The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1880-01-24
SATURDAY, JANUARY "a, 1880.
LOCAL AFFAIRS


g''" eAeieiseu OF ihte on The question "Is
there Devil Y and the matter eliminated
on Wednesday night by Joint debate between
SIX OF the citizens Of that place aud vicinity.
The discussion had been previously announ.
eed in the ADVOCATE, and the interest in il had
so extended throughout the county that the
crowd IN attendance was far too great for the
capacity OF the room where il was held-the
basement OF the Presbyterian Church. There
was not even standing room left, whilst at all
the windows were eager crowds Of listeners,
and hundreds had 10 turn away The audi.
enee embraced oil shades OF religious belief,
all conditions Of society, mud hundred la.
dies, perhaps, were present.
DIR. j. +. Burlington was called TO preside,
and Messrs. John A. koontz, job Hibberd,
n. ii. Bale, A.. Augustus Roop and Prof
Merwin we're selected as judges, Theailirm,
alive was represented by Messrs. Frank Dew.
ilbiss and Charles +. Norris and Dr. George
Brown; the negative by Messrs. David Englar
and A. ii. Norris and Judge l.. r. Slingluf
Each speaker was allowed two speeches of
fifteen minutes each, the closing speeches
on each side to be twenty minutes. The de-
bate began at u o'clock and was continued
until after III though not one contestant had
sufficient time to do justice either to himself
or subject.
Mr.. Devilbiss opened the debate by saying
that il was manifest from the position Of the
gentlemen on the other side that there was
heresy in the community. There name is
legion who say there is no Devil, because
they wish there was none. Thereisa person.
al Devil just as there is a personal God,
though he may not have horns, tail, &c.
This is a soriptural subject, and let us look at
i, from Biblical standpoint. The divine
origin Of the Bible was argued aud then pas
sages were quoted to show the existence Of
Deyil-a spirit, perhaps, he said, but us surely
Devil.
Mr.. Englar followed on the negative, aud
denying cliims To oratory, invited attention
to the matter, moi the manner, of bis speech.
There are certain men in the world, and even
here in New Windsor, who believe that when
they die scripture will die with them, and
that we are infdels. There are those who
want everybody 10 believe there is n Devil,
because their bread and butter depends upon
it, and they want horrid, ugly Devil. We
are not Bible doubters, bat Devil donbters,
and believe that the salvation Of man does not
depend upon his belief ia Devil. When fear
is subordInated to reason, the Devil disap
pears. No man in good health ever saw the
Devil, except when a now church is TO he
built or an old one TO be renovated There is
no Devil except the one preached 10 the pull
pit. He is not visible, and exists only in the
Imagination. .....
DR.. Brown, for the affirmative, said the
only reason he could gather from the gentle
mans speech that there was no Devil, is be.
cause the Devil has never struck him with his
thrse.prong tail. II there are to be future re.
wards and punishments, will the tongue cor.
rupt and deiled be fit to sing Cod praise2
God did not create an imperfect soul, and il
man fell there must have been some cause,
and that cause was the Devil. There is a
limit to mans comprehension. We do not
know anything OF the creation Of angels nor
their composition, nor do we know anything
OF the composition Of the Devil. That there
is Devil is plain from the words of the Bi
BILE, and would rather believe in his exis,
tence now than to be tied down in he'll and
have il cooked into me hereafter In books
there are two characters TO be considered
the writer and reader. The writer desceuds
from ideas TO words and the reader ascends
from words to ideas. II the reader does not
reach the idea Of the writer he does not com
prshend the words. In the lapse of ages
words have undergone great change, and in
order to interpret properly we must 60 back
to the time the book was written and study
the meaning OF words at that time. Just so
is il with the Bible. 1t must be translated by
the light OF the ages in which it was written,
and when so interpreted the existence OF the
Devil is apparent
Mr.. A. II. Norris said he was not present
to burlesque Gods House. We are here to
reason aud to learn what is true and what is
false. There is much superstition in man,
much that is unreal aud imaginative, and we
learn it even as children lying in our mothers
laps. We deny the existence of n Devil and
we have heard nothing TO change that belief.
Assertion will not do; VIZ want proof. In the
18th chapter of Revelation the Devil is de.
scribed as having seven heads and ten horns
and seven crowns upon his heads, and his tail
drew the third part OF the stars OF heaven and
cast them to the earth. That's the Devil you
believe in, and we want proof of his existence.
The Bible gives you this description, but the
Devil as thus described existed only in ST.
Johns dream. This Devil Of yours Is the in.
stigator Of all sins, bad acts, spite, hate, NAL.
ice and is apparent in the child just as in man,
and do you tell us that the child is instigated
by the DeWl2 We are opposed to public
opinion in taking this side Of the question,
but public opinion is n will o. the wisp, and
there is no man idiotic enough 10 recognize il
as authority. Ii is ever changing. Some
years ago il burned people as witches in Mas
sachusetts. Who now says public opinion
was right2 | am no inhdel and am as much
u christian as some whose prayers are heard
in the congregations; aud ! yet deny the exis.
lehCe VI DeNii hhu tue blDit uOes not snow
that there is one.
Mr.. Charles Norris, for the affirmative,
said it is not the Devil st. John dreamed Of
that we are discussing, but the Devil God
sent to earth. The first gentleman on the
negative proved there is Devil for he said
he believed in the Bible, and the Bible plainly
says there is Devil. We do not ask OF the
judges q decision in our favor because we are
on the popular side, but we want il on the
merits Of argument. Man when first put upon
earth was pure, but be broke Gods law, be.
ing tempted by the Devil, and fell Man fell
and that necessitaied fallen race, aud all
are now born in sin. The temptations to sin
are all instigated by the Devil, and il there Is
no Devil what did God mean when He said,
SECT thee behind Me, Satan A number OF
passages were quoted by the speaker to prove
the existence OF Devil and thus sustain his
side Of the question. The road to nlidelity,
he said, is short. The denial of the existence
OF n Devil is one mile stone on the road, and
the next is the denial of the existence Of
God. Beware, you are treading on danger.
Gus ground, in doubling Holy Writ
Judge Slinglufi, on the negative, said that
his side Of the question was the unpopular one
and that they had been denounced from the
pulpit as heretcs and unbelieyers, but an an.
belief in the Devil was no proof Of an anbelief
~ Ho DUN, tue worn ohthn Is hppneu IN
the Bible TO God, angels and man, and the
word cannot be carried through the book with
the same meaning. The speaker quoted more
extensively from the Bible thnn any other,
and argued that the Devil was only the bad
passions OF man-that spirit of man which
comes up against divine law, and inspires
revenge, lust, hate. malice and all sin. The
word Devil is never used in the singular in
the Old Testament, but always in the plural.
There were no Devils until after the Babylo
man captivity, aud are Of heathea origin
God called Peter Devil, and women afflicted
with natural diseases were said to have been
bound down with the Devil. When they
were healed, the Devil was said to have been
east out.
Owing 70 The want Of space, We have but i'm
perfectly given an outlne o. thought Of lie first
speeches Of the debate, asd none Al Mi of Inc
second round. In the second rouud Inc de-.
bate was qaile amusing, and the audience was
often eonyulsed with laughter by III literal
interpretations given 70 passages Of scrin,pre
AZ the close Of The discussion 4 npii If
the judges resulted IN three for tho atlisn,'
alive and two for the negative.
Queen EatR..