The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1889-10-24
Chicago and the Devil.
Ia there q personal devil?

CnlcnS0 anu Luc Ueflls
Ia there personal devil?
This is the question of the hour in
Chicago. As a live topic of discussion it
threatens to oYershadow the Worlds
Fair. The controversy RACES in the pull.
pit, in the school room and in the news.
| papers. 1t is handled in every possible
| way, seriously and hippantly.
As matter of course the orthodox
preachers are doing their best to keep the
Chicagoans straight. Only last Sunday
Dr.. Withrow declared the devil TO be
living being, and the cause of all sin and
human misery. He said:
"We hold to this theory. Why? First,
because it is just as easy to believe in one
supreme evil spirit as in any evil spirit
whatever. Secondly, because the theory
is practically original with Jesus Christ,
| and he is responsible for it. Nothing
could be more explicit than Christ's
teaching in this matter. Thirdly, because
Christ Disseminated between evils, as.
signing some to the devil as the cause of
causes; others elsewhere. Fourth, be.
cause Christ knew about spiritual things
as no modern philosopher or physicist
dares to say he knows These are our
reasons.
1.-THE sum and substance of the entire
matter is this If you believe in the Bi.
BILE you must believe in q living devil, who
is always striving to bring destruction to
the human race. He is not repulssve
monster with horns and tail, but power.
full and malignant wind, ever alert, ever
tempting, always to be resisted. Our
faith is grounded upon the assumption
that Christ Jesus was indeed the Son of
God. He tells US that Satan is person,
q supreme spirit Of evil. If Christ was
God all of His utteranees we're divine,
and we must accept them all
We cannot reject 8 doctrine here and
assign now meaning there at our Own
sweet will. The devil exists; and next
Sunday night I shall tell you Of some of
his tricks"
at the very hour when DR.. Withrow
was vigorously engaged in proving the
existence of a personal devil, DR.. Thorn.
as, in another quarter Of the city, was
telling his congregation that the whole
business was q mere superstition, that it
originated with the pagans, and obtained
such strong foothold that to this day
every Christian believes that his own
evil thoughts and deeds come from the
devil, whereas they come from the man
himself. The speaker did not hesitate to
say that the scriptural passages implying
the existence Of personal devil had
been tampered with by some of the ear
lier theologians who were deeply imbned
with pagan superstitions. The Chicago
Meacs gives che following summary of the
conclusion of mis- sermon:
"Orthodox preachers believe in devil
irredeemably malignant to day, if we are
to believe what most of them say. Some,
however, are inclined to question the ex-
istence of personal devil. But they
had better mind what they are doing
one question leads to another. If they
question the DEVILS personality they may
soon be tempted TO question the orthodox
teaching about the fall of man.
"The devil is sn imaginary person
which it is convenient for cowardly men
to make use of as an excuse for mans own
evil. Many human sins are laid on the
devil.
"Thereupon Dr.. Thomas came out
strongly, and, after VIGOROUS denuncia.
ton of the orthodox teaching that Christ
suffered for our sins, that is, that He was
punished in our place, he vehemently
declared that every man must suffer for
bis own sins, and there is no other saliva
tior except that yhich leads q man to
abandon his evil ways and follow tho
good: Evil is an incident in the eyolu-
ton of the good. There are as many or.
ieins of evil as there are Of persons who
have done wrong. Each one will be
punished or rewarded according to his
deeds. And these clouds Of superstition
must be cleared from the mental sky Of
humanity, so that the ornament of each
mind may be filled with stars of truth.
And then the truth of justice, liberty,
brotherhood, and the hope of q perfect
universe will make you free"
The publication Of these two sermons
side by side in the daily papers must
have bewildered the Chicagoans not q
little. Many of them are induced to
agree with DR.. Thomas that every man is
his own devil, but the majority are firm
ly convinced that somewhere in the uni
verse there is a big devil, a living person
who is at their heels and in fair way to
overtake them.
It is not likely that this little furry
will settle anything, but the sensation it
has caused in great city of notoriously
low standing in the scale of religion and
morals will attract attention, as one of the
queer emotional developments of this day
and generation.-Atlanta Constitution.
"A widow in Georgia has brought
suit against two men for the killing of
| ~ 4 IL