The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1874-12-03


that the Hebrews shared in their idol
4 atry-exeuse the word. So Moses in
fthe verse I have mentioned, say s.
They shall no more offer their saeri-
n fees 10 seiriu 4lIIat is TO the Egyptian
god or he-gost. Am IseorreGt so far
4 The visitor smiled politely. Il find
II itivefys ysinl erestiBg. You remina me
sEoha great deal that L. had forgotten,
II Pray continue 1ass8st@ 5aF -E1saItsE
81 SIN the books Of the Old Testament
Peter went on, quite elated at this
II fcommehdation,g gssR hich were writtea
> during and after the Babylomish ycap-
tfVity, we see the developlneht of de.
monism rapidly Interesting and givfn g
signs OF .Aedro Persian Influence. la
"a these. books we, fiFst tlnd you smen-
d toned by name You are thefle called
> Satan, but are represented as minis
n ter OF the Almighty, performing the
a function of sarcuser, and fsedueer. Ii
81 was you, according to 1.saO5ronieles,
II xxi, q. who stirred up David to nuu-
p Der the peopie ;Ssbut, e0ns the other
: hand, iaEthe oftler account o f thelsssn e
s act given iii II. Samuel, xxiv,, I;sDa-
lvid g impulse Is attributed To an angfy
God, your figure being then not very
clearly Invented. atn afraid, my
friend, that down to this tins your
) existence is improved = t,.-,.s,.s (,
q q His gaest SMILED again. Perhaps
Z you saresf right, he saidT carelessly,
ii knoeking the ash off hisscigars:; but do
d NOT Lbeg,. iRteRrnpt goHrI argument =
. 47l-ssBy no means. AS we all kuo ",
b Satan BECOMES prominellt'in job, but
i that book is only a poem, while the
4 Tiafmnd say expressly that It is an 5al1
. sIegory, and nothing but an .allegory..i
:. So, we will not give any more credenee
to you there than to the witches. in
/, ss1aebethI /. In Zaeharia, iii, l. you are
!. depicted q, s,resisting the angel of God.
: aud also as falsely accusing the high
g priest Joshua. Still, Feu are not gel.
j fepresentedla as being positively leyib
but as taking pleasure in active. Wrongz
In asw ord ,syeu are the adver-
y Niseafyzathee literal meaning sof Satah-='
lsmaipIot. II could prove this at lehgth,,i
Z but comparison of the passages from
II Chronicles and Samuel which 1 haY6
] alread y referred to is suf1cient. on
!, go with me- 7 hope ~; - =
Is The devil laug he'd. s:sY Z GU ar rea.
sonins aamir4bIy, but / am notqlite9l r
convinced" asaeefs7 -stffl.4s - =.
J, sa 'Injthe Apochry phaLl books con-.
{ l.tinHed PeteI1 - gu are seen, growing
} in inporsance aud power, and here
You assume many traits of the Persian
AhfimalI, .oTsactive evil. Only small.
portion ofthe Apoely pha is of Pales-.
tinian- origin, the remainder being
either Chaldian-Persian Gas, for in-
stance. Tobias and Caruch), or Egypto
Alexandrian Gas theBook of Wisdom ,
) Ehe old -HebteW doctrine off misfort
4 tune being. caused by, Jehovah ,himselE
|, through an angel, fades from sight
, and we have instead demons or evil
I fspirits in9he New L estafnen tsmeaHing
: OF the word spneumata ponera.J Man Y
; iof these we know byrsname; anon q
J others Asmodeus, the demon of pteas7
ure, who figures so prominently in
Boolsof bobA. Heiis -hAloHbtedly OF
/ Persian origin. : But the fret trace, of
: la head of this sorganilatiq9Y is in. the
Book of Wisdom, il, "a, where you are
.fspoken of in Connection with Eve" y
II aye" said the devil pensTvely,,b ST
fFrefnehiber the lcircdnlstafiees she was
II very handsome" !" 3s.zsatlsss aesss~s ssFs
,7k Better was4too engrossed in his sub
ject to notice the reflection. -
=. "During the time from the close of
the "A pocrypha TO the lappearancel of.
ID JESUS theJewishItheory of demonolo-3
Icy deEelops rapidly. 1T WAS mainly
derived from the system of Zorasie ier,
grown familiar to the Jews during
u their long and close communion with
II the ~ Persian Empire. But as they
could not accept the icoequal powers
}, of Ormuzd and .Ahriman,, the belief
| was modified to agree with the nation
q al lnonotheisIn. You and Your de,
L mons were supposed to beSaugefs fall
? 4lemfromsyonrfo former state, and there
n fore hostile to .JehoYaht These opin-,
! ions spread extensively amongst, the
/. fioMer efatses, while RaHy of the high
J Ter F6pelIedI themi2 b9s .nolilbsqxo =,
ID fsThere have always beens people
Il who. would not believe in me-" said
the devil sadly. ~
+ g ssWefl,'' Peter resumed brisay,, 'sws
2 nosv see daylight when Jesus came
oEupon the -seene., He. found Palestine
s9armipg with demons, all. of whom
| were firmly seated in the popular inn
agination. They came from various
, tsorces many from ignorant supersti-
} ton, and many of them were Roman
/ gods Abont this time YOU began to
;. look like Pan, and were supposed to
|. have possession OF eYefp one who did.
: not belong to tliechufelI, whence the
Of tceremony ofibaptisIn or cxoreismsI In
L the eighth century Pope Gregory, took.
. yon in hand. and imingling popular
notions with the prey yalent theological,
II ideas made Of the mixture a church
5 ssldoCtfineJ1 20 him you owe much of
. your prominence andlaegood deal Of
IT have squared accounts with him,9
[ muttered the deviI53 s'he called me a
. bstupidsbeast. .''su81gut t9Gs s8f bsH IL
u 4ctyfheHeis isho need to trouble you or
: myself any farther,,s said Peter, Lean
!. ing back il. his chair and. playing with
! his watch chain. sGregory made Of
you distinct entity and caused you
, tn beconsiaered an integral part Of
;, the universes But i have shown very
r plainly how and in, what manner you
i came to be first believed in how you
! acquired a personality. and whence
ri EyoufderiVed it. y He gazedat his yisi-
4 4torsWithsa ccmplacent air. a .7R -
t t'And your conclusion is" !"
AS l said before, that you are a
{. humbug9 Under pfetence' OF being an
= evil spirit you are nothing but iagcol-
l. lection of miscellaneous ideas;a relic
u Of Fbarbarism, and Avery 2 very poor one l at
: that -
: Now, young man." said the devil,
. etsfernIY, raising from the chair, which
It smoked as he leftsit,z i have been pas
l. tient, although you, have twice called
z me humbug.- I am not in, the habit
e of having such language addressed to
c'E mey buts L aprefeIs employing gentle
d! neansswhenl possible, and should like
t. 10 convert YOU. an ,F-.sd,v ,a.,..,..
I "Rubbish !" exclaimed Peter, rudely
h interruptinx him. II am "a phiEoso-
s. pher, and will never, 5nexerlb believe in
you. don't believe even now that
: am talking to the. devil. It will take
1t better proof than you can give TO sat
- isfy me' h'i"I-4' 2i'i ifeito>t 2
= "It will, eh ~ shouted his majesty
y his eyes flashing fire. "By ST. Dun
A. stan, TN show whether am the
,e devil or not,p 1861 4'oi2 q oW5 = g
There was a blaze OF lufid light,