Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1907-09-21
DEVIL AS A BEAUTY
Chicago Preachers Indorse Iowa
Pastors View of Satan.
RIDICULE TAIL AND HORNS.

MISUNDERSTANDING allows Doubts
Whether Devil Is Distinct Parsonage
The Prince of Darkness is a gentleman.
Shakespeare.
The devil wear hoofs and horns, with
a trident for a tail, and shock decorous
persons by his ignorance of society
usage2
Well, rather not! Chicago clergymen
were inclined the other day to agree
with Rev. s. S. Htlscher of Vinton, Ia,
who declared recently his conviction
that the devil possessed beautiful and
seductive personality, says the Chicago
Record Herald.
This is expected to be a terrible
blow to George Bernard Shaw when
the news Is cabled to London. The
prince of Irish paradoxers, 1t is feared,
will begin to believe that his critics
are right when they declare that he
Is getting old. He won't have a shot
left in his locker, his critics say. He
has outlived his age.
He fancied that he had administered
a singing shock to sensitive nervous
systems, they declare, when he dared
to depict his serene eminence" as a
genial and rather boresome old man,
who persisted in enjoying the romantic
folles Of youth and then prating about
them endleSsly to an accompaniment
of MoZart'S music. The author even
permitted himself to chuckle audibly
in the preface.
SO soft and bland did he make the
sketch that some of his readers thought
they could recognize the original of
their own London clubs. There was
nothing fiery in his diction; it sounded
like an after dinner discussion in the
smoking room OF an Atlantic liner
when everybody goes to sleep.
But even Shaw didn't go SO far as to
make Satan seductive
Listen to the press dispatch describ.
ing the presentment of Satan's per
sonality as given by Rev. Mr.. Hilscher
at q Waterloo Qa) Chautauqua:
He pictured him as a beautiful and
seductive parsonage, with subtle quail
No horns, hoofs or spiked tail Is visi-
bic In the picture"
Chicago clergymen were inclined to
hold the other night that the Prince
of Darkness had been rather carlca-
tured by Dore and other artists who
have handled the theme. They$ were
inclined to hold further that to depict
q hiInnIls oY,,3F
10 resort to obsolete methods of con-
yeying a psychological conception.
They pointed to the fact that spirit,
as such, had no form and that there
was no way 1t could be fifty rendered.
They intimated further chat If what
was beautiful also was good there
would have to be lot of retouching
dope in the world of humans. They
said that the accepted symbol Is justi-
fed, however, by its great antiquity
and that art must speak through sym
bols
Bishop Samuel Fallows declared that
the spiked tail, the hoofs ana the horns
are fiction, poetry, Imagination.
eve owe this conception of the devil
to the imagination of great poets and
artists" he said. Tor myself l doubt
whether the devil is q distinct person.
age.
THE Iowa clergyman had the au-
thOrlty of the Scriptures for his asser-
ton that the devils parsonage may be
attractive in its outward aspect The
Bible says that Satan can assume the
form of an angel of light and may APP
pear in alluring guise.
Evil, as we know only too well in
this world, may often assume a fasci-
mating aspect"
Il consider the story Of the horns
and the spiked tail as absolutely non
senslcal," said Rev. r. NJ. Devall. II
believe in personal devil, but Of
course l should be wholly unable to
give description of his physical ap-
pearance. To me the devil means a
personal power to exert evil"
Rev. James rockingham was disin-
cllned to talk about the matter. He
said, however, that the Bible literally
read gave authority for the belief of
the Iowa divine.
THE Bible says in one place that
Satan appeared as an angel of light"
he explained. Personally l can think
of no way in which a spirit can be rem
| dered. There is no way Of concetving
a spirit in physical terms. / see no
reason why an evil spirit should be
placed in repellent physical dress, or
vice versa. OF course as q fallen
angel he would possess cunning, pow
err, strength and courage Milton has
! so depicted him. OF course 1t Is easy
to understand why this revolving pre-
I sentiment of his exterior aspect should
have struck the artists as happy"