The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1871-05-04
Revealed Theology
Dialogue Between q Pharisee and
q Nazarene.
Where Is Hell, and Who or What
Is the Devil?
Distinguished Scholars upon the
WitncSs-stand.

WitncSs-stand.
Pharisee.-Haying disposed of the sl"'
feet of the Trinity. ut least for the present,
/ would be pleased to know If you believe
there Is Il PERSONAL supernatural being OF
evil, called the Devilg
Nazarene.--It Is Of great consequence to
understand this question, because the son
of God was manifested expressly .Jor the
purpose of lestrOying the DeUH and his ,corks.
u Jno. 3:S, Heb, 2: l4.) The mission Of
Christ Is therefore imperfcctly understood
when the nature of the Bible Devll Is not
comprehcnded. We affirm that the Devil
Is not (as is commonly supposedly y per-
sonal, supernatural agent of evil, ana that,
in fact, there is no such BEING IN eEtSteltce'
The Devil Is Il ScriptuIal personilicati0n
of sin in the flesh, in its several phases OF
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES, individual, aS'
grcgatc. social, and political, IN history,
current experience and prophecy; AFTER
the style of metaphor which speaks or
wisdom as Il Woman, riches as Mammon
aud The God Of this wOrld, sin AS Il Master
etc.
The original word translated devil Is
"DIABoLos." The literal meaning or tiis
is "slmdcrer, or false accuser," rs l%lllslra-
ted in the following passages, where tle
word has been tranStdted. instead OF being,
rs in most cases, transferred to the Eng
lish in II modified form without transll-
ton: | Tim. Bill; Titus 2:3; 2Ilm. 2'3;;
SIN Is the great lccuscr both OF Goa anu
man. 1t SANDERS the former in virtually,
denying his supremacy and goodness, ana
accuses the latter unto death. The per-
soniication Of this principle is natural
aud effective.
Paul tells Us that "The WORKS OF THE
FLESH ARE MANIFEST, which are these;
adultery, tornication, uncleanness," etc,
etc. gal 3: 10, 2l.) And in ] Jno. = H.
we read, ''For ALL that is in the world, the
LUST OF THE FLESH, and the LUST OF THE
EYES, and the PRIDE OF LIFE no superlat-
| ural devil, mortal. or immortal. is OF the
world" Every man is tempted when he
is drawn away of his own lust ANA en-
ticed." And Christ says plainly that mems
own hearts are fountains Of corruption,
MARK 7:2l-23.) Paul makes u fine argn-
mcnt ON this subject, which You viii iind
in Romans 7:7-25. In this argument he
says, II know that in me Chat is, in my
tlesl,) dwelleth no good thing. n For
| delight in the law OF God alter the IN
ward man; but | see another tdw IN my
members, warning against the law of my
mind, and bringing me into cdpttc1y 70 THE
LAW OF SIN, which is in my members. ="
But Jesus was manifested to take away
our sins" q Jno. $3.50, and this can be
done only by giving us bodies IKE unto
those which the angels have, and thus de-
stroy "thc law Of SIN in the flesh, which
is the Devil.
Pharisee.--If the Devil is a ScriptNral
~perSonifcdtion of sin IN the flesh, then we are
ali under his influence, and will continue
to be so long as we live. But " he that is
! dead is freed from sim" Now, what think
you Of Satan? Are Satan and the Devil
the same?
Nagarene.-Thi6, like the word 'devil,'
is an u%ntranslated word. 1t was origin
ally Hebrew, and was adopted into the
Greek language and finally transferred to
the English, as the traditional symbol of
the great Pagan myth of an INTERNAL
GOD. whose business is represented to be 20
thwart God and damn mankind. Its sim
pie meaning is "adversary." This will be
apparent from the following passages
Nun y: y; | sam 30: 3, 4; | Iii ll;l4; Ps.
209: 20; Job i:G. 8; Ezra III. If this, the
simple meaning Of the word. be kept in
view, the Bible doctrine of Satanism will
be understood. SIN is the great adversary
personiiied. Sin, incorporated in the au-
lllOIItltS VI III Ib'iiiuil StdlC, llNlICCluItl
the believers of the gospel. This was the
adversary. careering through the earth in
quest Of prey-''sceking whom he might
devour.'
PhariSee. --Cognatc to the subject Of the
Devil. is that of devils, or, more properly,
demons, or so-cailed evil spirits. What
think We Of them?
Naadrene.-They were supposed to be a
kind of demi-gOd, inhabiting the air. and
producing disease in human beings by TAX
ing possession of them. The following
passages show that in the Bible the word
Is not used to express I'll is idea: Deut. 80:
II; Ps. l0G: 81; = Chron, ll:15; Lev. 1T7;
l Go. 10: %; Matt. II: %; Mar. 8: II; Matt.
II: l5-l8, Lord have mercy on my son,
for lie is u LUSATIU. = 4 / brought him
to thy disciples, and they could not cure
him. \ Jesus rcbukcd the DeuI, and
he departed out Of him From this, the
identity of lunaey with supposed diabol-
ical possession is apparent. The expul-
sion of the malarious influence which de-
ranged the chiId's faculties is the casting
out of the demon The Jews imbibed, in
u great measure, the traditions Of the
Greeks and Latins, s~t)ppOsing that diseases
and Affections, whether mental or physical,
were the result OF having demons or pos.
sessions. This tradition had Impressed
itself on The general language of the Jews
at the time of Christ, and was doubtless
generally believed. The gospel narratives
reflect the language of the time, without
being committed to the theory. in which
that language had its origin. Just as
many exploded theories in our time have
left their mark in such phrases as be-
witched, moonstruck. st. Vitus's dance,
etc. These phrases are freely used with
out suhjecting the person using them to
the imputation of believing the. original
fiction. Christ's conformity to popular
language did not commit him to popular
delusions. The word devils occurs but
four times in the Old Testament; in two
places the original word is "sheedim," sig
hifying breasts and teats. .Parkhurst SAYS,
AS Il noun masculine plural. it was tie
name given by the Hebrews to the idols
worshipped by the inhabitants of Canaan
MISUNDERSTANDING the fact that
you have proven that the Devil himself is
to be destroyed, and have produced evil
dence and made strong argument to show
that the idea of the existence of demons,
or evil spirits, is a fiction, | am still INK
ious to hear your explanation of Mark 0: 43.
which declares that ut is better for thee
to enter into life manned, than having two
hands to 80 into hell, Geheana, valley of
HinnOm, into the fire that never shall be
quenched. Where their worm dieth not,
and the fire is not quenched."
Ndzarene.-There are two Greek words
which are translated hell in the New Tes-
lament. Hades and Gehenna, but neither
n of them give any countenance to the
hell of popular theology. The word Hades
almost without exception means the grave,
and Is synonymous with the Hebrew word
sheoL, in the Old Testament.
The following remarks from the "Bible.
or Tradition" p. lSS, will throw light on
the subject:
"Thc Hebrew word sHEoL is translated
HELL, properly, as a general thing, IF in