, 1877-01-22
How It Camo to Pass that Il Is Re.
ferred to In the New Testament.
Sermon by Prot. Swing at tho Central
Church on Variations OF Duty.
Why St. Paul Advised Women Not to
Speak Ont in Meeting.
Services at the Tabernacle by Mss8rs.
Whitt1o and 6tebbius.
a PERSONAL DEVIL.

SEHAOH III TIE REV. Dr. 1UEks
The Rcv. DR.. W. II. Ryder preached at st.
panl's Church yesterday morning, taking ID his
subject the "scriptural Doctrine OF Personal
Devil and the following n, his text:
And thero was war In Heaven: Michael anil
dragon fought and hM angels, and prevailed not;
Aaa liz eas. ou ta id
pcnt called the Devil and Satan, which dccerelh
tbc whole World: hn was cast ont into tho carth.
and Ills angels were cast out With characterization,
rtf., z. =. u.
lie spoke az followa:
While the BOOK OF Revelation has its appro-
pttate place in the Bible, It Is not u proper
source from which to draw doctrines that nrc
not clearly stated In other parts Of tho sacred
book. Tho Apocalypse contains much useful
Instruction, and could not we'll 10 spared. St!fl,
from Its peculiar character as grand epic, It Is
1ess valuable % treasury OF doctrine than
most other books in tho New Testament.
Our text will illustrate tho point we mako
here. II I am believer In tho accepted theory
OF d personal ey!l spirit, the text will seem
to me, when separated from It's connection, lit
Tic less thau literal statement Of II rebellion
III Heaven, aud tho full Of tho dragon from
thence. But this view mill appear simply ab-
text, though even then what the precise mean-
Ing OF the chapter " 1t ID very difficult to say.
read YOU purtlons Of tho thirteenth cfaptcr
that you may SEQ the text In its true setting:
Az 00d tS aod Of t and ss
and len horn. anu upon His horns len crown., and
upon hia heads the namo Of blasrhemy. u amy
wonders. SO that he maketh are to como down from
Heaven on t1e earth n the slght of men. And he
AZ h.nG nGth ,%a 1l1s and ssa rich ,Snr 9n
hand. or in their forehealA.
What this all means, ! do not undertake to
say. Probably tue reference Is to the Roman
tEevagant and Involved that Ii Is very diff
cult, u not Impossible, to detect the
thought which was In tho mind Of John when
lle wroto It. This much, however, we can con-
here either Ut tho origin or exlstcucc Of per-
sollal Devil, and the "wnr In leaven' Ii ITO
more real than The. statement that the "woEnan
wan clothed With tho sun, aud the moon under
tail drew the third part VI the stars Of Heaven"
etc.
Having thus shown that these ycrscs In Revc-
latiou do not teach anything, one way OF a1Ioth-
spirit, we might dismiss this branch Of our sub
jert from ati further notice. For there Is no
other place ~ tho Diblc that any ono familiar
with the subject will pretend TO claitn as throw
Ing any light on tho origin oi tho Devil.
The sinlPlc truth ls, that the hypothesis Of q
rebel fallen angel tanys Oh an assumption.
Theirs Is no evidence, not 2 scrap or hint, to
! tupport It. Danta and Milton, Dunyan An,l
but, wlilc all will conccdo TINT tlleso
authors hnye glye.l the world much ilnc
poetry, II will nut be claimed BY any that they
aFt authority for Scripture dortrinc. CONCERN.
Ing the origin nf tla Deyl NO Rhall have, tflere-
J tore, no more to ray, fH the Bible Is entirely
silent upon tue subject.
We pass. then, to tho consideration OF thcso
| two Inquiries:
Ffrst-Ducs not the BtbO sanction the belief
| In a persohnl evil sp!rlti
Sttvul-If VIC deny the existence OF suc|, be-
inr, how arc wc TO secuunt for the widespread
belief III the personality Of tho ncria
may answcE tho first question very briefly:
Neither the Wor,l Satan lor Ueytl orc,lrs at all
iu thu writings uf Moses The original wurl,
translated in other places sAtan, orcurs, how,
twice 10 nj, angel of thu Lord. That Moses d,i
not Intend to teach tue existence of such being
is therefore tsidIspntable. The five books oi
Musca comprise history OF tho world for pc
then, mankind wesn entirely ignorant Of the cx'
istct.cc OF uu at'powerlul csli spirit called the
| Devil.
tiod never Raye tho jewish people, through
cernlng the Devil! nny Information nj any k!ut
In rcgard 10 him. In word, tho doctrine Is mol
found IN their Scriptures; NO traces Of II appeal
IN the!f early history; no a!'uslons to It art
| 1UutlN4 IL I'll kH0 l@lbk1tAA4 PTV[lllCtlCA
books Of tho Old Testament nor IN the post!cal
save In the introduction 10 tho look OF Jotl
wherc II stauda entirely ulonc, shut up n tt,t
ilret Two chapters, III markca contrast With al
tho rDst Of thu 1,ouJn. ..-
DO YOU refer tnu to the temptation OF Adasr
and Eyct But rhero do YOU tnA any cytaenc,
that pcrsonal ey1l spirit, answering to the &C
yepted ldrn VI devil. tempted our. hrst parent
three things: ~ that the wo'uan was tctnpte.
by serpent: III that tho serpent was rnore sul,
lie than ''nny bcast af the Held" aHt
that tlie Lord God sa1l unto tie serpent: &,
nboyu ali rattle, a,lsi above cvery beast ol th
ti0ltl; upon thy belly shalt thou 70, aud dus
shalt tlluu eat all tile days of thy llle."
know It u claimed that the cv!! spirit az
sheer assumption. The whole account Is nile
gortell. No p!ueo answering to the tiartlcn .
E!cn has ever been faund Oh tho facu Ut IT,
earth: theru n1t no rtvcEs corresponding to th
trees, tile one "tr.e of lfe," tho otlur ~
knowledge ut good aud ey!!"; an,l there ncyn
nas any such serpent, tulkIng. All IL ilEurc
the serpent no more litersl than the trees. It !
that early axu III which Muse. wrote, u rvure
sent the iuttsHiuctlnu Of moral evil into Il,
world aIni thus Interpreted It IL fofe'bls an
anstdac.ive. sI,t ,,.!', r,.., -.
! case IL ronfchsetlly mare dltllrult. ind We bt
speak your attention while wu elleAyor to stat
the facts, q. nearly Ms We ase able, In the ligl
OF modern Investigation.
NJ candid mind will deny, It you'll seetn, tl,a
the doctTil.s OF personal evil spirit Ii to h
mat With in acvcral places In The New Testa
nltnt. We instance kurll pnssages ID these u
containing traces ut that ltllcf: john, Will, i
"Ye mrs Ut your father, the Devil, AMI he lust
of your father W Will in u; John, ILL.,. 4, :" II
thnt rpn,uittrtll kin Il of tic Devil for tl.e Dgy
sln,lclt from tho hcginasg For TIL. rnrpus
the Sou Ut titd was manifested that lie Nigh
destroy Ito works OF tho Devil u; Luke, kill,
"AnA ought not th[s woman, being Iaughty
Of Abraham, wllnnt satan hath bolud, lu, thes
eighteen years, 10 looscu ffotu this boi,d On IT,
Sahbatll-luyt"
In these, anl In 4 few other passages, We snet
with tue belief III personal evil being, who vi
supposed to lD the rAiss Vt ncurly ull Ha!atlit
| mud troubles ot manifold llnua. Are We to ~
that Jesus taugh. this doctrine, a,,d, - thu:
| who would conform our falth to Ills teactling
aru wy u aeccpt sucll representations As eoEsc>
duetrtntl
llc,all tor moment our statement thai Il
doctrine of q personal evil sItrlt Is not Ill
, where to be found In the writings nf Mner
hut between the Closin. VI thu Old Tcstuint1
, | record and tho beginning Of tho ministry abul
,, 400 years INTERVIEWED, nuEing tlis pcrtoa .uu1
aud most important ehangts occurred In Il
80. $.f Al T. Al