St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-11-09
Rev. w. S. Vail Pertinently
Touches Upon an Inter-
esting Question.
He Tackles the Query--Was
Christ Tempted by a Per-
SOnal Devil ?
A Sermon Full CT Bright
Thoughts and Replete With
Sound Reasoning.
". @. Judge Enlarges Upon
the Work Of the TheOsoph-
zeal Society,

DeYll?' Such was the question Rev.
W. S. Vail discussed in his sermon yes
terday morning before the UniverSalist
society in the Grand opera house. Mr..
Vail, in the course Of his sermon, said:
The feeling n preacher had was
that of gravity when one felt it
necessary to touch with critical hand
theories we'll established and long be-
lieved. Many looked upon such attacks
with feeling of resentment because
their parents and friends firmly be-
lieved in them and they had regard for
the opinions Of their fathers. he would
respect the feeling, but saw no reason
why that should check rs for an instant;
it would not in other things: it should
not in this. We are the product
OF a sitting, thinking age, and we are
easily disposed TO feel that iii us may be
found the yeStiges Of ali animal life:
the germs of higher life are there as
well, and reason tells US that all sin is
either appetite Or passion leading us
blindly astray, or spiritual selishness,
ambition Of place. love of power, and
like sentiments; and that to these two
sources all temptation may be referred.
The preacher, reviewing ChriSt's temp
tation, said that at his baptism he was
suddenly overwhelmed with
Sense Of Power.
that for days 1t Overcame him, but COM
Ing to his normal self, the temptation
came from within to use this power to
satisfy hunger: then came the demand
ambition; then came another form of
the same temptation that demanded
him to become military leader of his
people, who were ready to gather
around any one who proposed TO lead
them in holy war as Messiah.
This. the preacher claimed, was Z "a
tiOnal exp anati0n. The dramatic feat
ureS were in keeping with the spirit of
the times. but the plain facts were quite
different and would be readily accepted
but for two conditions. The first cOndi-
ton was 4 prevailing belief that the
Bible teaches the existence OF per
sonal devil, and the second was the pre-
Vailing belief Of man throughout his
tory, winch we call common consent.
He did not believe that the Bible taught
airy one theory regarding Satan. lie
understood from the story that the Sa-
tan OF Genesis was serpent, and that
God cursed the serpent TO crawl upon
the ground: and that this
Satan Was DetElroned
then and there. The satan of Job was
quite another person, but visited the
Almighty and held debates with Him
about human nature. Il fact showing
the antiquity of the idea, and the crude
ness OF the idea Of God as well as pc
H. I'll
considered here supreme adversary:
that idea came in when Persian thought
hat been Incorporated in Jewish the0i-
OgY. We do not see much of this per
son III the BiOle. but he was common in
prevalent ideas. LUcifer is nowhere
called bad or powerful, except III theOl-
Ogy. y hen We examine the Bible,
then, we are not rewarded with any
definite theories. Indeed. there are
few theories in the Bible. And when
we add to this indefinite and, shifting
idea the Tact that III this Old world all
things were DerSOniii5d - fate, fury,
strength. benilicence - is it strange
that evil should be perSOniiied and
spoken Of in the same way? Taking
these facts into consideration. we NAV
see how 2asE it is for literaliZing ten
dencY to make hard prose of the poetic
dlctlOH OF our Master.
We can only understand the Bible 10y
casting ourselves backward and enter
Ing into the feeling and methods OF eX-
preston that were full of perSOnilica-
ton. The sermons of Jesus are full Of
nature. He talked OF the sOwer going
with the flashing morning sun to SOW,
Of fishers casting nets into the deep and
drawing OF every kind, of storms so
fierce with wind and
Flush WITH, Rain
that from its bed the torrent sprang and
swept the house man built upon the
sand. while birds and lilies and the
growing corn, the clustering grape in
hillside whey ard, clad in vintage time
with songs OF JOY and nirth-ail were
made to teach His gracious truth. All
the higher expressions Of the Bible are
iii poetic dict.0n. and can only be under
stood by reading them aS we would
read poem or rhapsody.
But you stiIl urge that mankind by
common consent has agreed that there
IS a personal Satan. and tell ne how q
Luther met this enemy, and face 10 face
WithStOod him: how i'm colonial DAYS we
have the record, many times, OF the
dark face DeeriHg from the forest in the
dusk that follows day. while men were
lured to midnight reveis with his !nin-
ions in the forests depths. You tell ma
that so real do we feel these things 10
be that we receive no shock when
Goethe Introduces into his normal world
the deniZens OF Il world Internal and
paradeS before our eyes the incarnate
Satan, with his form 50 1.-the and sen-
der, his polished manner full Of subtle
danger, his c0.ncly lace attractive save
for the sinister smile OF doubt, that
stamps him IS the GeHic, OF all things
COOL and pare ard true. Nor have men
staggered when they read of
wild yy..Ipnr2is Night
when lgitning5 torrhed the scene.
when trees and rocks. qHakIng and
bending, seemed inspired With animate
life. and r01red and mOaned ana sang;
when the ba.chanal pr0cessi0n-w witches
at home in such wild scenes. lost men
and women mad with fendish glec. and
all made bases ty their base c0mpan-
ions, the lowest of their kind-When
this procession Wi;h rush and crash and
roar sweeps MP tie mounta;n to the
BrOchen's crest 10 hold their midnight
orgies, are We not ;old with truth that
wise men have made this strange book
of classic" And Is it not urged that the
belief in 4 malignant, supernatural per
Sonagc Is ole or the Innate beliefs Of
man?l
The answer to ~ is, that it is the
parable or aGcEcgY ol EVIL; that men OF
literary taste lie ger think OF making it
literal: Iiat the tendency. however. to
to speak IN parable and story grow
with the growth OF the world instead of
decreasing, but he intelligence sees in
it the symbol OF this world rather than
the revelation Of another.
Ana in 4 general reply TO all these
objections, we may say that in the fut-
ure men VIII read the meaning OF these
parabolic representations the same as il