The democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1868-1874, 1874-02-02
The Personality Of Satan.
Mr.. mccartney to Mr.. Thayer.

".tfN'sW.-l hnNo neeVr mhdo I
q practice to attempt to correct every
thing in newspapers, which did no
suit my notion Of things; yet q ser.
mon printed in your paper Of January
18th, | think deserves some notice
This | will attempt to do, by your
permission, in as mild, pointed, l0gi,
cal and scriptural way as my ability
will permit.
There are two ways by which ".
may. eonfute argunOnt-6rst by show.
ing the flllacy q the argument, and
second, by showing the prcpoudar.
anco Of the evidence to DO on the
opposite side Of the question at issue.
In this article l shall use the latter,
referring occasionally to the former ;
and l ask the reader to get bis Bible,
examine the passages quoted and See
il these things be 90.
In Genesis i 81, We rsad-"so God
created man in His own image, in the
image Of God created He him /: male
and female created He them" The
image here spoken Of could have been
bu! the moral image, namely, Truth,
Justice, Mercy, Love, Goodness, no.
illness, &c. | do not expect any diff.
ference Of opiuisn on this point, but if
there should be, |. must rest in the
3lst verse folloWiug-"And behold,
It was rery good" In tho 51St Psalm
9th verse, wo read"T was shapsn in
iniquity, and in sin did my mother
conceive me- This passage moods no
comment. II states in concise words
that I'VE arc born unholy and I'M.
clean" But how this wonderful
change in the moral condisioni You
may, and the world has attempted
many answers to this question but
right here We must have "tbus sayOth
tho Lordp-our own opinion amer.
wards. In Gsnosis iii IA We read
"Now the serpent was more subtitle
than any beast Of tho field, which The
Lord God had made, and be said to
the woman, yea, hath God said 20
shall no. eat Of every tree Of the gar.
den? And tho woman said unto tho
serpent, We may eat Of the frui. Of the
trees Of tho garden, but Of the fruit Of
the tree which is in tho midst Of the
garden, God hath said, 20 shall not
eat oft, neither shall 70 touch it, lest
20 die" And the serpent said unto
the woman. Eye shall not surely die"
might quote this text further, but to
DO brief, let the above suffice. Hor,
is mana first disobedisnce, which il
theology is termed 1.-THE fall" One
Of the first Thugs No notice in this
matter is second party. Eve Is mel
simply tempted by the fruit, nor BY
her lust. This person Is called BY
Moses "tho serpent" This temptsr
this sorpsn.-Nho, or what is III il
tue question 10 DO looked at by the
Bible. Was Il an animal or beast
As the reverend gentleman in bis SER
mon affirm,; or was Ii EYES lust,
which he also affirms? Or was |. al
evil spirit-a being possessed Of an in.
dividualiiy-and no personif.d evil
principle?
Now that Moses cali, this being .
beast Of the field, or classified him an.
der that head, fails to DO proven BY
the gentleman, and l suppoIe his fail.
urs to do 80 is much like that Of The
General who failed to taks a certain
eity,-he hadn't men enough. The
same in this instance. The Bible doSl
not say 60. Moses does not say .ha,
the serpent was beast, or an animal,
or any relation to then-ho docs moi
say that God created the serpent Al
tho time of tho creation u. makes 4
very plain itaseman. of the case, viz
that "ths serpent was more uhil.
than any beast which God had made. j
might say that man is moro cunning
than the OF er the horse, but this &
not saying tha. DO is an animal.
Again, in one Of the passages quoted,
God, IN speaking ofth. work 10 had
just finished, said "it was very good y
Now II this bad baon newly created
creature, could God have called Il
good? This, l think, is sufhoien. Il
show that this temptation was no ami.
NAL or beai. Of the field.
But to the second aud more genera
ptopoiitiou. namely, that all tempta,
tien Is from the lust, Of the flesh. fhii
j, partly truo, but not all, as some Dc
rainly teach. l have no objection tc
end with tho'quolatisn from James /
IA, "And we are tempted when WI
are drawn away of our own lust. y
Nos. certainly this is a temptation
But Is this the only source of iempta
ton from The fesh-from our appetitel
ofthe aeshf Read Paul's letter to 'th,
Ephesians, IL, 12-"Put on tht
whole armor Of God, that 20 may b,
able to stand against the wilsI 9th,
devil, For We Nre,!lo not against rLksr
and blood, but against prineipali,ies
against powers, against The rulers d
tho darkness Of this world, agains
SPIRITUAL wickedneIs in high places
To add anything Of our own woult
only be to weaken or darken counsel
Again in | Cor. vii 5-"Dsfraud y,
net one tho other, except il DO will
sonsent for time, that ye may CIV,
yourselves to fasting and prayer. ant