The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-09-01
THE DOCTRINE OF DEVILS.

We read in many different passages
in the New Testament about people
possessed of devil. We are told that
Jesus healed these people by casting
out the devil of which they were pos
sessed. His fame went through all
Syria, and they brought all sick that
were taken with divers diseases and
torments, and those which were pos
sessed with devils, and those that
were lunatic, and those that had the
palsy, and he healed them" He healed
those who were possessed of devils, as
well as those who were taken with di-
vers diseases; they were the same
persons. The word translated devil in
this and similar passages in the Cos
pels, is "oa mon," the same word which
we call demon. Young in his large
Concordance defines the phrase ito be
possessed with a devir' by the phrase
"to be denounced" To have, or to be
vexed with devil, he says, means
"to be denounced. The New Version
has demon as marginal reading.
Webster defines demon as IAN evil
spirit" Josephus says that the Jews
believed these demons to be the souls.
or spirits of dead men. He says that de-
moniacs were possessed by the spirits
of dead men. The learned DIR. Wake
field says, "Demoniacs was popular
name for one sort of madness chiefly of
the raging kind, founded on foolish su
perstition that madmen were possess ed
by the spirits Of dead men, called
demons" A belief in demons was COM
mon to all heather religions, and
the Jews are supposed to have received
1t into their religion during their long
stay in Babylon. From them it came
into Christianity. Traces Of this belief
remain, even yet, in some of our pop
ular medical names and phrases. We
call insane people lunatics, because of
an old superstition that the moon in its
periodical changes, had some bad ef-
feet upon their understanding. We
have nervous disease known as Saint
Vitus Dance, from a German super
stition that st. Welt had some reason
for tormenting persons in this particu-
lar fashion. Erysipelas used to be
called st. Anthony's Fire, because this
saint was supposed to have miraculous
power to heal this disease. When
Jesus and his disciples are said to cast
out demons, it means that they healed
the sick, restored the deaf and dumb
and clothed the insane in their right
mind.
There are other words in the Bible
translated devil, or the devil. One of
these is ''Satan" which occurs thirty
three times, and is translated sometimes
devil, sometimes hatred, adversary, ad-
versaIiss, accusation. Young translates
it 1.-THE hater," 1.-THE accussr," 1.-THE ad-
versary," an opposing power, or spirit"
1t does not mean spirit really but a
condition Of mind, a feeling of hatred,
of opposition. 1t is applied to well,
to many different pers ons, to the angel
of the Lord that met BALKAN on his
way to Moab, to the heather deities.
In the New Testament it applied to
Peter, to Beelzsbub, the imaginary
prince Of the demons, to Judas, and to
the Jews who were adversaries of Je-
sus. Satan is not once used in the
Bible as proper name given to a su-
perhuman intelligence, fallen angel, a
personal evil spirit.
There is one more word translated
devil in the Bible, that is the Greek
word "diabolos." Mcknight, and some
Others of the commentators, are of the
opinion that this is the word which
really should be translated "the devil"
They think this means "the fallen
angel" the personal evil spirit COM
monty called 'the devil" Bat Donne-
gan, in his Greek and English Lexicon,
defines it as an accuser, a calumniator.
Young defines it in the same words.
1t has essentially the same meaning as
the word Satan. So far then as these
words "daimon, satan" and ''diabo-
los' are concerned, they do not, either of |
themselves or of usage, teach the exist
ence of semi-omnipotent being, who,
with malice and destruction, is contest |
ing the right and authority OF the di
vine Creator over the destiny of his |
children. The world is altogether too |
full of sickness, insanity and pain, too |
full Of the evil spirits of hatred and cal
too full Of agencies that are |
ayerse to human good. The human |
heart finds its adversaries on all sides;
Jesus is the great Physician casting out |
the sickness Of the soul, as well as of |
The body, helping against all adversa-
RES, healing all who are out of their |
right mind or vexed with unclean
spirits. He is a saving, healing factor in
The worlds life to-day as he was then. |
But now we walk by faith.