exalted situation as a prince of demons of those departed spirits who were supposed to possess the demoniacs of the gospel.

The Pharisees, upon the false but popular notion that certain diseases, such as lunacy, epilepsy, &c. were inflicted by the spirits of dead men entering the bodies of the living, assert that Jesus had received the power of ejecting them from Beelzebub (the spirit of a dead man) whom they consider as the prince, governor, or controuler of demons (the spirits of dead men); to which charge Jesus replies, by shewing the absurdity of their reasoning even upon their own assumed premises" every kingdom divided against itself cannot.. stand"-" If Satan cast out Satan"-it Beelzebub's power consists in afflicting the human race, in causing his subjects to enter the bodies of men, and to torment them in various ways-how can I be acting under the influence of this adverse power, when I remove those afflictions, cast out those demons, and consequently am destroying this kingdom? If I were acting under this influence, the kingdom of the adversary would be divided against itself; "how then should his kingdom stand?" In short, whether we consider the reasoning of the Pharisees, or the reply of Jesus concerning Beelzebub, neither of them seem to have had any conception of such a being as a fallen immortal spirit Consequently this passage cannot support a belief in that doctrine.

It has generally been imagined by the advocates of the doctrine in question, that Jesus is speaking of the Devil when (John xii. 31) he says, " now shall the prince of this world be cast out." Upon what this supposition is grounded would be difficult to ascertain; Jesus had been contemplating the suffering he was about to endure, and reflecting on the necessity of undergoing the "afflictions of that hour" he had received comfort by a supernatural voice, saying "I have both glorified my name, and will glorify it again." And he declares, “this voice came not because of me, but for your sakes." "Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out;" i. e. I am now about to be brought to the judgment seat of

66

men; the result will be, that I who am appointed by God the prince of this world, shall by wicked men be condensned to a cruel and ignominious death-" shall be cast out," That this is the true sense of the passage appears clear from what follows, when Jesus, as though he would encourage his followers who surrounded him, declares that although this should be accomplished by his being crucified, yet if I be thus lifted up on high," my kingdom will neither be diminished or destroyed, but "I will draw all men unto myself." That the Devil cannot be the being who was to be cast out is certain, even upon the principles of those who are the most strenuous supporters of the exis tence of such a being; for if he was cast out of this world, how can he (to use a misapplied passage of scripture) go about (at this time) like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."

The parable of the sower (Matt. xiii. 4) has been supposed to represent the secret workings of this invisible and diabolical being on the mind of man. "Behold a sower went forth to sow, and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up," &c. which is explained (19th verse) when any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked (one is in italics, signifying that it is put by the translators to supply the sense) thoughts or dispositions; or, in the language of the other historians, "the Devil," and taketh away that which was sown in his heart. This parable is beautifully illustrative of the ef fects which teaching had on the minds of different persons, and the consequences resulting from such effects-As seeds scattered upon the surface of the earth are exposed to the fowls of the air, so teaching, which merely is heard, without being examined or reflected on, can take no root; and whatever important truth may have been taught will be quickly removed from the mind by the babits of the man who has been hearing, or by any teachers of false religion. As the seed which falls on stony ground hath not deep root, and quickly springeth up, so the man who approves of and joyfully receiveth the truth, not having root in himself-not having examined the truth and made it his own, when called upon to suffer for the truth, he is offended. As the seed sown among thorns is destroyed, ere it comes to perfection, so the man whose mind is engrossed in the cares of the world will find that the deceitfulness of riches.

choke the word, and render it unfruitful. But he that receiveth seed into good ground, whose mind is clear, who is anxious to know the truth, "heareth it and understandeth it," maketh it his own by applying it to the correction and improvement of his own mind, bringing forth the fruit thereof.

In this parable of the sower the cause of failure is, in the first instance, that there was no earth in which to receive the seed, and in the other instances, the earbund, which is the mind of men was ad, “stony, or among thorns," and on this account the devil, persecution, the cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, prevent or remove any good effect. arising from hearing the truth. But what was the cause of this depravity of mind? Evidently the want of that dispo sition which leads man to look into himself, to judge his own actions, and the motives from which they spring, with a view to his own improvement in knowledge and virtueWhen Jesus sent the seventy disciples to preach (proclaim) in the different villages that "the kingdom of heaven was at hand," on their return they report the succesful issue of their mission, and that they had in his name cast out demons. "Even the devils, (demons) are subject unto us through thy name." Jesus replies, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven," by which we must understand him as taking a perspective view of the power of truth over all opposi tion. To refer this passage to Milton's devil would be absurd, that being having according to that writer been burled from heaven some thousands of years previous to the birth of Jesus. That the Devil or Satan has the power to vent his malice against the Deity in the affliction of his creatures, has long been believed by the superstitious and credulous; to support which the advocates of that doctrine adduce from the New Testament, (Luke xiv. 4) where Jesus cures a woman who had been afflicted and bowed together for eighteen years; the performance of which cure on the sab bath day excites the indignation of the ruler of the synagogue where this transaction took place. Jesus replies to this hypocrite, by shewing the conduct of such men who would neither neglect their ox or their ass on the sabbath day, "And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, &c." If we call to our mind that the term Satan signifies any thing adverse or in opposition, the difficulty vanishes, and we understand this woman to have been bound by her infirmities in adversity and afliction for eighteen years.

John viii. We find a conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees originating in the declaration of Jesus—“. I am the light of the world," and that his father bore testimony to the character he sustained. This led the Pharisees to boast of their being the seed of Abraham, but while Jesus admitted that by natural descent they were the children of Abraham, he denies that Abraham was their father in the sense to which he referred, in speaking of God as his father. "If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham; but now ye seek to kill me, a man which hath told you the truth: this would not Abraham." "Ye do the deeds of your father," but that father is not Abraham, neither is it God. If God were your father, ye would love me !” “Ye are of your father the Devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do; he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him; when he speaketh a lie he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar, and the father of it."

Ye Pharisees, who pretend to obey the laws of God given to Abraham and the prophets, manifest your hypocrisy in your opposition to me, who have told you the truth. Ye go about to kill me; this would not Abraham; it is rather the disposition of that idolatrous and wicked people from among whom Abraham, by the kindness of God, and on ac• count of his righteous conduct, was called and chosen. The systems of idolatry adopted by those people or nations were adverse to the worship of the true God, and the knowledge of the truth. They were murderous, in the rites and ceremonies which they imposed on its advocates; the whole was a complete deception, representing false deities as the true gods who ought to be worshipped. "When he speaketh a lie he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it." Those idolatrous people were the makers of their own gods, which they knew to be false, yet imposed upon themselves and others by worshipping them as though they were true gods-ye, Pharisees, prove yourselves to be the children of the devil-of this heathenish power who bas always been adverse to the truth by your conduct; for "If I say the truth, ye do not believe me." Ye hear not God's word because ye are not of God-Ye know not God, but I know God; and should I say I know him not, I should bea liar like unto you, who, while you profess to know God, prove yourselves liars by your wicked conduct towards me, whom God hath sent.

The next passage which demands our consideration is the