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THE CONGEEGATIONAL LECTURE,

NINTH SERIES.

THE
EXISTENCE AND AGENCY OF EYIL SPIRITS.
BY THE REV. WALTER' SCOTT.

IX.

LOS UO X
REED AND PAKDCJS', rEINTV"'!
pAir-RKOSTEa now.

THE EXISTENCE
Oi.''
EVIL SPIKITS
PROVED ;
AND THEIR AGENCY, PARTICULARLY IN RELATION TO THE
HUMAN RACE,
EXPLAINED AND ILLUSTRATED.

WALTER SCOTT,

PRE UDBNT AND THEOLOGICAL TUTOR OF AIREDALE COLLEGE, BRADFORD, YORKSHIRE.

"lya ixt} Tr\Goy^KT7i6w/xev uno rov Jarava.' ob yap avrov ra V0T)fiara
ayvoovyLtv. — 2 Cor. ii. 11.

LONDON :
JACKSON AND WALFOKD,
18, st. Paul's churchyard,

MDCCCLIII.

PREFACE.

The difficulties connected with the subject of the follow
ing Lectures are so numerous and great, that some may
be disposed to accuse the author of presumption for
attempting to grapple with them, and for acting as if
he thought that he could advance anything worthy of
public attention on topics which are confessedly abstruse
in themselves, and which have already been discussed by
men of the greatest ability and learning. His answer to
this charge, if it should be urged by any, is, that the sub
ject was mentioned to him as suitable for a Congregational
Lecture, it arrested his attention, it was one on which he
had frequently thought, and also read, as far as he had
enjoyed the opportunity : it appeared to him very import
ant, and intimately connected with the essential doctrines
of the Gospel. Though not the key-stone in the beautiful,
magnificent arch of Christianity, it occupies, in his estima
tion, a position of so much importance, that if it were
removed, others might be loosened or displaced, and thus
the symmetry and strength of the whole would be dimi
nished, even if its safety were not endangered. For the

VI PREFACE.
correctness of this assertion an appeal may, with propriety,
be made to facts. Very generally it will be found that
those who disbelieve the existence of fallen, evil spirits,
deny also some of the peculiar doctrines of revelation,
and, not unfrequently, almost all of them. Add to this,
that Unitarians seem to think that the belief of Satanic
influence is a peculiarly vulnerable point in what is called
the orthodox faith, and hence it is one which they are con
stantly assailing ; and, therefore, one which those by whom
it is believed and deemed of importance, ought to defend.
I do not hesitate to say, that there are few truths more
clearly stated than this, in the whole volume of inspira
tion ; and that by the same process by which it is explained
away, the resurrection of the dead, or the existence of a
future state of rewards and punishment, might be dis
proved. Since the following Lectures were delivered, and indeed
after a great part of them was printed, my attention was
directed to a pamphlet, entitled " The Devil," being twelve
lectures delivered in London, (I suppose, as the address to
the reader is dated, Sept. 1, 1842, in the course of last
year,) as one of the most plausible and dangerous publica
tions that has ever issued from the press on the subject to
which it relates. But notwithstanding its high pretensions,
its flippant style, and confident assertions, it contains
nothing new, and nothing but what is examined in the
following work. The most extraordinary lecture is the last,
in which the author attempts to prove " The Atheism of
believing in a being called the Devil." The following is

PREFACE. Vll
the sum of his arguments — " Creation and Kevelation both
teach that God is a God of order — God's laws, whether in
the world of creation or the world of revelation, are for the
production of good — The devil — supposing him to exist —
must, in acting, act through and by means of the laws of God ;
and as he acts for the production of evil, he must actually,
so to do, make God's laws, appointed by him for good, turn
to a quite different purpose, namely, the production of evil,
which is an absurdity, which is the first step .to the dread
ful groundwork of Atheism ! " Now, how any man of sense
and learning can write in such a strain as the above, or
put forth such statements for arguments, is to me a
complete mystery. Who does not see, at a single glance,
that all that he has advanced would prove — if it could
prove anything — that there are no wicked men any more
than devils, nay, that there can be no such thing as either
sin or misery, — moral or natural evil, in the universe ? for
both these are caused by perverting the order, and trans
gressing the laws which God has established ; or, as the
. author of the lectures expresses it, " acting through and
by means of the laws which the Creator has enacted." Do
we not see men transgressing them every day, and thus
involving themselves and others in confusion, and crimes,
and misery? What right, then, has any one to maintain
that they may not be violated by other creatures, and with
similar results ? He goes on to assert, that, to allow that
the devil can violate the laws which God has established,
is representing him as able to work miracles ; and as
ascribing to him " omnipotence, omniscience, and omni-

VIII PREFACE.
presence." And then he concludes with a flourish of
triumph and self-complacency, and in language which
ought to lead him to examine whether, to borrow his own
elegant phraseology, he has " subdued the devil in himself,"
especially in his character of a false accuser — " These
DEVTL-HOLDEBS ARE PRACTICAL ATHEISTS.''
It really requires no small degree of patience to be able
to read with calmness such false charges and flimsy reason
ing as the above, especially when, though advanced for the
ten thousandth time, they are paraded as if they were quite
original. The writer, however, either must know, or ought
to know, that those whose sentiments he caricatures, not
only do not ascribe either omniscience, or omnipotence, or
or omnipresence, to the devil, but that they have shown.
that their sentiments do not involve this ascription ; nay,
that aiceording to their representations, the powers and
capacities of Satan must necessarily be limited, and he
may be resisted and overcome.
Again, in order to show what he calls " the absurdity of
the belief in a being called the devil," and that " there is
no necessity for a devil," he quotes Gal. v. 17 — 20, " The
flesh lusteth against the Spirit," &c, "The works ofthe
flesh are manifest, which are, adultery," &c ; and then
adds, " Now, may it not be asked with confidence, if the
flesh is capable to produce all these, what is left for the devil
to do '? " "Let any one detail a vice or suggestion of Satan
which is not a suggestion of the flesh, and then will be
time for calling in the aid of a being called the devil."
Now, a single reference to undeniable facts, to mention

nothing else, will annihilate all this flimsy reasoning in a
moment. Notwithstanding all the tendencies and sug
gestions of the flesh, do not men frequently tempt one
another ? Are they not thus rendered worse than they
would otherwise be ? Nay, do not many of them commit
crimes, which, but for these external temptations, they
would never have perpetrated ? Is there no need for the
exhortation, " My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou
not?" May not Satan, then, also tempt men to crimes,
into which, but for him, they would never have fallen ?
After all that " the flesh is capable of producing,'' human
tempters find enough to do ; and so may infernal ones.
These extracts are, if I am not mistaken, a fair specimen
of the book, and I can scarcely forbear adding, of the ease
with which all its reasonings and statements may be
exposed. Perhaps it may be expected that some reasons should be
assigned why, when there were eight Lectures delivered,
only seven are published. This was done, in compliance
with the request of the Committee of the Congregational
Library, in order to prevent the volume from being too
large. The first lecture was, " On the Origin of Moral
Evil." It was merely introductory, and not necessarily
connected with the proper subject of the book, and there
fore could, without any impropriety, be omitted. The
object was to show, that none of the theories which have
been advanced, on this mysterious question, are at all
satisfactory, and that Dr. Williams's, notwithstanding his
piety, learning, and ability, involves a contradiction. Pos-
IX. a 2

X PREFACE.
sibly the lecture which has been omitted may, in connexion
with a few essays on other subjects, be published at some
future time.
May the volume, notwithstanding all its imperfections,
contribute, by the blessing of God, something towards the
attainment of the laudable objects for the promotion of
which the Congregational Lecture was established !
Airedale College,
April 27th, 1843.

PEEFACE TO THE THIED EDITION.

With the exception of a few slight corrections, and the
addition of two or three foot-notes, this edition is a reprint
of the second. The author has not seen any reason to
alter, or, in anything of importance, even to modify his
views of the subject which are discussed in these Lectures.
His earnest prayer is, that God, in the plenitude of his
condescension and power, may deign to render this volume,
^whatever may be its imperfections, subservient to counter
acting the influence of the father of lies, and to the pro
motion of that truth by which Jesus Christ destroys the
works of the devil.
W. S.
Airedale College,
April 12th, 1853.

CONTENTS.

LECTUBE I.
THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. PAGE
Importance of testimony — The momentous nature of faith — The
attention which it deserves — Simplicity of childhood — Credulity
and incredulity contrasted — Which is the more irrational? — Aris
totle's assertion that " incredulity is the foundation of all wisdom "
— The existence of evil spirits has been denied — Strenuous attempts
have been made to disprove it — The importance of the subject — In
fluence of the Bible on the belief respecting evil spirits — If they
do not exist, it has misled most of those who have taken it for their
guide — The demons of the heathen — J«sus Christ sanctioned the
belief of the existence of evil spirits — Evidence from reason,
analogy, and facts — Man the lowest order of rational creatures —
There may be many much higher — Spirits do not need material
vehicles — Matter may he moulded, probably, into more subtile
spiritual forms than that in which it exists in him — There may,
therefore, be rational and accountable beings far superior to him —
Must be defectible — May have fallen — Sin would necessarily de
prave them— They would become tempters of others if permitted —
The rich man and his brethren — God may permit them to tempt
men — Appeal to facts — Character of the demons of the heathen —
An important fact, stated with regard to those who deny the exist
ence of evil spirits — The extensive and long-continued prevalence
of a belief in the existence of evil spirits under the Christian dis
pensation — The conduct of Jesus Christ with respect to this belief
— Scriptural evidence examined — 2 Pet. ii. 4 — Erroneous transla
tion, and application of it refuted — John viii. 44 considered —
Applied to Satan — Absurd Unitarian exposition of it refuted —
Import of the word apxn, " beginning" — 1 John iii. 8 illustrated —
Matt. xxv. 41 — 46 explained — ffvvreXeia rov cuccvos — Satan and

XIV CONTENTS. PAGE
his angels rational, accountable beings — Mark iv. 15, Matt. xiii. 39
— The interpretation of those who deny the existence of Satan ex
posed — Acts x. 28, Heb. ii. 14, James iv. 5, 1 Pet. v. 8, 1 John
ii. 8 — Ridiculous Unitarian exposition — Jude 9 — Meaning and
application of the word Satan — Strange and arbitrary application
of it by Socinians — Beelzebub — Matt. xii. 26, Luke xxii. 21, Bev.
xii. 3, 9, and 20, ii. 10, considered — James ii. 19 — The Mosaic
account of the Fall considered — Literal, not figurative — Saul and
his evil spirit from God, 1 Samuel xvi. 1 4 — Satan tempting David
to number Israel — Ahab's prophets and their lying spirit, 1 Kings
xxii. 21, Joh i. 2, &c. — A history, not an allegory — Psalm cix. —
Reasons for dwelling so long on this part of the subject  1

LECTURE II.
THE CHAliACTEE, STATE, AND POWEHS OF EVIL SPIRITS.
General view of the information from Scripture — Fallen spirits
originally holy — Have been rendered what they are by their
departure from God — This the doctrine of Scripture, 2 Pet.
ii. 4, Jude 6 — The elect angels — Man the lowest order of
rational beings — Proof of this— There must be many above him
Reason and analogy prove this — These reasonings confirmed by
Scripture — Exod. xxxhi. 2, 2 Sam. xxiv., Dan. iii. 38, Psalm xxxiv.
7, Gen. xix., Matt, xxviii., Acts v. 19, and xii. 10, Luke ii. 9,
Rev. xvi. 1, and xxii. 8, Psalm ciii., 2 Thess. i. 7, Matt. xiii. 39 —
Heb. i. 7 critically examined — The figurative representation of
angels, Isa. vi., Ezek. i. 10 — Bev. passim — Fallen angels originally
equal to holy angels — Different ranks, or orders, amongst them —
They do not live in harmony — How Satan may rule amongst them
— Jonathan Edwards's opinion, Appendix D. — Their powers and
honours when in heaven — The dreadful influence of sin on those
who commit it — A practical view of the origin of sin — The first
sin of Satan — 1 Tim. iii. 6 considered — Scriptural account of the
fall of angels, and its consequences — Satan the ring-leader in their
revolt — Their punishment not yet complete — Condition hopeless —
Character awfully depraved — Harmony of the deductions of reason
and the statements of Scripture respecting fallen angels — They are
still accountable for their conduct — Epithets of Satan in Scripture
— Their capacities and powers are still great — They can operate on
matter — Dr. Watts's theory examined and rejected — Proof from
Scripture that they can operate on matter — The limited power of

CONTENTS. XV
PAGE
our souls when united to our bodies no proof to the contrary — An
objection answered — The rapidity of their motion — They are not
omnipresent — Milton — Dwight — They have relation to place —
Their knowledge must be extensive — It may increase — Sin does
not weaken the intellectual powers — The agency of Satan in the
temptations of Job — Satan inflicted his calamities — No miracle
performed in inflicting them— Conclusion  80

LECTURE III.
THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
Difficulties of this part of the subject — Proofs that evil spirits have
intercourse with this world — The different ways in which Satan has
been supposed to carry on his intercourse with men — Witchcraft
and sorcery — King James on sorcery — Encyel. Britannica — The
possibility of witchcraft in the abstract — Many absurdities and im
possibilities in the vulgar stories respecting it — The importance of
the subject — Reason for discussing it — Baxter's world of spirits —
Plan of the lecture — I. Belief in witchcraft not countenanced by
Scripture — Some have studied the arts of magic and witchcraft —
Some have pretended, and others believed, that they themselves
were adepts in them — Witchcraft amongst the Jews was connected
with idolatry — It therefore deserved the punishment of death — ¦
Deut. xviii. 10 considered — Ventriloquism — Withcraft amongst the
Jews was treason against Jehovah — This witchcraft quite different
in its nature from that of modern times — Probable that the witches
and necromancers, &c, of Scripture were all impostors — The
magicians of Egypt — Different opinions respecting them — Dr. A.
Clarke — Thomas Scott — That they were impostors proved from
the terms by which they were designated — Farmer's opinion — The
narration of Moses considered — The Egyptians famous for their
skill in legerdemain — Some of the miracles examined in de'tail —
Changing the rods into serpents — This feat exceeded by jugglers in
the present day — Why Moses' rod was caused to swallow the rods
of the magicians — Turning the water into blood — The production
of frogs — Reasons why the magicians could not imitate the next
miracle — The, nature of the miracles in which the magicians suc
ceeded, and in which they failed — Balaam— Various opinions re
specting him — Probably not altogether an impostor — No evidence
that he had any intercourse with evil spirits — The witch of Endor
— Different theories respecting her — Proofs that she was an im-

VI CONTENTS. PACE
poster — Striking instance of the power of imagination — How she
might gain all the knowledge which she possessed — Saul did not
see Samuel — God did not work a miracle and raise Samuel from
the dead — Proof of this — An objection answered — Why the sacred
writer uses the term Samuel — The woman did not see an apparition
— Conclusion ...  .... 126

LECTURE IV.
THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
THE NATURE AND MANNER OF THEIB INTERCOURSE WITH THIS WORLD ;
WITCHCRAFT, DIVINATION, ETC., CONTINUED.
II. Absurdities of the records of witchcraft — The witches of Essex
and Suffolk in 1645-6 — John Goodwin's children and the witch
Glover — The feats of Elizabeth Horner— The circumstances of
supposed witches — Poor old deformed persons — Some respectable
persons accused — Witchcraft not the real cause of the accusation —
The confessions of supposed witches investigated — Were obtained
by torture — No credit due to them — How obtained in England — By
Hopkins the witch-finder general — III. Many of the most plausible
stories of witchcraft proved to be falsehoods — The infamous Ed
mund Robinson — How detected— The trick of vomiting crooked
pins detected — Hopkins detected and exposed — IV. The influence
of knowledge, philosophy, and religion, on witchcraft — Spirited con
duct of a gentleman of New England — Its effect on the proceed
ings against witchcraft — The principle applied to ghosts and appari
tions — What would even now be the effect of punishing supposed
and accused witches — The Sibylline oracles — Different opinions
respecting them — Import of the name Sibyl — The number of the
Sibyls — The time in which they lived uncertain — An abstract of
their history — The fate of the Sibylline books — Prideaux's opinion
respecting them rejected — Proofs that they are forgeries' — 1. Then-
style and spirit — 2. Never noticed in the Scriptures— 3. The
nature and manner of their supposed inspiration — 4. The character
of the principal Sibyl — 5. They were all females — 6. The definite-
ness of the Sibylline oracles an argument against them — Their
language, and allusions also — Their non-inspiration, implied in
Romans ii. 2 — Imprudence and credulity of some of the Fathers —
Ths Sibylline oracles afford internal evidence of forgery — They
must be numbered amongst pious frauds — The heathen oracles-
Brief account of them (Appendix L) — The Delphian oracle — The

CONTENTS. XVii
PAGE
objeot of this lecture — In what sense these oracles were managed
by Satan — Abstractedly possible that they might be the residence .of
evil spirits — Proofs that they were managed by human craft — 1st.
The Scriptures favour this sentiment — The god of Ekron — Father
Baltus — 2nd. No real miracle ever wrought in support of a false
religion — Real miracles were performed if the oracles were managed
by demons — 3rd. The way in which the oracles gave their re
sponses, shows that they were managed by the craft of men — The
cave and oracle of Trophonius — Manner of consulting the supposed
deity — Fontenelle's reflections — All the managers of oracles used
similar arts — This made evident when the temples were demolished
— The sealed letters that were sent to the oracle, considered —
Trajan — The oracle of Mopsus and the governor of Cilieia 
Crossus and the oracles of Delphi — Dr. Piatt's marvellous story —
The machinery of oracles — Their origin — Many of the heathen
themselves did not believe in them — New oracles established —
Alexander and Hephsestion — The Christian fathers suspected the
oracles of fraud — Clemens Alexandrinus — Eusebius — The silencing
of the oracles — The sentiments of the fathers on this subject —
TertuUian — Lactantius — Cyprian — Athanasius — Prudentius —
Gregory Nazianzen — Gregory Thaumaturgus — Their testimony
estimated — Fathers contrasted with Jesus Christ and his apostles
— What credit is due to them as witnesses — In many cases very
little — Irenaeus and the gift of tongues — The sense in which the
oracles were silenced by Jesus Christ — Conclusion  172

LECTURE V.
DEMONIACS, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
Farmer's definition of the term demoniac not correct — Another defini
tion — Demoniacs not always under the power of the demons —
Farmer's theory plausible, but not defensible — The burden of proof
here — The language of Scripture respecting them — The foundation
of Farmer's system, that the demons of the heathen were the souls
of dead men — Fell's sentiments on the subject— Farmer's hypothesis
untenable — The first objects of idolatrous worship — How demon
worship was introduced — Farmer's concession fatal to his own
theory — If the demons of the heathen were "dead men," there
might still be real possessions — The Jews had not the same ideas
respecting demons that the heathen had — Farmer's views respecting
the sphere of action assigned to spirits not correct — Contrary to
the statements of the Bible — The sphere of action assigned to

XV111 CONTENTS. PAGE
spirits may be very extensive— -This world may be a part of it — It
does not follow that they can work real miracles — Wollaston's
opinions on this subject — The statements of Scripture respecting
demoniacs rational — A general view of the most remarkable
passages relating to demoniacs, Luke x. 17, Mark xvi. 15, 16, Acts
xxviii. 3 — 6, Luke xi. 14 — 26 — Fell on the term Beelzebub — The
Pharisees did not by the term Beelzebub mean the god of Ekron,
Luke xi. 19 — Acts x. 38 considered — Some instances of ejection of
demons particularly examined, Matt. viii. 28, &c. — The fierceness
of the demoniac — His confession of the Saviour — The question of
the Saviour, and the answer of the demons — Dr. Lardner's hypo
thesis — Farmer's refutation of it — Farmer's hypothesis, that the
insanity was miraculously transferred to the herd, confuted — His
strange arguments in support of it — No necessity for Jesus Christ
to use the customary phraseology on this occasion — The common
belief injurious if there are no real possessions- — This maintained
by Farmer himself — The Saviour did not conceal offensive truths
— It does not follow from real possessions, that fallen spirits can
work miracles — The Pythoness, Acts xvi. 1 6 — The permission of
possessions consistent with the goodness of God — Why they were
so numerous in the time of the Saviour — Nothing irrational in con
fining possessions chiefly, or wholly, to the age of miracles — We
have no right to expect that any will be able to eject demons now —
Heaton's account of John Evans, a supposed demoniac — A case of
epilepsy — Supposed strange effects of mental adjuration, reason to
suspect imposition on the part of the boy, and of some connected
with him — No means of distinguishing diseases caused by evil
spirits (if they do cause them) from ordinary ones  232

LECTURE VI.
AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
ON TEMPTATION.— THE SAVIOUR'S TEMPTATION IN THE WILDERNESS.
Introductory remarks— The cause of different hypotheses respecting
the Saviour's temptation in the desert — Five theories respecting it
—Theory of the temptation by suggestion rejected— Le Clerc's
theory of a visionary representation caused by Satan  Two in
superable objections against it— Farmer's theory that the temptation
was a Divine vision— His first argument, that Christ was in the
wilderness already, and could not he driven thither, answered  His
second argument, the Spirit often signifies the gifts and influence of

CONTENTS. XIX
PAGE
the Spirit, answered— The import of the terms employed — It does
not support Farmer's theory — Nor does the language employed by
Ezekiel and John — -The supposed advantages of Farmer's system
considered — Satan did not appear in what may be called his own
form to the Saviour — No difficulty in conceiving why Satan should
tempt Christ — Might hope to overcome him — Satan is constantly
acting irrationally — Jonathan Edwards' views on this subject —
Farmer attaches great importance to the symbolical design of the
vision — The symbol not necessary for the Saviour — His scheme
will have no beneficial influence on the adversaries of the Gospel —
Does not exalt the character of the Saviour — The literal scheme far
more instructive and consolatory — Most serious objections to
Farmer's system — It represents the Spirit as tempting Christ to sin
— The literal translation preferable — Objections to the literal sense
answered — Not unsuitable to the policy and sagacity of Satan —
Not ill calculated to promote the honour of the Saviour or the
benefit of his disciples — Heb. iv. 13 considered — Confirming the
literal scheme — Does not ascribe the performance of miracles to
Satan — Christ being led into the wilderness, Luke iv. 1 — Where, and
what was this wilderness — The fasting of the Saviour a remarkable
fact — The time to he taken literally — The first temptation illus
trated — Its nature and strength — The victory of the Redeemer —
The second temptation presents the chief difficulty on the literal
scheme — How Christ might he conveyed to the top of the temple
— Lightfoot's opinion — The design of the second temptation — The
lesson taught by it — Objections to the literal scheme — The third
temptation illustrated — Its principal difficulty obviated — Lightfoot's
opinion — Import and force of the temptation — Lightfoot's explana
tion — The temptation much more powerful on the literal scheme
than on any other — The final defeat of the tempter — The import
ance and glory of the Saviour's victory  278

LECTURE VII.
THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
THE TEMPTATIONS OF SATAN IN THEIR COMMON OR ORDINARY FORM.
Importance of this part of the subject — Etymology and meaning of
the word temptation — Some facts on this subject obvious — Ist.
That Satan does tempt men — Nothing particularly mysterious in
God's permitting him to do so — Gilpin's sentiments on this subject
— The statements of the Bible — All systems of idolatry bear the

XX CONTENTS. PAGE
image of Satan — They are all the same in their nature and general
features, wfoatenar their form — The corruption of Christianity
evidently the work of Satan — The papal idolatry a substitute for
heathenism — It eoneentrat.es in itself all the deceivableness of un
righteousness — Satan, the patron of the errors which are opposed
to the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel — The Gospel ministry the
special object of his hatred — Missionaries must expect his most
determined apposition — Is there any form of sin to which Satan
does not tempt? — Second principle, Satan cannot compel, he can
only tempt — When men tempt, they possess some advantages which
he does not — Satan's power of spiritual fascination — Gilpin's
opinion — Gal. ii. 1 does not prove that Satan possesses this power
— Nor 2 Thess. ii. 9 — 16 — Nor Rom. i. 28 — The power of spiritual
fascination not possessed by Satan — He tempts generally through
the instrumentality of his agents — R. Hall's sentiments on this sub
ject — He endeavours to conceal his operations — Avails himself of
all advantages by those whom he tempts — And by their circum
stances — The vigilance of Satan, 2 Cor. ii. 11, Eph. iv. 26, 28 —
Blasphemous thoughts suggested by him— Bunyan's experience not
singular — Satan can suggest thoughts — How far he can know the
thoughts of men — He will act as crafty depraved men do — We
have much to fear from evil spirits — Means to be used in order to
overcome them — Conclusion — Nature of the subjects to which our'
attention has been directed  314
APPENDIX.
A. Chrysostom on the rich man and Lazarus  349
B. On the rationality of brutes  349
C. Criticism on Psalm civ. 4  351
D. Of Edwards's opinions respecting' Satan before his fall, and the
cause of his fall  354
E. Ditto  355
F. Remarkable instances of the power of imagination  355
G. Simon Magus and the Philippian damsel  357
H. Witchcraft in New England  35g
I. Remarkable story of Gassendi  350
K. Credulity and duplicity of the Fathers  3g0
L. Brief account of Oracles  3g2
M. The story of Thamus and the great Pan . . .... 362
N. Satan, the prince of the power of the air  363
0. Gilpin's Demomohjgia Sacra  354

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS
PROVED.

LECTUEE I.
THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
We are indebted for a large proportion of our know
ledge, to the information which we receive from others,
that is, to testimony. Deprive the most active observers
and acute reasoners of all the information, all the ideas
which have been imparted to them in this way, how would
their mental stores be diminished, how intellectually poor
would they become ! How narrow is the sphere of the
experience, and personal observation, and original inven
tion, of even those who have been the most restless rangers
over the surface, and amongst the various countries of the
globe; who have passed through the richest variety of
instructive and impressive scenes, or who have thought
and experimented for themselves with the greatest energy
and success ! Hence, faith, or belief, presents to us a
very interesting and momentous subject of thought and
investigation. What are its foundation, its laws, its le
gitimate sphere and exercise, its influence and results ?
At our first entrance on life we are disposed (almost ne
cessitated) to believe everything ; to credit, unhesitatingly,
the testimony of our senses, of external objects, and of our
-i ^
IX. B

A THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
fellow-men. To infancy and incipient childhood belongs
the simplicity of believing " every word ;" and no wonder,
since the child feels his own ignorance, and the superiority,
in knowledge and power, of his instructors ; and since the
kindness which is generally manifested to him by his
parents, leads him to feel as if none clothed in a human
form would ever deceive him ; and how can he distrust his
own senses ? He has no idea of a lie, of any reason why
it should be uttered, or of any end that can be answered
by it. But how is he (or at least how would he be, if the
scenes did not gradually unfold themselves to his view,)
surprised and mortified to find that he is less or more
deceived by almost everything ; that false information is
frequently given him by his fellow-men, by his very senses,
and even by the various phenomena of nature, as he under
stands them. And hence, in some cases, from the extreme
of believing everything, he passes to that of believing
almost nothing. The being of a God, of a material
universe, the difference between good and evil, between
happiness and misery, have all been denied; nay some
appear not to have been quite sure of even their own
existence. Now, of the two extremes, believing everything,
however lamentable may be the weakness, credulity, and
folly which it implies, or believing nothing, it may well be
questioned which is the more irrational and pernicious.
Suppose two persons could be found, one of whom Literally
credited everything that was told him, and trusted entirely
also to the testimony of his senses ; and another, who
would receive as true only that of which he was assured by
his own experience, or which could be proved by abstract
reasoning and demonstration ; which of the two would be
more egregiously deceived, and would embrace the greater
errors ? which would be more extensively incapacitated to
manage the affairs of time, or to prepare for the scenes of
eternity ? " In history it is better to believe too much
than too little, — to believe everything, than to believe

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 3
nothing, — credulity is more lovely than scepticism."* I
am aware it has been asserted by no less an authority than
that of Aristotle, that "incredulity is the foundation of all
wisdom." And though this cannot by any means be
granted, since its incorrectness may be demonstrated from
both reason and facts, there is too much ground for the
assertion, "that credulity is the foundation of all folly," f
at least in its various species. For assuredly there is no
kind of folly or absurdity in either theory, belief, or prac
tice, into which credulity has not led. What a contrast is
presented betwixt the unbelief of men when they have had
the testimony of God, and their readiness to believe almost
anything on the testimony of men ; — their proneness then
to suffer themselves to be duped by the most ridiculous
pretences, and to follow wherever the grossest impostor
may lead the way. The father of lies has always found
numbers ready to swallow and digest the greatest and most
contemptible falsehoods that he could invent. What a
humbling view of human nature is presented by only a, few
" sketches of imposture, deception, and credulity ! " How
often do they elicit from the inmost recesses of the asto
nished and agonized soul the exclamations — " Lord, what
is man? What is truth?" And who can write their history
in full, and do justice to its appalling facts? Still, perhaps,
the verdict in the case just now supposed would be given,
were the subject thoroughly investigated, against scepti
cism, and in favour of credulity. Some degree of the
latter, or at least of a readiness to believe, is necessary to
the acquisition of knowledge, nay, to the very being of
society. Whatever may be in this, we cannot wonder,
considering the state of human nature, and the part which
men have acted, that the existence of evil spirits, or of
fallen angels, should have been denied ; and that learning,
and mental ability, and extensive investigation, and argu-
* Professor E. D. Sanbowen, American Biblical Eepository, July, p. 181.
t Sketches of Imposture, &c, p. 1, Family Library, No. 63.

4 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
ment, should have been put in requisition to prove that
they are the creations of fancy, and the offspring of super
stition ; and that a belief in them has no foundation either
in reason, or in the word of God. It is, therefore, far from
being unnecessary for those who entertain the common,
and what are called the orthodox opinions on this subject,
to assign their reasons for thinking that those malignant
and unhappy beings do really, certainly exist.
Now the subject, on the discussion of which we are
entering, is obviously one of very great importance. It
extends its influence, directly or indirectly, to almost every
doctrine and every duty; to the whole sphere of our faith
and practice. If it can be proved that there are no such
beings as those whom we denominate evil spirits, or devils,
then what grossly erroneous sentiments has the Bible led
by far the greater part of its most devoted readers and
students to form ! Into what egregious, and even ludicrous
errors has it betrayed them, in their faith, then- devotional
exercises, and their practice ! And that not on subjects to
which it alluded only incidentally, or which did not come
within the sphere of its revelation and teaching, such as
astronomy and geology ; but on some involved in the pur
pose for which it was penned, and intimately connected
with the religious faith and practice of the servants of God
in all ages. It is not strange, it was naturally to be ex
pected, it was even necessary, that popular language should
be used in describing the revolutions of the seasons, the
appearances of the heavens and the earth, and the formation
and structure of our globe ; but where was the necessity
for using, on religious subjects, not only popular language,
but that which had been dictated by false and superstitious
opinions, and which, in various ways, affected the holiness
and happiness of those for whose benefit the Bible was
written ? Surely it might have been expected that here
the greatest precision would be employed, that every word,
and phrase, and reference, which could sanction and con-

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 5
firm the popular delusion, would be carefully avoided. I
have said that the Scriptures have led multitudes of their
most devoted and diligent students into this error, if it be
one ; for, according to some of our opponents, the doctrine
of the existence of such beings as we call devils, was
altogether unknown amongst the heathen. Their demons
were quite different in their nature and properties from the
evil spirits of the Christian creed. And, surely, those who
deny the tenet in question, must allow that they are a small
minority amongst the professed disciples of Jesus Christ,
(probably they would glory in this,) and that there have
been many believers in it who have devoted all the energy
of their minds, and all the time they could command, to
the investigation of the subject. Is it honourable to Him
who was, by way of eminence, the Teacher who came.
from God, and who appeared in our nature, who came from
heaven to earth, that he might reveal to us, as far as
necessary, the scenes of the invisible world, and especially
the character of the enemies with which we have to wrestle
for the kingdom of heaven and the salvation of our souls,
to suppose that he has left this interesting subject so much
in the dark, that, as it relates to it, by far the greater number
of his followers have wandered from the path of truth ; nay,
that he very commonly spoke and acted, even when per
forming his miracles, in such a way as was calculated to
mislead, because he sanctioned the vulgar superstition, by
employing its phraseology, and appearing to take it for
granted that the views of its votaries were correct ? Surely
not. If there are no fallen angels, who were transformed
by their own wilful rebellion and apostasy into demons,'
then how many unnecessary fears have been excited in the
breasts of the most devoted servants of God ! To what an
extent have their combats with their imaginary spiritual
foes, been "beating the air!" How many volumes, and
even ponderous tomes of divinity, which have hitherto
been considered as amongst the most valuable stores of

0 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
intellectual and moral .wealth, bequeathed to us by the
learning, and wisdom, and intellect, and piety of past ages,
ought to be consigned to the flames, unless they are pre
served as monuments of the folly both of those by whom
they were written, and of those for whose sake they were
penned ! If there are no evil spirits, who labour to the
utmost of their opportunities and ability to seduce, and
deprave, and destroy men, then, what fears which have
hitherto been indulged, may we dismiss from our breasts !
We have to wrestle only with flesh and blood, and not with
anything superior, not " with principalities, and powers,
and the rulers of the darkness of this world, and with
spiritual wickedness in high places." On the contrary, if
these powerful, subtle, malignant beings really exist, if they
are the deadly enemies of our souls, and are determined,
if it is in their power, to ruin us for ever, then it is our
incumbent duty to gain as accurate a knowledge as we
possibly can, of their character and devices, that thus we
may be prepared for the sphitual warfare, and may " stand
in the evil day."
Beason and analog}' will lead us to conclude that the
truth of the common doctrine respecting evil spirits, or
fallen angels, is at the least possible, nay even probable.
Surely none will maintain, even if they deny the existence
of angels, that man is the only, or the most noble, rational
creature in the universe. He evidently appears to be the
connecting link betwixt the irrational and the rational
creation ; and, therefore, it would seem, the lowest order
in the latter. How many ranks there may be above him,
exhibiting various forms and degrees of intellectual power
and moral excellence, and displaying the riches and
wonders of the Divine wisdom and power, who can under
take to say ? And surely all who believe in the immateri
ality of the soul, and that it is more excellent than the
body, must allow that many of these beings may be pure
spirits. Our senses and experience, it is true, can give us

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 7
no information how these exist without any connexion with
matter ; and this I apprehend is the cause of the theories,
— of the imaginations, I had almost said, of the dreams,
(and I would not shrink from using the term, because of
the celebrity of some by whom the sentiment has been
advocated,) of those who maintain that all created spirits
have some kind of airy or ethereal vehicles, or bodies, by
means of which they act, and which indeed are necessary
to enable them to perform various operations ; so that God
is the only pure spirit in existence. This opinion, I must
think, has no foundation in either reason or Scripture ; or
rather it is contrary to both. However, this does not
affect the doctrine which I am endeavouring to maintain.
And even those who deny the existence of spirits, properly
so called, who assert that the soul of man is material, or
the result of the organization of his body, must still grant
that matter may be moulded into far more subtle, refined,
ethereal, or what may be called spiritual forms, than that
in which it exists in him ; and that, therefore, even on
this theory, there may be many orders of rational creatures
far superior to us ; and that they must be, as we are, ac
countable to God, and may have been placed in a state of
probation. Farther, facts and experience lead us to con
clude that, like men, they may have fallen from their state
of integrity. All creatures, however great their powers,
however pure and noble their natures, must be fallible or
defectible. Infallibility is obviously one of the incommu
nicable prerogatives of Jehovah. If then they were fallible,
they may have fallen. To grant the former, and yet to
deny the latter, involves a contradiction. And sin would
certainly, from its very nature and necessary operation,
pervert their views and feelings, and render them depraved
creatures. And may we not conclude that the depth and
malignity of the depravity would, if they were left entirely
to themselves, and especially in a situation which excluded
them from hope, and led them to view God as having cast

8 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
them off for ever, be proportional to their former excel
lence, to the exalted privileges which they enjoyed, and to
the folly, the enormity, and the high aggravations of their
crime?" that the depth ofthe gulf of perdition into which
they sunk, would be in proportion to the height of that
elevation of honour and happiness from which they pre
cipitated themselves ? Do not facts prove that such is fhe
influence of sin, the result of wilful rebellion against the
God of heaven ? If so, then these fallen beings would im
mediately become, as far as they had opportunity, the
tempters of others, endeavouring to involve their fellow-
creatures in a condition like their own. We are warranted,
I apprehend, to assert, that there is not a sinner in the
universe, if he is left entirely under the influence of sin,
who is not disposed to become a tempter to others, nay,
who will not necessarily be so. I may be reminded here,
perhaps, of the rich man in hell, who prayed that Lazarus
might be sent to warn his brethren, lest they should become
his companions in torment. To this it is easy to reply,
that it was not the design of the Saviour, in this parable,
to teach anything respecting the dispositions of those who
are finally lost, but to expose the folly of expecting warnings
from the invisible world, and their uselessness to those who
remained unconverted under the ordinary means of grace ;
and that it is not certain that the rich man was influenced
by benevolence, even allowing, for the sake of argument,
that every statement is to be taken literally ; and farther,
that he might present such a petition as the one under
consideration, on behalf of his own brethren, — we might
even allow that there were some remains of selfish natural
affection towards them in his breast, — and yet might be, in
ways innumerable, and even to the utmost extent of his
power, a tempter of others.* How often is it the case in
this world, that men who are far from being devoid of love
to their relations, are yet, to an awful extent, the seducers
* Appendix A.

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 9
of all with whom they are connected ! From the principles
of reason, then, and the testimony of facts, we are warranted
to conclude that these fallen-spirits would be disposed to
tempt their fellow-creatures. And it is far from being
either irrational or unscriptural to suppose that God would
permit them to do so ; and exposure to their temptations,
may be a part of the trial of men while they are in a state
of probation. We have the most indubitable evidence that
God permits men to become tempters to one another: and,
perhaps, in some cases, in a way and to a degree which are
more dangerous than the wiles of evil spirits can be. The
temptation with which Eve assailed Adam, was quite as
powerful as that by which the serpent overcame her. If
Satan has some advantages over us which our fellow-men
have not, they have many which he cannot have ; and hence
he frequently employs them as his instruments, when he
could not otherwise accomplish his purpose. Analogy,
therefore, leads us to conclude, that God does allow evil
spirits to tempt men, and, in some cases, to prevail against
them. These considerations, I hope, may suffice to show
that the whole of the orthodox faith, and I must be per
mitted to add, the doctrine of Scripture, concerning evil
spirits, is quite agreeable to the principles of reason, and to
the evidence of analogy, experience, and observation. It is
not, in reality, more wonderful that there should be fallen
malignant spirits than that there should be wicked men ;
nor that the former should tempt the inhabitants of this
world, than that the latter should tempt one another.
To these statements it may be added, that the conduct
of men, the atrocious, cruel, abominable, unnatural, and
sometimes almost gratuitous crimes which they perpetrate,
are just such as we might suppose, were we to reason ab
stractedly on the subject, they would commit, if the earth
be the range of evil -spirits. Surely our opponents must
allow that the world could scarcely be worse, its wars more
infernal and bloody, its systems of slavery more inhuman

10 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
and subversive of all the principles of justice, its impurities
more shocking, its impiety more wanton and outrageous,
than they have been, supposing the common belief were
correct, and that, to use the expressive language of Scripture,
the world has been "lying in the wicked one," and that he
had been working in men, and even inducing them to wor
ship him as their god. We know that, according to the
testimony of the Saviour, " out of the heart proceed evil
thoughts, murders, adulteries, and all manner of wicked
ness ;" that men may be so depraved as to become incarnate
devils. But then the question is, whether Satan may not
have a large influence in rendering man what he is, whether
he may not often put into the heart that which comes out
of it. We are informed, that Satan put it into the heart of
Judas to betray his Master, and into the heart of Ananias
and Sapphira to lie to the Holy Ghost. There have been
some sins of such a character, and so circumstanced, that
they could scarcely be accounted for in any other way than
by allowing the influence of an evil spirit. And to take
the very lowest ground, the conduct of men has been of
such a complexion, that none can bring an argument from
what they have been and done, against the existence of
fallen angels, and their being continually and sedulously
employed in tempting men to all manner of wickedness ;
especially when we consider the means which God has
employed to render them wise and holy. In this respect,
too, facts warrant the belief of the doctrine which we are
endeavouring to establish.
It may be observed in passing, that though the demons
of the heathen were certainly very different beings, in many
respects, from the evil spirits of Scripture, yet a belief has
very generally, indeed almost universally, prevailed amongst
pagans, of the existence of some malignant, wicked, in
visible agents, or evil demons, who felt a pleasure in doing
mischief, and injuring men in various ways ; and as Dr.
Doddridge observes, " many of those deities whom they

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 11
worshipped were, according to their own mythology, so
vicious and malignant, as to resemble devils rather than
good angels." We are assured that the ancient eastern
nations in general, and amongst the rest, the Chaldeans,
admitted the existence of certain evil spirits, clothed in a
vehicle pf grosser matter ;* and in subduing or counteract
ing these they placed a great part of the efficacy of their reli
gious incantations ; and that the Egyptians believed in an
" evil principle from which they conceived themselves liable
to misfortune, and which they deprecated as an object of
terror, under the name of Typhon."f And we find from
the accounts of missionaries, that similar notions exist
amongst many of the heathen at the present day.J They
have their malignant, as well as their benevolent deities.
Some of them worship the devil and not God, and assign
as their reason for doing so, that God is good, and will not
injure them, and will even confer benefits on them without
solicitation or worship ; but that, as the devil is malignant,
it is necessary to propitiate him by their sacrifices. For
the existence of evil spirits in general, then, and of spirits
in particular, we have an argument similar to that which is
generally urged for the existence of God, — the common
belief of men in every age, and in nearly all parts of the
world : I do not say equal in strength, but similar in its
nature ; and the exceptions in both cases are of such a
kind that they only confirm the general rule. I know that
some will not admit of this argument for even the exist
ence of the Divine Being ; but with all due respect for
their piety, learning, and ability, I must decidedly differ
from them. I cannot at this time assign my reasons.
It may just be mentioned here, not so much as an argu
ment in support of the doctrine which I am endeavouring
to maintain, though I am far from thinking that it is desti-
* Enfield's History of Philosophy, book i. chap. ii. p. 20.
t Ibid. chap. viii. p. 44.
J See extracts from the correspondence ofthe London Missionary Society,
June 26, 1844.

12 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
tute of weight in this respect, but as an important fact,
one which may well cause us to pause, and to examine
most carefully every step which we take, every concession
which we make, every conclusion to which we come, that
those who maintain that evil spirits are the figments of a
deluded imagination, very generally deny the pecuhar doc
trines of the Gospel. If we listen to them, and adopt their
modes of interpretation, we must come to the conclusion,
with the Sadducees of old, that there are neither angels
nor spirits, good or bad ; that Jesus Christ, when on earth,
was but a man like ourselves, and that he is now only one
of the most illustrious of glorified saints in heaven, if they
will allow us to know even this much respecting him. For
one of their leaders assures us that " we are totally ignorant
of the place where he resides, and of the occupation in
which he is engaged ! !" Strange language ! inconceivably
strange to be uttered by one who had repeatedly read the
assertion of the inspired apostle, that he is " gone into
heaven, and is on the right hand of God," and that "he
ever liveth to make intercession for us." Would Mr.
Belsham say we know not where, or what heaven is ? We
reply, — it is enough that we are certain, wherever it is, the
Saviour is there, and that he himself said to those whose
knowledge was so circumscribed, that in this respect the
very least in the kingdom of heaven now, are greater than
they were at that time, " Whither I go ye know, and the
way ye know." And surely we can form pretty clear ideas
of what " intercession " means. Farther, we shall find
that those who do not believe in the existence of evil
spirits maintain that there is no Holy Ghost, as it regards
distinct personality ; that no atonement has been made
for human guilt, and in fact, that it needed none ; for ac
cording to them, sin is rather a misfortune or imperfection
than a crime: — that man can renew his own heart; that
Divine influence is neither necessary nor to be expected ;
and that all the difference between the most holy and the

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 13
most impious persons on earth, as it regards their prospects
for the future, is, that the former shall arrive at heaven
sooner than the latter, and by a more direct and pleasant
path ; while both shall take up in it their last and eternal
abode : and that the flames of hell shall prove an effectual
purgatory to those who, while they were on earth, had
resisted all the influence of truth and of the blood of
sprinkling. Now we care not what may be the number or the nature
of the preconceived opinions which we may have to reject,
or however strange and contrary to our former belief may
be the dogmas which we are required to receive, provided
sufficient proof be afforded that the former are prejudices,
and that the latter are the doctrines of the word of God.
We wish to be prepared to follow truth wherever it may
lead, or whatever the sacrifices of long-cherished opinions
which it may require us to make. If the peculiar views of
Socinianism, in even their lowest forms, those in which
they appear to us at present to be most directly opposed
to the volume of inspiration, be truth, may God reveal
them to us, and enable us to embrace them ! We have
often felt how congenial they are to certain principles and
inclinations of fallen human nature, and what painful
sacrifices of feelings and wishes must be made to the
authority of Scripture, in order to embrace some tenets
of a contrary system — sacrifices so painful that nothing
but deference to the testimony and command of God could
induce us to make them. It would be, on many accounts,
a grateful discoveiy, if we should find that our sentiments
respecting evil spirits have no foundation in the word of
God,- and that we are mistaken in imagining that myriads
of noble and glorious beings have transformed themselves,
by their wilful rebellion against their Maker and Sovereign,
into the most guilty, depraved, and wretched creatures in
the universe ; and that they are constantly labouring, with
all the craft and energy which their powers and malice can

1 4 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
put in requisition, to render the whole human race as
criminal and miserable as they are themselves. For how
much is there appalling and mysterious in the doctrine !
What could induce any man, who possesses either a spark
of true benevolence or piety, to embrace it, but sufficient,
nay, overwhelming evidence of its truth ? And such evi
dence, we most confidently assert, is furnished by the
Bible in great abundance.
It may be noticed here, that if there are no such beings
as evil spirits in existence, it is very strange, and not very
honourable to the Scriptures, that after their canon had
been completed, so that no more communications could be
expected from heaven to correct any mistakes into which
the disciples of Christ had fallen, after the Saviour himself
had appeared on earth as the Hght of the world, as the
great prophet and teacher, and after he had poured out
his Spirit on his apostles to lead them into all truth, and
after they had imparted to the world all that their Master
had given them in charge to teach — it is very strange, that
after all, still this dogma of the non-existence of devils
should have been almost, if not altogether unknown for
nearly eighteen hundred years ; and that comparatively
very few can find it in the Bible, even now, after all the
light which has been thrown on it by new translations and
expositions. And it appears from the researches of the
most learned men, of those who are best qualified to judge
on this subject, that during more than seventeen hundred
years, the Christian world, however otherwise divided, had
on this point no difference of opinion. Even of the deno
mination whose leaders have, in our own times, embraced
with the greatest warmth the negative side of the contro
versy, the earlier writers never questioned the existence of
evil spirits in general, or of the Evil One, peculiarly so
called. Socinus and Crellius, and the other commentators
of the Racovian school, received and maintained the doc
trine of the devil and his angels, not only without qualifi-

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 15
cation, but apparently without suspecting that any qualifi
cation of it was possible. " Paulus, cum de Christianorum
hominum pugna loquitur,non obscure earn em et sanguinem
opponit spiritibus malis, quibuseum nobis est luctandum."*
I repeat what I have asserted : it is surely very strange,
and far from being calculated to exalt our ideas of the
volume of inspiration, or to increase our confidence in it,
that the doctrine of the non-existence of evil spirits, if it be
true, since it is evidently very important in itself, and in
timately connected with the most momentous truths of the
Christian religion, as well as with the duty, and experience,
and vital interests of the disciples of Jesus Christ, should
remain utterly unknown for seventeen hundred years ; and
that the multitudes who were most earnestly desirous to
ascertain the real meaning of the word of God, and to take
it as the rule of their conduct, should have been led by its
language, and by the way in which the Saviour performed
his miracles, to embrace a tenet which at last is found to
be absurd, and even a gross reflection on the government
and character of God ; for in this light it is represented by
our opponents. Surely we might have expected that, if
the opinion in question is false, it would have been clearly
and pointedly exposed by the Great Teacher, who regarded
not the person of men, but taught the way of God clearly,
who came into the world that he might bear witness to the
truth, and who reprobated, with pecuhar plainness and
faithfulness, the erroneous and superstitious opinions of
the Jews. We should have thought that he would have
exposed it as clearly as he did any of their corruptions of
the law of Moses, or of the commandments of God ; —
especially if, as our opponents assert, the Israelites bor
rowed their notions respecting demons, both good and bad,
from the heathen during the Babylonish captivity. How
inconceivably strange, how completely at variance with his
uniform conduct, that he should ever sanction such a belief
* Heber's Sermons, p. 70. Crellius, Commentarius, tom. i. p. 90.

16 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
by the way in which he cured diseases ! especially if, as we
are assured was the case, " the most learned and skilful
medical practitioners of those times disbelieved, contro
verted, and disproved those absurd and superstitious ideas;"
and that " modern men of science and experience agree
with those eminent characters of antiquity, that each and
all of those maladies arise from such disorganized state of
the system."* What ! we cannot help asking with indig
nation, did our Lord and his apostles sanction by their
language and conduct, as our opponents in fact assert was
the case, "those absurd and superstitious ideas," from
which many medical practitioners of the same age en
deavoured to free their contemporaries ? No wonder that
Socinians " think meanly of Christ," when they deem him
capable of acting such a part as this, and of being outdone
in zeal for the truth by medical practitioners ! Surely the
exploding of " absurd and superstitious ideas " is more the
province of the physician of souls, than of those whose oc
cupation it is only to heal the body ! And therefore the
former was a very important part of the Saviour's work.
If there were no evil spirits in existence, it appears to me
impossible that Jesus Christ could have acted as we know
he did when curing diseases, and endeavouring, at the
same time, to banish the darkness of superstition and
idolatry from the world. How could there possibly ever
be a more favourable opportunity to inform and convince
men, that what they thought possessions of evil spirits
were only epilepsies, or cases of insanity, than when he
who made the assertion could have demonstrated its truth
by effecting an instantaneous, miraculous cure ? Is it
possible that, instead of doing so, he should have acted as
if they were cases of real possession, addressed the sup
posed demons, pretended to hold conversations with them,
commanded them to come out, and permitted them to
* Russell Scott's Analytical Investigation, or Scriptural Claims of the
Devil, p. 809.

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 17
enter into the bodies of animals ? How could he have
adopted a more effectual way of deceiving both the subjects
and the witnesses of his miracles, and sanctioning all their
erroneous ideas ?
Having made these general observations, we shall pro
ceed to consider more particularly those passages of Scrip
ture which relate to the subject of this lecture ; for, as it is
a doctrine of revelation, the final appeal must be made to
the law and the testimony, and by their decision we must
abide. I shall first examine those texts which give us the
most direct and copious information ; as it is in this way
that we shall be best enabled to understand those which
are more indirect, or concise and obscure.
The first passage, which, according to this plan, claims our
attention, is 2 Peter ii. 4, " For if God spared not the angels
that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered
them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judg
ment," in connexion with the parallel one in Jude, verse 6,
" And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left
their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains
under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day."
Those who deny the existence of evil spirits maintain that
the belief in them is founded chiefly on these two texts.
The first of these passages is thus translated by one of the
most strenuous deniers of the doctrine in question : " For
if God spared not the messengers that sinned, but having
tartarized them with chains of darkness, delivered them, thus
reserved, unto judgment."* And then he endeavours to
prove that the whole statement refers to the spies, or the
messengers who were sent to search the land of Canaan,
and to bring back a report to Moses and the Israelites.
" They sinned," for when they returned, they laid before
the people an evil report. " They were tartarized with
chains of darkness," for notwithstanding all that God had
done before their eyes, they had not eyes to see, nor hearts
* Inquiry into the Scriptural Meaning of the Word Satan, page 4.
IX. C

18 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
to understand, but still erred and fell away in the day of
temptation ; and from their whole conduct we may infer,
that as they justly might be, so they really were judicially
blinded in the end; or, as the apostle expresses it,
" guarded or reserved under chains of darkness unto judg
ment, unto which they were at last delivered ; " for those
men, " even those men that did bring up the evil report
upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord." He
then labours to prove, that these messengers are the same
persons with the false prophets mentioned in the first
verse. " But there were false prophets among the people,
as among you there shall be false teachers." He then sup
poses, certainly without any evidence, as far as I can see,
(and indeed he does not adduce any,) " that as these mes
sengers or spies were heads and rulers in their respective
tribes, so they were of the number of the seventy who were
appointed to bear the burden of the people with Moses,
and who were once partakers of the same spirit with him,
and prophesied." He owns, however, that there is no
proof of this, and I must think it altogether improbable.
If the spirit of Moses rested on them, it would have in
duced them to act like Moses ; and so have prevented them
from bringing up the evil report. And as the seventy were
appointed to judge the people, and to hear their daily
causes and complaints, it is not at all probable that so
many of them would have been sent on so long and dan
gerous an enterprise which would have rendered it impos
sible that they could attend to the duties of their station ;
and Joshua, who is expressly called " the servant of Moses,
and one of his young men," Num. xi. 2$, could not be one
of the elders and an officer of the people, ver. 16 ; and yet
he was one of the spies. He then attempts to show, with
very little success, and by a strained application of the
words, that the whole of the description of these false
prophets may be applied to the spies ; that they might be
called prophets, that they brought in a heresy, that they

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 19
denied the Lord who bought them, (he does not say how —
wicked as they were, they did not deny that Jehovah was
the true God,) that " they with feigned words made mer
chandise of the people." He does not even intimate how
this was done ; nay, he confesses, in fact, that he cannot
tell " how far they hoped to make gain of the people." And
it is certain that they did not use " feigned words." Erro
neous as their views were, they spoke what they thought.
But on the whole of this view of the passage, I beg leave
to submit the following remarks : —
1. The application of it to the spies does not suit the
connexion, nor the natural train of the apostle Peter's
thought. These render it probable, to say the least, that
the punishment of the angels that sinned took place before
that of the old world, as we know that the latter preceded
the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah. The writer evi
dently appears to be observing the order of time, in the
exhibition of the three examples of the infliction of judg
ment. I know it will be objected here, that in the parallel
passage in Jude, verses 5 — 7, this order is not observed,
the punishment of the refractory Israelites being placed
first. But if we compare the two passages, we shall see
that Peter, and not Jude, arranges the instances of the
Divine justice in the order in which they occurred. The
latter employs, in referring to the Sodomites, a different
particle of transition (as) from that which he uses in the
other case («,) and Peter in all the three (ko.1). Besides, in
Jude, the destruction of those that believed not included
the punishment of the spies ; these were the first that were
destroyed, nay, the only persons who were destroyed, in the
ordinary sense of the word, for not believing that God
would drive out the Canaanites, and put the Israelites in
possession of Canaan ; since forty years was a sufficiently
long period to permit all the others who disbelieved God,
and despised the promised land, to die a natural death.
And the apostle, after referring to the destruction of the

20 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
unbelievers, evidently passes on to detail another instance
of the Divine vengeance, which was calculated to show,
that those ungodly men, whom he had mentioned in the
commencement of his epistle, could not possibly escape.
He is not enlarging on one particular case included in the
general one which he had just mentioned ; and, indeed,
there was nothing in the way in which the spies were cut
off, to warrant its being called, as it is in Jude, " the judg
ment of the great day," or to render it more worthy of
notice than many other instances of the Divine vengeance
recorded in the history of the Israelites ; for instance, the
earth's opening its mouth, and swallowing up Korah, Da-
than, and Abiram, while a fire came out from the Lord,
and consumed two hundred and fifty men, who were offer
ing incense and endeavouring to invade the priest's office.
This was a much more terrible catastrophe than the death,
even by the immediate hand of God, of the ten men who
had searched out the land. We might adduce other in
stances recorded in the history of the Israelites, in which
God visited their sin upon them, and swept away, in his
anger, from the land of the living, those who believed not
and rebelled against him ; such as the execution of three
thousand by the swords of the Levites for making the
golden calf ; * and the great plague with which the Lord
smote the people at Kibroth-hattaavah. With these the
destruction of the spies was not to be compared, as awful
demonstrations of the certain and terrible doom of incor
rigible sinners. These considerations appear to me to
render it altogether improbable, that by the messengers,
or angels, the apostle meant the spies ; nay, certain that he
did not.
2. A critical examination of the passage will lead to the
same conclusion. Every tyro in the language knows that
" messengers " is the literal, etymological translation of
the original term ayye\oi, and that, in many cases, it must
* Exodus xxxii. 28.

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 21
be so rendered. Still, I must maintain that this is not the
correct translation in the text under consideration, and in
many others which might easily be adduced, and may be
noticed afterwards. It is well known that words very fre
quently drop their original signification ; and in conse
quence of the changes of customs, and of modes of thought
and expression, this is almost forgotten, while they are
used in quite a different sense. Almost all appellatives
were at first significant, but who deems it necessary on this
afccount, to give their primary import in translating them
from one language into another ? For instance, who, in
rendering the Hebrew and Greek words for men, women,
heavens, earth, into English or any other tongue, would
think of giving their original meaning, instead of using
words which direct the mind of the reader at once to the
objects which they were intended to signify ? So is it
here. The Greek words ayyekos and ayyekoi were often
employed by the Jews as appellatives, to denote a certain
order of beings, which no native English word would point
out, without a circumlocution ; and therefore " messen
gers " is not, in these cases, a correct, full translation ; it
is not sufficiently specific ; it does not p-recisely designate
the order of beings to which it is applied. The word rpn
in Hebrew means literally a living thing ; but what should
we think of the translator who should render it so in the
places in which it signifies quadrupeds as opposed to birds
and insects,* or wild animals as opposed to cattle ?f For
instance, if our translators had rendered the twenty-fifth
verse, " And God made the living creature of the earth after
its kind, and cattle after their kind ; " would the rendering
have been correct ? would it have conveyed the same idea
to an English reader that the original does to a person
who understands Hebrew ? They have properly rendered
it " beasts ; " that is, wild animals. So is it here ; the
term " messengers," in the verse under consideration,
' Gen. i. 30. + Gen. i. 25, ii. 2\ S c.

22 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
would not convey the same idea to an English reader that
ayyfXot did to those to whom the apostle wrote. It was,
doubtless, applied by them to an order of spiritual beings,
the existence of which was generally acknowledged ; when
used respecting them, the primitive meaning of the word
was dropped, 'and it became an appellative. There are
some passages, in which I should think all must acknow
ledge the propriety, if not the necessity, of translating
ayyekoi by " angels," rather than " messengers." For in
stance, Acts xxiii. 8, " For the Sadducees say there is no
resurrection, neither angel (ayyekov) nor spirit." What idea
would this convey to an English reader, if ayyiKov were
translated "messenger?" The Sadducees did not, could
not, deny that there were messengers. The reference is
here most certainly to one of a certain order of beings, the
existence and character of which, and not their being em
ployed as "messengers," the term would suggest to all
who heard it. The same remarks may be applied to the
following passages : — Verse 9th, " If a spirit or an angel
has spoken to him." What definite idea of the belief of
the Pharisees would be conveyed by saying, " If a spirit or
a messenger has spoken to him?" "When the Son of
man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with
him."* " Give me more than twelve legions of angels. "f
Would " messengers " give a correct idea of the light in
which those beings to which it relates, were presented to
those who heard the Saviour ? " Nor death, nor life,
nor angels, (messengers,) nor principalities, nor powers."];
" Know ye not that we shall judge angels ? "§ How would
it lower and darken the sense to say, " Know ye not that
we shall judge messengers ?" " Though I speak with the
tongues of men and of angels, (messengers,\[) and have not
» Matt. xxv. 31. + Matt. xxvi. 53.
J Rom. viii. 38. § 1 Cor. vi. 3.
|| What is meant by the tongues of messengers, especially as opposed to
the tongues of men ?

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 23
charity."* Many other similar passages might be quoted.
I must maintain, therefore, that our common translation
of this word is preferable to the one proposed.
But much more faulty is his rendering of the word rap-
rapaaas, " having tartarized them." Why should not this
term be translated ? It is neither a proper name, nor an
appellative ; it conveys no idea to an English reader when
rendered " tartarized," especially as this is the only place
in which it occm-s in the Bible. There was no difficulty
in translating it. Our best lexicographers, quoting from
classical writers, tells us, that it means, "to cast and thrust
down into Tartarus ; "f that is, into hell, according to their
ideas, " the most profound depth or abyss of the nether
regions, or a place as much lower than the earth as the
earth is than the heavens ; a place where the gates are
iron, and the ground-pavement brass." The passage
"literally rendered reads, " He committed, or gave them,
bound in chains of darkness, and thrust down into the
deepest abyss, reserved unto judgment." It is scarcely a
breach of charity to say, that the only conceivable reason
why the author of the " Inquiry " did not translate this
word was, because he could not do so consistently with his
own theory, and without subserving that which he wished
to overthrow.
He maintains that the passive participle, rernpnp.cvovs,
which is in the perfect tense, can never be made to respect
the future ; and there is no necessity, according to the
translation that has just been given, that it should. The
perfect relates to the past as connected with the present.
These sinning angels had been reserved from the time in
which they sinned, till that in which the apostle wrote, and
still the time of their further punishment had not arrived.
The participle does not, according to the most natural
construction of the verse, refer to the judgment, but to the
unhappy creatures, as having been, for a long time before
* 1 Cor. xiii. 1. + Schleusner and Stephanus in verb.

24 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
the apostle wrote, delivered or given up to a doom which
had not then been inflicted.* His assertion, that there
was not in the apostle's time so much as a tradition con
cerning angels that sinned, is altogether gratuitous. The
contrary is evident from the Scriptures themselves, as we
may afterwards prove. Jesus Christ and his apostles evi
dently spoke of them as forming an article of the belief of
those with whom they conversed.
His exposition of the expression, " Cast them down into
hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, (he trans
lates it, " tartarized them with chains of darkness,") is
exceedingly lame, forced, and unnatural. It would puzzle
an CEdipus to tell what is meant by being " tartarized with
chains." He explains it, of a judicial blindness inflicted
on them by God, because they did not improve that light
which had long shone around them, and believe, after all
the miracles which had been wrought before their eyes ;
" so that, as they justly might be, they really were judi
cially blinded in the end ; or, as the apostle expresses it,
guarded or reserved under chains of darkness unto judg
ment, to which they were at length delivered," when they
" died by the plague before the Lord." Now, great as is
the importance which he attaches to a hteral translation,
and one which will give the etymological meaning of the
term in the word a'yycXoi, he gives no translation at all of
Taprapaa-as, one of the most important words in the whole
passage under consideration, though, as we have seen, its
meaning is very plain, or at least very easily ascertainable,
by a reference to classical authors. " Tartarize " is not
English ; and it can answer no purpose here, but to con
ceal the meaning of the Greek word, and darken the whole
passage. I must again assert that he could not translate
it correctly, and give it its only genuine meaning, without
subverting his own theory. Farther, this writer represents
the sin of the spies in bringing up an evil report of the
» Griesbach prefers the present participle, Ti>povpli>oi>c.

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 25
promised land, as the effect of their being judicially blinded
by God himself. This is their being " tartarized with
chains of darkness," a strange and unique way, certainly,
of saying that they were judicially blinded. Now if, by
their being "judicially blinded," he means that they were
given up to the blindness of their own minds, and to the
hardness of their hearts, it is plain that they were thus
blinded before they were spies, or messengers, or else they
would have believed. But if he means that God exerted
some direct influence on them to prevent them from under
standing and believing, then he makes God the author of
their sin, of that very crime for which he punished them.
Nay, he represents their unbelief and false report as no
sin at all ; for how can that be a sin which is produced by
an irresistible Divine influence on the mind ? If a master
should put out the eyes of his slave, because he had not
used them as he ought to have done in times past, could
that slave be criminal for not seeing when he was deprived
of his sight ? He might and would still be guilty for his
perverse disposition, but not for doing that of which he
had been rendered incapable, by a power which he could
not resist. Is it not highly dishonourable to the Divine
Being to represent him as first blinding the spies, and
then punishing them for being blind ? That must be a
desperate cause which needs such a mode of defence.
Again, there was nothing, as already observed, in the
day when the spies were punished, to distinguish it so
much from many other days which occurred in the history
of the Israelites, as to entitle it to the epithet given to it
by Jude, " the great day." On the contrary, some of those
days were much greater than it was. But there is a day
which was well known to the writers of the New Testa
ment, and designated by them " the day of the Lord," and
" that day," namely, the day of judgment, which there can
be no doubt Jude here has in view; borrowing his phrase
ology, perhaps, from the prophets, who frequently called

26 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
the time when God inflicted signal punishment publicly
and to any great extent, "the day of the Lord," or "the
great day of the Lord." The natural, I had almost said the
necessary meaning of Jude then is, that the angels that
sinned were reserved till the day of judgment at the end
of time. The Jews, and all the primitive Christians, well
knew that there was such a day fixed by God ; the former
were taught by their Scriptures, that " God would bring
every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether
it were good, or whether it were evil; "* a passage which
they naturally referred to a future judgment, and which the
apostle seems to have had in view when he wrote the
passage, "In the day when God shall judge the secrets of
men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel ; " — and that
"many of those who slept in the dust of the earth should
arise, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and
everlasting contempt, "\ And wherever the apostles went,
they explicitly informed, and solemnly assured men, that
God had " appointed a day in which he would judge the
world in righteousness, by that man whom he had or
dained," and that this was just as certain as that Jesus
Christ had been raised from the dead. How naturally,
then, would they refer the expression of Jude to the day of
final inquiry and retribution ! This deserves, unspeakably
better than that on which the spies were destroyed, the
epithet of " the great day."
It is urged by our opponents, that " angels that sinned "
would be an instance less adapted to the apostle's argu.
ment than that of "messengers that sinned." Surely the
truth of the reverse of this assertion must be apparent to
all. No matter how different maybe the natures of angels
and men, the former are superior to the latter ; and there
fore the plain and impressive inference is, that if God did
not spare those exalted beings, but cast them down to hell,
the proud and impure false teachers, whom Jude had in
* Eccles. xii. 14. t. Dan. xii. 2.

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 27
view, could by no means escape. If a sovereign does not
spare his princes and courtiers when they transgress the
laws, surely the common people cannot sin with the hope
of impunity.
We may add to all that has been advanced, that if the
apostles had had the spies in view in the passages under
consideration, they would have designated them in a more
definite way ; they would have mentioned them more
explicitly, as they have " the old world " and the " cities of
Sodom and Gomorrah," and "the people that were brought
out of the land of Egypt;" they would have referred to
them as " the spies who brought up an evil report," and
not have used terms which have led ninety-nine out of a
hundred of those who have read their writings, to imagine
that they referred to angelic beings ; while it was left to the
ingenuity of those who should live hundreds of years
afterward, to stretch their language on the rack of criticism,
and elicit from it quite a different meaning from its appa
rently natural import. It deserves to be noticed, in con
clusion, that the word, ayyeXoi, which our opponents would
translate " messengers," is never applied to the spies by
the Septuagint, in the account which is given of them in
the book of Numbers ;* nor is there the least proof that
they were ever known by way of eminence or distinction
as " the messengers," and so that the mind of a hearer or
reader would naturally refer to them when the words were
used. From all these premises we must draw the con
clusion, that by " the angels that sinned and kept not their
first estate," the apostles meant those beings who are
generally denominated fallen angels, or evil spirits, of
whom the devil, whom Jude mentions in a following verse,
is the chief; and nothing could be better calculated to
produce in the minds of those whom they addressed a
firm and operative belief, that those false teachers and
* Chapters xiii. and xiv.

28 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
seducers whom the apostles had in view could not possibly
escape condign punishment.
The next passage which, according to the plan which has
been proposed, claims our attention, is John viii. 44 : " Ye
are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father
ye will do ; he was a murderer from the beginning, and
abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh it of his own, because
he is a liar, and the father of it." How exactly does this
whole verse apply to Satan, according to the commonly-
received opinion respecting him ! He was a murderer
from the beginning of time, and of the existence of the
race of men. He tempted our first parents to commit
that sin which involved them and all their descendants in
death; for "in Adam all die." He ruined at once both
their bodies and their souls. He "abode not in the
truth," when he rebelled against his Maker, and thus
disregarded the most glorious truths, and resisted their
influence. He " abode not in the truth " likewise, did not
adhere to it, when he tempted Eve, but deceived her by
uttering the grossest and the most slanderous falsehoods ;
and he did this because " there was no truth in him," no
love of truth, no regard to it, no inclination to speak it.
The lies which he then spoke were " his own," of his own
invention and fabrication, and the result of his own dispo
sition. He brought them out of his own stores of deceit
and malice. He is, by way of eminence, " a liar, and the
father," the cause, the originator of lying in general;
and to his influence may be traced, in one respect
or another, all the lies that ever were uttered, all the
liars and deceivers that ever appeared in our world.
To all of these the language of the Saviour to the Jews
may be applied : " Ye are of your father the devil." Such
is the obvious, natural import of this verse, expounded
according to the plain meaning of its terms, and in its
connexion with other passages of the Bible. Let us now

"THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 29
see what the ingenuity and criticisms of our opponents can
make of it. There can be no question respecting the
etymological meaning of the word Sid/3oXoy, that it signifies
an accuser, and often a false accuser, a slanderer, an
adversary. But though it is used almost forty times in
the New Testament, there are not above four or five in
which it does not refer either directly or indirectly to a
being, who was, evidently, known to those to whom the
apostles and evangelists wrote, as the great adversary of
God and man, the false accuser, the calumniator, by way
of eminence ; and not unfrequently there is no reference
to the ordinary or etymological meaning of the word ; but
it is used as a proper name, to indicate an individual
wicked spirit. He is represented as tempting Jesus
Christ; as sowing tares among the wheat; as doomed by
the Judge of all at the last day, together with his angels,
to everlasting fire ;* as taking away the word out of the
heart of a certain class of hearers ;f as putting it into the
heart of Judas to betray the Saviour ;{ as oppressing men,
or bringing them under his power.§ Elymas, the sorcerer,
is addressed as a "child of the devil."|| The Ephesians are
exhorted not to give place to the devil ;1T and to take the
whole armour of God, that they might " stand against the
wiles ofthe devil."** Jesus Christ became incarnate, "that
through death he might destroy him that had the power of
death, that is the devil. "ft James exhorts all to " resist
the devil, and he will flee from them."jj Peter assures
us that " our adversary the devil goeth about as a roaring-
lion, seeking whom he may devour. "§§ John assures us
that "he who sinneth is of the devil, because the devil
sinneth from the beginning," and that for this purpose the
Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the
f Matt. iv. 1, xiii. 39, xxv. 41. + Luke viii. 12.
J John xiii. 2. § Acts x. 28. || Acts xii. 1 0.
^T Eph. iv. 27. ** Eph. vi. 11. + t Heh. ii. 11.
H James iv. 7. §§1 Pet. v. 8.

30 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. '
works of the devil ; '"* and that the children of God and
the children of the devil manifest themselves by their
tempers and conduct. The devil is said to have cast some
of the church of Pergamus into Prison.! He is deno
minated " the old serpent, called the devil and Satan,
which deceiveth the whole world."]: And in the last
passage in which he is mentioned, we are informed that
he is cast into the lake of fire.§ Now, however the word
8ta/3oXos is translated in these passages, whether accuser,
or slanderer, or adversary, it is equivalent in most of them
to a proper name ; it evidently refers to one and the same
being, who is also called Satan, and the serpent, and the
wicked one, and the tempter ; while it is plainly implied
that those whom the inspired writers addressed, would
know by the very term that was used, whom they had
in view.
But according to those who do not believe in the exist
ence of Satan, " by diabolos in the passage under consider
ation, is meant the Jewish sanhedrim, or rulers. They
were murderers from the beginning, because they hated
and opposed Jesus Christ from the commencement of his
ministry ; and as he who hateth his brother is a murderer,
so they were murderers, because they hated the Saviour.
They abode not in the truth, because they denied the Di
vine mission of the Messiah, and bore false witness against
him. When they spoke lies or falsehoods, they spoke
them of their own, because they were indulging their false
and wicked disposition ; and the sanhedrim was the father,
the fabricator of all the malicious falsehoods circulated con
cerning Jesus ; the father, the source of all the opposition
made to the truth. ' The beginning' here means the be
ginning of the Saviour's ministry, and the Pharisees were
the children of the rulers, or of the sanhedrim, because
they had imbibed their spirit and were performing their
* 1 John iii. 8. + piev. ii. 10.
t Rev. xii. 9, xx. 2. § Rev. xx. 10.

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 31
work. They were the dutiful children of these false
accusers." Now, surely, this exposition is far from being
the most easy and natural one. The language of the
Saviour was not, nay, could not be, understood in this
sense by those who heard him ; nor would this meaning
ever have been elicited from his language, had there not
been some special end to be answered, some system to
which their natural and common import was opposed, to
be maintained. There is not a single hint given in the
whole New Testament, that the Jewish sanhedrim or rulers
were ever personified in the way which is here supposed.
Would not all impartial readers conclude, that by 6 Sm/3oXor
here, the Saviour had in view the same 8idflo\os that
tempted him in the wilderness ; sowed the tares amongst
the wheat ; had the everlasting fire prepared for him ;
put it into the heart of Judas to betray his master ; " had
the power of- death ; " (in what sense had the Jewish san
hedrim this power ?) and whose works the Son of God was
made manifest to destroy ? In these and several other
passages, the term, I do not scruple to say, cannot be
applied to the Jewish sanhedrim or rulers, but to some
well-known enemy, not only of Jesus Christ, but also of
his people and cause in all ages of the world. This is
surely the natural, the only correct, construction of the
passage. Farther, " the devil" in this passage is opposed, not to
personified bodies of men, but to individual beings, to
Abraham and to God. The Jews claimed to be in one
sense the children of the former, and in another the
children of the latter. As the terms, "God" and "Abra
ham," then, are allowed on all hands to designate indivi
duals, is it not reasonable to suppose that the word " devil'
must do so likewise ?
Again, it is highly probable that there were some, if not
several, of the Jewish sanhedrim and rulers present when
the Saviour uttered the words under consideration. We

32 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
are informed that " the scribes and Pharisees brought unto
him a woman taken in adultery." Of scribes, the ex
pounders of the law, the theological doctors of the Jews,
and of Pharisees, the most powerful sect, and the most
famed for their supposed sanctity, the sanhedrim would
doubtless be composed. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a
ruler of the Jews, and also a member of the sanhedrim.*
Indeed, it would appear from the preceding chapter, verse
45, that the sanhedrim was composed of chief priests and
Pharisees. To understand the terms, "father" and "devil,"
then, of the sanhedrim and rulers, would represent our
Lord as making some of those whom he addressed their
own father. Besides, the sanhedrim was not worse than
the Pharisees and the Jews in general were. The former
was necessarily composed of the latter. Several of those
whom our Saviour was addressing, when he uttered the
words in question, were as fit to teach the sanhedrim the
arts of lying, slander, and murder, as it was to teach them ;
and therefore it would have been just as proper to have
represented them as being murderers from the beginning,
and as abiding not in the truth, and as being the father of
lying, as it was to bring these charges against their national
council. It may also be observed, that though the sanhedrim and
rulers did oppose the Saviour from an early period of his
ministry, they were not the first that opposed, rejected,
and even attempted to murder him. We read, that at the
very commencement of his public course, before he had
arrested the attention of the sanhedrim, before they had
opposed him at all, or had formed the idea of taking away
his life, he came to his own city, to Nazareth, where
he had been brought up ; and on account of the offence
which he gave them by his preaching, they were filled with
wrath, and with one accord seized him, and led him to the
| » But according to the opinion which I am opposing, be was included
amongst those who are called the devil !

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 33
brow of the hill on which their city stood, with an inten
tion to cast him down headlong, and thus to destroy him.*
So that the sanhedrim and rulers were not the first who
rejected our Lord, and thus slandered his character, or
who attempted to take away his life. They were not,
therefore, even in the sense in which the expression is in
terpreted by our opponents, " murderers from the beginning"
of the Saviour's ministry. The men of Nazareth were
murderers in this respect before them. We know that the
term "beginning,'' signifies the commencement of any
course, or any train of events, to which it may be applied ;
and that, therefore, in some places it does mean the com
mencement of our Saviour's ministry ; as when it is said,
" Jesus knew from the beginning who believed not and
who should betray him."i But there is one event to which
the Scriptures direct our attention, which is called, by way
of eminence,, " the beginning." In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth. "J " I was set up from
the beginning or ever the earth was."§ " Declaring the
end from the beginning." || "But from the beginning It
was not so. "IT God hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation."** " Thou, Lord, in the beginning, hast laid
the foundations of the earth, "ff Now, when the word is
used absolutely, without anything in the connexion to
limit it to any particular subject, it is natural for any one
who is acquainted with the phraseology of Scripture, and
with its great epochs, to refer the term in question to the
beginning of time, or, at the least, of that course of it to
which any particular passage directs our attention. There
can be no reasonable doubt that such is its reference here.
The natural meaning is, the devil sinneth from the be
ginning of the period in which sin has been committed.
He is the ringleader in the rebellion that has been raised
* Luke iv. 2S. f John vi. G4. £ Gen. i. 1.
§ Prov. viii. 23. || Isa. xlvi. 10. <fl" Matt. xix. 8.
** 2 Thess. ii. 13. ++ Heb. i. 10.
[X. I)

34 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
against the principles of truth and holiness, and the autho
rity and laws of the Most High ; and thus he has been
accessory, either directly or indirectly, to the murder of all
who have perished. " When he speaketh a lie he speaketh
of his own ; " he is its " father." Other liars were tempted ;
but it would appear, as far as we are acquainted with the
history of the universe, that he was the first tempter, and
that he sinned without temptation ; the first sin, the first
falsehood, was altogether his own, none participated with
him in its guilt and depravity. How correct is the lan
guage, how obvious its meaning, how natural and forcible
its application, when thus understood! And this inter
pretation is abundantly confirmed by other references and
statements of the Scriptures, particularly by the language
of the apostle John, whose words we are considering. " He
that committeth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth
from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was
manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."*
The apostle is here treating of sin. or unrighteousness
in general, which the Son of God was manifested to de
stroy, and not of slander, or murder ; he has in view the
general nature, and the very origin or commencement of
sin, when he says, that " the devil sinned from the be
ginning." There can be no doubt that by "the devil"
here, he has in view the same depraved being, whom he
afterwards calls " the wicked one," of whom Cain was, and
whose spirit he manifested when he slew his brother.
How could Cain be of the Jewish sanhedrim, which did
not exist for thousands of years after him ? Bather, they
were of him. Apply the words to Satan, to the serpent that
tempted our first parents, and, doubtless, tempted Cain
also, as far as he had opportunity, and then everything is
clear and natural. Besides, the Son of God was mani
fested not merely that he might destroy the works of
adversaries, of slanderers, of false accusers, much less of
* 1 John iii. 8.

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.

the Jewish sanhedrim or rulers only ; but that he might
destroy sin in all its kinds, which are all the works of him
who was the first sinner and tempter. Many other pas
sages might easily be quoted in support of the interpreta
tion, that by " the beginning " here, is meant the com
mencement of the history of this worid, or rather the first
introduction of sin into the universe. On the whole, then,
as it regards the passage under consideration, I hope it
will not be deemed inconsistent with modesty, or with a
due sense of our liability to err, and of our danger of being
prejudiced in favour of our opinions and reasonings, to
assert that the term "devil" most certainly refers to the
chief of evil spirits, the fallen angels, to which Peter and
Jude have directed our attention in the passages which we
have already considered ; to counteract whose plans, and to
destroy whose works, the Son of God was manifested in
the flesh.
The next passage to which I shall request attention is
Matthew xxv. 41 — 46, " Then shall the King say to those
on his left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlast
ing fire prepared for the devil and his angels. These shall
go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous
into life eternal." The obvious, natural meaning of this
language, as far as relates to the subject under considera
tion, is, that the punishment to which wicked men are at
last to be doomed, was originally prepared for a number
of depraved, incorrigibly rebellious beings, over whom one
rules as chief, so that they all may be considered as his
agents or angels. And it is plainly implied that, like men,
they have apostatized from God» that they are still account
able to him, and that there is a day fixed, when the Son
of man, the Saviour of the world, shall appear as the judge
of the universe, and call them, and all the incorrigibly
wicked amongst the human race before his tribunal, and
punish them for their crimes. And it is not too much to
assert, that if ten thousand competent persons, who had

36 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
no prepossessions on the subject, no system to maintain,
were to read the passage either in the original, or in any
faithful translation, this is the conclusion to which they
would all come. But what is the explanation given of it,
by those who do not believe in the existence of Satan ?
No one, I am confident, could divine by merely studying
the passage, or the similar statements of the word of God,
what, according to them, is here meant by the devil and
his angels, and by the everlasting fire to which they are
condemned. By the aid of highly figurative language, and
strong eastern metaphors, and determined verbal criticism,
and strained resemblances, the passage is stripped of all
its apparent terrors as it regards sinners in general. The
devil arid his angels are converted into the persecuting
Roman civil power and its abettors, or the Boman emperor
and its agents. " The angels or messengers of Diabolos,
were those persons who were active in accusing, betraying,
and persecuting the Christians." " The sheep represent
the mildness and innocency of those who befriended the
followers of Christ, and who practised towards them the
duties of hospitality, kindness, and huniauhy. The goats
are emblematical of those Jews who were violent and in
furiated in their treatment of those who, amongst their
own nation, embraced Christianity." " The everlasting
fire is the temporal national calamities, in which the oppo
nents of the cause of Christ, especially the persecutors of
his disciples, were to be involved." "But it being the
punishment of human beings, and for a part of their con
duct only, both the reward and the punishment must be of
a temporary nature only, g The sheep would be protected
and preserved amidst the dreadful havoc, devastation, and
unparalleled barbarities of those times ; whilst the other
two parties, Diabolns and his angels, would miserably suf
fer during those humble conflicts."* Such is the inter
pretation of this solemn and impressive passage, which
» Scott's Lectures on the Scriptural Claims of the Devil, pp. 127, 128.

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 37
those who deny the existence of Satan axe forced to devise.
I use the word forced, for surely nothing but dire necessity,
the mother of strange and desperate inventions, could in
duce any one to think of such an exposition. I have given
it at some length in the words of its author, because I think
that there is scarcely anything better calculated to convince
an unbeliever, or to confirm a doubter, that the existence
of evil spirits is indeed a doctrine of the Bible, than to see
those who deny it driven to such methods of defending
their dogmas, by being obliged to interpret the Scriptures
in a way, which would not be tolerated with regard to any
other book in the world, that professed to teach articles of
faith, and to prescribe rules of duty. For my own part, I
do not scruple to assert, that if I could think that the Soci-
nian exposition of this passage is even plausible, I should
immediately lose all confidence in the Bible, and question
whether any man could have satisfactory evidence that he
understood a single sentence it contains.
The passage under consideration is connected with all
that precedes it, as far as the commencement of the twenty-
fourth chapter ; and especially with the question which the
disciples, after they had shown Jesus the stones and build
ings of the temple, proposed to him, and he had assured
them that the time would come in which all those build
ings, massy, firm, beautiful, and even sacred as they were,
would be completely demolished, so that there should not
be one stone left upon another, which should not be thrown
down : — " Tell us, when shall these things be : and what
shall be the sign of thy coming, and ofthe end of the world?"
After all the criticism which has been expended on the
words o-uireXeia and allov, I must agree with those who think
that they mean here, as they were used by the disciples,
" the end of the world," in the ordinary sense of the terms ;
and, consequently, that our translation is correct. The
disciples were most certainly far from thinking that the
temple would be destroyed at the close of the age or dis-

38 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
pensation under which they lived, or that their Master
would overthrow it when he established the worldly king
dom on which their hearts were set, and of which they
were constantly dreaming. They had no idea that the
Mosaic economy, with which the temple was intimately
connected, would be abolished by Jesus Christ. Even
after his resurrection they asked him, "Lord, wilt thou
at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" Nay, after
the descent of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, it
required a vision, a revelation from heaven, to convince
Peter that the ceremonial law might be dispensed with in
the ease of Gentile converts ; and that he might go into
the house of those who were uncircumcised, preach to
them the Gospel, and partake of their food. Now, the
existence of the temple, and the obligation of the cere
monial law, were intimately connected ; many of the rites
and services of the latter could be observed only in the
former. It is to be observed farther, that the disciples
were familiar with the use of the words cruvrcXeia and alwv,
and even with the formula avvreXeia tov alavos, as applied
by their Master to the end of the world, and to his second
coming.* And however their minds might be absorbed
in the ideas and hopes of worldly power and greatness,
their views and expectations were not, could not be, con
fined to these ; they could not be the principal blessings
which they sought and expected from their Master. Peter,
speaking in the name of the rest, assigned the confidence
that he could bestow on them eternal life, as the great
reason of their adherence to him : " Lord, to whom shall
we_go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life."-)- The least
spark of piety would prevent them from resting satisfied
with anything that ever Jesus Christ could bestow on them
in this mortal state, and lead them to look for future hap
piness. They knew that they must die. They believed
that the earth itself would perish, and that the course of
* Matt. xii. 39, 40, 49. + John ^ 68

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 39
time would come to a close ; of both these they were as
sured by the declarations of their own prophets, especially
by the writer of the hundred and second Psalm, ver. 25 ;
" Of old hast thou laid the foundations of the earth, and
the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish,
but thou shalt endure ; yea, all of them shall wax old as a
garment, and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and
they shall be changed ; but thou art the same, and thy
years shall have no end ; " and by the following impressive
language of the sublime Isaiah;* " Lift up your eyes to
the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath ; for the
heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall
wax old as a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die
in like manner; but my salvation shall be for ever." How
could those who read or heard, and believed such declara
tions, and expected this salvation, confine their hopes and
wishes to anything earthly ? A future state of rewards and
punishments, the resurrection of the dead both of the just
and unjust.f the end of time, when God would call all the
inhabitants of the world to account for their conduct, were
common articles of faith amongst the Jews, with the ex
ception of the infidel Sadducees ; and the Saviour had
assured his disciples that he would both raise the dead
and judge the human race.] Taking all these things into
account, together with the fact that the disciples had no
idea that the ceremonial law would ever be abolished as
long as the world stood, or that any could be saved with
out embracing it, I must think that by the words rijy
o-wreKeias tov almvos, the disciples meant the end of time or
of the world, in the ordinary sense of the phrase : and that
they thought the temple would stand till that important
period had arrived; and that our Saviour in his answer
kept both their questions in view, and gave them much
useful information on both, while he did not satisfy their
curiosity, or at that time correct their mistakes respecting
* Chap. ii. 6. + Acts xxiii 6 ; xxiv. 15. J John v. 22, 28, 29.

40 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
the perpetuity of the ceremonial dispensation and the tem
ple; the time was not eome when they could bear what he
had to say to them on these subjects ; and that he em
ployed language which might apply both to his coming in
the dispensations of providence, (after he had ascended
to his kingdom and glory, and obtained possession of all
power in heaven and earth,) to destroy Jerusalem and the
temple, and to his coming to judge the world at the last
day ; and that the great end which he had in view was to
rouse his disciples to that watchfulness and diligence in
the performance of duty, which would prepare them for
his advent, either in the ways which have just been men
tioned, or by death in the case of each individual-. It is
only when the Saviour's answer is viewed in this light,
that we can see the propriety of all the language which he
uses, and of the warnings and exhortations which he gives,
in relation to the disciples who asked the questions, as
well as to his people in general. How few of even the
former were to live to see his coming to destroy Jeru
salem ! If this view of the subject is correct, the proba
bility is, that the expression, " But of that day and hour
knoweth no man, no, not the angels in heaven, but my
Father only," as well as what follows, was intended to
apply more particularly to the day of judgment, and the
end of time. And there can be no rational doubt, in my
opinion, that the exhortations, and appeals, and warnings
which follow from the forty-fifth verse to the end of the
chapter, were intended to show to all, the vast importance
and necessity of being habitually prepared for that which
would be the end of time and of the world to them — death ;
and thus they would be prepared for judgment — for the
last, the general, and the most glorious coming of the Son
of man. In replying to these questions, the Saviour kept
in view, not only the benefit of those who proposed them,
but of his disciples in all ages of the world. He intended
that what he uttered should be recorded in the volume of

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 41
inspiration ; and what he said to those who heard him, he
said to all.
In the twenty-fifth chapter, our Lord evidently pursues
the same train of thought, and keeps in view the same end.
The parables of the ten virgins and of the talents, are both
intended to point out the only way in which any can be
prepared for his coming either at death or judgment ; and
the consequences of faithfulness and diligence on the one
hand, and of negligence and sloth on the other. After
which he very naturally proceeds to give a most striking
and instructive view of his last coming, with its signs, and
glories, and wonders, and infinitely momentous results,
and consequently of the end of the world. And this he
does, of necessity, partly in figurative language ; for how
could even He describe the scenes and events of that great
day, in such a way as to be intelligible to men, without
avaihng himself of one of the principal instruments of
human thought, and mediums of human intercourse ? But
the figures are all explained, or at least the key to their
explanation is given, by the literal terms which are em
ployed. How natural, nay, how necessary is it, on the
universally allowed principle of interpreting Scripture by
Scripture, to refer the coming of the Son of man in his
glory, and the gathering of all nations before him, to that
day to which the writers of the New Testament attach so
much importance, and which they represent as in a special
manner " the day of the Lord ; " evidently meaning by the
term "Lord," Jesus Christ; that day which " shall come
as a thief in the night, when the heavens shall pass away
with a great noise, and the earth and the works that are
therein shall be burned up," and the new heavens and the
new earth are to be introduced.* When "the Lord him
self shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God."f
When _" the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven
* 2 Peter ii. 18. t 1 Thess. iv. 10.

42 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance
on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ."* When " the trumpet shall
sound," and the dead be raised incorruptible, and the
living changed, and natural death be swallowed up in vic
tory, f When " all that are in their graves are to hear his
voice, and come forth ; they that have done good to the
resurrection of life, and they that have done evil to the
resurrection of damnation."] I may well ask, is it possible
that our Lord could, in the passage under consideration,
have any other day in view than that to which those texts
evidently refer? Can the language which he uses, and
the events which he describes, possibly apply to any other ?
Let common sense, sound criticism, and true piety deter
mine. It is plainly implied, then, that the devil and his angels
are rational beings, that they were the subjects of Jehovah's
government, and owed obedience to him ; else he could
have had no right to inflict any evil on them ; that they
had rebelled against him, or else he would not have visited
them with the expressions of his displeasure ; and that the
punishment here denominated " everlasting fire" was ori
ginally provided for them ; and that wicked men, having
imbibed their spirit, and joined with them in their rebel
lion, are to be involved in the same condemnation. In
accordance with those views, the demons who had pos
sessed the two men whose habitation was amongst the
tombs, are represented as exclaiming, " What have we to
do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God ? art thou come to
torment us before the time ? " From this it appears that
these wicked spirits knew that there was a time fixed when
they would be consigned to greater sufferings than they
were then enduring.§ We are told that "the devils [or
demons] believe and tremble. "|| Hence they know that
* 2 Thess. i. 7. +1 Cor. xv. 01—54. + John v* 28.
§ Matt. viii. 29. || James ii. 19.

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 43
they are doomed to some greater punishment than they at
present undergo. And to whom can the term " demons"
here refer but to fallen angels ? It is unspeakably dis
honourable to the inspired apostle to suppose that he
would sanction, by such a statement as this, the super
stitious ideas of the heathen respecting their demons.
And we read, that " the devil that deceived them was cast
into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and
the false prophet are ; "* and this took place at the end of
time, " when the dead, small and great, stood before God,
and the books were opened, and the dead were judged out
of those things which were written in the books." Will
any say that "beast" and "false prophet" here are figura
tive terms, and therefore "devil" must be so too ? This
will not help their cause ; for the term "devil" would still
mean evil spirits collectively, as the beast and the false
prophet mean collections of men, who had by their crimes
exposed themselves to the wrath of God. Had the passage
been as consolatory as it is awful, as flattering to human
pride as it is humbling, no other interpretation would ever
have been known in the world. The facts that the devil
and his angels are spirits, and that the word "fire" cannot
be taken literally, do not at all invalidate the reasoning
which has been adopted, or militate against the conclusion
at which we have arrived. Though I may just observe,
that it is taken for granted far too easily and unhesitatingly,
that matter, and therefore that material fire, cannot affect
spirits. We know by experience that it can affect our
spirits most powerfully. It is true that this is in conse
quence of their being united to our bodies ; but who has
told us, or what proof have we, that this is the only way in
which God can cause matter to operate on spirit? I must
conclude, then, that this passage is sufficient, were it the
only one of the kind in the Bible, to prove the existence of
wicked spirits, or at least of other rational creatures, beside
* Kev. xx. 10, 12.

44 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
men, that have sinned, and are condemned to eternal
banishment from God and happiness.
There are many other passages in which the terms
" diabolos," or " devil," and " Satan," (which is synony
mous, as we may afterwards prove,) can apply to none but
to those evil spirits which are the great adversaries of God
and man, and especially to their chief and ringleader. For
instance, " These are those by the way-side, where the
word is sown ; but when they have heard, Satan cometh
immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in
their hearts."* This Satan, this enemy, is here represented
as constantly endeavouring to counteract the holy and be
nevolent purposes of Jesus Christ, and as taking away the
word out ofthe hearts of some hearers, wherever the Gospel
is preached. Of what human adversaries, or slanderers,
or accusers, can this be asserted ? Bad as the world is,
there are hundreds and thousands who constantly hear
the Gospel, without any of their fellow-men making a
single effort, and especially under the influence of a fear
"lest they should believe and be saved," to cause them to
forget its truth, To act in this way, under the influence
of such a motive, is truly diabolical ; and that this parable
is intended to apply generally to all who in any age or part
of the world hear the Gospel, is evident from the whole of
its construction, and from the caution given in connexion
with it : " Take heed how ye hear." Surely if Jesus Christ
had had human adversaries in view, he would have told us
so in plain terms, when he explained the figurative lan
guage which he had used, as he did with regard to the
other parts of the parable. " Those on the rock, are they
which have no root in themselves." " Those amongst the
thorns, are those who are choked by the cares of the
world, and the deceitfulness of riches." Doubtless he
would have said, • Those by the way-side are those who are
prevented by carnal and wicked men from remembering
* Markiv. 15.

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 45
what they have heard ;' surely he would not have employed
a metaphor which has misled thousands of his disciples,
and excited unnecessary fear in their breasts, while it has
diverted their attention from their real danger. The'same
observation will apply to the parable of the tares. " The
enemy that sowed them is the devil ;" and these tares, we
are informed, are "the children of the wiclced one;"* oi him
who is the wicked one by way of eminence ; and these are
found wherever the children of the kingdom, the genuine
disciples of Jesus Christ, who are enlightened and sanc
tified by his truth and grace, exist. Could it be said that
any human slanderers, or accusers, or adversaries, sowed
all those tares, produced all these children of the wicked
one ? Who or what then produced those accusers or ad
versaries ? for they too must be numbered amongst the
tares. But as Satan first induced men to sin, (sowed his
tares even in paradise, when God had planted men " wholly
a right seed, altogether a choice vine,") and has ever since
been engaged in disseminating error and crime throughout
the world, with the strictest propriety may it be said that
he has always been sowing tares amongst the wheat, and
that wicked men are his children.
I am not ignorant of the different interpretation which
has been given of this parable. According to those who
deny the existence of Satan, the field is not the world, but
the Jewish nation ; the end of the world " is the termina
tion of the Jewish economy and the destruction of Jerusa
lem ; and the reapers and the angels are," of course, " the
Roman emperor and his soldiers :" though this is not ex
pressly said, and we may hope it was some degree of scruple
or modesty that prevented this bold assertion, yet it is
necessarily implied ; and consequently " the separation of
the wheat from the tares, and the preservation of the
former, mean the protection and escape of the disciples of
Christ when the Jewish nation was destroyed." But I
* Matt. xiii. 39.

46 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
should think it would be something more than difficult to
show how the reapers, according to this representation,
viz. the Roman soldiers, gathered the wheat into the garner,
or how they contributed anything to the safety of the
Christians. And how could it be said that the field was
the world, of which Judea was a very small, or insignificant
part ? The expression ought to have been, " The field is
the land of Palestine." But is this the only place where
the Son of man sows the seed of his word, and where the
tares are found ? And yet the design of the Saviour, evi
dently, was to show how the progress of his Gospel was to
be opposed, and its success impeded, wherever it was
preached, and not in one locality only.
Again, Peter informed Cornelius and his friends that
Jesus Christ " went about doing good, and healing all that
were oppressed by the devil."* Peter here refers to the
way in which Jesus Christ dispossessed devils, and healed
the diseases which were caused by them. Again we ask
the question, what human slanderers, or false accusers, or
adversaries, oppressed those who were the subjects of our
Saviour's miraculous cures ? and we challenge our oppo
nents to give a reply that has even the appearance of being
satisfactory or solid.
Another passage, which must not be omitted in this in
quiry, is Heb. ii. 14 ; " That by death he might destroy
him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and
deliver them who, through fear of death, were all their life
time subject to bondage." Surely, if, as R. Scott maintains,
the apostle had meant to inform us in this passage, that
sin is the cause of death, and that Christ by his cross de
livers men from sin, he would have said so. The apostles
were in the habit of using plain language on this subject.
They inform us that Christ " gave himself for our sins,
that he might deliver us from this present evil world ;"f
that " once in the end of the world he appeared to put
* Acts x. 38. + Gal. i. 4.

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 47
away sin by the sacrifice of himself;"* that "he himself
bore our sins in his own body on the tree,"t &c. &c. The
language in question, taken in its natural import, certainly
directs our attention to a single being, however numerous
may be the agents which he employs. It is granted that
it is not unusual for the sacred writers to personify sin ;
but I believe not a single instance can be adduced in which
they do so in such a way, or to such a degree, as our op
ponents suppose is done in this passage. The devil may
weU be said to have had the power of death, as he by his
temptation brought death into the world, and, therefore, in
a very important sense, inflicted it on all the human race,
and is still only too successfully tempting them to the
commission of those crimes, the wages of which is death.
Hence he is called " a murderer from the beginning."] It
is quite futile, it is almost worse than trifling to urge, as
Russell Scott does in his lectures, that " the devil cannot
be the inflicter of death ; since we are assured that it is
God who has determined the days of men, who has fixed
the number of his months, and the boundary beyond which
he cannot pass, Job xiv. 5." This reasoning proves too
much, and therefore proves nothing. God alone has the
power of life and death in the most extensive sense, and
therefore sin, which R. Scott thinks is meant by Diabolos
(for he cannot in this instance apply the word to any
human agents), cannot slay men or cause their death.
What then becomes of his own interpretation ? Does it
follow that, because God has determined the days of men,
they cannot put each other to death ? that one of them
cannot have the power of death over another? How ab
surd then to say that the devil cannot, in any sense, have
the power of death, because it is God who kills and revives !
1 Sam. ii. 6. He asks, " Did Christ destroy by his death
the power of him who is called the devil ? Certainly not,
since his advocates " (who are his advocates ? what an un-
* Heb. ix. 26. + 1 Eeter i. 24. f John viii. 44.

48 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
fair and scornful insinuation !) " maintain that he still
exists, and not merely exists, but is as strong, as powerful,
active, vigilant, and destructive as ever." Now, as our
author maintains that it was sin which Christ died to
destroy, may we not on his principles ask, " Is sin de
stroyed ? does it not still exist to a lamentable extent, and
is it not in many cases as destructive as ever ? " The
meaning evidently is, that Christ has vanquished Satan,
that in multitudes of instances he has entirely destroyed
his power, bruised his head, and delivered thousands of
his captives, and set them free from the fear of death : and
that he has introduced that Gospel into the world which is
sufficient to enable all who embrace it to exclaim, " 0 death,
where is thy sting ? 0 grave, where is thy victory ? Thanks
be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ." In fact, the Saviour destroys sin, and him
that had the power of death, in the same way and to the
same extent, and therefore the objection which we are con
sidering, if it had any force, would militate against the
interpretation of our opponents, just aa powerfully as it
would against ours.
The limits within which these lectures must be confined,
will by no means permit the examination of the other
passages in which the term Diabolos evidently means the
devil, in the ordinary sense of the word. In James iv. 7
we read, " Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
We are told that " the devil here means pride and revenge."
How pride and revenge will flee in consequence of being
resisted, or opposed and mortified, it is not easy to see.
Apply the expression to an evil spirit, the tempter of the
people of God to pride and revenge amongst other things,
who, if he is resisted, will desist from his attempts, and
leave the Christian for a season, as he did Jesus Christ;
and then we see its propriety ; and besides, if the apostle
had meant pride and revenge, and other vices, he would
have used the plural number, as he does in other places,

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 49
2 Tim. iii. 3, Tit. ii. 3, when he had more than one object
in view. But, in fact, there is no authority at all for apply
ing the term, in this place, to vices or passions. Nay,
though the word, especially in the plural number, some
times denotes persons, there is not an instance in the New
Testament, or in the Septuagint, in which it can with any
fairness or propriety be considered as meaning vices. The
natural meaning of the word, as well as the connexion,
would always lead us to apply it to persons.
The apostle Peter, 1 Epis. v. 8, thus exhorts those to
whom he wrote: "Be sober, be vigilant, because your
adversary the devil walketh about seeking whom he may
devour." Our opponents maintain that " by the devil here
is meant a human calumniator or slanderer," or " those
adversaries of the Christians who falsely accused them in
the courts of justice, and whom they were to withstand;"
and as a part of the proof of this assertion, it is pleaded
that our translators have rendered the same word, "false
accusers," in 2 Tim. iii. 3, and Titus ii. 3. There is this
important difference, however, that in these passages the
word is in the plural, — here it is in the singular, and also
connected with a word which limits it to an individual. If
the apostle had meant their heathen and Jewish adversaries,
he would doubtless have used the plural number of both the
words, and have said, " your adversaries, false accusers, or
slanderers;" but his language would necessarily direct
their minds to an individual, and we know of none who
made it his business to go about and accuse the Christians.
Besides, if the apostle had in view, as our opponents assert,
false accusers, against them no watchfulness, or sobriety,
or innocence, no humility, or submission, or diligence in
the performance of duty, or patience in suffering, would be
any protection. They could bring false accusations against
the humble, and circumspect, and diligent, as easily (in a
sense more so) as against the proud, and factious, and
slothful. But the vigilance and sobrie - of which the
IX. E

50 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
apostle speaks, and to which he exhorts, are the best armour
of defence, are everything against an adversary who, what
ever may be his rage, can prevail only by craft, and by
taking his victims by surprise.
On 1 John iii. 8, some remarks have already been made.
The interpretation wliich applies it to the Jewish rulers
and Pharisees, though it is confirmed by the important
word, must, is so strained, I had almost said so contempti
ble, as to require little farther notice. I would ask any
reader of common sense, is it possible that the language
employed could suggest this idea to those to whom the
apostle wrote? Diabolos here, we are assured, "must refer
to the opposition which the Jewish rulers and Pharisees
made to the Gospel from the time that Christ entered on
his ministry. Jesus, however, was manifested that he
might destroy this malicious opposition of the Jews, and
that his religion might supersede that of Moses." Accord
ing to this view of the subject, then, the religion of Moses was
amongst those works of the devil which the Son of God was
manifested to destroy ! And as to the malicious opposi
tion of the Jews, as far as it was directed against Jesus
Christ, it could not have existed had he not made his
appearance amongst them ; so that instead of destroying
that which was in the world, and was ruining the souls of
men before his incarnation, he destroyed only that which
he was the occasion, however innocently, of calling into
exercise. We appeal most confidently to the natural and
necessary import of the language which the apostle uses,
to the scope and connexion of the passage and its parallels,
in support of our position, that the apostle is here speaking
of sin in general, of all that sin which the Son of God was
manifested in human nature to take away, and from which
he delivers all his people ; from which they are kept, and
from which they are to labour to keep themselves. This is
the work of the devil, because he introduced it into the
world, and probably into the universe; because he is an

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 5 1
incorrigible transgressor, and is constantly tempting men
to sin in all its various forms.
Those who maintain that there are no evil spirits in
existence, find it very difficult, perhaps I should say im
possible, to explain on their system the language of Jude,
v. 9, "Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with
the devil he disputed about the body of Moses," &c. And,
therefore, their usual resource is to question the inspiration
of the whole epistle ; just as they attempt to explode the
account of the miraculous conception of the Saviour, by
denying the authenticity of otherparts ofthe Bible. R.Scott
is obliged to acknowledge that this apostle " adduces a dis
pute between some superhuman being, whom he calls the
archangel Michael (but on what authority we know not),
and the devil." This is not the place to prove that the
Epistle of Jude is canonical; nor is it necessary. Its
authenticity and genuineness have been vindicated by the
most able and learned critics ; and therefore, notwithstand
ing the authority and bold assertions of Michaelis, that "we
have little reason for placing the Epistle of Jude among
the sacred writings; if the ancient church had decided
positively in its favour, this would not have convinced me
that it is inspired," there is no reason for any rational doubt
that this epistle was written by the apostle whose name it
bears, and that it is a part of the sacred canon. And the
evidence which it affords of the existence of Satan remains
unimpaired. Next to Diabolos, Satan is the word which is most
frequently applied in the New Testament to the ringleader
of the powers of darkness. It is well known that this word
comes from the Hebrew jioto, which signifies to hate, to feel
and act as a determined enemy to any one, to oppose ; and
it has the same meaning in the Syriac, Chaldee, and Arabic*
Hence it is nearly synonymous in meaning with the word
Diabolos, signifying, like it, an adversary, an accuser, and
* Schleusner in verb.

52 THE EXISTENCE OF EVTL SPIRITS.
generally a, false and malicious accuser. And the two terms
are evidently used in the Scriptures to designate the same
being. The fact that the word is not translated into Greek
by the inspired writers of the New Testament, though it
easily might have been, — its meaning is quite definite and
well known, — and that it generally has the article prefixed
to it, shows plainly that it is employed as a proper name,
to designate a certain well-known being. It is used about
thirty-five times by the apostles and evangelists ; and in
almost all of them it is either applied to the same individual
being, or else there is a reference to him ; an intimation
that those to whom it is given are acting like him, or in
some way subserving his cause. This might easily be
shown by the investigation of each passage, did time and
space permit. But whether the assertion which has just
been made is correct or not, every one may easily ascertain,
by examining for himself all the texts where the word
occurs. A few of them I shall proceed to consider, after
observing that, according to those who deny the existence
of evil spirits, " Satan" is always used as a kind of figurative
appellative, and signifies almost anything or everything.*
In Romans xvi. 20, it designates "the persecutors of the
Roman converts." In 1 Cor. v. 5, it signifies "excommu
nication !" How could this be an adversary, or indulge any
hatred, when it was inflicted out of love, and proved the
means of saving the soul of the offender ? As well might
it be said that a salutary medicine, administered by a kind
and skilful physician, is an adversary inspired by hatred.
In 1 Cor. vii. 7, it signifies " the violation of the marriage
vow !" In 2 Cor. xi. 14, " false apostles !" Paul, however,
informs us that the false apostles were the ministers of this
Satan, who is often transformed into an angel of light. Is
not this an intimation that he is an angel of darkness ? Our
opponents charge the apostle with the redundancy and im
propriety of making these false apostles their own ministers.
* Russell Scott, pp. 84, 104.

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 53
In chap. xii. 7, it means " bodily infirmity." But the apostle
informs us that the thorn in the flesh was the messenger of
Satan, not Satan himself. 1 Thess. ii. 18, " Jews perse
cuting Paul and Silas." 2 Thess. ii. 9, " the same persons
persecuting Paul." (Here it is natural to ask, what signs,
and power, and lying wonders did those persecutors of Paul
ever exhibit, that the wicked one of whom he was speaking
could, with the least appearance of propriety, be said to
come after their working?) In 1 Tim. i. 20, " excommuni
cation!" But it was by excommunication, according to the
meaning of the passage, that the persons in question were
delivered unto Satan; how then could it be Satan himself?
In 1 Tim. v. 15, " idolatrous indulgences !" In the history
of our Lord's temptations, Satan means in the first,
" hunger," though we are informed that it was after he was
hungry that the tempter came to him : and this tempter is
represented as a rational being entering into conversation
with him ; in the second, " presumption and vanity ;" and
in the third, "ambition as gratified by regal power and
riches," In Matt. xii. 26, and in the parallel passages, it
signifies "Beelzebub, the idol god of Ekron," because,
according to our opponents, the Jews had adopted the
opinions of the heathen respecting demons, and they
thought that Beelzebub was the chief of those demons, and
they wished to persuade the wondering multitudes that
Jesus Christ performed miracles by his assistance. But if
this had been the case, would not the Great Prophet of his
church, who came to banish error and superstition from the
world, have told them that this demon had no existence,
and therefore it was impossible that he, or any supposed
being like him, could do anything, much less work a
miracle? Would not this have afforded the most direct and
satisfactory proof of the falsehood and folly of the charge
which the Pharisees brought against him ? Nay, may we
not say with reverence, that it would have been incumbent
on him to have acted in this way, and not to have confirmed,

54 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
both by his miracles and by the way in which he vindicated
his character from the foulest and most malicious charges,
a grossly erroneous, superstitious, and even idolatrous
notion ; and one, too, which was connected with many
others of a similar kind ; — one indeed which was calculated
to pervert the whole system of the religious views and
feelings of those who adopted it? Would he not have
acted like the ancient prophets, aud have proclaimed re
specting these supposed demons, "Be not afraid of them ;
for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do
good?" Jer. x. 5. Would he not have assured his hearers
that they were "feeding on ashes, and that a deceived heart
had turned them aside ? " Isa. xliv. 20. What! shall we
suppose that the servants were more bold and explicit than
their Lord, to whom they were indebted for all their know
ledge and gifts ? for it was " the Spirit of Christ" that was
in them, 1 Pet. i. 11. Will it be said, that men would not
have believed him, if he had assured them ever so solemnly,
that Beelzebub and demons had no existence ? But was
their disposition to believe to be the measure of his an
nouncements of truth ? How then was he to enlighten
their minds, and to cure their unbelief ? They would not
believe that he was the Messiah, — that God was his Father,
— or even that he was a good man, and spoke the truth;
but did he refrain, on that account, from stating and main
taining his Messiahship, and his relation to God ; or from
vindicating his own character ? And what if they had not
believed him ? All his disciples would, in following ages,
and would thus have been saved from gross error. But
the truth of the matter is, that whatever was the origin of
the term Beelzebub, the Jews, in the time of the Saviour,
applied it to the chief of those fallen spirits, who, as
they believed, for their rebellion against God, were ex
pelled from heaven ; a doctrine of which they had many
hints given them in their own Scriptures, and which, like
many others, is more clearly revealed in the New Testa-

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS; 55
ment ; and to the truth of which our Lord sets his seal, in
the way in which he here exposes the malice, and refutes
the charges of his adversaries. How lamentable is it, that
any intelligent, able, learned, and estimable men, professing
themselves to be disciples of Jesus Christ, should, in their
zeal and determination to maintain their own opinions,
when the word Satan cannot possibly be applied to a human
agent, or to any vice or evil, represent the blessed Re
deemer, who came into the world to bear witness to the
truth, as acting a part and using language calculated to
sanction a most absurd and pernicious error !
Great stress, in this controversy, is attached to the
circumstance that our Lord, when reproving Peter, called
him Satan; "Get thee behind me, Satan," Matt. xvi. 21.
On these words, it is rather flippantly said, " You are not
prepared nor disposed to believe, I dare say, that Peter
was the devil. If not, you must admit that Satanas has
some other meaning attached to it, than that of the
devil."* We know that it has. Who ever supposed that
Peter was the devil? But our Lord could easily have
employed a Greek word, signifying adversary. But by
using an untranslated Hebrew or Syriac word, which was
equivalent to a proper name, he might intend, and many
are disposed to think he did intend, to convey the idea
that Peter was acting the part of Satan, and abetting the
design of the great tempter and adversary. Gesenius,
who is second to none in acquaintance with Hebrew and
oriental languages in general, and who, moreover, cannot
be suspected of being incumbered by the trammels of a
superstitious regard to any preconceived opinions, has
determined, as the result of his critical inquiries, that
}cterr> " Satan, with the article, means the adversary,
Kar e'goxrjv, by way of eminence, and assumes the nature of
a proper name, that is Satan, 6 StdfioXos, the devil, the evil
spirit in the later theology of the Jews, who seduces men
* Eussell Scott, p. 72.

56 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
to evil, 1 Chron. xxi. 1, where alone the article is wanting;
compare 2 Sam. xxiv. 1 ; and accuses and calumniates
them before God, Zech. iii. 1, 2; Job i. 7, ii. 2 — 5; com
pare Rev. xii. 10."* I quote this passage at length, because
that profound and accurate scholar has given it as his
opinion, that in those passages of the Old Testament,
where our opponents maintain that " the term Satan
means a human adversary, a tempter," it designates " the
devil, the evil spirit, who, in the later theology of the
Jews, seduces men to evil;" and consequently in his
opinion, contrary to the repeated assertions of those who
believe that there are no evil spirits in existence, the
belief in such beings was an article in their creed in the
time of our Saviour. And this he evidently took for
granted in all his intercourse with them ; and both by his
discourses and miracles he sanctioned their belief, and
conveyed the idea that their views, so far, were correct.
In Luke xxii. 21, we read, " Satan has desired to have
thee, that he may sift thee as wheat." Satan, we are told,
signifies first the maid-servant, and then the others who
charged Peter with being a disciple of Jesus Christ, and
thus were the means of inducing him to deny his Master.
Not to mention other objections to this interpretation,
how could it be said with propriety or truth, that the ser
vants of the high priest had desired to have him and sift
him, when they were probably ignorant of his existence,
till they saw him in the palace of Caiphas, and could not
possibly know, when our Lord uttered these words, that
he would enter the hall where they were, and therefore
could have no idea of sifting him? But view these words
as relating to Satan, a fallen, wicked spirit, who employs
men as his instruments to tempt each other, besides
tempting them in his own person, and then we see the
propriety of the language. He desired an opportunity of
tempting any or all the disciples ; and when it was
* Gesenius, Lex. in verb.

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 0 I
afforded him, with regard to Peter, in the hall of the high
priest, it was immediately embraced.
In Rev. xii. 3, 9, and xx. 2, 10, our opponents, of course,
maintain, that the words dragon, devil, Satan, and old
serpent, all mean exclusively some human enemies of the
Christian religion, or some vices or evils ; and by no
means any wicked spirits, or invisible superhuman adver
saries of the cause of Christ. We know well that the
former as well as the latter are amongst the agents and
actors in the scenes to which these verses refer. In the de
scription which is given of the great red dragon, chap. xii. 3,
the immediate primary reference is to the Roman empire
in its pagan state, and to the efforts which it made to
destroy the Christian religion; and then under the em
blem of a beast rising out of the sea, in its papal state,
as supporting the power of Antichrist, and persecuting the
saints of the Most High. But I must think, that in both
cases, and throughout the whole stage of its existence and
operations, it was only the instrument of another power.
' The dragon is expressly said to be, " that old serpent,
called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole
world." And then, in chap. xx. 2, we are told, that this
" dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan,
was bound for a thousand years, and cast into the bottom
less pit ; " and this prophecy relates to a period after the
Roman empire, both in its pagan and papal state, had
ceased to exist, and, consequently, there is nothing said
here of the beast with seven heads and ten horns ; of the
false prophet ; or of their being cast into the bottomless
pit. These had been taken and cast in, that is, had been
destroyed already, and still the old serpent, called the Devil,
and Satan, was at large, and ready to deceive the nations
of the earth, and excite them against the servants and the
cause of God. And hence to secure the millennial glory
and the triumph of the saints, he too was to be taken and
bound, and prevented from deceiving the nations. And

58 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
then, after the thousand years, (whatever period of time
that may signify,) Satan was loosed out of his prison, and
permitted for a season to recommence his work of tempt
ing and deceiving men. And then, verse 20, after the
defeat and destruction of the last army that he is per
mitted to raise on earth against the King of kings and his
army, he is taken, observe, after their destruction, and as
their deceiver, and therefore, certainly, as distinct from all
the human agents, and errors, and vices, and temptations
that he may employ, and cast into the lake of fire and
brimstone, into which the beast and the false prophet
had been cast long before, to be confined and punished
there for ever and ever. And all this takes place at the
end of time, long after the Roman empire, the beast and
the false prophet had ceased to exist. The dragon is said
to be " the old serpent, the Devil, and Satan." Is there
not here a reference to the account which we have of the
serpent deceiving Eve, and to the application of the terms
devil and Satan in the Scriptures to the great enemy of
God and man — to him who existed long before the Roman
empire was founded, and was always engaged in deceiving
the nations ? This being admitted, all the representations
of those prophetic visions are natural, the figurative lan
guage is easily understood, and conveys correct ideas, and
there is no danger of being led into error by it. The
contrary is the case, if there are no evil spirits in exist
ence. I would observe likewise, that as the armies which
fought against the old dragon and his hosts had an
invisible spiritual leader, " they overcame through the
blood of the Lamb ; " — He whom John saw on the white
horse — He whose name was called Faithful and True —
He who was clothed in a vesture dipped in blood, and
whose name was called the Word of God — represented no
ideal or figurative personage ; no human agents, or ener
gies, or virtues taken collectively — (I suppose our oppo
nents will grant that we are warranted to infer the

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 59
existence, the dignity, and glory, and influence of the
Lord Jesus Christ, from the emblematical representations
which were presented to the mind of the apostle) — is it
not equally plain that the opposite army had a leader
whose existence, and character, and influence, we may
infer from the use of his name in these prophetic visions ?
Indeed I do not see why the real existence of Jesus Christ
might not be explained away by the help of Eastern meta
phors, and figurative language, and allegorical personages,
and accommodation to prejudices and prevailing opinions,
on the same principles on which the existence of Satan
is denied, and the doctrine of the Saviour's divinity is
exploded. . It can be no difficult achievement for those
who strip him of his glory as God, to rob him of his
existence as man.
In James ii. 19, we read, " Thou believest that there is
one God; thou'doest well: the demons believe and
tremble." In this passage there is evidently a reference
to the belief of both Jews and Christians, and that in such
a way as to intimate that it was correct, respecting those
unhappy beings whom they designated demons, and whose
state and character corresponded, according to the ideas
which were entertained of them, to those of devils in the
modem use of the term. They were evidently thought to
be fallen, wicked spirits, trembling for fear of the Divine
vengeance. The incidental way in which they are here
mentioned, and the purpose for which an allusion is made
to them, indicate in the clearest manner, that the apostle
believed in the existence of these spirits ; and he takes it
for granted that no one would dispute the fact to which he
refers. Would he have used such language, knowing as
he did that the demons of the heathen were only the
figments of their vain imaginations, if his views had been
similar to those of modern Unitarians? We appeal to
common sense and reason for an answer.
If the interpretation which has been given of the pas-

60 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
sages that have been noticed is correct, we can be at no
loss how to understand others, which, taken by themselves,
might present some difficulty. The plain natural meaning
of the whole narrative, and of the words .employed, the
assertion of the apostle Paul, 2 Cor. xi. 3, that " the ser
pent beguiled Eve," the repeated declaration in the book
of Revelation, that Satan and the old serpent are identical,
all warrant us in maintaining, that the account which is
given in the third chapter of Genesis is a real history, and
that here we have the first notice of evil spirits, and espe
cially of their ringleader. It is well known that our oppo
nents consider the Mosaic account of the fall a "mere
allegory, or moral fable, such as is often met with in other
parts of the Old and New Testament, in which certain
religious duties and doctrines, with the genuine nature and
effects of them, are represented, as it were, to our senses,
by a fiction of persons and facts, which had no real exist
ence."* And, very strangely, it is asserted, that the design
of this allegory was, " to show that there was no foundation
whatever for the doctrine of an evil principle, which was
maintained by the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and other hea
then nations." " Whether this apologue were intended to
designate the placidity of a pastoral, or the activity of an
agricultural life, as the history of Cain and Abel appears to
be symbolical of the transition from vegetable to animal sacri
fices, or whether its design was to show that, under the
Mosaic dispensation, no evil principle, no malignant being
existed, either as the opponent of God, or the enemy of
mankind, the reason for employing the serpent for one of
the actors in the fable is evident, to render more conspicu
ous the folly and absurdity of serpent-worship, which had
become very prevalent among the heathen nations."!! ! !
This is certainly strange reasoning, if reasoning it can be
called. There are, in my apprehension, few things, with
* Dr. Conyers Middleton, cited by E. Scott, p. 12.
+ E. Scott's Lectures, p. 18.

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 61
the exception of direct, plain assertions, more calculated
to prove that the existence of evil spirits is clearly taught
in the Scriptures, than to find those who deny it obliged
to have recourse to such desperate methods to maintain
their sentiments. Not only the history of the fall, but
also that of Cain and Abel, because it is not to their taste,
must be considered a moral fable, or allegory, and sym
bolical, forsooth, of the transition from vegetable to animal
sacrifices : so Cain is the symbol of vegetable sacrifices,
and Abel of animal ones ! ! If we were disposed to pun
or trifle on such a subject, we might say, that, according
to this view of the subject, Abel ought to have killed Cain,
and not Cain Abel ; for, certainly, it is more likely that
animals should kill vegetables, than that vegetables should
kill animals ; and that those who are in the habit of offer
ing animals should murder those who offer vegetables,
than the contrary. Surely, if plain, simple narrative have
any certain characteristics, if there be any possible way of
distinguishing it from allegory, either by the occasion on
which it was penned, or by the scope, or by the terms
employed, or by the connexion, or by allusions to it in
other parts of the volume in which it is found, we are fully
warranted to conclude, with the greatest firmness, that the
account of Cain and Abel is a history, giving a plain, un
varnished account of a most melancholy event, intimately
connected with one which, on some accounts, was still
more melancholy. Most assuredly it requires no small
degree of ingenuity (of a certain kind) to find in it anything
that indicates the transition from vegetable to animal sacri
fices. The intention of the writer, and of the Divine Spirit
by which hewas inspired, evidently was, to give an account
of the origin of our species, of the way in which it was
brought into its present circumstances, and of an event
which occurred after man, by transgressing the command
of his Maker, had depraved his own nature, and thus
brought sin and death into the world ; and in this light it

62 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
is constantly viewed by the subsequent writers of the
Bible : the whole system of their religion is built upon the
narration ; it is always referred to as a real history, and
not as a fiction. It has been asked rather sarcastically,
and with an air of triumph, " Will you take the account "
(of the fall) " literally ? Then only be consistent with the
literal interpretation ; say that there grew a tree whose
fruit was capable of imparting a knowledge of good and
evil ; say that God walked in the garden to seek for Adam,
and that Adam called to inform the Deity of his hiding-
place ; say that it was a serpent which held the conversation
with Eve, and tempted her ; and say that this animal was
cursed by God above every beast of the field, compelled to
crawl upon the ground, and eat the dust."* How easy is
it to retort here, and say, Will you take the account figura
tively ? Then only be consistent with the figurative inter
pretation ; say that we have a figurative Adam and Eve, a
figurative garden, and tree of knowledge of good and evil, a
figurative prohibition, a figurative serpent, and a figurative
transgression, and a figurative punishment ; and why not a
figurative Deity? And why not interpret the first and
second chapters in the same way, and then we have a
figurative creation, a figurative heaven and earth, and vege
tables and animals; and, in short, we have nothing but
figures or apologues in the Bible, nay, or in the universe.
This is most effectually carrying out the theory of Berke
ley, as improved by Hume ; only reducing both the mate
rial and the spiritual world to figures and moral fables, in
stead of ideas and impressions. If this is not handling
the word of God deceitfully, (I do not say it is done in
tentionally), and evincing a determination to make any
part of it, any statement that it can possibly contain, bend
to a favourite hypothesis, I do not know what can be so.
According to this principle of interpretation, we might
prove, in one sense, anything from the Scriptures, and, in
* Grundy's Lectures, p. 80.

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 63
another, we could prove nothing ; for it would be impos
sible to say whether their language was literal or figurative,
or whether they meant what they appeared to say, and
what their words would naturally suggest, or something
entirely different. But who does not know that it is
almost impossible to write the shortest and most simple
narration, or even to utter a few sentences in common
conversation, without employing some words and phrases
which are more or less figurative ? Will this warrant us
to take the whole as a moral fable or apologue ? A little
care, and impartiality, and common sense, will enable us
to determine at once how far it is figurative, and how far
it is to be taken literally ; and so is it with regard to the
account which we are considering. But we have no objec
tion to understand the history of the fall literally as far as
language in general can be so taken. We maintain that
there was a literal tree, and that the eating of its fruit, in
disobedience to the command of God, did cause the ex
perimental knowledge of good and evil ; of the good which
had been lost, and of the evil which had been incurred.
What a dreadful, distressing knowledge of this kind, of
which he was entirely destitute before, had Adam after he
had eaten the forbidden fruit ! What is there absurd in
believing that the Divine Being assumed a visible form,
the appearance of a man, on this occasion, as we know he
did afterwards, when he appeared to Abraham and others,
and that this form was seen walking in the garden, and
that it called to Adam, and that he answered from his
hiding-place ?
It is very possible, I own, that our opponents may con
sider all the accounts which we have of God's appearances
to the patriarchs as fables or figures ; and then this argu
ment, whatever it may be in itself, will avail nothing with
them. False principles and theories will for a time render
those who put them on as their panoply, invulnerable by
all the weapons of truth, when wielded by men. But this

64 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
can be for only a short time. These weapons will at last
be grasped by the hand of Omnipotence, and then they
must be irresistible. We have no objection to say that a
literal serpent, or the form of a serpent, might be employed
in tempting Eve, and that, in order to render manifest the
dreadful consequences of sin, and the displeasure of God
against it, the serpent might be subjected to some natural
evils, and therefore so far cursed. And yet we contend
that, in addition to all this, both the narrative itself, and
other parts of Scripture, plainly show that it was a fallen
spirit, either actuating a serpent, or assuming its form, Or
acting such a part, that on account of the ideas which are
generally formed of serpents, and the enmity which subsists
betwixt them and the human race, the being who was the
tempter and seducer, and on whom the curse, in its most
dreadful import, fell, was denominated a serpent. This is
the most easy, natural, and, I do not scruple to say, ra
tional interpretation of the narration, and it is abundantly
confirmed by other passages of the word of God. There
can be no doubt that " the seed of the woman " meant
Jesus Christ. He was not an allegorical personage. Had
he nothing to contend with, but an allegorical enemy?
R. Scott asserts that " it, referring to the seed or posterity
of the woman, would have been more perspicuously ren
dered in the plural they," and that " translating the same
word, in the same clause of a verse, both in the masculine
and neuter gender, has not only produced confusion, but a
misconception of the passage." Now, although ini, seed,
may be used as a noun of multitude, and, when it is so,
translated by a plural, yet, on account of the singular pro
nouns ran and «, which refer to it, the singular is preferable
here, or, rather, it must be in the singular. And accord
ingly, it is so rendered by the Septuagint, and by translators
in general, so far as I have had an opportunity of consult
ing them. The pronoun, certainly, should have been ren
dered in both cases by the masculine gender; it is not

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 65
easy to account for its not being so : " He shall bruise thy
head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." But this confirms
the sense for which I am contending, that, by the seed of
the woman, Jesus Christ is principally meant, and this is
abundantly confirmed by other passages of the Bible. It
represents him as, by way of eminence, the seed of Abraham,
in whom all the nations of the earth were blessed ; the
seed, or the Son of David, who was to erect a spiritual
kingdom on earth, and by means of it to confer the great
est blessings on the children of men. He was emphatically,
and in such a way as no other was, the seed ofthe woman,
on account of the means by which his human nature was
produced, as described by the angel to the virgin : " The
Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the
Highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son
of God," Luke i. 35. And thus he was manifested to de
liver those who should believe on him from the conse
quences of their apostasy, and to destroy the works of the
devil. " I fear," says the apostle Paul, " lest, as the ser
pent beguiled Eve, so your minds should be corrupted from
the simplicity which is in Christ," 2 Cor. xi. 3. Here we
are informed that Eve was beguiled by the craft of a tempter,
called a serpent. The same idea is conveyed by the apostle
in 1 Tim. ii. 14 ; " And Adam was not deceived, but Eve,
being deceived, was in the transgression." And if we ask
who or what was the serpent that deceived her ? we have
a definite and satisfactory answer given by those passages
which have already been quoted, Rev. xii. 9, and xx. 2 — 10.
He was " the old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, who
deceiveth the whole world," and who is at last to be " cast
into the lake of fire and brimstone." We must prefer this
definite statement to all Unitarian expositions.
Though the passage presents considerable difficulty, and
though the opinion that the evil spirit means melancholy,
or enmity, or revenge, or temporary and partial insanity, is
ix. F

00 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
plausible, yet I must, taking all things into the account,
incline to the opinion of Bishop Heber, that the evil spirit
spoken of in 1 Sam. xvi. 14, " is precisely the same, both
in name and functions, with the evil spirits of the New
Testament."* And this is an evidence that the doctrine
of the existence of fallen evil spirits " was not first em
braced by the Jews during their abode in Babylon," and
that there is not the smallest evidence (I might say, not
the least probability) that " they derived it from the Chal
deans, or (still less) from the Persian philosophy and super
stition." We are told, in the same verse, that the Spirit
of God departed from Saul. This must mean that the
Holy Spirit withdrew his influence, and, consequently,
Saul lost the gifts, the ability for government, and manag
ing the affairs of his kingdom, which had been imparted
to him, when "the Spirit of God came upon him, and he
became another man," 1 Sam. x. 6. Does it not follow
from this, that the tempers which he afterwards manifested
were the effects of the influence of an evil spirit, opposite
to the Spirit of God ? And, as it came upon him in con
sequence of the withdrawment of the Divine Spirit, and by
the permission of the Divine Being, and also as a judg
ment, it may, with the greatest propriety, and especially
in the Hebrew idiom, according to which God is often said
to do that which he permits to be done, and renders sub
servient to his purposes, be represented as from God.
This is the natural interpretation of the passage, and that
which best agrees with the general doctrine of the Bible
respecting evil spirits.
In 2 Sam. xxiv. 1, we read, " And again the anger of the
Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David
against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah." Li a
parallel passage, 2 Chron. xxi. 1, it is said, " And Satan
stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number
Israel." Those who believe in the existence of evil spirits,
* Heher's Sermons, p. 85.

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 07
generally, perhaps universally, maintain that by Satan here
is meant the ringleader of those spirits, tempting David,
either by himself, or by some of his emissaries. Those
who disbelieve their existence, contend that by Satan here
must be meant the anger of God, or some human adversary,
or both. One of them* says, " This enemy or adversary
is here called the anger of Jehovah, and said to be the sole
cause of inducing David to persist in numbering the
people. It is evident from reading these two accounts,
that both these writers intended the same thing by the
term Shatan and the anger of Jehovah." " The writer of
the book of Samuel speaks of God's being incensed at the
Israelites, and as setting David against them, by suggesting
to him the thought of numbering the people of both his
kingdoms." And this is asserted after the writer had said,
a few lines before, "It is said, and that not unnaturally in
the language of that age and country, that an enemy,
Shatan, had been the cause of his adopting this injudicious
and detestable measure." So then, according to R. Scott,
God first suggested to the mind of David an " injudicious
and detestable measure;" yes, and induced him to persist
in it, and then punished him for it ! It is only justice,
however, to our opponent to remark, that he appears to
intimate by the expression, " not unnaturally in the language
of that age and country," that the author of the book of
Samuel might not be giving a correct account of the matter,
but only using the language, and speaking according to
the views of that age and country ; while both the views
and the language may be altogether incorrect, in the esti
mation of those who deny the existence of angels both
good and bad. For there is only too much plausibility, to
say the least, in the charge which has sometimes been
brought against them, that they allow the penmen of the
Scriptures to be inspired, only when and so far as suits
their own purpose. Another writer, t in order to obviate
* E. Scott's Lectures, p. 27. + Inquiry into the Word Satan, p; 13.

G8 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
the difficulty which arises from making God the adversary
here, and representing him as moving David to commit
the offence for which he was punished so signally, reasons
thus : " The Lord did not draw David into a trespass
against any moral law ; and, recollect also, that the judg
ment inflicted was temporal only. As to the judgment of
the great day when God shall judge the quick and the
dead, we only know that the Judge of all the earth will
certainly do that which is right." Just as if we did not
also know that the Judge of the earth will always do that
which is right, as it regards temporal as well as -eternal
judgments ! and just as if when anything, whatever be its
nature, is commanded or forbidden by God, it did not
become morally wrong to transgress his law ! The dis
tinction that he makes between moral and positive precepts
is, in this case, and for his purpose, altogether frivolous.
He and Russell Scott both suppose that the Israelites had
before this transgressed some moral precepts, and that
God had a quarrel against them on this account ; and that
he might have a visible reason for punishing them, he
moved David to commit this sin. It is quite consistent
with the representations of Scripture, and with the charac
ter of God, to say that he may, as a punishment for their
iniquity, leave men to themselves, give them up, as he did
the Israelites, Psalm lxxxi. 12, " to their own hearts' lusts,"
or to the influence of Satan ; but inconsistent with both to
say that he himself becomes the tempter. James i. 18 :
" Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of
God, for God cannot be tempted of evil, neither tempteth
he any man." Had David, when James wrote these words,
been on the earth, he might, if the views of our opponents
could be correct, have pleaded that he at least was an ex
ception, as God had tempted him, nay, more than tempted
him, for he had led him by a secret invincible influence to
commit sin ; rather I should say, it is certain that James
did not entertain the same views of the passage under con-

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 69
sideration as they do, or else he never would have written
the important words which I have just quoted. While it
is lamentable that Scripture should be so perverted, in
order to maintain a favourite dogma, it is satisfactory to
those who reject that dogma, to find that it cannot be de
fended, without doing violence to the word of God.
The author of the " Inquiry into the Word Satan," main
tains that, in 1 Chron. xxi. ], it means a human adversary,
some king or nation at war with David, and that this was
the temptation to number the people ; and that this hostile
power is called an adversary, or a Satan, in the same way
as Hadad the Edomite is called an adversary to Solomon,
1 Kings xi. 14. But can any reason be assigned why, if
this had been the meaning, he did not mention his name,
or give us some information respecting him, as he did in
the case of Solomon ? Is not this the usual method ofthe
sacred historians ? Have we any account of David's ever
being induced by all his wars, to number the people as he
did now, so as to bring upon himself the judgments of
God? Was this king or nation prevented by David's
numbering the people, from prosecuting his hostile de
sign? The whole tenor of the narration indicates that
there was no immediate danger of war, but that there were
both time and leisure to go through the whole nation from
Dan to Beersheba, and take the number of the subjects.
There is no intimation that they were enrolled for war, or
for the army. An attempt has indeed been made to deduce
an argument for this hypothesis, from the fact that three
months of war was amongst the things that were proposed
to David by Gad. But surely this will no more prove that
David and his people were menaced by a hostile nation, at
that time, than that they were threatened by famine or
pestilence. On the contrary, it is implied that whichever
David selected would be sent by the special interposition
of God. It is commonly supposed that the sin of David
on this occasion consisted in his not requiring the people

70 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
to pay the half-shekel, which was commanded to be levied,
Exod. iii. II, whenever the people were numbered. This,
however, may be questioned ; it does not appear probable.
If it had been so, surely Joab, when he was remonstrating
with the king, would have suggested the propriety of obey
ing the law, and thus avoiding the trespass. But the sin
appears to have consisted in numbering them at all, with
out any necessity, and evidently under the influence of
vanity, or pride, or mere caprice ; and Joab seems to have
perceived this, and therefore to have very much disliked
the measure. Had there been any necessity, such as that
of a threatened war, we cannot see why the king's word
should have been abominable to Joab ; nor is it probable,
that, as his motive would have been innocent, to say the
least, he wuold have been so severely punished by God.
It is inferred, that because David's numbering of the
people is, in Samuel, * attributed to the anger of God, and
in Chronicles to Satan, these must signify the same thing,
— that God himself must be the Satan, the adversary, who
stood up against Israel. But how absurd is this conclu
sion ! The carrying of the Israelites captive into Babylon,
is sometimes, in the prophets, attributed to the anger of
God, and sometimes to the king of Babylon. Will any
rational being argue or conclude, that therefore the anger
of God, and the king of Babylon, are identical ? Is it not
evident that the meaning is, that because the anger of God
was excited by the sins of the Israelites, therefore he gave
them into the hand of the king of Babylon ? That ambi
tious monarch was plotting and endeavouring to accomplish
the conquest of all around him. God was not the author
of that ambition; he merely overruled it, to accomplish
his own purposes ; and hence, in the way which is described
in Ezek. xxi. 21, he rendered the superstition and divina
tion of the king of Babylon the means of directing his
steps to Jerusalem. " For the king of Babylon stood at
* 2 Sam. xxiv. 1.

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 71
the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use
divination : he made his arrows bright, he consulted with
images, he looked in the liver. At his right hand was the
divination for Jerusalem." And how easy is it, on this
plain and scriptural principle, to see the harmony of the
two passages which we are considering ! Satan was as full
of malice against Israel, the chosen people of God, as
Nebuchadnezzar was of ambition ; all that was necessary,
was for God to give him permission to tempt David to
number them, and it would soon be done : as in the case
of Job, when God said, " All that he has is in thy hand ; "
how quickly did he go to the full limits of the permission !
With the greatest propriety then might it be said in one
respect, for a very sufficient reason, that God moved David
to say, " Go, number Israel and Judah ; " and in another,
that Satan stood up against them, and provoked David to
number them, just as the trials of Job came from God, be
cause he permitted and directed them, and yet they came
from Satan, because he inflicted them ; or in the same way
as the captivity of the Jews was both from God, and from
the king of Babylon and his armies.
On the principles which have been advocated, I must
think, that in 1 Kings xxii. 21, it is at least implied
that fallen, wicked spirits do tempt men ; and that false
prophets were, in a special manner, their agents. There
is no necessity for supposing that any actual conversation
took place between God and the angels, or between him
and the lying spirit. But can we suppose that any such
scenery would have been presented to the mind of the
prophet, or that he would have been inspired by the Holy
Spirit to represent, even figuratively, a lying spirit appeal
ing before God, if there were no such spirit in existence ?
If, as some of our opponents would have us to believe,
there are neither angels nor devils, even an allegorical
allusion to these spirits would never have been made.
Here again the most natural sense of the passage is, that

72 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
God had permitted a fallen lying spirit to deceive the pro
phets of Ahab, or to prompt them to pretend to knowledge
which they did not possess. To accommodate here the
language of an apostle, " their coming," their mission to
Ahab, " was after the working of Satan, with all power, and
signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness, in them that perish, because they received
not the love of the truth that they might be saved : and for
this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they
should believe a lie."
Those who disbelieve the existence of Satan, very gene
rally, perhaps universally, consider the book of Job as an
allegory or fable ; and, consequently, they maintain that
no arguments can be deduced from it to prove the exist
ence of Satan. One of them has roundly asserted, that
" to consider the book of Job in any other light than as an
allegory, would be to give up all title to common sense."
To this it may be replied, that he who can make such an
assertion should give up all title to modesty; for most
assuredly men distinguished, not only for common sense,
but for learning, ability, and piety, have not only consi
dered, but attempted, at least, to prove, that it is not an
allegory, whatever dramatic writing there may be in it ;
and their proofs are not to be neutralized by Mr. Heine-
ken's dictum. It has been well answered to him, " He
that can suppose that Job was a fictitious being, and his
book a fable, must give up all title as a believer in Divine
revelation, and appropriate to himself the title of infidel.
That Job was a real and not a fictitious character, may be
inferred from the manner in which he is mentioned by the
prophet Ezekiel and the apostle James : Ezek. xiv. 14,
' Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in
it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righte
ousness, saith the Lord God.' As Noah and Daniel were
real characters, we must conclude the same of Job. If he
was not a real intelligent being, why did the inspired pro-

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 73
phet class him with Noah and Daniel, and expressly call
them three men ; and not only so, but repeat the state
ment thrice, as if to guard against any mistake ? To sup
pose that Job was only an imaginary* being, is to suppose
that the prophet repeats a positive falsehood and absurdity.
'Behold,' says James, chap. v. 11, 'ye count them happy
that endure : ye have heard of the patience of Job, and.
have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful
and of tender mercy.' But adopt Mr. H.'s opinion, and
the language of the apostle would read thus : ' Ye have
heard ofthe patience of a fictitious being, and have seen
the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of
tender mercy.' But to whom? To a fictitious being."*
And the persons to whom this was addressed might well
reply, it is easy for a man who possesses any fertility
of imagination, to suppose and depict a fictitious patience,
in any circumstances, and to any amount. But what is
that to us ? Ours are real sufferings. We need real pa
tience. Where is the force of the apostle's argument?
The writer of a dramatic poem, many hundred years ago,
gave, in the luxuriance of an oriental fancy, a very fine
picture of patience, in an imaginary personage called Job :
be ye therefore patient amidst your real and protracted
sufferings. What motives can this present to our minds ?
What have the figments of imagination to do with the
realities of life? To reason, or to pretend to reason, from
the conduct of the heroes of the former, to the duty of
those who are engaged in the latter, and groaning beneath
their burdens, and smarting amidst their ills, is little less
than a heartless insult. But this is not the place to prove
that the book of Job, as far as facts are concerned, is a real
history. This has been done by many, particularly by
Bishop Patrick and Dr. J. M. Good, in their introduction
to that interesting portion of the sacred records.
But if we were, for the sake of argument, to grant that
* Carhsle on Evil Spirits, p. 109.

74 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
the book of Job is an allegory, still it must furnish to all
who believe in its inspiration a proof of the existence of
evil spirits, and even to those who do not, an evidence
that its author thought they existed. " Even the allusions
with which we meet in the Scripture, are allusions to real
facts, and to real beings. The writers of the Scriptures
neither did, nor could, consistently with their inspiration,
invent imaginary beings, either for the exercise of their
genius, or the amusement of their readers. Such conduct
would but ill become those who were commissioned to in
struct mankind in things spiritual. If therefore we should
grant that the first and second chapters of Job are an alle
gory, still we should maintain that all its allusions are
founded on fact, and that the poetical mention of Satan in
such a book would be a proof of his existence. Mankind
have invented superstitions enough, without receiving addi
tions to them from those Scriptures which are intended for
the destruction of error, and the diffusion of Divine truth."*
This reasoning appears to me perfectly correct ; as has al
ready been observed, the first two chapters of Job, if we
allow that they were written by the inspiration of the Divine
Spirit, prove the existence of evil spirits, even supposing
them to be a dramatic poem, just as clearly as if we take
them for a real history ; and if we grant that the book is
an eastern fable, as some have called it, still it proves that
its author believed in the existence of evil spirits. Does
not the parable of the rich man and Lazarus prove that
Jesus Christ believed in a future state of rewards and
punishments, and also of rich men and beggars, even if
it were granted or proved that no such persons as Lazarus
and Dives ever existed ? And the parable of the king who
made a marriage for his son, Matt, xxii., though the Saviour
might have, and probably had, no particular king in view,
takes it for granted that there are kings, and that they
sometimes make marriage feasts for their sons, and act
* Carlisle's Essay, p. 110.

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 75
such 4a part as is there described. Mr. Grundy requires
us, if we believe that it is a real history, and that it can
prove the existence of evil spirits, to take everything lite
rally. To this we answer, the demand is unreasonable,
nay, it even implies an absurdity. Are we to suppose,
that, because God asks Satan, "Whence earnest thou?"
he is not omniscient, and did not know where the arch
fiend had been ? In the parable of Jotham, Judges, ix. 7,
are we either to grant that the trees thought and spoke,
and made a king over them, or else allow that the author
of the parable did not believe in the existence of trees and
brambles ? So we can, with the greatest consistency, say
that there is no necessity for asserting that there was any
real discourse between God and Satan, or that the latter
actually appeared in heaven amongst the angels, the sons
of God; (the true worshippers of God on earth may be
meant — though it might be shown that there is not so
much absurdity as some take for granted, in supposing
that Satan actually appeared amongst the angels ;) and yet
the history may necessarily imply the existence of a wicked
being, called Satan, a malignant accuser and tempter ;
that he is obliged to give account of himself to God, is
under the control of the Divine Being, and can do no mis
chief but by his permission ; and that he is sometimes
suffered to tempt and injure the righteous. The existence
of Satan is just as much supposed here, as the existence of
God, or of men, or of marauders, or of storms and diseases.
R. Scott thinks that the term Satan is an appellative, and
that it includes the Sabeans and Chaldeans, and the wind,
and fire, and the leprosy, all of which are dramatically
represented as the enemies of Job. This is ridiculous :
it implies a violation of even all dramatic laws, as well as
of the principles of truth and nature. Could the robbers,
and winds, and fire, and leprosy, be represented as appear
ing before God amongst his sons ? as being asked by him
whether they had considered his servant Job ? as inti-

i O THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
mating doubts respecting the sincerity of his piety? as
moving God against him to destroy him? as daring God to
put forth his hand and touch all that he had? as going
out from the presence of the Lord and smiting Job with
sore boils ? How ineffably absurd ! Such incongruities
and impossibilities would not be tolerated in even a work
of imagination, far less in a real history, which there is no
doubt the book of Job is. But all the circumstances agree
well with the character of such a being as we suppose that
Satan is. As he is described in the Bible, there is nothing
stated here, but what he could and would do, as far as per
mission was granted to him. Would even Shakspere have
ever feigned such beings as his fairies, and witches, and
wizards, had he not known that in the periods to which he
referred, they were believed to exist ? And had he been
writing to correct men's views on religious subjects, and
to induce them to look to God alone, as the author of all
their mercies, and as the dispenser of all their trials, in
stead of aiming at gratifying their imaginations, would he,
not believing in their existence, have introduced such
beings into even dramatic representations ? Where was
the necessity or the utility of introducing a being like
Satan in addition to the Sabeans, and representing him as
different from them, if he had no existence, especially if it
were a real history ? and even if it were a moral fable, it
would have been as interesting and instructive without
him. Everything proves that the author of this book
believed in the existence of a wicked spirit, who, by the
permission of God, was the instigator of the plunderers of
Job, caused the death of his children, and smote him with
a painful and loathsome disease.
In the hundred and ninth Psalm, we have the following
language : " Set thou a wicked man over him, and let
Satan stand at his right hand." This may be correctly
translated, " Let an adversary, or enemy, or accuser, stand
at his right hand ; " and it is thus rendered by good scho-

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 77
lars and critics. Still, the question is, to whom does the
psalm relate, and who is meant by this enemy ? I must
entirely agree with those commentators who maintain that
it refers to Judas, and that it is a prophetical description
of his sin and punishment. " The sin of Judas was the
most immoral and unrighteous action which human ma
lignity ever had the opportunity of -perpetrating." " I can
discover no reason why this psalm should be supposed to
relate to David and his enemies, unless a hypothesis, which
has little support either from reason or Scripture, is to
be accepted as such. Nothing can be more significant of
the treachery and detestable impiety of Judas than the
accumulated particulars that are contained in this psalm ;
and in my apprehension, the force of the prediction is
materially impaired by any reference to David, besides his
being the chosen organ of this remarkable and graphical
prophecy."* The question then is, judging from the his
tory of Judas, did any human adversary act the part which
is pointed out in the sixth verse ? Did any enemy of this
kind either tempt Judas, or punish him, or prove the man
of his right hand in the commission of his crime ? He
tempted the chief priests by going and asking, " What will
ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you ? " Matt. xxvi.
15. Both Luke and John assure us it was Satan or the
devil that entered into Judas, and put it into his heart to
betray Jesus Christ. I cannot but think, therefore, that
Satan, or the chief of the apostate spirits, is the adversary
that stood at the right hand of Judas, who first tempted
him to betray his Master, and then to put an end to his
own miserable existence ; and that the common translation
gives the true sense. Some say that his own avarice was
the only devil or Satan that tempted him. But this could
not, with any propriety, be said to enter into him then, as
he had been under its influence, it had been his prevailing
disposition, for years past, perhaps during his whole life.
* Walford on the Psalms.

78 THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS.
If he had no tempter but his own covetous disposition,
how easy and natural would it have been to have said so !
What end could be answered, but that of obscuring the
statement, and misleading the reader, by saying that an
adversary or a Satan entered into him, and put it into his
heart to betray his Master ? Nay, I do not think it too
much to assert, that if -it could be proved that by the term
devil and Satan the sacred writer had his avarice in view,
still his meaning and the import of the passage are, that
it acted the part of an evil being, known by the name of
Satan, to him, and that therefore the existence of evil
spirits is here recognized. And is not the same idea con
veyed, when the Saviour said, " Have not I chosen you
twelve, and one of you is a devil ? "
There are several other passages which relate to the
subject under consideration, such as the following : " Now
is the judgment of this world ; now shall the prince of this
world be cast out," John xii. 31; "The prince of this
world cometh, and hath nothing in me," John xiv. 30 ;
" The prince of the power of the air," Eph. ii. 2 ; " For
we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against princi
palities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness
of this world," &c. Eph. vi. 12; "And they had a king
over them, who is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose
name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek
tongue hath his name ApoUyon," Rev. ix. 11 ; and the
account of our Lord's temptation in the wilderness ; on
which it may be expected some remarks should be made.
But this is not necessary after what has been advanced,
and some of them will come under review afterwards. All
who believe in the existence of evil spirits will apply them
to Satan ; and those who are not convinced by the passages
which have been illustrated, will not be convinced by any
other. It may be thought by some that I have dwelt too long '
on this part of the subject, and paid to the statements and

THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. 79
arguments of those who differ from us more attention than
they deserve. But the subject is one of very great import
ance, both on account of the doctrine itself which is at
issue, its relation to the duty and experience of the Chris
tian; its connexion with other important doctrines ; and
the principles of interpretation, by which an attempt is
made to prove that it is not found in the Bible ; and, as
has already been observed, hi one respect we should re
joice if our opponents could prove that they are right ; and,
consequently, that there are no such unhappy and malig
nant beings as those whom we designate evil spirits in
existence, and that therefore the Christian has no such
formidable enemies as they are to fear. We own that the
tenet in question is what some would call an alarming
and gloomy one; and so are many others that are presented
to us in the clearest light of truth shed around us both
from reason, and faith, and the word of God. And if we
wish to be " of the truth" according to the expressive
language of the Bible, we must bow to its authority, what
ever it enjoins ; we must embrace it in whatever form it
appears ; we must follow it wherever it leads ; and if we
do so, it will all be found salutary ; for as it is presented
to us, in the word of God, it all belongs, in one respect or
another, to that "truth which is in Jesus," by which his
disciples are sanctified and eternally saved ; to that truth
which furnishes the principles of Jehovah's government, is
the very basis of his throne, and which, we are assured, he
" keepeth for ever," as the invariable associate of his mercy
in all its glorious manifestations.

LECTUKE II.
THE CHARACTER, STATE, AND POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS.
Having ascertained, from the statements and intima
tions of the Bible, that there are such beings as those
which are commonly denominated devils or evil spirits, we
are naturally led to inquire, in the next place, what kind
of beings are they ; what was their original condition ; how
were they brought into their present state ; what is the
extent of their powers ; and what have we to fear from
them, as the enemies of our souls ? On these subjects,
though we have not much direct information in the word
of God, yet we are furnished with many important intima
tions and general principles, by which we may be guided
in our reasonings and inquiries, and from which we may
derive much useful knowledge.
Scripture and reason unite in assuring us that God, and
he alone, existed from eternity ; and that to him all crea
tures owe their being and original characters. He is
naturally, immensely, and unchangeably good, in the high
est and best sense of the word, and therefore nothing that
is, properly speaking, bad, can come from him ; for as
natural evils work together for the good of his people,
(Rom. viii. 28,) so we may conclude that, as sent by him,
they are always rendered subservient to some beneficial
and holy purpose, and are therefore good. The apostle
James gives us a beautiful epitome of both the deductions
of reason and the doctrine of the Bible on this important

CHARACTER, STATE, AND POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS. 81
point, chap. i. 17, "Every good gift and every perfect gift
is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of
turning." " The Father of lights," and therefore light in
all its kinds, and with all its important properties, is his
offspring, a kind of emanation from his very nature, if he
operates (ad extra, as it is sometimes expressed) at all.
We learn then from this important declaration what God
is necessarily, naturally, and unchangeably ; and what
must be the character of all his works. This eternal
Fountain of all life and excellence cannot send forth both
sweet waters and bitter. The uncreated Sun, or Light of
the universe, cannot be the cause of darkness, especially
in its worst form, that of moral evil, which is the very
blackness of the thickest gloom of hell. Not only is there
no real change with him, but there is not even the shadow,
the appearance of change. How then can there be such a
change as would take place, if this eternal, uncreated
light were to become the cause, the parent of darkness ?
"Do not err, my beloved brethren," exclaims the apostle
with a peculiar emphasis, which plainly intimates, that to
make God in any sense the author of sin, is a gross funda
mental error of the most pernicious influence, alike dis
honourable to him and injurious to his creatures ; and the
truth on this subject is, that " every good gift, and every
perfect gift, is from above, and cometh down from the
Father of lights." And it is plainly implied, no gifts but
what are good ; all emanations from him partake of this
character. He is the Creator of the ends of the earth, — of
the universe, and therefore of evil spirits ; but as brought
into existence by him, they must have been, in their ori
ginal state, like all his works, very good ; and they could be
reduced to their present condition, and becomewhat they are
as it regards their character, only by their voluntary defec
tion and rebellion. In accordance with these principles and
reasonings, the apostle Peter, 2 Ep. ii. 4, informs us that

82 THE CHARACTER, STATE, AND
they " sinned," and that as a punishment for their sin,
they were " cast down into hell, and delivered into chains
of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment." And Jude,
verse 6, asserts that these " angels kept not their first
estate," that, doubtless, in which they were placed by their
great Creator, " but left their own habitation," and there
fore " are reserved in everlasting chains under darkness
unto the judgment of the great day." And in the prospect
of this judgment, they are represented as "believing and
trembling," James ii. 19, and as exclaiming to the Saviour
when he was on earth, " Art thou come to torment us be
fore the time ?" Matt. viii. 29 ; " I adjure thee by God that
thou torment me not," Mark v. 7. We may conclude,
then, both from the dictates of reason and the statements
of the Bible, that evil spirits were created by God in a
state of perfect purity and happiness ; for this is necessary
to constitute the goodness of rational and accountable
beings : and that they fell from it by their own wilful trans
gression and rebellion against God. We have already
endeavoured to prove the possibility, and even, taking
everything into account, the probability of such an event.
In attempting, then, to form an idea of the present state,
character, and powers of fallen spirits, it is natural, and
even necessary, to advert to their original condition in all
these respects, as they were created by God ; and therefore
to attend to the information which the Bible gives respect
ing the holy elect angels. And as it is always delightful
and profitable to observe and trace the harmony between
reason and revelation, to see how, in many most important
cases, the latter confirms the conclusions and conjectures,
and enlightens the darkness of the former, we may just
glance at what it is rational to conclude are the character
and powers of these happy and glorious beings, who kept
their first estate.
Now there are several things which seem to indicate
that man is the very lowest order of accountable creatures.

POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS. 83
We know that in him the rational and irrational natures,
with their different capacities and powers, are united. He
partakes of the senses and instincts of mere animals, and
also of the capacities and powers of celestial spirits. Like
the former, he is the subject of sensations, and appetites,
and passions ; he needs the support of matter, moulded
into various kinds of nutriment : with the latter, he is
capable of knowing the character, of performing the will
of God, and of enjoying him as his portion : and it is
almost unnecessary to say, that the rational and imma
terial, is unspeakably the more important and excellent
part of his frame ; and that the body appears to contract
the capacities of the soul, to fetter its powers, and to im
pede them in their operations. How often, in this respect
as well as others, when the spirit is willing, and even
vigorous, the flesh. > is weak ! Farther, in man we see ra
tionality in the lowest, feeblest form, or state, in which it
can possibly exist.* Its principles lie dormant for some
time in the breast of the infant. He is at first entirely the
creature of instincts, and sensations, and appetites. Then
he begins to have some faint perception of reality, and
truth, and right, and wrong, and to reason on the facts
with which he has gained a slight acquaintance. In a
lower state than this, the power of reason cannot exist ;
here we see, as it were, its very commencement, its first
glimmering dawn, connected, in the improvement which
is afterwards realized, with its advancement towards the
perfect day. But betwixt its most effective development,
its highest attainments in man, in his present state, and
its absolute perfection, its infinitude in the Divine Being,
what a distance, what a chasm exists ! Is it then left en
tirely empty of rational beings ? Is it possible that man
is at once the lowest and the highest order of them ?
Would not this be a notion similar to that of those who,
in times that are past, imagined, because this world is the
* Appendix B.

84 THE CHARACTER, STATE, AND
only part of the universe to which they had personal access,
the inhabitants and productions of which they could ex
amine for themselves, that it alone is inhabited ; and that
all the Stars and planets are only shining points or gems,
the sparkling ornaments of the canopy which is stretched
over our heads, and that they were all created for the ex
clusive pleasure, or benefit, of men ? And will not this
remark apply, at least in some degree, to the opinions of
those who deny the existence of angels, either good or bad,
for no other reason, that I can conceive, but because they
cannot bring them, in any way, beneath the cognizance of
their senses ? We see a gradation, without any void, or
chasm, in vegetable life, from its very lowest to its highest
forms, endued, as far as we can conceive, with all its pos
sible sensibilities and beauties ; and also in animal life and
capacity, from the very dullest insect or shell-fish, to the
half-reasoning dog, or beaver, or elephant. Are we not
then warranted, by analogy and reason, to think that there
will be found, in the universe, a similar gradation, of which
man is the commencement, the lowest step, in rational
capacities and powers, to an inconceivable height above us
in various forms of glorious creatures ? And how high
may it rise ! How extensive may be the capacity, how
mighty the powers of many of these orders or ranks, espe
cially of the highest ! while still there is, and must be, an
infinite distance betwixt them and the Great Infinite Eter
nal ! How delightful, how animating, the hope presented
to us by the Gospel, and by the Gospel alone, of one day
joining these glorious beings ; gaining the most accurate
acquaintance with their characters ; being numbered
amongst their friends ; emulating them in their celestial
excellences ; and uniting with them in their worship and
pursuits ; and of thus coming, in the most emphatic sense
of the term, to an innumerable company of angels ; and
yet of viewing their glories as only the imperfect reflection
of the uncreated effulgence of Jehovah ! Alas, that this

POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS. 85
hope should be forfeited, for anything that earth and sin
can afford or promise ! How often is the folly of Esau, in
its worst form, repeated ! For what trifles and low gratifi
cations do men barter their celestial birthright !
And are we not warranted to conclude that the lowest
order of these spiritual, celestial beings must soar far above
us in capacity, power, excellence, and happiness ? The
meanest of the animal tribe rises, by the very possession
of life and feeling, far above the highest order of vegetables.
There is something unspeakably more interesting in a
capacity to feel, to enjoy, to suffer, to be sensible, in some
degree, of its own existence, and of that of other creatures,
than in all the forms, and laws, and motions, and affinities,
and beauties, of merely organized, but still completely dead
matter. There is a great gulf betwixt the former and the
latter, which nothing but infinite knowledge can fathom ;
over which nothing but almighty power can carry. Were
we once to allow that mere matter could be rendered ca
pable of sensation, by any division, or composition, or
motion, or position, of its particles, without any change in
its essential properties, or having united with it, or infused
into it, anything of a superior nature, we could not stop
here; we must allow that it is capable of thought and
reason, of being rendered all that men are ; and conse
quently we must admit all the absurdities connected with
this supposition, give up the immateriality of the soul,
and allow that there is no essential difference between the
most highly gifted philosopher, or the most eminent saint,
and the stones or mire of the streets. In like manner, the
meanest, the most stupid rational creature, that can reflect
on his own existence, and inquire after his Maker, — can
distinguish betwixt holiness and sin, — can enjoy the satis
faction of a good, or smart beneath the lashes of a bad
conscience, — can rise in its thoughts and desires to heaven,
and exult in the smile of Jehovah, or tremble at his frown,
i — can thus enjoy an infinite good, or suffer an infinite

86 THE CHARACTER, STATE, AND
evil, — is unspeakably, I had almost said infinitely, superior
to the most sagacious animal, to which the least idea of
God, and heaven, and eternity, could never be conveyed
by any possible culture, or by all the means that could
ever be used. Are we not then warranted by analogy to
allow, that as man appears to be the lowest order of rational
beings ; and at the same time, the link between matter and
spirit, rationality and irrationality, or between mere in
stinct connected with life, — and reason, — that the lowest
order of rational spiritual beings, the next link above him
in the chain of life and mental power, may be, I had
almost said, must be, far superior to him ? That as there
is an important property in animal life, which there is not
in vegetables ; and in rational beings, which is not in mere
animals ; so there may be in pure, spiritual existence, some
property or power, or at least a modification of a property
or power, which there is not in a compound being like
man, that will render the lowest order of the former supe
rior to the highest of the latter, especially while the soul is
united to a gross mortal body, and that too, as ours is, de
teriorated by sin.
Now these reasonings, or conjectures, if such' they must
be considered, are abundantly confirmed by the views which
the Scriptures give us of good angels in all their ranks
and gradations. They are always represented as far supe
rior to us, as possessing powers to which, as it regards their
extent, we can make no pretensions, and as able to perform
operations which may well fill us with astonishment, and
which are far above the reach of our ability. Hence, in
Exod. xxxiii. 2, God promises to send an angel before the
Israelites, to drive out the seven nations of Canaan. Here
an angel is represented as able to subdue all those kings
and their armies, or which amounts to the same, to enable
the Israelites to obtain the victory over them, and that by
some unseen influence or assistance afforded to them in
their conflicts, and, as it would appear from some facts

POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS. 87
which are recorded in the history of the wars of Joshua, by
rendering the laws of nature subservient to that purpose.
And that God had a created angel in view here, and not
the Angel of the Covenant, is evident from the threatening
which was connected with the promise; " For I will not go
up in the midst of thee ;" and from the effect produced on
the people ; " They mourned, and no man did put on him
his ornaments." Again, in 2 Sam. xxiv. and 1 Chron. xxi.
we are informed, that an angel was sent to punish the
Israelites, and to destroy Jerusalem, and that he smote in
one day, from Dan to Beersheba, seventy thousand. It is
true this was done by a pestilence, but it seems to be
plainly intimated that this plague was inflicted in an ex
traordinary way, by the ministry of an angel. Or if we
were to allow, for the sake of argument, that this was
merely a visionary representation to the minds of David
and Ornan, for both saw him, still there is a reference to
the native power of angels. Again, in Daniel iii. 38, we
read, that " God sent an angel and shut the lions' mouths,"
even when they were hungry and ravening for their prey.
From this it follows, that angels can control the instincts
and appetites of savage animals, by an influence of which
we have no conception. Psalm xxxiv. 7 ; " The angel of
the Lord encampeth round about those who fear him, and
delivereth them." Here it is implied that an angel is equal
to a host, and can guard the righteous on every side. The
angels that came to Lot smote the inhabitants of Sodom
with blindness. This they did, it would seem, by exciting
some influence either on the air or on the bodies of these
unhappy men, without coming into contact with them.
When an angel descended from heaven to roll back the
stone from the door of the sepulchre on the morning of
the Saviour's resurrection, there was a great earthquake, and
it seems to be plainly intimated that it was caused by his
power. In Acts v. 19, we find that the angel of the Lord
opened the prison doors, so that the keeper knew nothing

88

THE CHARACTER, STATE, AND

of what was done. In like manner the angel brought Peter
out of prison, and caused the iron gate which led into the
city to open of its own accord, Acts xii. 10. When the
angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds at the birth of
the Saviour, he caused a celestial glory to shine around
them, which overwhelmed them with fear. John (Rev. xviii.
1) saw a mighty angel who shone with so much effulgence,
that "the earth was lightened with his glory;" and this
appearance was doutless intended to indicate the greatness
of his mental power and moral excellence. And it was an
angel that presented to the mind or imagination of John
all the visions of the Apocalypse, Rev. xxii. 8. They are
said to " excel in strength," Psalm ciii., and it is evident
that the Psalmist has in view chiefly intellectual and moral
strength, which qualifies them for the service of God; for
" they do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of
his word ;" though, as I may afterwards endeavour to show,
it does not exclude what is equivalent to physical energy,
or power over matter to mould, and influence, and render
it subservient to their will. They are also denominated
" mighty angels," 2 Thess. i. 7, where the apostle has in
view an occasion on which there might will be put in
requisition, and manifested in the most striking manner;
for the great probability is, that they will be employed to
effect many of the changes that will take place, and to
exhibit many of the wonderful scenes that will be mani
fested, at the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ: and
we are assured, that at the end of the worid, " The reapers
are the angels," and that " the angels shall come forth, and
shall sever the wicked from amongst the just," Matt. xiii.
39, 49. And it is evident from all the accounts which are
given us of them in the Bible, that they excel in wisdom as
much as in strength ; or rather, as has just now been ob
served, that their strength is principally the power of
wisdom and knowledge: and that in these they are far
superior to men is plainly implied in the language of the

POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS. . 89
Saviour, Matt. xxiv. 36, " But of that day and hour knoweth
no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only."
The same fact is evident from Psalm civ. and Heb. i. 7,
where we are informed, that God " maketh his angels
spirits, and his ministers a flaming fire." *
That angels are far superior to men in activity, know
ledge, power, and dignity, is clearly implied in the figurative
representations which are given of them in Scripture, par
ticularly in Isa. vi., Ezek. i. and x., and in the book of
Revelation, where the cherubim and seraphim and living
creatures are described as being full of eyes, to denote
their knowledge and wisdom, as having six wings, as not
resting day or night, as running to and fro like flames of
fire, as being the constant attendants on God, and being
permitted to see his glory, and to stand in that presence
which no man can see and live. They sustain the highest
honours, and realize all the happiness, and discharge the
most important offices, of that celestial kingdom, which flesh
and blood cannot inherit. And if any should object that
the living creatures are not angels, since in the book of
Revelation the former are distinguished from the latter,
Rev. v. 11, this would not invalidate the argument; for the
angels are, in this passage, presented to us as their com
panions, as equal to them, and as engaged in the same
work. The dignity, the powers, of these celestial beings,
and their great superiority to men, are also plainly implied
in the names and epithets which are given to them in the
Scriptures. They are denominated not only angels, or
messengers, by way of eminence, but also cherubim and
seraphim, thrones, authorities, dominions, principalities,
and powers. In addition to all this, they are perfect in
holiness ; for they are designated by way of eminence,
" holy angels," Matt. xxv. And we are sure that their
moral purity must be complete, without the least imperfec
tion or stain, for they dwell in the immediate blissful
* Appendix C.

90 . THE CHARACTER, STATE, AND
presence of God, they are the constant inhabitants of those
glorious regions into which nothing that defileth can pos
sibly enter. It is also evident from the statements of the
Bible respecting them, that they are immortal. Some of
them may have been for millions of ages employed in con
templating the glories of God, and in realizing intellectual
improvement ; and still eternity is before them. In every
respect, they are far superior to men.
To these glorious beings, fallen angels originally be
longed. It is the dictate of reason, it is plainly implied in
the statements ofthe Bible, that they, as well as men, were
created in the image of God, perfect in knowledge, wisdom,
purity, and happiness. What was their rank amongst these
exalted spirits, we have no means of ascertaining. But, as
it evidently follows from the representations of the Scrip
tures, that there are gradations, as it regards intellect and
dignity, amongst the holy angels, so it is probable, that
those who fell might belong to several orders of the celestial
hierarchy ; and consequently that there are subordination
and superiority amongst them still — that some excel others
in capacity and power, and exercise a degree of authority
over those who are inferior ; and even that some are worse,
more depraved, more impious, and malignant, and impure
than others. Whilst the Scriptures, as well as fact, assure
us that amongst the fallen sons of men " there is none
righteous, no not one ;" that all are under the influence of
the carnal mind, which " is enmity against God ;" yet some
even of those who are placed, as far as possible, precisely
in the same circumstances, are far more depraved than
others ; it is reasonable then to suppose that similar gra
dations in wickedness will exist amongst fallen spirits.
Farther, we find that outlaws and robbers, and even syste
matic murderers, (such as Thugs and slave-dealers,) are
obliged to have some kind of government amongst them,
to have rulers and laws; and that the boldest and most
vigorous, those who are best qualified to be ringleaders in

POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS. 91
mischief, and to repel the attacks of enemies, or the efforts
of those who endeavour to reduce them to order, and
maintain the authority of law and government, are invested
with rule amongst them. So we may suppose, nay, we may
regard it as certain, it is amongst those unhappy beings
who are banished from heaven, and are leagued in rebellion
against the Sovereign of the universe. The principles of
rationality, even when perverted, the influence of sin, to a
certain extent the necessity of the case, would lead to this
combination which we have supposed. So far, then, we
may allow the representation of our great poet to be
correct : — " Devil with devil damned firm concord holds."
We should greatly err, however, were we to imagine that
they live together in harmony and love, that all amongst
them is peace and concord. No, this would be to transfer,
in our imaginations, one of the glories of the celestial
regions, one of the sources of their happiness, to the
infernal world. Heaven is the region of love and peace ;
hell of hatred, discord, strife and confusion. Fallen spirits,
doubtless, even more than fallen men, "live in malice and
envy, hateful and hating one another." All this is con
sistent, however, with the subordination of which I have
spoken, and with their being leagued in rebellion against
God, and in their efforts to diffuse sin, confusion, and
misery, throughout the universe. One in particular, de
nominated in Scripture the devil, by way of eminence, the
old serpent and Satan, the wicked one, appears to be " the
king of the bottomless pit," the ringleader and ruler of its
wretched inhabitants. To him, partly, perhaps, in conse
quence of the force that is exerted on them, and partly out
of infernal policy, all the hosts of hell submit, and under
him they carry on their impious warfare against their
Creator and lawful Sovereign. That God should permit
them to do this for a long course of ages, and even to

92 THE CHARACTER, STATE, AND
realize vaiious degrees of success in their impious warfare
against heaven, and in many cases to execute their plans,
is not more mysterious or unaccountable, than are numer
ous facts connected with this lower world. These led a
prophet to exclaim, " Wherefore doth the way of the wicked
prosper? wherefore are they all happy that deal very
treacherously?" Jer. xii. 1. " Behold, these are the un
godly who prosper in the world, they increase in riches,"
Psa. Ixxiii. 12. Indeed, it deserves to be carefully remarked
and repeatedly asserted, that there is not a single cavil
which has been raised, or objection that has been urged
against the scriptural account, and I must add, against
what is called the orthodox belief, as held by intelligent
Christians, respecting evil spirits, and the part which they
act as it regards the human race, which might not be raised
and urged, against what we see and feel every day. Now,
on account of the subordination of which we have spoken,
their ringleader is represented in the Bible as a ruler, a
king, amongst these unhappy beings, and they as his
angels, his messengers, his agents, Matt. xxv. 41. Under
him there may be " thrones, and dominions, princedoms,
powers," in hell as well as in heaven. If we suppose that
pride was the first, the ruining sin of Satan, his punish
ment would inflame, would madden his ambition, instead
of quenching it. The representation of the poet, here
again, perfectly agrees with trath and nature. We might
almost imagine that Satan actually exclaimed,
" To reign is worth ambition, though in hell ;
Better to reign in hell, than serve iu heaven."
May not something take place amongst these fallen spirits
similar to what we know often occurs amongst men?
May not Satan, the tempter of the rest, attach to his part
and plans those who were next to him in power and
dignity ? And may not these influence others, and thus
all their ranks and multitudes be induced, be forced, to

POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS 93
submit to the prince of hell ; especially because his
depraved views and dispositions are similar to their own ?
Notwithstanding all their knowledge and craft, they are all
supremely foolish ; who can say how far he might impose
on them by his " glozing lies," and specious promises,
though false as hell ? We are fully warranted, then, by the
deductions of reason and sound philosophy, in supposing
that, according to the intimations of the Bible, there are
various orders amongst the fallen spirits, and that all are
subordinate to one chief; and that therefore we may con
sider them as the devil and his angels.*
We are justified, then, in asserting that their powers and
honours might be inconceivably great in heaven — that
Satan, their ringleader, might be equal to Gabriel or
Michael— that " High in the midst of all the throng,
Satan, a tall archangel, sat ; "
and that mighty spirits, of various ranks, fell with him.
And how great was their fall ! Who can say with how much
ardour love to God burned in their breasts; how near to
his burning, splendid, majestic throne they were able to
approach ; what smiles of his countenance, what tokens of
his regard they realized ; what blessings they received from
him ; with what ecstasy, and in how lofty strains they
sang his praises ; how glorious was their purity, or what
rapturous pleasure filled their breasts ? Here again we
have scriptural facts both for argument and illustration.
How amiable and excellent was the character of our first
parents when created in the image of God ; in that image
which includes in it all possible moral excellences ; all the
principles and graces which the omnipotent influences of
the Divine Spirit are necessary to form in the character of
believers, and which heaven itself will only complete !
What favours did they receive from God ! what manifesta-
* Appendix I).

94 THE CHARACTER, STATE, AND
tions of his glory did they witness ! what wonder and
gratitude and pleasure must have filled their breasts ! We
can scarcely help imagining that they actually sang,
" These are thy glorious works, Parent of good
Almighty; thine this universal frame,
Thus wondrous fair ; thyself how wondrous then ! "
What then must have been the case with those who were
angels and archangels in heaven ! The very fact of their
being, in consequence of their rebellion and fall, in such
a degraded and wretched state — utterly and for ever ban
ished from heaven and from hope, "reserved in chains under
darkness, to the judgment of the great day," implies, that
their privileges and glories were something like what we
have supposed, on the principle, that, " to whomsoever
much is given, of him shall much be required," that " the
servant who knew his Lord's will, and did it not, shall be
beaten with many stripes," and that in proportion to the
nearness to heaven to which any are exalted, must be, if
they rebel, the profundity of the depths of hell into which
they are cast. What an appalling contrast is presented
between their present and their past state and character ;
one that may well, at times, diffuse deep, awful solemnity
through the frames of the blessed angels themselves.
How must the hell of these fallen spirits be half formed
by the recollection of their former heaven ! And how
dreadful the power of moral evil, since it thus perverts
and destroys the noblest works of God ! Is it not probable
that one act of wilful, determined rebellion against God,
or of trifling with his authority, and transgression of his
law, would, by its native influence and necessary operation
on all rational creatures, have transformed angels of the
highest order into demons ; an archangel into the prince
of hell ; one of the most glorious and happy, into one of
the most deformed, and hateful, and wretched beings in
existence, ruining him for ever and ever? How evil and

POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS. 95
bitter a thing is it to depart from the living God ! How
destructive that death into the regions of which those who
do so, wander ! What then must be the influence of all
the sins which every one of us has committed, if we are
left under their guilt and power through the ages of
eternity ! Into what an abyss of depravity and wretched
ness must they sink ! — it must be a bottomless pit ! ! The
fall of these exalted beings directs our attention to that
most difficult question, whether considered naturally or
morally, the origin of sin in one of its most mysterious
forms. For how, it may well be asked, is it possible that
creatures so wise, and holy, and happy, could, and that
without being assaulted by any tempter, be dissatisfied
with their state, could desire any change, and endeavour to
effect one, by acting so foolishly and wickedly ? But on
this subject we must merely observe, that we know by facts
and experience, presented to us, not only in the history,
but in the present state of the world, that wise and holy
creatures can act foolishly and impiously, and directly con
trary to their general views, and inclinations, and habits.
A man who can with truth, and in the presence of God
exclaim, " Oh how I love thy law ! it is my study all the
day," has grossly violated that law, and that in cases in
which we should have thought his principles and habits
would have effectually secured him. And the most plau
sible theories must be wrong when they are opposed to
undoubted fact.
What was the first sin which Satan committed, and for
which he was banished from heaven, it is of course, as
nothing is expressly revealed respecting it, impossible to
determine.* The general opinion, and it is, to say the
least, as probable as any other, is, that it was pride ; and
there is one passage of Scripture wliich seems to favour
this sentiment, 1 Tim. iii. 6: "Not a new convert, lest
being puffed up with pride, he fall into the condemnation
* Appendix E.

96 THE CHARACTER, STATE, AND
of the devil." Some render this "the condemnation of
the accuser" or evil speaker. In this way Erasmus,
Coverdale, Cranmer, and others translate 6 8id/3oXos. But
though it often has this meaning, I cannot think that
there is here a reference to any human accuser or evil
speaker, and to the way in which he would condemn, or
cause to be condemned, one who was lifted up with pride.
For those who brought the charge against him, in the case
supposed, would not be false accusers or slanderers, they
would be speaking the truth ; and pride is not a sin which
would have arrested the attention of the enemies of the
Christians, and induced informers to cause them to be
condemned and punished by either Jews or heathens.
The words 6 diafioXo? most naturally refer to the great
accuser of the brethren and slanderer of God and men,
and the sin which he committed. Not to urge that the
word Kplg-a sometimes means crime, or fault, and might,
without doing violence to either the text or connexion, be
rendered "the crime, or fault of the devil." The most
natural interpretation of the passage then is, lest being
puffed up with pride, which was the first sin of the devil,
the young bishop be condemned as he was. And when we
consider the character, the original dignity and circum
stances of Satan, as far as we can form any idea of
them, ambition, leading him to aspire to be independent
of God, if not equal to him, was the sin into which he was
most in danger of falling. If he was one of the loftiest
spirits in heaven ; if he felt working within him a mighty
celestial energy of thought and action; if he was invested
with authority over inferior spirits, all of which were yet
powerful and glorious in their measure, and even in a high
degree; if in these circumstances he sinned at all, the
probability is, that it would be by forgetting his duty to his
Maker, byarrogating to himself independence on God, if not
equality to him, and by requiring from inferior spirits that
homage and obedience which were due to Jehovah. Hence

POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS. 97
we find that pride was the spirit which he breathed when
he seduced our first parents, the essence of the sin to
which he tempted them ; " Your eyes shall be opened, and
ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil;" equality to
God was what he proposed to them. And as his design
was to ruin them, what would appear to him more likely
to accomplish his purpose, than that which ruined him
self? In accordance with this, we find that he endeavoured
in the same way to overcome the blessed Redeemer.
When his other attacks had failed, he proposed all the
kingdoms of the world, and all the glory of them ; hoping
that this might enkindle the flame of ambition in the
breast of even the iUustrious Messiah.
Whatever was their sin, the apostles Peter and Jude
inform us that they did sin. " They kept not their princi-
' polity,'' or their government, as the word is correctly ren
dered by some ; that state of dignity and power and high
privilege, — and perhaps of dominion in the case of many
of them, over inferior spirits, — in which they were placed by
the supreme authority and goodness of the Sovereign Lord
of the universe ; and which they could preserve only by
paying to him the homage to which he had the most
sacred claims. They " left their own habitation," or resi
dence, or sphere. Perhaps " by their own habitation,"
heaven in general may be intended. This, while they
continued innocent, was their home, their Father's house,
in which they were created, or as it were born, to which
they had constant access, and in which they enjoyed the
immediate presence of God. Or, according to some
interpreters, the word oiKn-rfipiov may denote a residence or
station assigned to them in some other region of the
universe, where they had important duties to perform,
still enjoying, however, the presence of the omnipresent
Jehovah, and realizing complete felicity; and it is not at
all improbable that this may be its meaning. If so, the
language of the apostle intimates that they voluntarily, in

98 THE CHARACTER, STATE, AND
opposition to the will and command of God, left their
office and residence, and neglected and refused to perform
their duty. Or if the former interpretation be preferred,
then the expression appears to denote they willingly left
heaven itself, and preferred the loss of all its glories to
submission to God, and the performance of the duties
•which he required.
In this revolt, it appears from the hints which are given
in other passages of Scripture, the being known by the
name of Satan, or the devil, was the ringleader. In his
mind, enlightened and pure as it was, the idea (unaccount
ably to us) sprung up of disputing the claims of God,
breaking his laws, forming and executing plans directly
opposed to his, and finding happiness, — greater than even
that of heaven, — in a state of moral and spiritual separation
from the eternal Source of all felicity ! This project, we
may suppose, he communicated to others, presenting it in
the most plausible forms ; and unhappily he prevailed, and
persuaded multitudes of the heavenly hosts to enlist under
liis standard of rebellion ; in consequence of which they
left heaven, or left their own office or residence, and were
therefore completely and for ever excluded from the realms
of happiness. The apostles inform us that they were
thrust down into the regions of darkness, and reserved in
everlasting chains, (chains that can never be broken, and
will never be loosed,) under darkness, to the judgment of
the great day. Chains are one means of securing prison
ers, and places of confinement, especially dungeons, are
usually dark. In allusion to these facts, the fallen angels
are said to be reserved in chains under darkness, and
wherever they go, in whatever part of the universe they
ara permitted to range, they are still bound in these chains,
they are still surrounded with this darkness, they are still
in the prison of eternal justice, they may at any time be
seized in a moment, and dragged to the tribunal where
their final doom is to be pronounced. The historian of

POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS. 99
the Roman empire has elegantly and forcibly said, that
the whole world was but a spacious prison for those who
offended the emperor of Rome ; he could reach the objects
Of his displeasure at any time, or in any place, and drag
them to punishment. With much greater propriety may
it be said that the universe is but a spacious prison to those
who have offended the universal Sovereign, and are doomed
by him to destruction ; and a sense of his displeasure and
of their own depravity must involve them in the most
dreadful spiritual and moral darkness wherever they go,
even if they were permitted to appear in heaven itself.
" Darkness is a state obviously suitable for beings to whom
the light of heaven was unsatisfactory and odious; and
chains are most proper for beings whose proud and wanton
wishes were discontented with the glorious liberty of the
sons of God. Both also united form a degradation emi
nently fitted for beings who, at the head of the created
universe, were impatiently ambitious of a higher station.
Both at the same time, constitute a proper temporary
punishment for beings who rebelled against the govern
ment of God himself."*
But, however dreadful their state, their punishment is
not yet complete ; they are reserved to the judgment of
the great day, when they are to be called to an account,
not only for their original rebellion, but for all their sub
sequent wickedness ; and especially for seducing and ruin
ing men, and tempting them to crimes of every description,
and for their opposition to the Son of God, and to the
spiritual kingdom which he has erected on earth.
It does not appear that there is the least degree of hope
either of their obtaining mercy, or of their being disposed
to seek for it by repentance and submission ; and perhaps
we may say that these two things are inseparably connected,
and operate one on the other ; and that, in a very important
sense, the latter is the cause of the former. Were their
» Dwight, vol. i. p. 357.

100 THE CHARACTER, STATE, AND
wickedness and depravity not of such a character that they
will never repent and seek for mercy, and desist from their
opposition to God, it is not for us to say what might be
the conduct of the Divine Being towards them. We read in
Heb. vi. 4, of some who had so sinned amidst the enjoyment
of great and peculiar privileges, that it was " impossible to
renew them again to repentance," and especially because
they had " trampled under foot the Son of God, and had
accounted the blood of the covenant wherewith they were
sanctified, an unholy thing." Perhaps, then, on account
of the circumstances in which the fallen angels sinned,
amidst the light, and enjoyments, and privileges of heaven
itself, there is the same impossibility of renewing them to
repentance — the same reason, essentially, for dooming
them to eternal punishment. This impossibility may be
not merely a great difficulty, but something connected
with the very nature of things, and the wisdom and recti
tude of the Divine government. But not to dwell on this,
we know, from the very constitution of rational beings, and
from the nature and influence of sin, that these fallen
spirits must be dreadfully depraved. The very act of re
belling against Jehovah, amidst all their light, and their
knowledge of his character, and all their experience of his
goodness — the violence they must have done to their own
judgment and convictions, before they could indulge any
dishonourable ideas of a God of infinite perfection, and
dare to trample on his authority and law, must have dread
fully perverted all their views and feelings, and disordered
their whole moral frame. The entire failure of their at
tempt, whatever it was; their complete loss of all self-
respect; the condemnation, the reproaches of their own
consciences ; the workings of the evil passions which they
engendered in theirown frames; the frowns of the Almighty;
the sentence passed on them ; the despair which would
seize their breasts, and spread its frightful clouds all
around ; the punishment, however just, that was inflicted

POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS. 1 0 1
on them, would, as it were, madden and infuriate them,
and render them desperate and reckless in wickedness, and
would thus deprave them, to the utmost extent of their
powers and capacities, and fill them, as we know sin has
done men, with all unrighteousness, impurity, wickedness,
maliciousness, envy, deceit, pride, cruelty, impiety, and
hatred of God, Rom. i. 29. If such a description as this
will apply to the human race, — is applied to them by an
inspired apostle, notwithstanding all the restraints under
which they are laid, and all the means which God is using
with them to bring them to repentance, (for the apostle
proves that there is no difference between Jews and Gen
tiles — that of both it may be said, " Their throat is an
open sepulchre ; with their tongues they have used deceit;
the poison of asps is under their lips ; whose mouth is full of
cursing and bitterness ; their feet are swift to shed blood,")
— what must have been the effect of sin committed by
angels in heaven ! — what its influence, since they were left
without hope, without, as far as we know, any means being
employed to stop them in their downward course ; but
when, on account of the way in which they were forsaken
by God, and of the condemnation of their own consciences,
and the operation of their depraved and guilty passions,
they must have sunk into despair of ever finding mercy,
and that partly, perhaps principally, because they were
conscious of being entirely destitute of the least disposition
to seek it in any way that could be acceptable to God ! It
is a generally admitted principle, established by reasoning
and verified by facts, that the more excellent anything is
in itself, and the more important the purposes to which it
can be applied, the worse, the more corrupt and vile (if it
is capable of vileness), the more destructive does it become
when it is entirely perverted. What would be so injurious
to man as the food on which he lives, or the air which he
¦breathes, if its properties were so changed as to become
the very reverse of what they are ? It is not within the

102 THE CHARACTER, STATE, AND
range of possibility that an irrational animal should ever
become so hateful and pernicious a being as a thoroughly
wicked man. It requires the perversion, the utter depra
vation of an angel, to make a devil ; of an archangel, to
produce the prince of the devils. In proportion, therefore,
to the height of capacity and power, of dignity and happi
ness, to which Satan and his associates were raised by the
omnipotence and bounty of the Great Creator, must neces
sarily be the depth of the gulf of depravity and wretched
ness into which they precipitated themselves by sin ; a gulf
out of which they can never rise, and from which we have
fearful intimations in the Scriptures that God will never
raise them.
It follows, then, that the hints which the Scriptures give
us respecting the fall and malignity of evil spirits, their
determined opposition to God, their insane attempts to
frustrate his plans, and their ceaseless efforts to ruin man,
to render him as depraved and wretched as themselves, are
perfectly consistent with the deductions of reason, and with
the evidence of facts. And this observation will apply to
their not being immediately doomed to suffer the full
punishment due to their rebellion, but being " reserved to
the judgment of the great day," and their being permitted
in the mean time to tempt men, and to oppose the plans
of God. Both of these are perfectly analogous to what we
see and experience of the Divine dispensations in the go
vernment of the world. When evil spirits rebelled and
incurred the Divine displeasure, they did not cease to be
accountable as it regarded their future conduct. Banish
ment from heaven, and consignment to that condition
which is represented in the Scriptures as being " cast down
to hell, and delivered into chains of darkness," constituted
all the punishment which God saw fit to inflict at that
time. It is in vain for us to imagine or conjecture what
would have been the case if they had ceased from their
opposition to God, and had humbled themselves under his

POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS. 103
mighty hand ; for this we know they have not done, and
from the very nature of sin, whenever it pervades the frame
of rational creatures, and perverts all their views and
feelings, this they never will do. But doubtless their state,
had this been the case, and the conduct of God towards
them, would have been very different from what they are.
Is it not probable that the incorrigibleness of sinners, or
the fact that they never will repent of themselves, is one
thing that renders an atonement necessary, before God can,
consistently with his justice, bestow on them one of the
most valuable of all his gifts, viz. the influence of his Spirit,
to renovate their hearts and make them partakers of his
holiness ? Fallen angels, however, whatever be the degree
of punishment inflicted on them, and whatever was the de
sign of that infliction, are still responsible for their deeds,
and at that great day they will have to give account
not only for their original rebellion, but for all their sub
sequent wickedness. May it not be said, then, that in one
sense they are still in a state of probation ; that God is
trying them in order to manifest to themselves and to
the universe all that is in their natures, and thus to de
monstrate that it is an unspeakably evil and bitter thing to
forsake God and rebel against him ? The fact that the
result with regard to them is certain, and well known to
the Divine Being, is no valid objection against this asser
tion. He well knew how the Israelites would act in the
wilderness, and how men, whether saints or sinners, will
conduct themselves in all circumstances. The issue of the
trial is just as certain in their case as in that of the fallen
angels, and yet this does not render the probation of the
former superfluous. Why should it be thought to render
unnecessary that of the latter ?
But to return from this digression, it follows from what
has been advanced, that the character of these fallen spirits
must be a compound of craft, subtlety, envy, hatred to God
and all his creatures, pride, obstinacy, malignity, and im-

104 THE CHARACTER, STATE, AND
piety; that they must be morally capable of any act or
form of wickedness, which their power and circumstances
render it possible for them to perpetrate. In how many
lamentable cases do we see men reduced to such a state,
and their characters and conduct presenting such a com
pound, as that which has just been specified ! And hence
the names or epithets which are given in the Scriptures to
these wretched beings, and especially to their ringleader,
as the representative of all the rest. He is denominated
"the Devil," that is the accuser or slanderer; "Satan,"
the enemy, and that in the worst sense of the word ; " the
wicked one ;" "Apollyon," and "Abaddon," the destroyer;
" the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience;"
" the tempter ;" " the old serpent ;'' " the great dragon."
He is represented as the great opponent and determined
enemy of the Son of God, who came to destroy his works
and deliver his captives ; as constantly engaged in tempt
ing and destroying men ; as excluded from all hope ; and
as doomed to spend his eternity in unquenchable fire,
which was prepared for him and his angels ; — names and
representations of fearful, terrible import, and which lead
•us to conclude that he is the most depraved and wretched
being in the universe ! How miserable are those who are
taken captive by him at his will, and who are to be involved
with him in his ruin ! Let none think that they are
exempt from danger here, because of the moral excellence
of their character, and the amiableness of their disposition,
if they are forgetting God, if they are destitute of supreme
love to him, and of faith in Jesus Christ. Trusting to
moral excellence, when confined to the claims of men,
valuable and lovely as it may be, is just one of the devices
of Satan to ruin immortal souls. It is one of the golden
chains with which he binds his captives ; or, to change the
figure, one of the opiates which he administers to those
whom he has lulled to sleep, and whom, perhaps we may
say, he would not disturb by urging them, if he could do

POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS. 105
so, to the commission of gross crimes. How valuable the
promise — who would not seek an interest in it ? " The
God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly !"
It follows from what has been advanced, especially from
the statements of the word of God, that while there are
different degrees of intellectual capacity amongst evil
spirits, yet the powers of all of them, and especially of
their prince, and of the highest orders, must be fearfully
great ; I say fearfully, because they employ them only to
do mischief. I can by no means adopt the theory, that if
we suppose the abilities of devils to have been originally a
little superior to those of a highly-gifted man, and take
into the account the way in which they must have been
increased by exercise and experience, and the knowledge
they have acquired, our estimate may probably be nearly
correct. If the premises which have been laid down are
valid, the lowest order of them must have originally pos
sessed capacities and powers superior to the greatest of
men ; while, perhaps, the united intellect of hundreds of
mortals would not equal that of the superior ranks, espe
cially of their leader. Probably they may possess a degree
of vigour of intellect, of power of acquiring knowledge, of
operating on matter, and rendering it subservient to their
purposes, of communicating their ideas to one another,
and of influencing the minds of men, and therefore of act
ing the part of tempters, of which we have little conception ;
and the actions which are ascribed to them in Scripture,
and the hints which it contains respecting their influence
on men, as well as the views which are given of the powers
and actions of good angels, confirm this opinion. And
also, we must take into the account their invisibility to
human vision, their immortality, their exhaustless vigour
and power of action, (for exhaustless it may be deemed
when compared to ours,) their long and varied experience,
gained in heaven, on earth, and in hell ; and then we shall
see that they possess vast advantages over us in our spiritual

106 THE CHARACTER, STATE, AND
warfare ; they must, therefore, prove most dangerous ene
mies. I know it has been maintained by some writers, and
amongst others by Dr. Watts, in his Philosophical Essays,
that spirits have no natural power of operating on matter,
and that therefore they cannot influer ie it at all, unless
special, extraordinary ability is imparted to them by God
for that purpose. But, notwithstanding the plausible ar
guments by which they defend this opinion, I must think
it incorrect ; nor do I see any difficulty in answering, were
this the proper occasion, all the objections (and their proofs
of their own opinion are chiefly presented in the form of
objections) which they urge against the contrary sentiment.
It is granted by them that God, the Father of spirits,
possesses complete power over matter, to create and anni
hilate, to mould and influence it as he pleases. Created
spirits bear the image, and partake of the nature of God ;
and this implies some portion, however small, of his power
to think and act. We know of only two substances in the
universe, matter and spirit. Those who believe that the
soul of man belongs to the latter, must allow that in its
essence it resembles God, and participates of the properties
of his essence. Since he, then, possesses infinite power
over matter, must not created spirits be endued with limited
power over it, according to the measure of their native
ability? How, otherwise, could they bear the image of
God, or partake of the properties of his nature ? Some,
indeed, maintain, that power, knowledge, wisdom, holiness,
and benevolence are essentially different, not only in their
degree, but in their very nature and properties, in God,
from what they are in the creature. But this opinion is
not consistent with either the language of Scripture, or
the conclusions of reason. The Bible not only informs us
that men were made, and are renewed in the likeness of
God, but it exhorts us to study conformity to him, to be
"holy as he is holy." It informs us that believers are

POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS. 107
made " partakers of the Divine nature." And if there were
an essential difference betwixt the spirituality of God, and
the spirituality of angels, and of the souls of men ; betwixt
his power, and wisdom, and goodness, and holiness, and
happiness, and theirs, (and not merely an infinite superi
ority in him, as it regards degree, and the manner of their
existence,) how could we be said to possess any knowledge
of God, or any correct ideas of him at all ? He would be,
in that case, as much to the wisest Christian, we might say
to the wisest angel, as he was to the idolatrous Athenians,
an " unknown God." Can this be the case ? Both reason
and Scripture reply, No. His existence is necessary and
underived, and includes all duration and all space ; the
existence of creatures is contingent, derived, and confined
to a portion of duration and of space ; but there is a real
resemblance betwixt them in nature and properties, so far
as mere existence, opposed to non-existence, is concerned.
Again, he knows all things ; men and angels know some
things ; but knowledge, which is an acquaintance with
truth or facts, is the same in its nature in both cases.
The benevolence of God is infinite, that of men and angels
is limited ; but its essential property, wishing well to beings
that are capable of enjoyment, and feeling satisfaction in
their welfare, is the same in each ; and similar observations
might be made with regard to wisdom, and purity, and
happiness. Are we not, then, led to the conclusion, that
the power of spirits is the same in its nature with that of
God, though infinitely less in its degree ; and consequently,
that as his extends to matter, and includes complete con
trol over it all, in every respect, — so theirs must extend to
it likewise, and include ability to move and influence some
parts or portion of its various forms, and to render them
subservient, to a limited extent, to their purposes ? That
we cannot form any conception of the way or manner in
which this is done, is no argument at all against the truth
of what has been advanced. We are utterly ignorant of

1 08 THE CHARACTER, STATE, AND
the way by which our souls can, by a mere volition, move
the members of our own bodies ; we only know the fact by
experience ; the mode is just as mysterious as the way in
which disembodied spirits may operate on matter can be.
That angels have possessed the power in question, and
have rendered material substances subservient to many
purposes which they wished to effect, is evident from the
statements of the Bible ; and there is no evidence whatever
that any special energy was imparted to them by God on
those occasions ; or that he exerted his omnipotence when
some words were uttered, or signs were given by them.
For instance, we are not to suppose, when the angel rolled
away the huge stone from the door of the sepulchre on the
morning of the Saviour's resurrection, that the Divine
Being exerted the energy requisite, and that the action was
really done by him, though it appeared to be performed by
the heavenly messenger. The narration in this, and in
similar instances, leads to the conclusion that the actions
were performed by these celestial spirits themselves. And
how could it with any propriety be asserted of them, that
they " excel in strength," if whole legions of them could
not, by any inherent or natural power that they possess,
and can exercise when they please, have effected that which
a few puny mortals could easily have accomplished ? which
is certainly implied in the hypothesis which we are oppos
ing ; for the latter could have rolled away the stone, and
the former could not ; nay, would it not follow that all the
angelic hosts of heaven could not move a pebble or a
feather ? Angels must have, some means of discerning the
forms and appearances of matter, of ascertaining its pre
sence and extent, and some of its properties ; or else how
could the morninsr stars have sunq', and the sons of God
shouted for joy, when the foundations of the earth were
laid ? And how could they perform the services with which
they are frequently charged, since these have a relation to
matter? How could they minister to the saints, as we

POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS. 109
know from the Scriptures they frequently do ? And to those
who believe in real possessions we may say, unless they
have some means and power of operating on matter, how
could evil spirits have taken possession of the bodies of
men in the time of our Saviour, produced insanity, inflicted
various diseases, and tormented and lacerated them in the
most shocking manner? How could they have entered
into the swine, and caused them to run violently into the
sea ? In all these cases their influence seems evidently to
have been exerted on the bodies of their victims. Surely
we cannot suppose or allow that God would have exerted
his omnipotence, in order to communicate to them ability
which they did not possess naturally, nay, that he would
have wrought a miracle, in order to enable these wicked
spirits to do mischief, or to give effect to their malicious
wishes. This appears to me a far greater difficulty than
any with whieh the contrary opinion is encumbered.
The fact that our spirits cannot operate on matter, or
produce any effects or changes in it, with the exception of
their own bodies, or through them, as instruments, does
not at all militate against the theory which I am endeavour
ing to support ; for, from the extent of their power, when
they are united to a portion of matter so intimately as to
form one person with it, or to be one constituent part of
that person of which matter is the other, so that they can
not think or act] but through its instrumentality, and that
a comparatively slight change in some of that matter will
deprive them of their power either to think or act, and
even of the very consciousness of their existence ; and so
that they are affected by almost every impression which is
made on their bodies, and sometimes in the most powerful
manner ; we are not warranted to infer what they would be
able to effect if that union were dissolved, much less what
are the capacities and powers of spirits that have never been
united to matter at all. For, is it extravagant or absurd to
suppose that, as God intended our souls to exist in a state

110 THE CHARACTER, STATE, AND
of union to bodies, not only in this world but in the next,
(we know his intention by what he does,) there may be
something in their very frame and capacities, to fit them
for that union, and to prevent them from ever being perfect
without it; while angelic spiritsmay be so formed, as that
they may attain their perfection in a separate state, and,
that though it may be an advantage to the former to be
united to matter, it would be a disadvantage to the latter ?
It is only on this hypothesis that we can see how the resur
rection, to which the Scriptures attach so much importance,
and which they represent as being one of the richest fruits
of the death and triumphs of the Saviour, can be a bless
ing to the saints, or indeed at all desirable ; or how angels
do not labour under some disadvantages on account of not
possessing bodies. But all God's works are perfect in
their various kinds, and each of them adapted to the end
for which it was created. The circumstance, then, of the
influence of our souls being confined to that part of matter
to which they are united, does not prove that angels,
whether good or bad, have no power over material sub
stances. The greatest difficulty attendant on this view of the sub
ject, and therefore the principal objection against it, is, that
if evil spirits possess the power which is thus attributed to
them, they would be constantly inflicting the most terrible
evils on men, they would throw the whole natural world
into confusion, or, in the words of Dr. Watts, " devils would
not content themselves with the mere temptation of souls,
but would always be making wretched mischief in this
natural world, and overspreading it with calamities and
desolations, with plagues and fire, with earthquakes and
misery and death, if they had an innate and natural power
to move bodies." To this it is sufficient to answer, that
we owe our protection, every day and every moment, from
evils innumerable, of various kinds, to the presence and
power of God. He is the Preserver of men, and whatever

POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS. Ill
may be the malice and energy of these fallen spirits, and
whatever their ability to agitate matter, and to render it
subservient to their will, he can restrain and control them
every moment, give them commands which they cannot,
dare not transgress, and say to them, as he does to the
waves of the sea, "Hitherto shall you come and no farther."
That God possesses and constantly exerts influence which
is abundantly equal to all that has now been advanced, is
implied in the prayers and thanksgivings which we are
constantly presenting to him, and which he requires from
all his rational creatures ; as well as in the promises and
representations of his word. That glorious, sovereign,
irresistible authority, which could effectually command
evil spirits to leave the bodies of those of whom they had
taken possession, to abandon a certain region,— and without
the permission of which (and the language employed evi
dently conveys the idea that permission was all that he
gave, or they requested, not the communication of any new
power) they could not enter into irrational animals, — can
easily give to even devils commands which, notwithstand
ing all their stubbornness and impiety, they dare not, they
cannot transgress. And besides, it is to be taken into the
account that the great object of Satan, that to the accom
plishment of which he bends his most vigorous efforts, is
not to injure the bodies of men, or to inflict temporal
calamities of any kind, but to ruin their souls, and there
fore to lead them into the commission of sin. And more
over, there is a great difference between spirits having no
power at all over matter, no, not so much as to move a
single particle of it, and being able to control and change
the laws of nature, and raise tempests, and produce earth
quakes, whenever or to whatever extent they please ; or to
change portions of it into pestilential miasma, and thus to
diffuse disease and death all around. Their power is ne
cessarily limited, and must vary in degree in proportion
to their intellectual abilities ; all that we suppose them

] 12 THE CHARACTER, STATE, AND
capable of doing, is, to take advantage of the laws of
nature, — as men can do, to a certain extent, and render
them subservient to some of their purposes. And even in
those cases, God can cause the wrath, and malice, and
power of devils, as well as of men, " to praise him," and
the 'remainder of them " he can restrain."
Bi endeavouring to form some idea of the power of fallen
spirits, and therefore of their ability to tempt and effect mis
chief, we must take into the account their activity, and the ra
pidity with which they can move from place to place. Weare
far from attributing to them omnipotence, or omnipresence,
or ubiquity, as some of the opponents of this doctrine, in
their attempts to caricature it, and cause it to appear ab
surd, have been pleased to assert. According to the repre
sentations of the word of God, we believe, not that Satan
is everywhere present, but that he " goes about seeking
whom he may devour," that he goes " to and fro in the
earth;" not that he is omnipotent, but that he "seeks
whom he may devour." And whatever may be the number
of fallen spirits, we do not think that they literally fill the
earth or the air, or that they are constantly present with
men, or permitted always to tempt them. Though this
fallen, sinful world is infested with them, it does not follow
that it is their only range or habitation. This is not implied
either in the statements of the Bible, or in the general
belief on this subject. If they go about, they must, accord
ing to any ideas or conceptions we can form, transport
themselves from place to#plaee, and this they may be able
to do with inconceivable rapidity — " to fly through nature
ere the moment end."* The following well-known pas
sage, in Dan. ix. 3, 20 — 23, is commonly thought to prove
and illustrate this. " And. I set my face unto the Lord my
God, to seek by prayer, and supplication, and fasting, and
sackcloth, and ashes." " And while I was speaking, the
man 'Gabriel, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about
* Milton.

POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS. 113
the time ofthe evening oblation," &c. "At the beginning
of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I
am now come to show thee." " From this remarkable
story we learn that some time in the day Daniel set him
self to seek the Lord by fasting and prayer ; that after his
prayer was begun, the commandment was given to Gabriel
to explain to him the vision and prophecy. In verses 20,
21, we are told that Gabriel came to him while he was
speaking ; that this was his evening prayer ; and that
during the time in which he was employed in uttering his
prayer, Gabriel came from the supreme heaven to this
world. This is a rapidity exceeding all the comprehension
of the most active imagination, surpassing beyond any com
parison the amazing swiftness of light. Light is several
years in coming from such fixed stars as are visible to the
eye of man. But there is the best reason to believe that
the heaven of heavens is at a much greater distance than
those stars ; so as not improbably to be a heaven to them
as the fixed stars are to us. The poet therefore is justified
by this wonderful fact in that forcible expression, ' The
speed of gods (angels) time counts not.' No stronger ex
hibition can be asked or given of the activity (and it may
be said, speed or swiftness) of these wonderful beings."*
Whatever may be thought of the meaning of this remark
able passage, and of Dr. Dwight's inferences from it, which
however appear to be quite legitimate, when we think of
the swiftness of light, which is either a material substance,
or dependent on the motion or vibration of matter, (and
according to the latter theory, its rapidity would appear to
be greater than is implied in the former,) and yet is com
puted to move at the rate of 200,000 miles in a second.
what must be the rapidity with which angelic spirits can
move ! Compared with this, matter, in its most subtile
and refined forms, is dead and sluggish ! What must have
been the speed of Gabriel when he was " caused to fly
* Dwight, vol. i. p. 316.

114 THE CHARACTER, STATE, AND
swiftly !" Truly it must far, far exceed all our power of
conception ; it must be almost as great as that of our
thoughts, and must secure a kind of ubiquity. And there
is no good reason to suppose that fallen angels have lost
this activity, or that they are much inferior in it to good
angels. But here again our subject is involved in difficulty and
obscurity, in addition to what naturally belongs to it, by
the metaphysical subtleties of the schoolmen, as stated
and maintained by Dr. Watts and others. They assert
that spirits have no relation to place, that they cannot be
said to be in one locality more than in another, and con
sequently that they do not move from place to place. But
with all deference to the abilities and learning and piety of
many of these writers, I must be permitted to say, that
there is more force in the plain common maxim, or axiom,
as it may be called ; — for surely it is as self-evident as that
it is impossible for a thing to be and not to be at the same
time, or that the whole is greater than the parts, — " Quod
nullibi est, non est, — what exists no where does not exist at
all," — to prove that spirits must have a relation to space
or to place, than in all the abstruse reasonings that can be
employed to evince the contrary. Heaven must be a place
as well as a state, since the celestial bodies of Enoch and
Elijah, and the glorified body ofthe Saviour, are there; and
this earth is a place. Can the holy angels then be at one
time in heaven paying their homage to the Redeemer, and
at another on earth, ministering to the heirs of salvation,
without some relation to heaven in the former case, and to
earth in the latter, — nay, without being actually on earth
in the one, and in heaven in the other ? Surely our souls,
when united to our bodies, which are always in one place
or another, must have a relation to space. This does not
imply that they are extended or divisible ; why then should
this relation be thought to involve either extension or di
visibility in disembodied spirits? We grant that the

POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS. 1 15
relation of spirits to any locality, and their motion from
one to another, present many difficulties and mysteries,
But the opposite opinion seems to imply an absurdity, a
contradiction, and therefore I cannot hesitate which to
embrace. Knowledge is power, and it must be so in the case of
evil spirits ; and when we take into the account their
original capacities, the activity of their spiritual frame, the
long period of their existence, the various scenes through
which they have passed, and the events which they have
witnessed, the manifestations of character which they have
beheld, the results of their own experience, and of the
various methods they have employed to seduce men, ofthe
plans which they devised to counteract the purposes and to
destroy the works of God : their knowledge, such as it is,
must be varied and great. How far they may possess
anything like a desire after knowledge, and make efforts to
acquire it ; — whether the representation of MiPton may be
correct, that some of them reason deep and high, concern
ing predestination, " fate and free-will, and foreknowledge
absolute," is not for us to say ; though I can see nothing-
unreasonable or improbable in it, or inconsistent with their
being miserable outcasts from heaven. The disadvantages
under which they labour, however, arising from their
wretchedness, their depravity, the "chains under dark
ness," in which they are confined, their banishment from
those regions where the most glorious manifestations of
the perfection of Jehovah, as well as of the various charac
ters and excellences of ereated existences, are exhibited,
must lay them under immense disadvantages, so that their
knowledge is undoubtedly scanty, when compared with that
of holy angels, who look into the works of God, and es
pecially into the plan of human redemption, in the light of
glory, and amidst all the advantages which it affords.
The last observation suggests the question, whether sin,
by its operation on the mind, directly and immediately

116 THE CHARACTER, STATE, AND
weakens the faculties of those who are brought under its
power, and therefore whether we may suppose that Satan
lost any of his intellectual ability, when he rebelled against
God ; in other words, whether his memory was rendered
less retentive, his discernment as it regarded natural ob
jects and truths less acute, his invention less prolific, than
they were before he fell. That sin is unfavourable to
mental improvement, and that it always perverts the moral
judgment and affections, and weakens the moral powers,
must, I apprehend, be granted by all. But whether we
attend to facts, or to general reasoning on this subject, we
shall be led to the conclusion, that it does not enervate the
intellectual faculties. I do not know that any reason has
been or can be assigned, why the omission of any duty, or
the violation of any command, or placing the affections on
any wrong object ; why the exercise of pride, or selfishness,
or envy, or aversion to God, should diminish the retentive-
ness of the^nemory, or the quickness of perception, or the
ability to compare one object with another and to perceive
their agreement or disagreement in scientific investigations,
anymore than that they should lessen the acuteness ofthe
senses, or the vigour of the body ; there does not appear to
be any conceivable way in which they can affect the result
in question. We can easily see how, by the influence of
the feelings to which sin naturally, nay, necessarily gives
rise, or which it calls into operation, such as self-love, fear,
desire, and aversion, it will blind the understanding, per
vert the taste and the judgment, and disorder all the
affections, as far as moral truth and duty are concerned,—
how it will produce a dislike to the law which condemns,
and aversion to the God who threatens to punish, and who
must necessarily disapprove of what has been done ; and
how it must destroy the nice, and well-adjusted, and most
important balance between reason and conscience on the
one hand, and appetite and passion on the other. For
instance, we, can clearly see how and why Adam, after he

POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS. 1]7
had eaten the forbidden fruit, should be averse to hold any
intercourse with God, and should wish to hide himself
from him : nay, why he should desire a change to take
place in the character and requirements of his Maker,
which is the very essence of enmity to him ; but we cannot
see how this should make him forget what he had pre
viously known, or disqualify him for investigating abstract
truth, or the natures and properties of matter or spirit.
And if we attend to facts, they confirm this reasoning, and
the conclusion to which we have come. How often do we
find superior mental abilities connected with a most de
praved heart and vicious life ; almost the powers and
acquirements of an angel, with the temper and conduct of
a fiend ! And if sin had a direct and necessary tendency to
weaken and destroy the mental powers, it would follow
that the more vicious men were, the more weak and stupid
they must become, till at last they would be reduced to the
condition of idiots, which is contrary to numerous incon
trovertible facts ; and on this hypothesis the intellect of
Satan must long since have been destroyed. On the con
trary, there is no absurdity or even difficulty in supposing
that his capacity may have been enlarged, and his powers
strengthened, by the knowledge and experience which he
has gained, by the efforts which he has made ; and thus he
may become a more, instead of a less formidable adversary.
But still his advances in knowledge and in mental ability
must be far inferior to what they would have been, had he
continued stedfast in his allegiance to the Most High.
The views which I have been led to form and state of
the powers of fallen spirits, necessarily lead me to differ
from one, whom on account of his talents, piety, amiable-
ness of character, and the important services he has
rendered to the religious world, and to the cause of truth,
I, in common with all who know him and can appreciate
his worth, must highly esteem. But amicus Socrates, &c.
Dr. Wardlaw, in his judicious and instructive Essays on

118 THE CHARACTER, STATE, AND
the Book of Job, lately published in the Congregational
Magazine, maintains that Satan did not produce or cause
the fire that burnt up the sheep and the servants of Job,
nor the wind from the wilderness that buried his sons and
daughters beneath the ruins of the elder brother's house.
And I suppose, though he does not assert this, he would
maintain that he did not, by any direct agency, smite Job
with "sore boils from head to foot," whilst he allows that
he might instigate the plundering Sabeans and Chaldeans
who carried off the oxen and camels. And the reasons
which he assigns for his opinion are, that the common
belief on this point invests Satan with a power which can
belong only to God ; that it represents the prince of
darkness as controlling the laws and wielding the elements
of nature, causing the thunder to roll and the tempest to
rage, in a way that would seem to trench upon the preroga
tives of God, and which is inconsistent with the language
and appeals of the Scriptures, and especially with the
appeals ofthe book of Job ; " Who hath divided a water
course for the overflowing of the waters, or a way for the
lightning of the thunder ?" "Canst thou send hghtnings,
that they may go and say to thee, Here are we ?" " The
thought," says Dr. W., is to me unsufferable, of any inferior
agent actually possessing and exercising such power as
this. If you once admit the principle, then when the
rolling thunder and the resistless lightning fill your
spirits with the sublime emotions of reverential awe, and
the shrinking humility of a conscious impotence, and ' 'tis
listening fear, and dumb amazement all,' how distressingly
are our minds disturbed, amidst the full and solemn recog
nition of the might and majesty of the omnipotent God, by
the intruding recollection that the immediate agency by
which all these tremendous scenes are produced, is or may
be, the agency of the prince of darkness. Nor do I feel
myself at all satisfied or relieved by being told that the
dependent or malignant agent can go no farther than he

POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS. ] 19
is permitted. The question still recurs, does the wicked
one possess power, even when permitted, such as enables
him to perform these wonders, to wield the elements of
nature in the thunder and storm ?" *
That there is considerable force in the reasoning con
tained in the passage just quoted, is at once granted. Still,
however, I must think that Satan actually did effect, and
that by his native power, what is attributed to him in the
passage under consideration, and that for the following
reasons. First. The plain natural import of the language, and
scope of the passage, lead to this conclusion. " Behold,"
says God to the tempter, " all that he hath is in thy power ;
only on himself put not forth thy hand," Job i. 12. And
again, " Behold, he is in thy hand; but save his life," chap.
ii. 6, 7. " So went Satan forth from the presence of the
Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his feet
unto the crown." And would it not require as much com
mand over the laws of nature to manage diseases, to inflict
the leprosy by a secret, invisible influence, as to raise a
storm, or to cause fire to descend from the skies to destroy
cattle ? The language employed, the representations given,
are of such a nature, that every person who reads the ac
count without any preconceived opinions, or any hypothesis
to maintain, would infallibly be led to the conclusion that
Satan by his own power effected what is here ascribed to
him. God is not represented as imparting to him any
energy, much less as exerting his omnipotence, to subserve
the designs of the tempter, but merely as permitting him to
exert the ability which he possessed. I know that there
are cases in which the language of the Bible, accommo
dated to the views of men, would, if taken according to the
ordinary or general import of the words and phrases which
are employed, lead into error; but it remains to be shown
that either facts, analogy, or the general tenor of the word
* Congregational Magazine,' October, 1840, p. 662.

1 20 THE CHARACTER, STATE, AND
of God, or the clear statements of any one part of it, render
it necessary here to depart from the literal meaning.
Second. Is there not, to say the least, as great a diffi
culty in supposing that God would exert his omnipotence,
would roll the thunder, and hurl its bolts, and raise the
tempest, at the instigation, as it were at the bidding of
Satan, and to gratify his impious and malignant desires, as
that the mighty fallen spirit, who is represented in the
Bible as no mean or contemptible antagonist to the Son of
God himself, can influence, to some extent, the laws of
nature, or rather take advantage of them to accomplish his
purposes ? To me the mystery and difficulty appear un
speakably greater in the former case than in the latter.
I know it will be said that Jehovah intended not to gratify
Satan, but to mortify him ; not to accomplish the wishes of
the enemy, but to try his own servant, to cause his graces
to be exhibited in the clearest light, and that for the
benefit of the church in all ages, and to furnish materials
for some of the most instructive pages of the Divine
record ; and that God might at any time have destroyed
the cattle and servants of Job by thunder and lightning,
or his children by a whirlwind, and have inflicted on him
a noisome disease. This is readily granted. But still,
why do these at the instigation of Satan ? or why represent
them as done by him, if they were effected by God
himself? Thirdly. The comparison of the case with that of an
authenticated miracle, contains, as far as I can see, no
solid argument in support of Dr. W.'s hypothesis. It is
'granted that in customary language we speak of the
prophet or the apostle as " having done the miracle ; " and
this language is sometimes, but far from generally, used in
Scripture. But there is almost always something, either
in the terms employed, or in the accompanying actions or
circumstances, which plainly indicate that the power did
not reside in the human agent. God, we are informed,

POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS. 121
" wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul." " In
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk."
" Eneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole." " But Peter
put them all forth, and kneeled down and prayed." "Why
marvel ye at this, as though by our own power or holiness
we had made this man whole ? " This is only a specimen
of the language of the Bible, in the account which is given
us of the performance of miracles by human agents. It is
generally plainly intimated, and often expressly asserted,
that the work was performed by God ; that the apostle or
prophet did nothing more than merely give notice, by some
words which he uttered, or some sign which he gave, that
God was about to exert his omnipotence, and control or
contravene the laws of nature. I therefore fully agree with
Dr. W. that it would be " a flagrant absurdity," to suppose
that the power by which the miracle was wrought, " resided,
for a time, in the human agent, by transference. It is God
by his own power that effects it, interposing at the will and
intimation of his messenger. It was not Moses or Aaron
that smote the Egyptians ; it was not Peter or Paul that
gave sight to the blind," &c. " But persons are repre
sented in Scripture language as doing that which God does
either by them, or for them, or at their will." It does not
follow, however, from this, that Satan, who is far superior
to men in power and skill, may not so far take advantage
of the laws of nature as to produce all the phenomena that
were exhibited when Job's children, and cattle, and servants
were destroyed. I do not say that he wrought a miracle,
for we have no intimation that any miracle was performed.
We have no reason to think that Satan can work one
(though, perhaps, he might effect something which would
appear to us miraculous). There is nothing contrary to
the established laws of the universe in a tempest arising to
such a height as to level houses with the ground, or in
cattle being struck dead by lightning, or in a man's being
affected by leprosy. It is not strictly correct, however, to

1 22 THE CHARACTER, STATE, AND
say, as Dr. W. does, that God wrought miracles at the will
of prophets or apostles. It is very evident that they
could not perform- them whenever they chose, but only
when they could exercise the requisite faith; else why
could not the disciples cast out a devil on a certain occa
sion, when they actually made the trial? Lideed, it would
seem that God gave those whom he thus honoured, perhaps
by enabling them to exercise the required belief, or by
some impulse or impression on their mind, a sign or inti
mation which was sufficient for their guidance, when he
was about to perform a miracle on their behalf, and when
it was proper for them to request him to do so. Moses,
for instance, could not stretch out his rod whenever he
pleased, and smite Egypt with plagues, or divide the sea,
or cause the water to spring from the rock. In every case
he received a command from God. And it is absurd to
suppose that the Divine Being would so far place his om
nipotence, and wisdom, and honour, at the disposal of the
best and holiest of men, as to work a miracle whenever
they might wish him thus to interpose. If he had done so,
some of them might have brought down fire from heaven
on very improper occasions.
But fourthly. As there was no miracle performed, so it
is not certain that the elements of nature were wielded so
far as to produce thunder and lightning, or a general tem
pest. Might not the evil spirit produce a fire that would
destroy the sheep of Job, and a commotion in the air that
would overthrow the house in which his children were
feasting, and yet not be able, nay, be utterly unable, to
manage the tempest, or to thunder with a voice like God ?
Men can do something very like both the one and the
other. Paltry as are their " imitations of the wonderful
phenomena of nature," yet when we think of their destruc
tive warlike engines, of the way in which they can direct
even the lightning to one place, and divert it from another,
of the degree in which they can render the electric fluid

POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS. 123
subservient to their purposes, and how they can produce
combustion by concentrating the rays ofthe sun, while yet
they are utterly unable to alter or to manage as they please
the laws of nature, what absurdity or difficulty is there in
supposing that Satan may be so far superior to them in
intellect, knowledge, and experience, as to be able so to
take advantage of the laws which God has established, and
so to render the electric fluid, or some other subtile agent,
subservient to his purpose, as to produce flames that
would destroy all the sheep of Job, or a commotion of the
air which would overthrow a house ? How easily could
men, by what Dr. W. calls their " paltry imitations," effect
both ! And even if we were to allow that both were done
by real thunder, and lightning, and tempest, is it impos
sible that these took place according to the ordinary course
of things, and ehanges of the elements ; and that all that
Satan did was to take advantage of these to effect his pur
pose ? Whatever be in this, it is God alone who has esta
blished the laws of nature, who preserves them constantly
in operation, who can manage them throughout all their
extent, and in all their energy. The mightiest creature
can render them subservient to his purpose only so far as
God has been pleased to put them beneath his control ;
and the meanest, the weakest, can do this likewise ; and
therefore those who think that Satan actually did all that
is attributed to him in the Book of Job, can easily tell
what to make of the sublime appeals to which reference
has been made. If it is asked, " Who hath divided a
water-course for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the
lightning of thunder?" they answer, Jehovah only ; though
creatures may partially guide waters in their course, when
they are divided by God, or the lightnings in their way,
when the Almighty sends them. And "when the tempest
bursts forth in its impetuous fury, bearing all before it,"
those who believe in Satanic agency to the extent which
has been pointed out, do not find their " minds distress-

124 THE CHARACTER, STATE, AND
ingly disturbed amidst the full and solemn recognition of
the might and majesty of the omnipotent God, by the in
truding recollection " of the agency of any creature ; for
they know that no creature could form the elements and
establish the laws by which these majestic phenomena are
produced ! it can only avail itself to a limited extent of
these laws and elements, when God puts them in operation.
Nor do they find it necessary to believe that even Satan
could raise a general storm, or cause majestic peals of
thunder to sound through the heavens. They can unite
intelligently, and with all their hearts, in the sublime lan
guage of the Psalmist in the twenty-ninth Psalm; " The
voice of the Lord is upon the waters ; the God of glory
thundereth ; the voice of the Lord is powerful ; the voice
of the Lord is full of majesty," &c.
What a mournfully impressive and interesting subject
has come under our review in this lecture ! How wonder
ful and mysterious are the plans and ways of God ! Which
of his works or dispensations can we contemplate, without
finding occasion to exclaim, " Who, by searching, can find
out God ?" How unsearchable are his judgments ! What
a universe is this in which we live ! What scenes must
death and eternity unfold ! Let us remember that we must
either rise to that state of glory and happiness, of equality
with angels, from which Satan and his associates fell ; or
else sink to that miserable, guilty, and hopeless condition
to wliich they have reduced themselves by sin ; and that
they are constantly labouring to prevent the former, and to
effect the latter. How necessary is it, then, that we should
be interested in Him who was made manifest to destroy
the works of the devil ! If we overcome this enemy, it
must be through the blood of the Lamb, and by the word
of the testimony which he has given us. To form correct
ideas, however, of the state, characters, and powers of
our deadly foes, will necessarily much assist us in de
tecting their machinations, and in repelling their attacks.

POWERS OF EVIL SPIRITS. 125
These ideas are, in fact, a part of the " whole armour
of God," which we are commanded to put on, that we
may stand in the evil day, " having our loins girt about
with truth."

LECTURE III.
THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
THE NATUEE ANT) MANNEE OF THEIB INTEECOUESE WITH THIS WOELD ;
WITCHCEAFT, DIVINATION, ETC.
After considering the character and powers of evil
spirits, the next question that naturally presents itself is, to
what extent, and in what ways are they permitted to exert
themselves to injure the human race, or what are the nature
and degree of their intercourse with this world ? What may
we learn on this subject from the inferences of reason, from
well-authenticated facts, and from the principles and state
ments of the word of God ? This topic is confessedly very
difficult, especially as, in addition to its own abstruseness,
imposture, craft, and wickedness, on the" one hand, and
ignorance, credulity, weakness, imagination, superstition,
and, it may be added, disease, on the other, have all com
bined their influence to involve it in mystery, and to
furnish many melancholy and revolting facts to its history;
yet in lectures on evil spirits some notice of it seems
required by the subject.
That these fallen spirits have intercourse with this
world, that it is a part of their permitted range, that, as
they first tempted man to rebel against his Maker, so they
are still, as far as they have opportunity, enticing him to
wickedness of every kind, and that they have actually
succeeded in urging him to the commission of the greatest
crimes, are facts plainly stated in many parts of the Scrip
tures, and as evidently implied in others. , The ringleader

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 127
is called " the god of this world," doubtless because lie is
the great opponent of the true God, and even his rival for
the service and worship of men ; " the spirit that worketh
in the children of disobedience," "the devil, that deceiveth
the nations," and " the prince ofthe power of the air," &c.
It may be inferred then from the various representations of
the word of God, that Satan is, to a great degree, the author
of the different systems of heathenish superstition and
idolatry, with all their egregious falsehoods, shocking
caricatures of the truth, abominable impurities, appalling
cruelties, and insolent impieties. How characteristic are
these of such a being as he is ! Lamentably fallen and
depraved as men are, yet considering the natural affections
which still work in their breasts, the restraints under
which they are laid, the means that God has used to reclaim
them, the enactments and inflictions of human laws, we can
scarcely, at times, refrain from exclaiming, Surely it must
require such an influence as the Scriptures attribute to evil
spirits, to render men so atrociously, so insanely, so gra
tuitously and systematically wicked, and wantonly impious
as they are ! Surely the depravity of human nature can
hardly account for all their horrid deeds ! The Scriptures
indeed assure us that the human heart is deceitful above all
things, and desperately wicked ; and that out of it proceed
evil thoughts, murders, &c, in their most repulsive forms ;
but we know also, from the representations of the same
inspired volume, that it is this heart, when under the influ
ence of Satan, when he works in it, and suggests most
daring, and cruel, and depraved conceptions, that is thus
wicked, and productive of evil. Clear and definite views
on this subject, then, are obviously necessary, to enable us
to understand the Scriptures, to fit us for the performance
of duty, to free us from imaginary terrors, and to inspire us
with that fear, respecting which the wisest of men exclaims,
" Blessed is the man thatfeareth always!"
The principal means by which Satan has been supposed

128 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
to exert his power, and to carry on his intercourse with this
world, are witchcraft, sorcery, divination, necromancy, and
enchantment, in their different forms, — false oracles, pos
sessions, and temptations of various kinds. In some of
these, such as necromancy and divination, other spirits, or
invisible beings, for instance, the souls of those who once
inhabited this earth, have been thought to be concerned ;
and the efficacy of some of the forms of divination and
enchantment have been supposed to result from something
like inevitable fate, or pre-established laws, put in requi
sition by the charms that were employed ; at least there
seems to have been an indefinite notion of this kind,
operating on the minds of many who have believed in these
arts. But perhaps in the case of all who have been ac
quainted with the Scriptures, these spirits have been
thought to be either directly connected with Satan and his
angels, or to have been under their control ; and therefore
it is not necessary to our present purpose to descend to
particulars; we may consider all these practices which
have just been mentioned, as the supposed result of Satanic
agency ; and as witchcraft has been deemed one of its most
remarkable forms, it may be proper to consider, more par
ticularly, this "work ofthe flesh." *
Sorcery is intimately connected with witchcraft. The
difference between them is, that in witchcraft, according to
the notions which have been entertained of it in compara
tively modem times, those who practised it were supposed
to have sold themselves to Satan, to have made a kind of
agreement with him, (though none have ever shown, as far
as I know, how the father of lies could be induced to keep
his promise in any one instance, or for a single moment,)
that, in consequence of some advantages which he under
took to secure to them, they would be his at death, or
after the expiration of a certain period. The sorcerer was
supposed to have obtained power over the devil and evil
* Gal. v. 20.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 12'Ji
spirits in general, so that he could command them to ap
pear at hia pleasure, and execute his orders. He was
thought to have acquired this influence by his skill in
charms and invocations, or by his acquaintance with soma
occult sciences, and with the laws of the material and
invisible worlds. It was imagined, too, that he was able
to soothe or to irritate and put to flight evil spirits by
smells and fumigations. Li this way Tobias, according to
the absurd account which is given of him in the apocryphal
book of Tobit, caused the evil spirit to flee into the re
motest parts of Egypt, by the smell of the burnt liver of
a fish. And Lilly reports, that " one Evans, having raised
a spirit at the request of Lord Bothwell and another person,
and forgetting a fumigation, the spirit, vexed at the dis
appointment, pulled him without the circle, and carried
him from his house in the Minories, into a field near
Battersea crossway." King James, in his Demonologia,
has given a very full account of the art of sorcery. " Two
principal things," says he, " cannot well in that errand be
wanted ; holy water, (whereby the devil mocks the papists,)
and some present of a living thing to him. There are also
certain days and hours that they observe in that purpose.
These things being all ready and prepared, circles are made,
triangular, quadrangular, round, double, or single, accord
ing to the form of the apparition they crave, when the
conjured spirit appears, which will not be till after many
circumstances, long prayers, and much muttering and
murmuring of the conjurors, like a papist priest despatch
ing a hunting mass ; how soon, I say, he appears, if they
have missed one jot of all their rites, or if any of their feet
once flied over the circle, through terror of his fearful ap
parition, he pays himself at that time in his own hands of
that dire debt which they owed him, and otherwise would
have delayed much longer to have paid him; I mean he
carries them with him body and soul." The author of the
article on witchcraft in the Encyclopaedia Britannica adds,
IX. K

130 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
" How the conjurors made triangular or quadrangular
circles, his majesty has not informed us, nor does he seem
to imagine there was any difficulty in the matter. We are
therefore led to suppose that he learned his mathematics
from the same system as Dr. Sacheverel, who in one of
his speeches or sermons made use of the following simile :
. — ' They concur like parallel lines, meeting in one common
centre.' " * But if King James's account of the art of
sorcery is correct, there was not much difference between
it and witchcraft ; for the witch had to use some charms or
incantations, to secure the attendance of the familiar spirit ;
and therefore the observations which may be made on one
of these arts, will apply to the other.
Now it must be granted, I should suppose, that if once
the existence of Satan and his associates, and their inter
course with this world, are proved and believed, and also
that they are permitted to tempt men to the commission of
crimes of every description, and that they were at one time
Allowed to take possession of their persons, and inflict on
them various diseases and calamities, there seems nothing
irrational in the general idea of personal intercourse being
carried on betwixt Satan and wicked men, of their entering
into some compact, in consequence of which the devil would
assist his votaries in effecting their nefarious purposes,
that he might both gratify his love of mischief, and bring
them effectually under his power, and thus more dreadfully
ruin them for ever ; and, in order to this, that he should
appear to them in a visible form. I cannot see anything
absurd in this conclusion ; nay, if we were to reason a priori
on this subject, without any attention to facts, real or sup
posed, it appears to me, that we should be led to grant that
it is veiy probable, in case permission were granted by
God. And when we consider how Satan is allowed to
tempt men, and bring them under his spiritual power, it
would appear not impossible, to say the least, that he might
* Encyclopedia Britannica, art. Sorcery.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 131
be left so far at liberty as to enter into a compact with
them ; and probably the rationality of this persuasion, and
its apparent accordance with some of the statements of the
Bible, as they have been understood, have contributed to
the wide prevalence of a belief in witchcraft and sorcery, and
their kindred arts. It must be owned, I apprehend, by all
who have seriously considered the subject, that it is a
difficult one, and that those who believe in the practices in
question can adduce many plausible arguments from reason,
Scripture, and apparently well-attested facts, in support
of their faith, And the assertion, that there never has
been any compact between Satan and wicked men, that he
never has been permitted to obtain such a power over them,
and assist them in such a way, as are implied in witchcraft,
would, I must think, be a bold one, and should be supported
by most cogent arguments. We cannot wonder, even
should we be able to prove that the opinion, after all, is
unfounded, that it has been embraced by great, and wise,
and good, and philosophic men ; and I say this, notwith
standing the assertion of the writer in the Encyclopaedia
Britannica, " That there ever were witches, is an opinion
which cannot for a moment be believed by any thinking
man ;" and of Mr. James Patterson, in a very good essay
on this subject, " That a man of Dr. Robertson's informa
tion and abilities could have believed witchcraft possible, is
not for a moment to be credited." ¦ Men quite equal to Dr.
Robertson in both information and abilities have not only
th6ught it possible, but have firmly believed in its actual
existence, have argued strenuously and written copiously
in support of their faith, and have been as ready to wonder
at the infidelity of those who disbelieved it, as the latter can
be to express their surprise that any men of learning and
sense should think it possible. It is sufficient to mention
the names of Luther, Bacon, Judge Hale, Baxter, and
Glanville, to whom many others, distinguished for both
abilities and information, might easily be added. I have

132 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
in view in these observations only the general idea of a
compact between evil spirits and wicked men. I fully
agree with both the writers whom I have quoted above,
respecting the absurdity and even impossibility of witch
craft, as it is presented to us in the stories of Satan being
raised and laid by spells and incantations, of the nocturnal
revels of witches, and the way in which they were conveyed
through the ah" ; of their power to assume almost any shape
and form at pleasure, and to torment their victims by arts
and charms of the most insignificant nature, without ever
coming into contact with them. Some of these supposed
practices are too ridiculous, I had almost said, for the
malice and infernal dignity of Satan. It is truly lamentable
and humbling that such a man as Baxter should gravely,
and in the most positive manner, have adduced such stories
as those to which I allude, as proofs of the existence of
God, of spirits, and of a future state of rewards and punish
ments, and that they should have been believed by men
like Luther, Judge Hale, and the Puritan fathers of New
England. The details of the effects of believing in witch
craft, and of the charges which have been credited, and
the cruel punishments which have been inflicted on the
unhappy victims of superstitious credulity, form some of
the darkest, blackest pages in the gloomy, revolting history
of, human absurdity and folly; especially as the crimes
and cruelties have been occasioned, in a great degree, by
erroneous views of some passages of Scripture. Verily,
the worst things are produced by the perversion of the
best. Without, then, denying the possibility of compacts
between evil spirits and wicked men, or positively asserting
that it has not in any instance taken place, I must at once
avow my firm disbelief in witchcraft, according to the ideas
which are entertained of it by most who have faith in its
existence. And I shall endeavour to substantiate my views
by the following arguments.
But in the present enlightened age, when intellect has

TEE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 1 33
been so effectually aroused and illuminated --when it has
already so far advanced in the path of knowledge, and is
still rapidly continuing its march — when children can
laugh at those stories of ghosts and witches, as well as of
hobgoblins and fairies, which caused their ancestors to
tremble in even manhood and old age — when, as it has
been expressed, "Hie world is grown too old, and the
church too wise, to dream or drivel again about the devils
of superstition ; these are all gone for ever with the ghosts
and hobgoblins of antiquity — science and common sense
cast out these imps, and therefore no superstition can
bring them back ;" * it may, probably, be thought by many,
that some special reason, or even apology, may be necessary
for requesting the attention of an audience like the present
to witchcraft, or any of its kindred arts, or for making them
the subject of a public lecture. For it may be said, Who
now believes or feels interested in them ? or how £an the
discussion of them be rendered subservient to any useful
purpose? To this I answer, that even at the present time,
and in our large towns, and I have no doubt in this me
tropolis, with all their learned and scientific societies, and
places of worship, and intelligence, and shrewdness, there
are not a few who believe in witchcraft, in some of its forms
or degrees. And this faith exists amongst some who are
intelligent, enlightened, and pious, and operates in a very
injurious way. And even if this were not so, if witchcraft
were everywhere treated with all the contempt which it
deserves, still it is an interesting subject; its strange,
humbling, mortifying, and almost incredible history de
serves attention, as one of the most singular developments
of human nature ; and it must be interesting and useful to
all who are engaged in the study of mankind. It shows us
of what we are capable, from what evils we have been de
livered by the light of experience, reason, learning, and
philosophy ; and, therefore, what we might have been. And
* J?hilrp'sLife of Bvmyan,p. 147.

134 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
in a special manner, the subject is interesting to Christians,
because mistaken views of some passages of the Bible have
been the main support, with not a few, of a belief in witch
craft, and have led many pious and excellent persons to
abet its absurd and cruel deeds. And it will be one prin
cipal object of this lecture to show, that the Scriptures,
rightly understood, give no sanction to either the faith or
the practices of the believers in witchcraft or sorcery, in
any of its kinds, and that the Bible is blameless, however
erroneous may have been the views, and culpable the
conduct, of many of its well-meaning adherents.
And farther, that it is not unnecessary, even in the
present age of knowledge and mental improvement, to
reason and write on this subject, is evident, not only from
the belief of many uneducated and superstitious persons,
and from the proneness of infidels to ridicule the Scrip
tures, because they are supposed to sanction the behef of
witchcraft and apparitions, but also from the fact, that so
lately as 1834, Baxter's World of Spirits, and Cotton
Mather's Wonders of the Invisible World, have been repub
lished by one who is apparently an educated, sensible, and
religious person ; and yet who, in a preface, avows his firm
belief in witchcraft ; and says, that his design in editing
the publication, is to expose the folly of those who do not
believe in it; for, according to his own language, they
" charge pious, grave, and venerable judges with being
murderers, and the wisest and best men of former times
with being fools and knaves. Those that can bring them
selves to such an absurd and ridiculous conclusion, must
possess a power which we do not pretend to ; they must
be able to believe whatever they please, and to disbelieve
in opposition to the strongest and most convincing evi
dence." * Such is the language of a pious and sensible
man. And it is well known, that several eminent and
excellent ministers in recent times, (and there can be little
» Baxter's World of Spirits, preface, p. 23.

• THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 135
doubt that there are still some such living,) were firm
believers in witchcraft, and apparitions of evil spirits and
ghosts. This, as well as the circumstances which have
been ah'eady mentioned, shows that the discussion of the
subject is far from being unnecessary. I shall therefore
endeavour to show : —
I. That the Scriptures give no countenance to the belief
of witchcraft, or that the witchcraft mentioned in them is
quite different in its nature from that of the middle and
following ages.
II. The stories which are found in the records of witch
craft are of such a character, as to furnish the means of
their own refutation.
III. Many of them have been disproved. It has been
demonstrated that they may all be traced to craft and
knavery on the one hand, and to credulity, weakness,
morbid imagination, or disease, on the other.
IV. Witchcraft has always vanished and been discredited
in proportion as knowledge, philosophy, and religion have
extended their influence.
I. The Bible gives no countenance to the belief of
witchcraft. And as one of the most lamentable facts con
nected with the delusions, cruelties, and wickedness of this
art is, that an incorrect translation, and a misapprehension
ofthe import of some texts, have been rendered subservient
to a belief in it, and to the vindication of the practices to
which it has led, it is more necessary to examine this sub
ject particularly. " Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,"
Exod. xxii. 18, is one of the principal passages on which
the believers in witchcraft ground their faith, and on which
laws and judicial sentences were founded in times that are
now happily past, condemning those who were thought to
practise it, to suffer death. The word nwfiM, which our
translators have rendered " witch," and which occurs about
ten or eleven times in the Bible, is by Buxtorf translated
" prcestigiis utens ; prmstigiator, maleficus," "a person who

1 36 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
is skilled in legerdemain, a juggler, a poisoner;" by Gese-
nius, " a magician, a sorcerer," and he derives it from a
word which he tells us signifies in Syriac, "to pray, to offer
prayer or worship," and, like many other Syriae words
pertaining to religious rites, this word in the Hebrew is
confined to idol worship. It is by the Septuagint, and
also by Josephus, translated (bappaKos. This comes from a
word which literally signifies medicine or drugs, and then
in a secondary sense, poison ; (pappaKos, therefore, seems to
signify one who mingles and uses drugs for various pur
poses. Hence some would translate the passage, " Thou
shalt not suffer a,poisonerto live ;" and the word in question
may be translated "juggler, or magician, or practiser of
curious arts." There can be little doubt, however, that
the word njwfcp signifies one who pretended to be possessed
of supernatural skill and power, and to be able, by his art,
and by the use of potent drugs or charms, by his acquaint
ance with the secrets of nature, or with the aid of spirits of
some description, to know and effect what was above the
reach of ordinary mortals ; and therefore it means some
kind of a magician, or charmer, or pretended dealer with
familiar spirits. But then the question is, what were these
persons ? to what did they profess ? and what could they
accomplish ? While multitudes who have professed these
arts have been gross impostors, actuated solely by the love
of gain, or by some base motive, there can be little doubt,
that there have been several who believed in the power of
magic and witchcraft, just as many have in astrology and
alchemy, and who have at least endeavoured to obtain pos
session of it for themselves, and have studied and practised
the rules which have been prescribed for that purpose.
Nay, I apprehend that we may grant that there have been
several who have endeavoured to secure intercourse with
spirits, and even with Satan [himself, in order to gratify
their curiosity, or pride, or revenge, or avarice, or to enable
them to effect some unlawful purpose; and that some of

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 137
them have supposed that they were successful, and that
they actually could, by their spells, and charms, and incan
tations, exercise some control over the inhabitants of the
invisible world, and cause them to appeal- at their call, and,
to a certain extent, perform their will and gratify their
wishes, by inflicting injuries on their fellow-creatures.
Without, then, believing that there ever have been such
witches as could raise tempests at their pleasure, transport
themselves and others from place to place through the air
in a moment of time, transform themselves into any shape,
and compress all the matter of their bodies into the size of
an insect, render themselves invisible, and call Satan or
any of his angels to their assistance almost whenever they
pleased, we may grant that there have been persons who
have been involved in almost all the guilt of these practices,
who would have carried them all on had it been in their
power. It cannot be doubted that there have been those
who have professed magic, witchcraft, and intercourse with
the world of spirits, and have undertaken to perform
wonders in consequence. The witch of Endor asked Saul
whom she sliould bring up to him, intimating that she
could call up any one whom he might name. Simon Magus
gave himself out for some great one. Now, whether those
who made these professions were altogether impostors,
wholtfiew that theyliad no such power, or skill, or inter
course with spirits of any kind, as that to which they
pretended, or whether they were the dupes of their own
imaginations, and seriously made the effort to obtain a
knowledge of the supposed arts of witchcraft, to render
fallen, impure, and wicked spirits subservient to their will,
and were so far given up by God to believe a lie, as to
suppose they had succeeded, — their crime was very great,
and the punishment which the law of Moses denounced on
them, however severe, was perfectly just ; and especially,
because any Israelites who practised these arts adopted
them from the heathen, amongst whom they were almost

138 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
always connected with idolatrous rites and worship. The
Gentiles believed in the existence of demons, both benevo
lent and malignant, whom they thought to be partly spirits
of the dead, and, perhaps, partly other spirits, inferior to
their gods. Their magicians, and jugglers, and enchanters
pretended to have intercourse with these demons, and that
it was by their assistance they performed their wonderful
works. And, therefore, witches in all their varieties and
forms, amongst the Hebrews, symbolized with idolaters,
acknowledged the existence and powers of these demons,
and consequently, the divinity of their false deities.
Thus their arts and* practices were calculated to draw
God's chosen people into idolatry, with all its absurdities
and abominations. Witchcraft was therefore a virtual
denial that Jehovah was the only true God. It was treason
against his majesty and government, as the sovereign Le
gislator and King of the Jews. That this is a correct
representation of the matter is evident, from the connexion
in which witchcraft and its kindred arts are placed in
various passages of the Bible, particularly in Deut. xviii. 9 ;
"When thou comest into the land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee, thou shalt not leam to do after the abomina
tions of these nations. There shall not be found among
you any one that maketh his son or his daughter pass
through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of
times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a
consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necroman
cer. For all who do these things are abomination unto
the Lord." Verse 20 : "But the prophet who shall speak
a word in my name, which I commanded him not ; or who
shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet
shall die." It is evident from this passage, that the prac
tises of witchcraft, and other kindred arts, in all their
forms, were chargeable with idolatrous tenets and observ
ances ; and this, doubtless, was one reason why they were
considered worthy of death. They spoke in the name of

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 13
the gods ofthe heathen, and acted the part of false prophets.
If any of them professed to derive their information from
God, or from good spirits commissioned by him, they
uttered lies in his name. If they endeavoured to obtain
their knowledge and power from demons, or any of the
spirits of the heathen mythology, they practically substi
tuted those in the place of God, and acknowledged their
divinity. If they were entirely impostors, and did not
believe in the efficacy of their own arts, but were wilfully
deceiving others, their conduct, where religion and the
prerogatives of God were concerned, was highly criminal.
And, therefore, again I would observe, they merited the
punishment awarded to them.
Now the observations which have been made on the
word nsrafan will apply, to a great extent, to the other terms
which are employed in the Hebrew to denote unlawful arts,
and those who practise them. For instance, Deut. xviii. 10,
just now quoted, where they almost all occur together.
?'DDp cpp (Septuagint, ^cuvTeuoTievos pavTeiav, a diviner,) is
by the Hebrews restricted to false prophets, such as Balaam,
to whom it is applied, Josh. xiii. 22. j:i»p (Septuagint,
Kkn8ovi£6pcvos, ominor, an observer of time,) comes from a
word which signifies to cover, to gather the clouds, to act
covertly, to use covert acts, and it does not at all favour the
modern idea of witchcraft. It is not necessary to dwell
particularly on the rest. Dr. More, and those who give
credit to the power of magic, translate them by English
names that imply a great power, as diviner, enchanter,
charmer, necromancer, witch, wizard, and consulter with
familiar spirits, (though the word that is translated " spirits,"
is of doubtful signification, and the word "familiar" is
added; there is nothing in the Hebrew that corresponds to
it). " Those who think all magic to be mere pretence and
imposition, translate them astrologers, fortune-tellers,
soothsayers, impostors, observers of the flying of birds,
conjecturers, consulters with oracles, ventriloquists, Gnos-

140 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
tics, and jugglers ; and they give as probable reasons for
these renderings as are given for the other. But let them
be taken which way they may, I do not see that we can
attach much importance to them. Names are sometimes
taken by impostors themselves, to magnify their own art ;
and sometimes are given by the credulity of the people, or
the ill-will of parties. Time changes them, and makes
some better and some worse than their original significa
tions." * With these observations I fully agree.
There are only two more of these words on which it
may be desirable to make a few additional remarks, viz.,
those which are rendered in our translation, " a consulter
with familiar spirits," — Hebrew, ai« Sw5 (Septuagint, iyya-
arpipvdos, ventriloquist.) The word aia literally means 'a
leathern bottle, or water-skin ; and it was used to signify
a necromancer, or sorcerer, or conjuror, because, while
possessed by the demon, (as he pretended, and as those
who believed him thought,) he was inflated and rendered
like one of these bottles when full of wine.-]- There is
every reason, however, to think that these pretended deal
ers with spirits were merely ventriloquists, who possessed
the power, as they do now, of speaking out of their stomach
or belly, (and an acute observer of a modern ventriloquist
says, that every time that he spoke he suffered distension
in the epigastric region,) and of so modulating their voice,
as to make it appear to come out of the earth, or from any
particular object. And amongst the ancients this power
of ventriloquism was often misused for the purposes of
magic. Ventriloquism seems to he a natural gift or power,
depending in a great degree on the conformation of the
body, especially of the organs of speech, however it may
be perfected by art and practice. There must, I should
conceive, be some tendency in the physical constitution,
which leads to make the attempt to speak in this peculiar
* Hutchinson on Witchcraft, p. 181.
+ Gesenius in loc. Encyclopedia Britannica, Physiology, Ventrilotroism.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 141
way, and which secures success in it. Amidst the igno
rance, then, which prevailed in past ages, especially in some
parts of the world, and particularly as it regarded natural
science, when thousands and millions had no idea of the
nature of the art of ventriloquism, or even of its existence,
what apparent wonders might those who were adepts in it
perform ! How effectually might they impose on ignorant,
gaping multitudes, and even on some who were acute and
intelligent ! How easily might they make them imagine
that voices came from either heaven or earth, and returned
answers to the various questions that were proposed !
How confident might those who were deceived be that they
had heard with then: own ears gods or demons speaking
out of the ground, or from the clouds ! It is difficult to
conceive a limit to the deceptions that might thus be prac
tised ; and in superstitious ages and nations, those who
possessed this art, and used it for the purposes of decep
tion, would naturally connect it with religion, and pretend
to intercourse'with demons and imaginary deities. In this
way they would excite great reverence for themselves, and
secure the most ample gains ; and consequently it was
intimately associated with idolatry and imposture of the
worst kind. On this account the Israelites were forbidden
to pay any attention to its professors, Isaiah viii. 19 :
" And when they shall say to you, Seek unto them that
have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and that
mutter," (it is plainly implied, you shall not hearken to
them;) "should not a people seek unto their God?"
Should not those who know the living and true God seek
to him and not to impostors ? " For the living to the
dead?" That is, Will you inquire for the living of the
dead? or, Is it not absurd for the living to apply to the
dead ? (See Dr. Henderson's note on this passage.) This
passage condemns the practice of necromancy and demon-
ology, as both iniquitous and absurd, and as leading to
the rejection of the claims and authority of the living and

142 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
true God. And hence, in Lev. xix. 26, after telling the
Israelites, " Ye shall be holy unto me, for I the Lord your
God am holy, and have severed you from other people, that
you should be mine ;" it is added, verse 27, " A man also,
or a woman, that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard,
shall surely be put to death." That is, dealers with familiar
spirits and wizards counteracted the design of God in
severing the Israelites from other people ; they led them
to associate with the Gentiles in their idolatrous rites and
practices. And on this account they were to be put to
death. The heathen were in the habit of applying to these
impostors, especially in the time of danger and difficulty.
Isaiah xix, 3, "And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the
midst thereof, and I will destroy the counsel thereof; and
they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to
them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards."*
Other passages of similar import might be quoted, all
confirmatory of what has been advanced, that witchcraft in
all its forms was connected, amongst the heathen, with
idolatry, and that was the reason why, by the express com
mand of God, it was punished with death amongst the Jews,
since those amongst them who practised it acknowledged
the existence and power of the false deities and demons of
the Gentiles, and thus enticed God's chosen people to
serve other gods.
Now from what has been advanced, I think the following-
conclusions may legitimately be drawn : —
First. That the law which denounced death on witches,
necromancers, &c, under the Mosaic economy, emanated
from the theocracy ; that the reason of it was found in the
peculiar relation in which God stood to the Israelites, and
in the character which the practices in question neces
sarily then assumed. Therefore, if it could be proved that
witchcraft in modern times is essentially the same as it
was amongst the Jews, it would by no means follow that
* See also Exodus vii. 11 ; Nahum iii. 4.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 143
it would be right, or at all consistent with the spirit of the
religion of Jesus Christ, to punish it with death under the
Gospel dispensation ; any more than that it would be just
to make blasphemy or idolatry capital crimes, because they
were so under the theocracy. The Sovereign of the uni
verse has prerogatives which can never be communicated
to any earthly governor. Had the Bible been rightly
understood, none would ever have been put to death for
witchcraft. But,
Secondly. It follows from what has been advanced, (and
this will be farther illustrated in the sequel,) that the
witches, and necromancers, and magicians of whom we
read in the Bible, and even those which then existed
amongst the heathen, were quite different from the witches
and magicians of the middle and of modern ages. They
claim, or others have claimed for them, powers to wliich
the former never pretended. We have no evidence that
the Hebrew witches ever professed to be able to command
Satan to appear at their pleasure, to control him by cer
tain spells or charms, to render themselves invisible, or to
transform themselves or others into the shape of animals,
as modern conjurors have done, &e. The existence of the
latter by no means follows from that of the former. But,
Thirdly. The great probability, if not the certainty is,
that the witches and magicians mentioned in the Bible,
and therefore all of a similar character, were either im
postors, or else persons who were deceived by their own
imaginations, in other words, rank enthusiasts ; and that
there never were any compacts made with Satan or spirits
of any kind, or any supernatural power or knowledge im
parted by them to their votaries, whatever the latter might
wish, or attempt, or believe, or pretend. There are many
intimations given us in Scripture that this was the case.
We have already seen that the word which is translated
" witches," means, sometimes at least, jugglers or impost
ors. The Jews were forbidden to entertain any fear of the

144 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
false gods or idols, or of the astrologers or magicians of
the heathen ; Jer. x. 2, " Thus saith the Lord, Learn not
the way of the heathen, neither be dismayed at the signs
of heaven ; for the heathen are dismayed at them." Does
not this mean, Pay no regard to astrologers, or soothsayers,
or augurs ; they are all deceivers ? The prophet adds,
speaking of idols, ver. 5, "Be not afraid of them, for they
cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good."
Now, perhaps the moststupid idolater never imagined that
the idol itself, the wood, or the stone, or the metal, which
he, or others for him, had moulded into the shape of a
man, or of some animal or material object, could do either
good or evil. They all had the notion, formed and enter
tained indeed with different degrees of definiteness, that
some deity or spirit either took possession of the idol, or
visited it occasionally, or in some way connected himself
with it. Hence the importance which was attached, in
many cases, to consecration, and the performance of some
mystic rites. Now, if the ideas of those who believe in
witchcraft, necromancy, and heathen oracles, are correct,
infernal malignant spirits might come and take possession
of the idols and temples of idolaters, might communicate
superhuman knowledge and power to their priests and
magicians, and enable them to do both good and evil on
an extensive scale ; how then could it be said that the false
gods of the Gentiles could do neither good nor evil ? The
apostle Paul informs us, 1 Cor. viii. 4, that " an idol is
nothing in the world." But if devils could take possession
of idols and their temples, and enter into compact with
their worshippers, and inspire them to foretel future events,
how could it be said that an idol is nothing? True, it
would not be a god ; but instead of being notiiing, it would
be one of the most important objects in the world. To
those passages which have been quoted, others of a similar
character might be added, such as Isaiah xii. 22 — 24, xliv.
10 — 25, and xlvii. 12, 13. And on this prmciple we may

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 145
account for all the instances of witchcraft and divination
mentioned in Scripture ; and therefore to an examination of
the chief of them I shall now proceed.
The account of the magicians of Egypt naturally claims
our attention in the first place. Now it must be acknow
ledged, that their history presents considerable difficulty
whatever hypothesis may be adopted; and consequently, as
might be expected, different explanations of it have been
given. Some maintain that in the imitating the first
miracle, real serpents were produced by sleight of hand or
juggling ; others, that they were furnished to the magicians
by Satan, or by some demons with whom they were in
compact ; others, that evil spirits produced the appearance
of serpents, by blinding or dazzling the eyes of Pharaoh
and his servants, and causing them to think that a real
miracle was performed. " How much more rational," says
a learned commentator, " is it to suppose, that these ma
gicians had familiar spirits, who could assume all shapes,
change the appearances of the subjects on which they
operated, or suddenly convey one thing away and substi
tute another in its place ! Nature has no such power, and
art no such influence, as to produce the effects attributed
here and in the succeeding chapters to the Egyptian ma
gicians."* But the strangest hypothesis, in my opinion,
is that of those who suppose that " while the magicians
used their enchantments, expecting assistance of the de
mons to whom they applied, God himself was pleased to
interpose, and to effect a real change of their rods into
serpents ; and as they could not certainly know how far the
power of their demons extended, they would naturally sup
pose that this was the effect of their enchantments. "+ With
all proper deference to the piety, learning, and good sense
of the excellent commentator, who appears to adopt this
theory, I must think it is utterly indefensible ; and I can
not see how it is not dishonourable to the Divine Being.
* Clark, Com. in loc. t Scott in loc.
IX. L

1 46 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
1
In the first place, let it be observed, that there is not a
single hint given in the narration, or in any part of the
Scriptures, that God did thus interpose and exert his
power ; nothing that in the least implies that this was the
case ; but on the contrary, .all that was done is ascribed to
the magieians. " They did also in like manner with their
enchantments. "
Second. On the hypothesis which we are combating,
there was as real and great a miracle wrought by the
magicians as by Moses : the creating power of God was
exerted in both cases, and the power by which his rod was
changed into a serpent, no more resided in him, or was
exerted by him, than the power by which theirs were
changed resided in them ; the omnipotence of Jehovah
effected the transformation in both cases. Now, as the
point at issue between Moses and the magicians was,
whether the Lord was the only true God, to whom all, and
amongst others Pharaoh and his servants, should submit,
or whether the gods of Egypt were not real deities like
wise, and possessed of supernatural power, can we suppose
that the Divine Being would work a miracle to support
and sanction the grossly erroneous and idolatrous views of
those who maintained the latter ; and afford them not
merely a plausible pretext, but a solid reason to think that,
though the God of Moses was stronger than their gods,
yet they possessed true divinity as well as he did ; and
that, though he prevailed against them in this contest, yet
in the next, they might prevail against him ? I ask again,
can we, consistently with anything that God has revealed
respecting himself, suppose that he would do this ; that he
would exert his omnipotent power to sanction, -though but
for a short time, a gross delusion, producing rebellion
against his own authority ? I confess, I feel myself utterly
incapable, in the absence of anything like proof from the
narration in question, or from any other part of the Scrip
tures, to conceive that this could be the case. And with-

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 147
out denying or doubting for a moment the agency of evil
spirits, or asserting positively that Satan did not assist the
Egyptian magicians in their efforts to rival the miracles of
Moses, I have little hesitation in adopting the hypothesis
of those who maintain that there was nothing supernatural
in what the wise men of Pharaoh did, but that all was
effected by sleight of hand ; and that gross imposition was
practised on the king and his servants. In support of this
opinion, I beg leave to offer the following considerations.
First. The language employed by Moses does not by
any means imply that evil spirits had any share in effect
ing the apparent wonders that were wrought by the ma
gicians. There are three words used to designate the
actors on this occasion, and two to express the means
which they employed, Exodus vii. 11. They are first called
wise men, or magi, opsn, a word which is generally taken
in a good sense, and is far from implying any intercourse
with evil spirits, or even the use of any unlawful arts.
They are next called sorcerers, oafiM, a word which, as we.
have seen, may be translated jugglers, mixers of potions
of various kinds, practisers of secret arts. The third word
employed is asi^n, which our translators have rendered
magicians, and the Seventy iiraoidol, enchanters or fascina
tors by singing or music. The Hebrew is derived from a
word which means to cut or grave, and the term in ques
tion is Tendered by Gesenius, " sacred scribes, skilled in
sacred writings or hieroglyphics, a class of Egyptian
priests," and by Buxtorf, magi. This term, then, does not
at all convey the idea that they had any intercourse with
Satan, or that they could exert any supernatural powers.
These wise men of Pharaoh are said to have " done so by
their enchantments," crert, a word which comes from iorrj,
which signifies "to burn, to flame, and then to wrap up,
to cover;" and the term which is used in chap. viii. 7,
comes from »A or isrft, which signifies " to wrap up, to
muffle, to cover." Taylor says, it signifies " to cover, wrap,

148 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
or muffle up, 2 Sam. xix. 4, what is secret, covered, and
concealed from the knowledge of others, Job xv. 11 ; to do
a thing secretly, softly, covertly, so as not to be perceived,
Judges iv. 21." Hence juggling, sleight of hand trick, or
any artifices whereby real appearances are covered, and
false ones imposed upon the spectators, Exod. vii. 22.
Hence, also, to do a thing gently or softly. The passage
then might be translated, " And Pharaoh also called the
magi, the conjurors, or the magicians ; and the sacred
scribes of Egypt did so with their dexterous arts, or sleight
of hand tricks ; " so that there is great force in the observa
tions of Hugh Farmer * on these passages ; " So far is
Moses from ascribing the tricks of the magicians to the
invention and power of demons, or to any superior being
whatever, that he most expressly refers all that they did or
attempted in imitation of himself, to human artifice and
imposture. The original words which are translated ' en
chantments,' are entirely different from those rendered
enchantments in other passages of Scripture, and do not
carry in them any reference to sorcery, or magic, or the
interposition of any spiritual agents ; they import decep
tion and concealment, and ought to have been rendered
secret sleights, or jugglings, and are thus rendered even
by those who adopt the common hypothesis with regard to
the magicians. These secret sleights or jugglings are ex
pressly referred to the magicians, not to the devil," — and
it may be added much less to God,— " who is not so much
as named in the history. Should we therefore be asked
how it came to pass,, in case the works of the magicians
were performed by sleight of hand, that Moses has given
no hint thereof ; we answer, he has not contented himself
with a hint of this kind, but, at the same time that he
ascribes his own miracles to Jehovah, he has, in the most
direct terms, resolved everything done in imitation of them,
entirely to the fraudulent contrivances of his opposers, to
* A learned dissenting minister, whose works will often be quoted.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 149
legerdemain, or sleight of hand, in contradistinction from
magical incantations. Moses could not intend to repre
sent their works as real miracles, at the very same time
that he was branding them as impostors."* And then
Farmer proceeds to give a translation of the original words
ornarfa and nrrpj^f which entirely corresponds with that
already given. Now, without altogether concurring in the
representation of Farmer, or asserting with him that all
the words employed are entirely different from those which
in other passages of Scripture are rendered enchantments,
and not denying that most of them may be applied at times
to enchanters and witches, who pretended to have inter
course with the invisible world, (I am far from thinking
that the terms necessarily imply that they ever had this in
tercourse in reality, or that they could by all the arts which
they used render evil spirits subservient to their designs,)
still it is certainly the fact, that the terms employed by the
sacred writer, whether we attend to their original meaning
or their common usage, ascribe the pretended miracles of
the Egyptian magicians, not to the power of God or to the
influence of evil spirits, but rather to legerdemain, and to
the arts and dexterity of impostors.
Second. Though Moses employs the same language in
narrating the pretended miracles of the wise men of Egypt
as he does in stating his own ; though he says, that " they
did so with their enchantments ; for they cast down their
rods, and they became serpents ; " this by no means implies
that real miracles were performed. For as Farmer well
observes, " Nothing is more common than to speak of pro
fessed jugglers as doing that which they pretend, and
appear to do ; and this language never misleads, when we
reflect on what kind of men are spoken of, namely, mere
impostors on the sight." The language employed signi
fies nothing more than that they attempted to imitate Moses,
* Farmer on Miracles, p. 452.
t Exod. vii. 11, 23; viii. 7, 18.

150 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
and succeeded in- causing the spectators to imagine that
they wrought miracles similar to his. And if we adopt the
hypothesis of those who. maintain that real serpents were
produced, that the magicians cast down their rods, or
seemed to do so, and then that, by sleight of hand, serpents
which they had prepared on purpose were dexterously
substituted for them, (and this appears to me by far the
most probable opinion,) we can easily see why Moses says,
" They cast down their rods, and they became serpents,"
or " they were to serpents," or "for serpents." In both
cases there was a real substitution. When Moses cast
down his rod, it was by the power of God changed into a
serpent ; and when the magieians cast down their rods, ser
pents were dexterously introduced instead of them, so that
the spectators thought the former had been changed into
the latter. And besides, the expression, " they did so," or
"they did in like manner," cannot necessarily imply that
their performances, equalled his, or that they wrought any
miracle at all, for the very same language is used in record
ing their failure, chap. viii. 18, "And the magicians did so
with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could
not ; " and even when they to a certain extent succeeded,
the language does not imply that their works were equal
to his. Thus when Moses had turned all the water into
blood, it is said the magicians did so with their enchant
ments ; and when he had covered all the land of Egypt with
frogs, it is again said they did so with their enchantments ;
but how could they possibly turn all the water into blood,
or cover all the land with frogs, when this had been done
already ? All that can be meant is that they produced some
humble imitation of the miracles of Moses, which afforded
Pharaoh a pretext to ascribe the latter as well as the
former to magic, and thus to reject the claims ofthe God
of Israel.
Third. It should be further observed here, that the
Egyptians, as well as the Indians and Chaldeans, were

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 151
famous for their skill in legerdemain and magical arts.
They made them their peculiar study, and might therefore
be able to effect, by deception, many things that would
appear wonderful, and even miraculous. Moreover, they
had all the prejudices and wishes ofthe Egyptians, that is,
of all the spectators, in their favour ; and, doubtless, they
had all necessary time and facilities afforded them for
carrying on the deception. It is said, " They did so with
their enchantments, " or with their arts. They must then
have had time allowed them to practise these arts, to go
through all their ceremonies, and to use all the means
which they would maintain were necessary to secure suc
cess. There can be little doubt that their practices in this
respect were similar to those of the pretended magicians
and sorcerers of modern times, who are very far from ever
undertaking to operate instantaneously, or in any place or
circumstances. They must always have time to prepare.
Fourth. If we examine in detail their pretended mira
cles, we shall not find in them anything which might not
be effected by legerdemain ; especially in such circum
stances as those of the Egyptian magicians. The feat
which presents the greatest difficulty, and which appears,
both in itself and on account of the way in which it is
narrated, to exhibit the nearest resemblance to the real
miracles of Moses, is that of the change of their rods into
serpents. But really, when we recollect that they could
easily procure tame serpents, (for it is well known that they
can be tamed,) or those whose stings had previously been
extracted, prepared for the purpose, there could be no
great difficulty for those who were skilled in legerdemain,
and who would have all necessary facilities afforded them,
while Moses would not be allowed to expose their arts, or
to put them to any such test as. he might wish to employ, —
to convey the rods away, and to substitute serpents in
their place. Feats equally wonderful, or even more so, are
frequently performed with serpents, as well as in other

152 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
ways, by Indian jugglers to this day. Nay, some more
difficult are exhibited by professors of legerdemain, or
natural magic, in our own country. Surely it would be
more easy for them to cause the Egyptians to suppose that
they changed their rods into serpents, than for jugglers
amongst us to cause spectators to imagine that they can
eat or spit fire, or swallow knives or swords, or change an
egg into a beautiful bird, singing most delightfully, and
again transform it into an egg, or that they can stand the
discharge of a musket loaded with ball, without being in
jured. I must maintain that some of these things require
much greater skill and dexterity, than would be requisite
to enable the Egyptian magicians to substitute a serpent
for a rod, in such a way that ignorant and credulous spec
tators would think that the latter had been changed into
the former.*
Moses's rod, we are informed, swallowed up those of the
magicians. Moses would not have been permitted, had he
made the attempt, to expose their arts, and to prove that
they effected all their seeming wonders by sleight of hand ;
and as God was pleased to permit them to succeed so far
as to substitute serpents for their rods, the best, the only
way of exposing them was, to cause the serpent which had
been produced from the rod of Moses to swallow up theirs.
As the spectators thought, whatever were the real facts of
the case, that the magicians had produced serpents as well
as Moses, this would be to them a proof, and one which
they could easily understand, that the God of Israel was
far superior to their gods, and that he would at last destroy
them, and punish their worshippers.
The next miracle which the magicians attempted to
imitate, was the turning of all the water in the land of
Egypt, whether in the Nile, or in the streams, or ponds,
* While these lectures were being delivered, a professor of natural magic
to the King of Prussia performed, in London, feats more wonderful than any
achieved by the Egyptian magicians.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 153
or even in vessels of any kind, into blood. And how did
the magicians imitate or rival this ? Did they wait till the
water had been restored to its natural state, and then
change it all again into blood, as Moses had done ? No ;
they doubtless got a small quantity of that which the
Egyptians procured by digging, and operated on it, or sub
stituted one quantity of it for another, in such a way as to
cause the spectators to imagine that they produced a
change in it similar to that which had been effected by
the power of the God of Israel. Surely it was no difficult
matter for dexterous jugglers to do this.
The third and last miracle which they attempted with
some degree of success to imitate, was that of producing
frogs. These reptiles had been suddenly generated in
such swarms, when, at the command of God, Aaron
stretched out his rod, that they soon filled the whole land
of Egypt ; and it is plain that they were not removed till
after the magicians had performed their feats ; they were
utterly unable to destroy the frogs, however they might
profess to bring them. The probability then is, that a
comparatively small space was cleared, and then, in a
short time, caused to swarm with these reptiles, produced,
as the jugglers pretended, by their arts. A matter of no
great difficulty surely, when they were crawling all around,
and intruding themselves into every place.
In their attempts to mimic the next miracle, the magi
cians utterly failed ; and when we examine its nature and
circumstances, it is not difficult to discover the cause of
their failure. La the two former miracles, they had notice
of what was expected of them, and time to make prepara
tion. The plague of lice was inflicted without any warn
ing being given, and consequently the magicians were taken
by surprise. And it deserves to be noticed, that those para
sites which were the infliction of the fourth plague, from
their smallness, and from the circumstance of their being
found only on the bodies of men and animals, and there-

154 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
fore on the magicians themselves, were not easily managed
by legerdemain, and could not with facility be removed
from one place to another, so as to impose on the spec
tators. No wonder then that, though the jugglers suc
ceeded in their imitations in the former cases, they utterly
failed in this, and were obliged, in order to save their eredit,
to confess, " This is the finger of God," or " of a god," as
some render it; for it is not at all probable that they in
tended to acknowledge that the God of Israel was the true
God, but merely that the miracle had been performed by
some god, whose influence was superior to that of magic,
and that therefore then.- failure was not at all wonderful
or disgraceful.
Whether the magicians attempted to oppose Moses in
the next two plagues, we are not informed. Warning was
given of the plague of flies. But when these insects were
swarming everywhere, and, probably, being still produced
almost ever3r hour in countless myriads, it is difficult to
see how the jugglers could find an opportunity of counter
feiting it ; and perhaps as it was in some respects similar
to the last in which they failed, they retired from the con
test. And the imitation of the murrain on the cattle, would
be still more beyond the reach of their legerdemain. How,
when almost all the cattle of the Egyptians were affected,
and a contagious disease raging amongst them, so that fresh
victims were constantly falling under its power, could the
magicians so far impose on the credulity of the king and
his servants, as to make them believe that they sent a mur
rain hkewise ? Had they inflicted it on the cattle of the
Israelites, this would have answered some purpose ; it
would have shown that then* gods were as powerful as the
God of Israel. And if they could change rods into ser
pents, as some would have us to think was the case, surely
they might have affected cattle with disease. I know it
will be said that both on this occasion, and when they were
unable to produce lice and flies, they were restrained by

THE: AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 155
the power of God. But where is the evidence of this ?
There is not a single intimation given that this was the
ease, and we cannot accept assertions for arguments. The
whole history certainly indicates that whatever the magi
cians did, they effected by their own art, and that it was
because this art failed them, not because they were for
saken by evil spirits, or laid under any restraint by God,
that they could imitate Moses, and impose on the Egyptians,
no longer. At. last they were completely baffled and put to
shame. Their folly was made apparent to all. The plague
of the boils affected them as much as it did the rest of the
Egyptians, and reduced them to such a state, that they at
once were ashamed, afraid,, and unable to appear before
Moses; and hence we are told, chap. ix. 11, that "the
magicians could not stand before Moses, because of the
boils ; for the boils were upon the magicians and upon all
the Egyptians." And thus it was demonstrated that the
former were impostors, that they had been grossly imposing
on all who believed them, that Moses had wrought genuine
miracles, and that the God of Israel was the true God, the
Author of the laws of nature, and the Creator of the uni
verse, and Pharaoh and his subjects were left utterly inex
cusable in persisting in their rebellion against him. The
plagues, comparatively light and gentle at first, became
more and more severe, as the conduct of the king of Egypt
and of his servants became more and more inexcusable, till
the country was almost destroyed ; and then at last the
death of the firstborn in every house, in one night, and by
a similar disease, according to the prediction of Moses,
affected for a time the most hardened, not excepting even
Pharaoh himself, subdued' the most obstinate, and rendered
them willing even to purchase the departure of God's chosen
people by loading, them with wealth of every description.
I hope it appears, then, from the critical investigation of
the meaning of the terms which Moses employs, from
general considerations, and from a particular examination

156 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
of the miracles which were performed, and which the magi
cians endeavoured to imitate, that there is no reason to
think that they wrought anything supernatural, or that
they had intercourse with evil spirits, any farther than they
were tempted and stimulated by them, as wicked men and
impostors generally are. It deserves particular notice that
the miracles which the Egyptians counterfeited, were pre
cisely those in the imitation of which persons who were
skilled in the arts of juggling were most likely to be suc
cessful ; that they failed in those which were obviously
most difficult of imitation ; and that when at last Moses
was commissioned to work such as it was impossible for
any art, any skill in legerdemain, to counterfeit, they were
utterly baffled, and were forced to retire from the contest.
And when God arose in his might, thundered in the heavens,
and poured forth tempests of hail and fire ; when he spake,
and swarms of locusts infested the land, and destroyed the
remainder of its produce which the hail had left ; (to have
imitated this miracle the magicians must have brought
similar swarms after the former were removed ;) when he
covered the whole land with darkness as gloomy as if the
sun had been blotted out from the heavens, and when by
the sword of the destroying angel, or by the pestilence
which walketh in darkness, he laid the firstborn in every
family dead at once ; when he thus stretched out his mighty
arm in a way which no power or art of man could, even in
the humblest degree, imitate, the magicians entirely de
sisted from all attempts to counterfeit the wonders of Jeho
vah's omnipotence. In other words, the history agrees
exactly with the hypothesis of their being gross impostors
and jugglers, and not with the supposition that they were
assisted by any Satanic agency.
The history of Balaam, Num. xxii., &c, is the next which
claims our attention in examining the records of witchcraft,
so far as they are presented to us in the Bible. The in
formation which is given us respecting him is very scanty,

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 157
so that it is difficult to determine what he was. Some
think that he was originally a true prophet, and even a
really pious man, but that he apostatised and endeavoured
to unite the study and practice of divination, or magic,
with the influence and inspiration of the Spirit of God.*
Others, that he was never anything more than a soothsayer,
or magician, but that God was pleased to employ him to
deliver a true prophecy, and to bless his chosen tribes.
The latter opinion appears to me by far the more probable
of the two. He is indeed called a prophet, 2 Peter ii. 16.
But he may be so designated merely on account of his
pretensions, and the ideas which were entertained respect
ing him. It is not said that he was a true prophet ; nor
can it be inferred that he was so, because he was employed
in one instance, to deliver messages from God and to fore-
tel some future events ; for we find, Jer. xxviii, that Hana-
niah is called a prophet, though he was an impostor. Be
that as it may, his history affords no evidence that he had
any real intercourse with Satan, so as to be enabled to utter
predictions, and to perform anything like miracles. Nothing
that is related respecting him, gives any colour to the mo
dern ideas of witchcraft. He is called in Joshua xiii. 22,
a soothsayer, from a word which signifies to divine, to
practise divination, and which is applied generally to false
prophets. The primary idea, according to Gesenius, is
that of cutting up, and then it is transferred to divination,
so that there is probably a reference to the method of
divining by cutting up animals, and observing their en
trails ; a practice to which many heathen nations, and
amongst others the Chaldeans, Greeks, and Romans, were
much addicted. It is said, Num. xxiv. 1, that "Balaam
went not, as at other times, to seek enchantments." The
word which is rendered enchantments, vtSm, comes from
one which signifies to utter a low hissing sound like that
of a serpent, to whisper ; and it is applied especially to the
* Watson, Institutes, vol. ix. p. 271 .

158 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
whispering or muttering of sorcerers, (Gesenius ;) and then
it signifies to practise sorcery, enchantment, or divinations,
and likewise to augur, to forebode ; and the word in ques
tion, derived from this root, means both divinations and
omens. According to Taylor, the verb signifies to observe
with great attention and accuracy, in order to make a dis
covery; to make curious observations about omens, &c.
The same word signifies also a serpent. Hence, some sup
pose that when it refers to divination or augury, it means
to divine or take the auguries by means of serpents. On
the whole, it seems that Balaam was a famous professor of
divination or augury, or both, that he was skilled in all
their arts, that he professed both to know future events,
and to be able to exert supernatural power for both good
and evil ; and that being a man of great abilities and saga
city, and perhaps of considerable rank, he had gained a
high reputation as an augur and magician ; so that the
general belief respecting him was, as it is expressed by
Balak, that those whom he blessed, were blessed, and those
whom he cursed, were cursed, It was a very common opi
nion amongst the heathen, that their priests, and augurs,
and diviners, had a power to curse and bless efficaciously
on certain occasions, and hence in war they were employed
to curse their enemies, and to devote them to destruction.*
Balaam, it appears, had gained a high reputation for the
possession of a power of this kind, and doubtless accom
panied the exercise of it with various mystical incantations,
and with the observation of omens and auspices ; and this
will explain the reason why he said to Balak, " Stand byjthy
burnt-offering, and I will go ; peradventure the Lord will
come to meet me," Num. xxiii. 2 ; and " he went to a high
place." And again, when Balak had brought him to the top
of Pisgah, he said, " Standby thy burnt-offering, while I meet
the Lord yonder." And then, chap. xxiv. 1, we are told
that " when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless
* Dr. A. Clarke, in loc.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 159
Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek enchantments."
This seems to intimate that he had gone to seek those en
chantments, to use his magical arts and ceremonies, and to
consulthis augmies and omens, in the attempts which he had
made at the request of Balak to curse Israel ; for it is evi
dent that he wished to be able to curse them, and came
with the intention to do so if it were in his power. The
probabiUty is, that he was not altogether an impostor, to
whatever degree he might endeavour to render craft and
deceit available to the accomplishment of his purposes ;
but that he thought there was in his mystic arts and ob
servances a real power, derived perhaps from some of the
laws of nature, or the influence of fate, to cause good to
those whom he blessed, and evil to those whom he cursed,
in connexion with his magical incantations ; and hence he
evidently hoped that he might be able, by the use of them,
to induce God to permit him to curse the Israelites.
Hence he once and again offered the perfect or mystic
number of sacrifices, and boasted of what he had done.
Whatever he was, or had been, he possessed some know
ledge of the God of Israel, and this appears to have been
the case with Balak likewise ; for there is no reason to
suppose that this knowledge was entirely lost in Moab and
Midian; the contrary is evident; and hence Balaam calls
him Jehovah, acknowledges his authority, and professes a
desire to please him, when the princes of Balak came to
him for the first time. But he was evidently endeavouring
to serve both God and mammon, and to connect the arts
of divination and witchcraft with what knowledge he had
of the Creator and Governor of the universe, and to rend el
even the Divine authority and influence subservient to his
own unhallowed purposes. And yet, profane and -wicked
as he was, he durst not act directly contrary to the express
command of God, or dare liis vengeanee ; and therefore
he once and again made the declaration, " What the Lord
telleth me, I must speak; if Balak would give me his

1 60 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word
of the Lord my God, to do less or more." In short, if we
take into the account the ignorance of the times in which
he lived, the general prevalence of the belief in omens,
and magic, and enchantments, the abilities, and experi
ence, and craft which Balaam no doubt possessed, and the
high credit which some who were evidently and confessedly
impostors have attained amongst the ignorant and credu
lous, the strange discoveries which they have been supposed
to make, and the lying wonders which they have been
believed to perform — so that in the estimation of many
they have almost rivalled Balaam, and applications have
been made to them not dissimilar to those which were made
to him — and if we connect with all these, the meaning of
the words which are employed to designate his arts and
achievements, there is no reason to think that he carried
on any intercourse with fallen spirits, or that he exercised
anything like witchcraft. The erroneous ideas, therefore,
that have been entertained on that subject, and the cruel
practices to which they have led, are not at all sanctioned
by the history of Balaam. " All that is deducible from his
story is, that by artifice he attempted to deceive the cre
dulous ; or, being himself addicted to superstition, that he
acted consistently with such folly,"* or rather, perhaps,
that both craft andjcredulity (for they are by no means in
compatible) were united in his character, and contributed
to enable him to deceive others.
The history of the witch of Endor, 1 Sam. xxviii., next
presents itself to our notice. Saul, by his repeated, wilful
transgressions of the express commands of God ; by his
rebellion, manifested in such forms, that it was as bad as
the sin of witchcraft perpetrated in favour of idolatry ; by
his envious, malignant, and impious persecution of David,
though known and acknowledged by him to be the Lord's
anointed, had reduced himself to the most deplorable
* Patterson on Witchcraft.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 161
situation. The determined and deadly enemies of his
person and kingdom had assembled in vast numbers ; so
that though he was evidently a man of great natural
courage and resolution, as he demonstrated by his conduct
in the most hopeless situation, " he was afraid, and his
heart trembled," and his whole army participated in his
fears. In this extremity he betook himself to God, — not
as a humble penitent, to solicit the pardon of his sins,
prepared to accept of the punishment of his iniquity, and
to wait on the Lord, even if he should hide himself from
him, — no, but to make an experiment, whether he could
obtain from God the information and assistance he needed,
but determined, if he could not succeed with heaven, to
have recourse to hell.* Accordingly, when, as he was re
garding iniquity in his heart, God would not hear him, would
not answer him, "neither by Urim, nor by prophets,"
he betook himself to a reputed witch. This he did, though
he well knew the utter unlawfulness of this practice in all
its forms, and that it was most offensive to the God of
heaven ; nay, though he had himself, a short time before,
in a fit of selfish or ostentatious devotion, " put away those
that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land ;"
perhaps wishing either to pacify his conscience, and to
appease the offended majesty of heaven, or to be able to
say, " Come and see my zeal for the Lord of hosts ; I am
as religious as David, though God has rejected me and
chosen him." In answer to Saul's inquiries, and in obe
dience to his commands, his servants told him, " Behold,
there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor;"
and to her he immediately applied. Now the question is,
was this woman a witch in the ordinary sense of the word ?
Had she any intercourse with evil spirits ? Did they bring
up Samuel for her, or personate him, so that she thought
he was brought up from the dead, or from the invisible
* "Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo." Virg. SEn. vii. 312.
IX. M

162 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
world ? Or did God work a miracle, and cause Samuel to
appear ? . Or was she an impostor ? Did she deceive Saul
by her crafty, false pretences ? I am strongly inclined to
believe, nay, I have little doubt, that the latter hypothesis
is correct, and that it will enable us to account for all the
particulars of the narration.
. On the word aw, 66, translated " familiar spirits," some
observations have already been made. It has been shown,
that it might be translated, a ventriloquist, and that it seems
most naturally to signify one who, by ventriloquism, acts
the part of a necromancer. As far then as the original
word is concerned, the probability is, that she had no power
over evil spirits, but that she was a base deceiver, or a
miserable enthusiast, or both. And that she was to a great
extent an impostor, surely all must grant. For what did
slie undertake and profess ? When Saul said to her,
" Divine for me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him
up whom I shall name unto thee," her answer was, "Whom
shall I bring up unto thee ?" Now, was not this equivalent
to a profession that she could bring up any one whom he
might name, and, consequently, that she had power over
all the regions of the dead ; and that she could at her
pleasure, and by the efficacy of her charms, either raise
bodies from the grave, or bring spirits from the invisible
world? It would be mere trifling to expose the absurdity
of such pretensions, and to prove that she was so far a
gross impostor, and claimed a power which belongs ex
clusively to God. To raise the dead is the work of Omni
potence. Jesus Christ has, and always had, " the keys of
hades and of death ;" their gates " he opens, and none can
shut; he shuts, and none can open;" and who can suppose
that he would entrust them for a moment to a witch, and
to an evil spirit, even if they had power to bear and turn
them? So far, then, her pretences were as false as they
were impious. And if it be said, but Satan, or her familiar
spirit, might appear in the form of the person whom she

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 163
was requested to bring up, and speak and act in his name;
we reply, this is not asserted or even implied in the narra
tive. She might assert that she saw persons ascending out
of the ground, describe their appearance, pretend to talk
with them, and by the art of ventriloquism cause those for
whom she was divining to believe that they talked with her
and she with them, while nothing of the kind took place
in reality. Nay, if her imagination was warm and mor
bid, her judgment weak, and her health unsound ; if she
was the subject of mental aberration, and of a superstitious
belief in the power of charms, she might when practising
her incantations actually believe that spirits had appeared
at her command, that she saw what had no existence,
and heard what was never uttered. Imagination has per
formed far greater wonders, and caused far grosser delu
sions, than are implied in what has now been supposed.*
And if we examine the narrative, I apprehend we shall
find nothing in it for which we may not account on the
supposition that she was an impostor, who practised her
art, and made high pretences, for the sake of admiration
and gain, to what she did not possess. Let it be observed,
that she was a professed necromancer or sorceress, and con
sequently was skilled in all the arts of deception connected
with that profession, that Saul went to her by night, that
probably she or some one connected with her was a ven
triloquist, and that in the case of Saul she had all the
advantages of darkness to aid her in the work of deception,
that she might be well acquainted with Samuel, and there
fore might easily give such a description of what she
pretended she beheld, as would cause Saul, firm believer
as he evidently was in the art of necromancy, to think that
she actually saw the prophet. She had doubtless heard of
the declarations and prophecies of Samuel, that God had
rejected Saul, and had given the kingdom to another, and
* In Scott's Demonology, p. 13, is recorded a striking instance of the power
of imagination. — See Appendis V.

164 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
that David had actually been anointed by the command of
God, and was to be the successor of Saul ; that unhappy
king himself knew all these facts ; indeed, they were
matters of public notoriety. Moreover, it was easy for the
witch to see that his time was come ; that the storms of the
Divine vengeance were gathering thick around him ; and
that as he was forsaken by God, there was no hope of his
escape ; for a general belief of all this, and, consequently,
of the prophetic character of Samuel, is by no means
irreconcileable with her pretensions to witchcraft. She
probably knew likewise the strength of the Philistines'
army and the comparative weakness of that of Saul ; and
she saw his trepidation and gloomy forebodings — how
could he avoid these, when he knew that God had cast
him off? Doubtless, then, the despair which caused him to
faint when he heard, as he supposed, the declaration of
Samuel, " The Lord shall dehver Israel with thee into
the hand of the Philistines," was secretly working in his
breast before, and would manifest itself in his countenance,
and in all his actions. She might easily therefore predict
the event of the battle ; and a regard to her credit, for her
statements were heard by the servants of Saul, and probably
by others, would induce her to fbretel what she thought
would come to pass. And to carry on the deception, and
to maintain her own pretensions, it was necessary to do
this in the name of Samuel, and therefore to cause the
king to believe that the prophet spoke to him in the name
of God. It is perhaps commonly supposed that Saul heard
Samuel speaking to him, or, at least, that he thought he
heard him ; but this is by no means certain ; as he did not
at first see Samuel, but believed he was there from the
description which the woman gave of his appearance, so he
might never hear any voice himself; the supposed en
chantress might state to the king what she pretended the
prophet said. I know it is maintained by some, that though
Saul did not see any one at first, he did afterwards ; since

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 165
it is said that he "perceived it was Samuel, and he bowed
himself to the earth." But the word which is rendered
"perceived," bt, yadang, by no means implies that he saw
him, but merely that he learned, or thought from the de
scription which the woman gave, that he was there, and
then he would naturally, looking on him as a messenger
from the invisible world, and even from God, bow himself
to the earth. Indeed, I cannot but think that the natural
inference from the whole of the narration is, that Saul
never saw anything, but that he trusted entirely to the
reports of the woman. If Samuel was actually raised from
the dead, or sent from heaven, by the power of God,
according to the belief of some, or if Satan, or any of his
angels, personated him by assuming his form, why did not
Saul see it at once ? What was to render it visible to him
afterwards ? So far, then, as it is absurd to suppose that
any evil spirit could either raise Samuel from the dead, or
bring his spirit from the invisible world, so there is no
evidence from the history that any familiar spirit per
sonated Samuel. We may account for everything from
the craft of the sorceress, and from the necessity under
which she was laid of speaking in the name of Samuel, and
of employing such language as it might be supposed he
would have used, had he been present.
But there is another hypothesis, which on account of its
plausibility, in some respects, the way in which it enables
those who adopt it to explain one part of the narrative, and
the talents, piety, and learning of some by whom it has
been adopted, must be noticed here. It has recently been
stated and defended with great clearness and force, by one
to whom, on account of his ability, learning, and piety, as
much deference is due as ever can be given to human
authority. The hypothesis is this ; that whatever the
woman might be, however unable she was to accomplish
what she undertook, God was pleased to inteipose on this
occasion, and either to raise Samuel from the dead, or to

1G6 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
send his Spirit from heaven, in order to assume the form
which he wore when on earth, to reprove and reproach
Saul, and to foretel his death and that of his sons, together
with the defeat of the Israelitish army. And they urge in
support of this hypothesis, that " the woman was evidently
surprised and terrified at what she saw, that something
took place which she did not expect, and that she imme
diately recognised Saul, and, after answering his question
respecting the form of the apparition, left the king and the
resuscitated prophet to continue the solemn interview."*
It is further urged that the appearance of Samuel is a
simple historical fact, as much so as any other recorded in
the Bible, and that no less than five times it is expressly
stated by the inspired writer that it was Samuel. It is
farther pleaded, and with perfect propriety, that it is the
Spirit of God who is here speaking, and not any other
person ; so that it is. in effect the Holy Ghost who says that
it was Samuel that appeared, and who spoke and prophe
sied ; " so that the passage is not introduced as containing
an account given by some uninspired person, but as a con
tinuation of the sacred history, and perfectly tallies with
the preceding and following context. The rejection of its
obvious import can be effected only at the hazard of un
settling the entire basis ofthe divinely inspired narrative, "t
Such arguments as those just now quoted, connected with
such an assertion as that which follows them, and that
from so eminent a biblical scholar and critic, may well
make any one pause, before he ventures to maintain a con
trary hypothesis, and may, perhaps, in the estimation of
some, expose him to the charge of temerity for making
the attempt. And I must own that some of the arguments
are so powerful, and the difficulties of the whole subject
so great, as to cause me to hesitate, and after all to embrace
and advocate a contrary opinion with some diffidence.
Still on the whole I must embrace and advocate it,
» Henderson on Inspiration, p. 167. t^Ibid. 169.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 167
as being that which is attended with the fewest diffi
culties, and as being most accordant with the sacred
narrative, and with the general doctrines and principles
of the Scriptures.
I know well that it is not for us to limit the Holy One
of Israel ; and that we are seldom in greater danger of
erring than when, uninstructed by facts and the declara
tions of the Bible, we undertake to say either what God
can, or must, or cannot do. " Who hath prescribed to
him his way, or who shall say to him, Thou hast wrought
iniquity ? " Still, I find it difficult to conceive that the
Divine Being, after having refused to answer Saul by
either " dreams, or Urim, or prophets," that is, in any
lawful or prescribed way, should, when he had recourse to
unlawful arts, to a practice which was forbidden under
pain of death, have wrought a miracle to give him an
answer and to gratify his curiosity. I know it is said this
was done to punish him. But the addition which this
made to the punishment which was hanging over him was
so slight, that it is not easy to see how it was consistent
with the character of God to work a great miracle in order
to secure its infliction. Besides, Saul was in such a state
of suspense and perplexity, that it is questionable whether
he would not deliberately have chosen, in order to be
delivered from it, to know the worst ; so that in fact he was
gratified, rather than punished. Samuel is thought, by
'those who maintain the opinion in question, to have been
resuscitated. How much is implied in this ? He had not
been very long dead ; probably his body was not entirely
decayed. Is it supposed or asserted, then, that it was
actually restored to life, and brought beneath the ground
from Ramah to Endor, and caused there to ascend, accord
ing to the representation of the witch, out of the earth ?
But must not this have been done, in order to present the
appearances which were said to be exhibited, and even to
work the miracle which is supposed to have been per-

168 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
formed ? If Samuel had been commissioned to foretel the
death of Saul, is it not much more likely that his spirit
would have been sent from heaven in a human form ? And
therefore it would have appeared to come from the skies,
and not to rise out of the ground, in a way calculated to
confirm the sorceress, and all who were present, in their
belief of the efficacy of her enchantments and spells, or to
beget faith in them if it did not previously exist. It is
indeed said that one end to be answered by the event was,
" a more complete exposure of gross superstition and im
posture." Now I can scarcely conceive of anything' less
calculated to answer this end, or more likely to cause all
who witnessed this transaction, or who heard of it, to be
lieve in the efficacy of witchcraft. There is no intimation
given by the historian that the supposed miracle was
wrought by a Divine power, or that anything which the
woman did not expect took place ; at least nothing more
transpired than what she undertook to effect, when she said,
" Whom shall I bring up to thee ? " - All that we read is, that
Saul applied to the witch ; she promised to bring up to
him whomsoever he should specify; he named Samuel;
the sorceress betook herself to her divinations, and, accord
ing to her, Samuel appeared. This, in my apprehension,
would have done more, supposing the prophet was really
brought from the invisible world, to secure belief in the
art of necromancy, than anything, or than all things, that
had occurred since the beginning of the world. Kthe
woman had no faith in her spells before, this was enough
to cause her to believe in them afterwards ; and to think,
if she viewed the appearance of Samuel as a miracle, that
her incantations had power in heaven as well as in hell.
I must own, that if I believed that Samuel was really raised
from the dead, or brought from heaven, on the occasion in
question, I do not know how I could avoid a belief in the
efficacy of necromancy. I cannot see how it could be con
sistent with the character of the Divine Being, or in unison

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 169
with anything which, as far as we know, he has ever done,
to work a miracle, so closely and apparently connected
with the spells of witchcraft, and yet to give no intimation
that he had interposed.
It is argued that something took place which the woman
did not expect ; that she was surprised and terrified when
she saw Samuel, and that she manifested this by her cry
ing out, and by being enabled immediately to recognise.
Saul. It is not said, however, that she was terrified, but.
merely that she " cried out." This she might very na
turally do, in order to aid the deception which she was
carrying on, and to cause the king to believe that she
saw something supernatural. And how the sight of Samuel,
supposing that he did appear, could enable the woman to
know Saul, I cannot conceive. For she exclaimed, " Why
hast thou deceived me ? for thou art Saul," before the sup
posed Samuel had uttered a single word. She did not
receive her information from him. If the association of
ideas led to the discovery, why had not the name of Samuel
the same influence ? She might know him before, and yet
to gain the greater credit to the influence of her art, she
might pretend to have gained the knowledge by her
charms ; or when she uttered her loud cry, Saul, who was
a believer in witchcraft, might have been surprised and
terrified, and thus led unawares to do something which
would enable her to recognise him. The querulous com
plaint, " Why hast thou disquieted me to bring me up ? "
accords better with the witch personating Samuel than
with the dignity of a messenger from the invisible world.
The most powerful argument, and the only one of any
importance, for the actual appearance of the prophet, and
the greatest difficulty connected with the opposite opinion,
is that the sacred writer repeatedly uses the word " Samuel,"
and represents him as present, and as speaking. Here we
have a choice of difficulties, and I must think that those
which are connected with the hypothesis that Samuel was

170 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
raised from the dead, are far greater than those which are
presented by supposing that the sacred writer narrates
what occurred according to the profession of the sorceress,
and the belief of those who were present. It must be
allowed by all that the inspired penmen do sometimes use
popular and not philosophical language ; in other words,
relate things as they appeared, and as they were believed
to be, and not according to their reality. Instances in
abundance, in illustration of this position, are given by de
fenders of the modern system of geology.
There are some who think that Samuel was neither
raised from the dead, nor sent from heaven, but that a
vision or spectre was presented to Saul, or to the woman,
caused perhaps by the ministry of an angel, and that
Samuel was then personated, and a conversation with the
king was carried on in his name. This interpretation is
liable to many of the objections that have been urged
against the one which has just been examined. And
neither those who adopt it, nor those who think that a
spirit was raised by the incantation of the woman, can
attach much importance to the principal objection which
lies against the hypothesis which I have endeavoured to
defend, namely, that the sacred writer repeatedly says that
it was Samuel himself who appeared. For if it was merely
a vision presented to the imagination of Saul, still it could
not in strict propriety of language, but only by way of
accommodation, be said that Samuel appeared, and that
Samuel spoke, when his body was in the grave, and his
soul in heaven, and when it was either an angel that spoke,
or else all was an illusion of the imagination. On the
whole, the great probability, to say the least, is that there
was no appearance either of any evil spirit, or of an angel,
or of Samuel, on this occasion, but that all was managed -
by the art of the sorceress.*
Let it be observed, that whatever may be thought re-
* See Appendix G.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 171
specting witchcraft as implying a compact with Satan,
doubtless all are in league with him who are in an impeni
tent state, all who are trifling with the authority of God,
all who have not intelligently, cordially, and without any
reserve, submitted to the authority of Jesus Christ, and
that this will as certainly ruin their souls for ever as if,
according to the ideas of some respecting witches, they had
entered into a verbal contract with the prince of darkness,
and had sealed it with their blood. All who are not turned
to God are under the power of Satan, so far that he will
certainly ruin them for ever if they are not delivered ; and
this deliverance can be effected only by the power of the
Saviour, and by a cordial reception of the Gospel. Jesus
Christ has solemnly declared, " He that is not with me is
against me," and, it is plainly implied, is so against me as
to be one of the associates of my great adversary. To have
Christ formed in the heart as the hope of glory, is the only
security against the craft and influence of Satan ; in this
way may we all be secured ! Amen.

LECTURE IV.
THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
THE NATUEE AND MANNER OF THEIR INTERCOURSE WITH THIS WOELD ;
WITCHCEAFT, DIVINATION, ETC. — CONTINUED.
Very few remarks must suffice on the other particulars
which were proposed to be considered, in order to expose
the folly and absurdity of pretensions to witchcraft. I
proceed to show,
II. That the stories with which the records of this prac
tice abound, are of such a character that they are not en
titled to any credit ; nay, they furnish the means of their
own refutation ; and yet the whole system is intimately
connected with them. Many of these stories attribute to
Satan and his agents, and to their spells and enchantments,
some things which are absurd and ridiculous, others
which are evidently above the power of any creatures ;
nay, which are impossible in their very nature. In proof
of these assertions, we may take almost any of the cases
which are recorded by Baxter or Mather, or any of the
most respectable believers in this art. Only a few instances
can be given, from which, however, we may judge of the
rest : " Ex uno disce omnes."
" The hanging of a great number of witches, in Suffolk
and Essex, by the discovery of one Hopkins, in 1645 and
1646, is famously known. Mr. Calamy went with the
judges in the circuit, to hear their confessions, and to see
that there was no fraud or wrong done them. I spake with
many understanding, pious, and credible persons that lived

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 173
in the counties, and some that went to them in the prisons,
and heard their sad confessions ; amongst the rest, an old
reading parson, named Lewis, not far from Framlingham,
was one that was hanged, who confessed that he had two
imps ; that one of them was always putting him on doing
mischief; and he being near the sea, it moved him to send
it to sink the ship ; and he consented, and saw the ship
sink before him. One penitent woman said, that her
mother lying sick, and she looking to her, something like
a mole ran into the bed to her, which she being startled at,
her mother bade her not fear it, but gave it to her, and
said, ' Keep this in a pot by the fire, and thou shalt never
want.' She did as she was bid. Shortly after, a poor boy
(seemingly) came in, and asked leave to sit and warm him
by the fire ; and when he was gone, she found money under
the stool ; and afterwards oft did so again ; and at last he
laid hold of her, and that she made no other compact with
the devil, but that his imps sucked her blood." Such is
the account given by Baxter. It is not necessary to dwell
on the absurdities and puerilities implied, in this account.
That an imp had power to sink a ship at^any time ; — what
ships would ever be safe for a moment if this were the case ?
— and yet, that it could not do this without the consent of
the wizard. That the devil, or some one of his imps,
should be transformed into a mole, and be in this form
kept for days, or months, or years in a pot ; and that he
should have power to inveigle men or women into what
would have the force of a compact with him, by his imps
sucking their blood, apparently without their knowledge
or consent ; — were this practicable, who could be safe ?
who might not find himself in compact with Satan the next
hour ? And the whole evidence which is presented to us,
to induce us to believe all this, is a hearsay story, which
was never generally known till forty or fifty years after the
death of all who were concerned in it, and when it could
not be scrutinized. It has been well observed, that " men

174 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
of too easy belief venture to publish hearsay stories. None
trouble themselves to confute them, or if they do, the con
futation is, frequently, seen but by few, and may soon be
lost, when the history may continue ; as it is very likely
Mr. Baxter's book upon so acceptable a subject may have
a tenth impression, when this obscure dialogue will be for
gotten. Thus fabulous histories get credit, and poison the
generations after them."* It deserves to be noticed, that
the correctness and importance of the closing remark of
the above quotation are strikingly exemplified by the fate
of the book from which it is taken, when compared with
that of Baxter. I should suppose that the readers of the
latter, compared with those of the former, may be more
than ten to one.
The story of John Goodwin'sf bewitched children is
well known to all who are conversant in the history of
witchcraft. On account of its length it must be omitted,
but the following are some of the feats of the witch Glover,
and her familiar. " The tongues of the children would be
drawn down their throats, and then pulled down their chins
to a prodigious length ; their mouths were forced open to
such a wideness that their jaws went out of joint, and
anon clapped together again with the force of a spring
lock ; and the like would happen to then- shoulder-blades,
and their elbows, and their hand-wrists, and several of
their joints. They made piteous outcries that they were
cut with knives, and struck with blows, and the plain
prints of the wounds were seen on them. Their necks
would be broken, so that their neck-bone would seem dis
solved unto them who felt it; yet on a sudden it would
become so stiff that there was no stirring of their heads."
And all this was effected by the following means. " The
woman's house being searched, several images, or puppets,
or babies, made of rags, and stuffed with goat's hair, were
thence produced, and the vile woman confessed, that her
» Hutchinson on Witchcraft, p. SI. + Of Boston in America.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 175
way to torment the objects of her malice was by wetting
of her finger with her spittle, and streaking of these little
images  One of the images being brought unto
her into the court, she oddly and swiftly started up, and
snatched it into her hand ; but she had no sooner snatched
it, but one of the children fell into fits before the whole
assembly." Verily, these images were almost as wonder
ful and potent as Aaron's rod. To give credit to this
story, we are required to believe that the imp of the witch
could inflict wounds with a knife, invisibly, and heal them
in a moment ; (for nothing but the scars of the wounds
were seen;) that it could dislocate joints, even the joints
of the neck, and keep them in this state for a considerable
time, so that they could be examined by others, nay, " dis
solve the neck-bone," and yet preserve life, and restore
them to their natural state.* And all these miracles (for
such they are) were effected by the rubbing of certain in
significant dolls. If this is not absurd and ridiculous,
what can be so ?
But more monstrous things than even these must be
swallowed and digested, if we would be consistent believers
in witchcraft. In the trial of Elizabeth Horner, before the
Lord Chief Justice Holt, at Exeter, 1696, three children of
William Bovet were thought to have been bewitched by
her, whereof one was dead. It was deposed that another
had her hands inverted, and yet from her hands and feet
she would spring five feet high. The children said, " Bess
Horner's head would come off from her body, and go into
their bellies." The mother of the children deposed, that
one of them walked on a smooth plastered wall till her feet
were nine feet high, her head standing off from it. Now,
this was said, and sworn in open court, by those who
averred that they saw and felt what they deposed ; so that
* Baxter's Wonders of the Invisible World, p. 132. Baxter says of this
story, — " It comes with such convincing evidence, that he must be a very
obstinate Sadducee that will not believe it ! "

176 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
these gross absurdities and impossibilities are just as well
attested as any stories of witchcraft can be. Verily, if it
were possible to bring human testimony altogether into
discredit, so that we should be justified in not believing it
in any case, the history of witchcraft would have this effect.
But how different are the miracles which are recorded in
the Bible, in their nature, and how infinitely superior in
their evidence ! What a contrast betwixt the dignity and
sobriety of the one, and the wildness, and extravagance,
and puerility of the other .'
And I do not see how those who believe in witchcraft
can with any propriety avoid giving credit to such absurd
ities as the following. That a witch transformed herself
in a moment into a greyhound, and a boy into another,
and then changed both into their natural shape again ;
and then by shaking a bridle over the head of the boy, she
changed him into a horse, took by force a boy, who had
called her a witch, before her, and carried him away to a
witches' feast.* It is true, this imposture was detected ;
but the account of the boy was just as credible as most
charges of witchcraft have been, which have caused numbers
of unfortunate beings to be put to death.
Now, in addition to the inherent absurdity and impossi
bilities of many of the cases of reputed witchcraft, we must
take into the account the condition and circumstances of
reputed witches, the way in which evidence against them
was obtained, the character of their accusers, and the pre
judices which operated against the accused, on account of
the almost universal belief in witchcraft in all its extrava
gances. What were the condition and circumstances of
reputed witches ? They were commonly poor persons, who
were destitute of the means of defending themselves ; and
in addition to this, often old and deformed creatures,
whose very appearance operating on the fancies and feel
ings of those who believed in spells and incantations, was
* Scott's Demonology, p. 242.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 177
enough to cause them to imagine what never existed, dis
posed as they were to associate witchcraft with a wrinkled,
forbidding countenance, or haggard form. It is true,
charges of being in league with Satan have been brought
against some who were respectable in both rank and cha
racter. This was the case with the Duchess of Gloucester,
who was accused of consulting witches concerning the
mode of effecting the death of her husband's nephew,
Henry VI. Several of her accomplices in the supposed
witchcraft were put to death or died in prison. The charge
of sorcery was also brought by Richard III. against the
queen dowager, Jane Shore, and the queen's husband, and
Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury.* Many other in
stances of a similar nature might easily be found. But in
most of them witchcraft was only the ostensible cause of
their condemnation. " It was chosen only as a charge
easily made, and difficult to be refuted or repelled," in
order to effect the purposes of tyranny or bigotry. In
other cases, when the witchcraft-phobia (if the expression
may be allowed) had raged for a considerable time against
the poor and aged, as soon as it extended its attacks to
the rich it was presently checked and cured.f In other
cases, the supposed witches were evidently under the in
fluence of a disordered frame and imagination, or of par
tial insanity, and perhaps in this condition they really
thought that they entered into a league with Satan, or
endeavoured to do so. J Doubtless some of them, actuated
by malice and a wish to injure others, employed certain
spells and charms, which they thought would be effectual
to accomplish their malignant purpose : such as making
images of wax, and melting them gradually before a fire,
hoping to cause the object of their revenge to waste away
at the same time ; or pricking certain figures with pins, in
order to torment the objects of their spite ; (these were
* Scott's Demonology, p. 1 94. + See Appendix H.
I See Appendix I.
IX. N

1 78 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
certainly, in one sense, in compact with the devil, and
under his power ;) and when such things were practised,
in many instances, and by numbers of persons, it would
have been strange indeed if no misfortunes had befallen
some against whom the spells were directed ; and a few
coincidences of this kind would be sufficient to cause the
ignorant, the credulous, and the superstitious to believe in
the efficacy of these arts, and in the power of those who
used them.
But the believers in witchcraft plead that many have
confessed the crimes with which they were charged, and
have owned that they had entered into a compact with
Satan, and have related particularly how it was made, and
what power was conferred on them in consequence. But
how were those confessions obtained ? and in what circum
stances were they made ? Let the following extract from
Scott, quoting from Monstrelet, answer the question. After
giving an account of some persons who were accused of
being in compact with Satan, and of repairing, under cloud
of night, by the power of the devil to some solitary spot,
amid woods and deserts, where the devil appeared to them
in a human form, save that his visage was never perfectly
visible, and read to the assembly a book of his ordinances,
informing them how he would be obeyed, distributed
money amongst them, &c, he proceeds to state, " On accu
sations of access to such acts of madness, several credit
able people of the town of Arras were seized and impri
soned, along with some foolish women, and persons of
little consequence. They were so horribly tortured, that
some of them admitted the truth of all the accusations,
and said besides, that they had seen and recognised in
their nocturnal assemblies many persons of rank, prelates,
lords, and governors of bailliages and cities, being such
names as the examinators had suggested to the persons
examined, while they constrained them, by torture, to im
peach the persons to whom they belonged. Several of

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 179
those who had been thus informed against were arrested,
thrown into prison, and tortured for so long a time, that
they also were obliged to confess what was charged against
them. After this, those of mean condition were executed,
and inhumanly burnt, while the richer and more powerful
of the accused ransomed themselves by sums of money, to
avoid the punishment and the shame attending it." — He
adds, " It ought not to be concealed that the whole accusa
tion was a stratagem of wicked men for their own covetous
purposes, and in order by those false accusations and
forced confessions to destroy the life, fame, and fortune of
wealthy persons."* Now I ask, in the name of justice,
reason, and even common sense, what importance can be
attached to confessions obtained by such horrible means
as these, and by such iniquitous, and cruel, and deeply
prejudiced examiners? Persons maybe forced by torture
to confess anything, however absurd, that can be laid to
their charge ; for not only may the pain be so great, that,
in order to be delivered from it, they will assert whatever
is dictated to them, but they may be deprived of the use of
their rational faculties, and be reduced to such,a state, that
they are, if not actually insane, yet deprived of self-com
mand, and therefore no dependence can be placed on
their statements. It should be observed, that these con
fessions were obtained by Romish inquisitors, persecuting
the poor Waldenses, and actuated partly by avarice, and
partly by hatred of the Protestant religion. And as they
at once forced, and heard, and reported the confessions, to
what credit are they entitled ? One of the inquisitors,
Pierre de Lanere,f was so foolish as to believe, or so de
praved as to pretend to believe, that the constancy with
which the sufferers at first bore their tortures, and refused
to confess, was owing to this, that Satan supplied them
with strength to endure their sufferings, and that when
* Scott on Demonology, p. 196.
t Scott, p. 201.

180 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
these were so increased that he could support them no
longer, he endeavoured, by mere force, to prevent them
from confessing and exposing him, by some material ob
struction in their throats ; and that when, in one of the
nocturnal meetings of the witches and fiends, he was ac
cused of not accomplishing his promise, and of not grant
ing to them and to their relations the protection he had
promised, the arch-fiend vindicated himself by assuring
them that he had been engaged in a law-suit with the
Almighty, which he had gained with eosts, and that six
score of infant children were to be delivered up to him, in
name of damages ; and the witches were directed to pro
cure the victims accordingly."* I ask again, what credit
is due to such confessions as these, wrested from unhappy
wretches by insupportable tortures ? and these are only
specimens of what might be adduced in great abundance.
And even in England, when the use of torture was not
allowed, methods were adopted to torment the accused
into a confession of their guilt. In 1593, the children of
a Mr. Throgmorton thought fit to accuse two poor old
persons, a man and his wife of the name of Samuel, and
their daughter, of bewitching them. One of the children
happened to see, when she was not very well, the old
woman in a black knitted cap, and therefore fancied that
she had bewitched her. The other children joined in the
charge, and pretended that they were all bewitched ; and
the result was, that the poor old wretch was partly whee
dled and partly worried into something like a confession,
or to utter words which were construed to be one, and
they were all put to death, though the father and the
daughter never could be induced to confess, and died pro
testing their innocence.
The infamous Hopkins, " the witch-finder general," as
he was called, in order to obtain confessions adopted the
following method. " He kept the poor wretches waking,
* Scott.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 181
in order to prevent them from having encouragement from'
the devil, and doubtless to put infirm, terrified, over
watched persons in the next stage to madness ; and, for
the same purpose, they were dragged about by their
keepers, till extreme weariness and the pain of blistered
feet might form additional inducements to confession."
" Having taken the suspected witch, she is placed in the
middle of a room upon a stool, or table, cross-legged, or
in some other uneasy posture ; to which if she submits not,
she is bound with cords, where she is watched and kept
without meat or sleep for twenty-four hours, for they say
that they shall, within that time, see her imp come and
suck. . A little hole was also made in the door, for the imps
to come in at, and lest they should enter in some other
shape, they who watch are enjoined to be constantly sweep
ing the room, and if they see any spiders or flies, to kill
them, and if they cannot kill them, they may be sure that
they are imps."* Strange that those imps, which have
power to sink a ship, (according to the believers in witch
craft,) and to do many other miraculous feats, should not
be able to enter a room without a little hole being made in
the door for them, and should be obliged to render them
selves visible in one form or another, even in that of
spiders or flies, if they can do no better, so as to expose
themselves to the danger of detection. How astonishing
that such a man as Baxter should found his belief of the
reality of witchcraft on such evidence as this ; and also
gravely adduce such stories as proofs of the existence of
spirits, and of the truth of religion ! Lord, what is
man ! " Verily, every man in his best estate is," in every
respect, " altogether vanity."
III. Many of the most plausible stories of witchcraft
have been disproved ; it has been shown that they all may
be traced to craft and knavery on the one hand, or to cre
dulity, weakness, or disease on the other. Dr. Hutchinson
* Scott, p. 230; Hutclinson.

182 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
gives an account of seven detections of supposed witch
craft, which were quite as well attested and as plausible as
any of those which are adduced by Baxter, or Mather, or
any believers in compacts with Satan, or in the power of
spells or enchantments. I shall abridge one of them, from
which a judgment may be formed of the rest.
" On the 10th of February, 1633, Edmund Robinson,
son of Edmund Robinson, of Pendle, eleven years of age,
deposed on oath before two of his majesty's justices of the
peace, by whom he was examined, respecting the great
meeting of witches at Pendle, that whilst he was gathering
bullets he saw two greyhounds, the one black and the
other brown, running over the field towards him. He
thought them to belong to a person whom he knew ; when
they came near him they fawned on him, and in the mean
time a hare rising very near him, he thought he would
have some sport with them, but he found they would not
run after her. Being angry at this, he tied them to a bush
and beat them, when to his surprise, instead of the black
greyhound, the wife of a neighbour whom he knew started
up, and instead of the brown one, a little boy whom he
knew not. Being terrified at this, he attempted to run
away, but the woman prevented him, and offered him a
shilling not to tell of what he had seen. This he refused
to promise, and even called her a witch. Being angry at
this, she pulled something like a bridle out of her pocket,
which she threw over the head of the little boy who had at
first appeared in the form of the brown greyhound, and he
became a horse. Then immediately the woman mounted
the horse, seized Robinson, and took him before her to a
new house about a quarter of a mile off, where there were
collected about sixty persons, roasting meat before a good
fire. A young woman, whom he knew, offered him some
of the meat, and also some drink, which he refused to take,
saying it was naught. Soon after this, some of the com
pany going into a. barn, he followed them, where he saw

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 183
six of them kneeling and pulling six ropes which were fas"
tened to the top of the barn ; soon after he saw smoking
flesh, lumps of butter and milk, as it were, flying from the
said ropes, and falling into basons which were placed un
der the ropes. After these had done, six others took their
places, and went through the same process. All the while
they made such ugly faces, that the boy was frightened and
ran away. Two of the witches ran after him, and would
have caught him, had not two horsemen luckily come up
at the time ; but he knew one of them to be one Soind's
wife. And that after this he saw this same Soind's wife
sitting on a cross piece of wood in his father's chimney;
and that when he caUed her to come down, she imme
diately vanished out of his sight. After this he met with
a- boy with whom he quarrelled and fought ; but finding
the boy too much for him, he looked down and saw that
his antagonist had a cloven foot, which so terrified him
.that he gave up the contest. After stating on oath several
wonderful things of the same kind, he named and accused
as witches nineteen persons whom he knew, and one more
as he believed, as having been present at this famous meet
ing of witches. His statement, especially as it regarded
the plight in which he was found after his combat with the
cloven-footed boy, was confirmed by his father, who stated
that he found him crying most pitifully, and so affrighted
and distracted, that he knew neither his father, nor where
he was ; and that he continued in this state a quarter of
an hour before he came to himself. These informations,
as given on oath, were signed by the two justices who heard
them and took the depositions. In consequence, the nine
teen persons against whom he gave the information were
all either committed to prison, or bound over to appear at
the next assizes. The boy and his father being poor, went
about from church to church, that the boy might discover
and point out the witches, who were at the meeting to
which he was carried by the witch that appeared at first in

184 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
the form of a black greyhound ; as he said there were a
great many present whom he should know if he saw them.
Amongst others, he was brought into Kildwick church,
where a Mr. Webster was preaching, and set. on a stool to
look all around to see if there were any witches there.
After the service, Mr. Webster went into the house where
he was, wishing to examine him in private ; but two men
who were with him would not allow this. He then asked
the boy to tell him truly whether some one did not tell
him to say all these things about himself, and those whom
he accused of witchcraft; but the two men would not
suffer the boy to answer, and they said, moreover, that the
boy had already been examined before two justices of the
peace, and they had never asked him such a question.
" At the following assizes at Lancaster, seventeen were
found guilty by the jury ; but, happily, the judge was not
satisfied with the evidence against them, in consequence
of which they were reprieved; and his majesty and the.
council being informed of the matter by the judge, the
Bishop of Chester was appointed to examine the accused,
and to certify what he thought respecting them. This he
did ; and, in consequence, fom- of them, Margaret Johnson,
Frances Dickenson, Mary Spenser, and Hargrave's wife,
were sent for up to London, and committed to the Fleet.
Great sums of money were gotten by showing them. They
were examined by his majesty's physicians and surgeons,
and afterwards by his majesty and the council. These all
were persuaded that the supposed witches were not guilty,
but that the boy had been suborned to accuse them falsely.
He and his father were then parted from one another, and
put in separate prisons. Soon after this, the boy confessed
that he was taught and encouraged by his father and some
others to forge the stories which he had told, and to bring
all the above charges against his neighbours ; and it ap
peared that envy, revenge, and the hope of gain, had in
duced the prompters of the boy to act the base part which

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 185
has been detailed." And yet, on such evidence as that
which this crafty, depraved boy gave, seventeen innocent
persons were in danger of losing their lives ; and had all
been as credulous, or stupid and careless, as his majesty's
two justices before whom the boy was first brought, would
have been executed. And how deplorable and mournful
is the fact, that on no better evidence of guilt than was
exhibited in this case, hundreds of innocent men and
women have been tortured most cruelly, and then put to
an ignominious death ! Poor human nature ! how low hast
thou fallen ! what a spectacle dost thou exhibit to the
universe ! What cause have all who partake of thee to be
humble and cautious in all their belief, and in all their
actions ! Solomon informs us, that in his time he " saw
under the sun the place of judgment, that iniquity was
there." But perhaps we are warranted to affirm, that he
never beheld such enormities perpetrated at the seat and
in the name of justice, as those which the records of witch
craft present. But how evident is it that the witchcraft
condemned under the Mosaic law, was quite different from
that to which our attention has been directed ! No such
scenes were ever known amongst either Jews or heathens,
as those which a superstitious belief in witchcraft, and a
false interpretation of a few passages of Scripture, have
caused to be exhibited in countries professedly Christian,
and in which, most unhappily and unaccountably, wise and
good men have sometimes been the principal actors.
" Vomiting crooked pins and nails was one of the prac
tices of those who pretended to be bewitched, and one of
the evidences which was thought conclusive against the
accused. This practice was detected and exposed in a
trial before Lord Chief Justice North, when it was pre
tended that a woman vomited them in great quantities,
and of such a form that they differed from the crooked
pins usually produced on such occasions, and could not be
concealed in the mouth. But it was proved that this

186 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
woman in her convulsive fits, which preceded her vomit
ing, sunk her head on her breast, so as to take up the
pins, which she had concealed in her stomacher. The
man whom she had accused was of course acquitted. A
frightful old hag, who was present, distinguished herself
so much by her benedictions on the judge, that he asked
the cause of the peculiar interest which she felt in the
acquittal. ' Twenty years ago,' said the poor woman, ' they
would have hanged me for a witch, but they could not ;
and now, but for your lordship, they would have murdered
my innocent son.' "*
Hopkins, the witch-finder general, who went through
the whole country, charging twenty shillings a town, and
his board and lodging, and expenses of travelling, for dis
covering witches, (which he professed to do by stripping
them naked, and thrusting pins into different parts of their
bodies, to discover the witch's mark, and by such-like
sagacious methods,) was at last exposed and proved to be
an infamous impostor. " And the popular indignation
was so excited against him, that some gentlemen seized
him, and put him to his own favourite experiment of
swimming ;" f and, perhaps, for anything that appears,
drowned him ; at any rate, the country was freed from
him; and as was the case in other instances, with the
witch-finder and accuser, the witches disappeared also.
One anecdote, recorded by Scott, deserves to be told, both
because it exposes the baseness of Hopkins, and substan
tiates an assertion which has already been made, that tor
ture often deprives of the use of reason, so that no import
ance can be attached to any confessions wliich it elicits.
" A miserable old woman had fallen into the hands of the
miscreant Hopkins, near Hoxne, a village in Suffolk, and
had confessed all the usual enormities, after being without
food or rest for a sufficient time. Her imp, she said, was
called Nan. A gentleman in the neighbourhood, whose
• Scott, p. 260. + Ibid. p. 252.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 187
widow survived to authenticate the story, was so indignant,
that he went to the house, took the woman out of such
inhuman hands, dismissed the witch-finders, and after due
food and rest, the poor woman could recollect nothing of
all the confessions she had made, but that she gave a
favourite pullet the name of Nan." The name of this gen
tleman ought to have been recorded. It deserves a niche
in the temple of fame, better than many that are found
there. It is refreshing to find some oases in the desert,
some verdant spots rich with the verdure and fruits of
wisdom, virtue, and piety, amid the extensive frightful
wilderness of human depravity. But I must proceed to
observe shortly, in the
IVth place. Witchcraft has always been discredited, and
has disappeared, in proportion as knowledge, philosophy,
and religion have extended their influence. Ignorance of
the laws, and of the causes of the various phenomena of
nature in general, as well as of the human frame in par
ticular, must have operated in a twofold way in favour of
a belief in witchcraft. It would enable those who had
obtained a more extensive knowledge of those laws and
causes than others, to do things, to exhibit feats, which
the ignorant would deem marvellous or supernatural ; and
it would dispose the latter to beheve the pretences of
impostors, and both incapacitate and indispose to detect
them. How easily could any one who is well acquainted
with the principles and facts of chemistry, electricity, and
galvanism, and is able to experiment dexterously in those
sciences, have astonished those who lived in the ages when
witchcraft, in all its absurdities and impossibilities, was be
lieved ! Some who, at that time, excelled in the knowledge
of the works and laws of nature, were on that very account
accused of witchcraft, such as Zoroaster, Pythagoras, Roger
Bacon, Albertus Magnus, Ripley, and others. During those
ages, too, sound accurate learning was in a low state ; biblical
criticism, especially, wasalmost totally neglected. Andhence

188 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
some passages of Scripture, improperly translated, or mis
understood, were perverted, and rendered a foundation for
faith in witchcraft ; while men's general belief and ideas
of the existence of spirits, and of their intercourse with
our world, were perverted by superstition to subserve its
purposes. Now, this being the case, it might be expected
that even when learning, both secular and sacred, did
revive, and knowledge was increased, and arts and sciences
were successfully studied, it would require some time to
correct men's erroneous ideas, to change their' habits of
thought and action, and to counteract and alter the cus
toms of society. Hence we cannot wonder that the belief
in witchcraft remained, and produced its dreadful effects,
even after the Reformation and the revival of letters and
science; especially since this belief in the art, and the
notions that had prevailed respecting it, were, in many
cases, found convenient for gratifying avarice and revenge,
for crushing a political adversary, or bringing into discredit
and punishing supposed heretics. Even the sun cannot
all at once, when he diffuses his genial rays in the spring,
banish the cold, and hush the storms of winter ; he must,
to accomplish this, exert his influence, day after day, and
even week after week ; nor can he produce the warmth and
splendour of noon when he first rises in the east. So it
was with the sun of science, and learning, and religion ; it
was only by degrees, and after having for some time exerted
its influence, that it could banish the darkness of error and
superstition, and create a moral and intellectual spring.
But the general important fact is certain, whatever excep
tions may be produced, that in proportion as knowledge
and learning prevailed, the belief in witchcraft was weak
ened, and its practices vanished. Writers on this subject
have shown, that from the time that the Royal Society was
formed in England, in 1662, and the French Academy of
Sciences about twenty years after, and the secrets of nature
were explored and revealed, and its laws to a great extent

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 189
ascertained by the experimental philosophers, prosecu
tions for witchcraft were discouraged, those who were
brought to trial were acquitted, and sometimes their ac
cusers punished. Several writers appeared, who exposed
the practices of witch-finders and their accomplices who
pretended to be bewitched; and magistrates and judges were
found who opposed their authority to the craft, and folly,
and wickedness of witchery in general. Even in New
England, mournful as was the tragedy that was acted there,
it is evident, that the piety and good sense of the descend
ants of the Puritan Fathers rendered the scene less gloomy
than it otherwise would have been. Had it not been for
these, instead of sixteen months, and nineteen executions,
the witchcraft mania might have continued for years, and
sacrificed hundreds of victims. It is not necessary to
enlarge ; the fact is certain, and I appeal for the correct
ness of the assertion to the history of the world, that
witchcraft, in the popular sense of the word, cannot bear
the light of truth ; and that in proportion as knowledge in
general, and an acquaintance with the laws of nature in
particular, and with the doctrines and statements of Scrip
ture on this subject, prevail, witchcraft has disappeared ;
and that the belief of it now, in the sense in which it has
been exposed, lingers, with comparatively few exceptions,
only amongst the ignorant and uneducated class of society,
and in the dark places of the earth. This is surely an
evidence that it vanishes before the light of reason, science,
and religion ; that it is not founded on fact, but is sup
ported only by ignorance, superstition, craft, and wicked
ness. One thing more deserves to be noticed, that pro
secutions and punishments for witchcraft have always
augmented the number of accusations, and of supposed
witches ; because they have confirmed and called into
exercise the popular belief and feelings on the subject,
and encouraged accusers and informers. But whenever
the prosecutions were discouraged, and the promoters of

190 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
them baffled, and especially when they were punished,
witchcraft has soon disappeared ; the devil and all his
imps, and all the charms that were employed to secure their
aid, have vanished, to return no more. In New England,
when a sensible and spirited gentleman of Boston was
accused of witchcraft, at Andover, he sent a writ to bring an
action agamst the accusers, for a thousand pounds damages.
This soon put an end to the proceedings against witches
at that place. And generally, throughout the whole
country, when those who could not prove their charges
against the supposed witches were subjected to actions for
damages, the accusations were soon at an end. And this
has been the case universally whenever this method has
been tried. It is an infallible cure for witchcraft and
sorcery in all their kinds. In a word, let only the super
stitious behef in witchcraft, and prosecutions for it, be
banished from any country on the face of the earth, and
witches will either not exist at all, or be found perfectly
harmless. And I would apply a similar principle to ghosts
and apparitions. None, I am persuaded, will ever see
them or be troubled with them, but those whose credulity,
disordered frames, and superstitious fears, or hopes and
wishes, give them an imaginary existence. In proportion
as intelligence, accurate learning, sound philosophy, and
scriptural rehgion prevail in the world, witches, and imps,
and apparitions, to whose appearances and operations the
darkness of ignorance and superstition is more necessary
than even the gloom and witching hour of midnight, will
certainly disappear from our earth ; and an enlightened
understanding, and a rational scriptural faith, will discern
and admire the realities and wonders of both the natural
and spiritual world ; and this will be as useful and elevat
ing as the belief in witchcraft has been degrading and
pernicious. On the other hand, I have no doubt that
even now, in our enlightened age and country, and even
in this metropolis, with all its learned societies, and col-

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. ] 91
leges, and places of worship, if supposed witches (for some
such are still to be found,) were punished, and their
accusers encouraged, they would soon be found in as great
numbers as ever, and scenes as disgraceful and revolting
as have ever been presented in any of the eras of witch
craft, would again be exhibited to the world.
THE SIBVUINE ORACLES.
Though the controversy respecting the Sibylline oracles
does not come, properly speaking, within the plan of these
lectures, since few persons will say that those which are
extant at the present time were dictated by Satan, any
farther than, if they can be proved to be forgeries, they
may be attributed to him as the father of lies, yet it may
be proper to notice them, as they are intimately connected
with some of the topics under discussion, and as they are
reckoned by those who believe in them amongst the
oracles of the heathen, and are considered by them as
affording an unanswerable proof of the truth of the Chris
tian religion ; whilst others regard them as one means by
which evil spirits have perverted the truth, and opposed
the cause of God.
The Sibyls, whom we have now in view, were supposed,
and are still deemed by some persons, to have been real
prophetesses, inspired by the Spirit of God, and sent to
reprove the heathen for their sins, and especially for their
idolatry, to call them to repentance, and to foretel the
coming of Jesus Christ ; in short, that they were to the
Gentiles what the Jewish prophets were to the Jews, and
that they were raised up in different parts and ages, and
wandered from place to place, uttering their predictions,
and exhorting all to repent.
The epithet or name Sibyl comes from two Greek words,
Swj, the Doric for eeor, and fiovXr), counsel ; and it signifies
one who makes known the counsel of God, or a prophetess.

192 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
As it regards the number of them, the learned are not
agreed. Some maintain that there was but one. Lactantius,
Varus, and Floyer, think that there were ten ; the Persian
or Chaldean, the Libyan, the Delphian, the Cimmerian, in
Italy, the Erythrean, who is believed to have foretold the
destruction of Troy, the Samian, the Cumanian, (who is
reported to have brought nine books to Tarquinius Priscus,
of which she burnt all but three, because he would not
give her the price which she asked for them,) the Helles-
pontine, the Phrygian, and the Alburnian. And it is
thought that some Sibyls had different names, as the Baby
lonian is called Erythreea.
The time in which they lived, according to those who
believe in their inspiration, is not certain. It is not neces
sary to give the different opinions that are entertained on
this point. Some of them are supposed to have been
contemporary with the judges of Israel. The Delphian is
thought to be the most ancient of them, and to have
furnished Homer with some of his verses.
The Sibylline oracles were destroyed in the conflagration
of the Roman capitol in the time of Sylla, about eighty-
three years before Christ ; and to repair the loss which
was thought to have been sustained, commissioners were
immediately sent to every part of Greece, to collect what
ever could be found of the inspired writings of the Sibyls.
What eventually_r.became of these is uncertain. The only
question with which we are concerned at present is, whether
these SibyUine oracles which are now extant are genuine
and Divinely inspired, or not. Some learned men have
maintained that they are; amongst others Sir John Floyer,
who published a translation of them in 1713, strenuously
vindicates their authenticity and Divine inspiration, but in
my opinion without any success. The general opinion of
those who are best qualified to judge, is, that the famous
Roman collection of the Sibylline oracles were all political
forgeries and engines, and that those which are now extant

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 193
were forged in the second century, by some Christian, who
wished thus to subserve the cause of truth, though by acting
contrary to its spirit, and to the maxim ofthe apostle, "not
to do evil that good may come."
The following appears to me to be the truth of the matter
respecting them. For ages before the coming of Christ,
the Jews had been dispersed, by various means, amongst
almost all nations ; thus both furnishing a striking fulfil
ment of the prophecy which their own legislator had, in
the name of God, uttered respecting them, and accom
plishing the purpose of Jehovah in selecting them from
the other nations of the earth, that they might be his
witnesses that he alone was God, and that the deities of
the heathen were vanity and hes. They, of course,
carried copies of their sacred writings with them whereveT
they went, and doubtless stated, in conversation with their
heathen neighbours, their views and hopes respecting the
Messiah. By this means the predictions of the Jewish
seers would be known to the pretended prophets and pro
phetesses of the Gentiles, who might well be struck with
their sublimity and beauty, and therefore incorporate some
parts of them with their own effusions. Some of these
ideas and descriptions might be found amongst those
Sibylline oracles which the Romans first procured, and
kept for political purposes in the capitol. When, after
these were burnt with that edifice, the Romans sent am
bassadors into various countries to procure others, the
value of these oracles would naturally be raised, and their
fame diffused, and abundance of them would soon be pro
duced. As a proof of this, more than two thousand
volumes of them were burnt by Augustus and Tiberius.
But besides the copy of these which were left, which was
deposited in the capitol, there were also copies in private
hands, and from one of these Virgil might easily get the
sentiments which he has introduced into his celebrated
fourth Eclogue, as the prophecy of the Cumtean Sibyl ; and
rx. o

194 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
also some things, which are found in those which are now
extant, might be taken from the oracles which were col
lected by the Romans, and which were all finally destroyed
by the emperor Honorius, about four hundred years after
Christ, because a prophecy which was found in them,
respecting the Christian religion, utterly failed of its
accomplishment. The prediction was, that Peter had
established the cause of Jesus of Nazareth by magic, and
that it was to last only three hundred and sixty-five years ;
that at the end of this term it was to vanish from the world.
These three hundred and sixty-five years terminated in
a.d. 398, and hence these oracles were convicted of false
hood, and destroyed. Stilicho, in consequence of the
decree of Honorius, committed them all to the flames, and
entirely demolished the temple of Apollo, in which they
had been deposited. Prideaux thinks, that in addition to
the knowledge of the Jewish Scriptures and of the expected
Messiah, which would infallibly be diffused amongst the
heathen in the way which has just been stated, the demons
that presided in these oracles might be forced, before they
finally left them, which he supposed they were obliged to
do before the advent of our Saviour, to utter true prophe
cies respecting him, and the affairs of his kingdom, as
Balaam was forced to foretel the rising of a star out of
Jacob, and Caiaphas the death of a Saviour. This, I must
confess, for reasons which I may afterwards assign, appears
to me altogether improbable. The circumstances of both
the false prophet and of the Jewish high priest, were quite
different from those of the heathen Sibyls, especially the
connexion of the former with the chosen race, and with
the production of those Scriptures which are the oracles of
the living God. I must then adopt the opinion of those
who maintain that the Sibylline oracles which are now
extant, were the forgery of some injudicious professor of
Christianity in the second century, who might avail himself
of the remains of those which before existed, and make to

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 195
them such additions as he thought would answer his pur
poses ; and therefore I must entirely dissent from the
opinion of Sir John Floyer, and his party, who maintain
that the Sibyls were prophetesses, and their oracles the
dictates of the Spirit of God. I do so for the following
reasons. First. The style, the sentiments, the spirit, and the
whole character of these oracles are so different from those
of the Holy Scriptures, that it is difficult to conceive how
the same Divine influence which dictated the latter could
have produced the former. What a contrast between David,
or Isaiah, or Jeremiah, and the best of the Sibyls, after all
their borrowing from the Bible, as it regards plainness,
sublimity, pathos, spirituality, and piety ! Read the 23rd
or 103rd Psalms, or any of the pages ofthe evangelical, or
of the weeping prophet, and then peruse such effusions as
the following, not carefully selected, but almost the first
that occurs at the opening of the book : — "No more torment
thy mind, do not trouble thy heart, thou that art begotten
of God, abounding in all riches, the flower desired of God
alone, the glorious light, the pleasant offspring, the desir
able plant. O Judea ! thou beloved and beautiful city,
inspired with hymns, the impure Grecian king shall not
revel through the Persian country any more, having a mind
like to Bacchus for his justice ; but thy illustrious in
habitants shall honour thee, and shall employ themselves
in holy and learned songs, and all sorts of sacrifices, and
prayers for the honour of God ; and for their small afflic
tions, whosoever has borne much labour and misery, they
shall enjoy more and pleasant good things who are right
eous ; but the wicked, who use their wicked tongues
against heaven, shall cease from their calumnies which
they spoke amongst themselves, and shall hide themselves
till the world is changed." * I can as easily conceive that
the lucubrations of the dullest and most trifling intellect
* Floyer, p. 127.

196 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
that ever felt the caco'ethes scribendi flowed from the genius
of Demosthenes, or Plato, or Milton, as that these and
similar effusions were dictated by the same holy and
heavenly Spirit which rapt Ezekiel in prophetic vision,
and touched the lips of Isaiah, and warmed his heart with
a live coal from the heavenly altar, and filled the breast of
David with the devout emotions which induced him to
exclaim, " Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and all that is within
me bless his holy name." But to do justice to this subject,
and fully to exhibit the difference between the two pro
ductions, it would be necessary to compare one of the
books of the Sibyls with one of the prophets ; or rather
the whole of the productions of the former with those of
the latter.
Secondly. If the Sibyls had been inspired prophetesses,
as some would have us to believe, why was no notice taken
of them by either Jesus Christ or his apostles ? especially
as, in their time, they were generally known. When
preaching or writing to the Jews, the apostles constantly
appealed to their own Scriptures, and quoted the prophecies
which they contained respecting the Messiah and his
kingdom. Would they not have pursued a similar course
when addressing the Gentiles, if there had been amongst
them any writings which had been produced by the inspi
ration of the Spirit of God, and that with a view to foretel
the advent of the Great Deliverer, the Desire of all nations,
and containing many clear predictions and statements of
his character and work ? We can scarcely conceive it
possible that they would not have availed themselves of
this source of argument and illustration, this means of
facilitating the performance of the work in which their whole
hearts were engaged. Nay, would not this have been
necessaiy for the attainment of the end for which those
writings were given to the world, if they had been Divinely
inspired ? This argument appears to me quite decisive of
the point in question. I know it has been said, on the

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 197
authority of Clemens Alexandrinus, who lived in the second
century, that Paul, in his preaching to the Gentiles, fre
quently referred to these oracles. But the bare assertion
of Clemens, (and it is only too evident that the writers of
that period were far from being sufficiently careful, as it
regarded either their arguments, their belief, or their
statements,) without any proof, is quite insufficient to
counterbalance the evidence of the contrary, from the fact
that Paul never so much as alludes to them in his epistles,
which were epitomes of his preaching to the Gentiles.
Thirdly. The manner in which those supposed pro
phetesses were inspired, was quite different from that in
which the prophets of the Jews received their communi
cations from heaven. Though the Sibyls were not shut
up in caves like the Sibjl of Virgil, or the priestesses of
the temple, but wandered from place to place, yet they
were thrown, during the time of their inspiration, into a
kind of enthusiastic delirium or fury, and deprived, it
would seem, to a great degree, of the use of their natural
faculties. It was quite otherwise with true prophets ; they
heard the voice of God, or had clear and vivid visions pre
sented to their minds, or distinct ideas conveyed to their
understandings, while they had the full use of their natural
powers, and could think and speak, and utter their pre
dictions, in a calm, and connected, and dignified manner.
" The spirit ofthe prophets was subject to the prophets."
This was far from being the case with the Sibyls ; witness
the language of one of them in the commencement of the
second book : — " God caused my verses to cease for some
time, as I entreated him ; but a pleasant voice speaking
Divine words, my whole body is struck and convulsed, and I
know not what I say."* And again, " Thou heavenly Author
of thunder art happy, and hast the cherubim under thy
throne ; " (is it not plain that the writer of this was ac
quainted with the Jewish Scriptures?) "I pray thee spare
* Floyer, p. 21.

iy8 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
me a little who always speak the truth ; for I am weary in
my mind. But why does my heart palpitate again ? Why
is my mind struck as with a whip, forced to declare from
within a prophecy unto all men ?"* And again, " These
things I prophesied to the world concerning God's wrath,
when I was inspired with a fury, and left great Babylon
and Syria." Again, " I am tormented, I who am the sister
of Isis, when an unhappy prophecy comes into my mind,
though it be a Divine song of oracles."! Other passages
of a similar nature might be quoted, all of which show that
the Sibyl was a heathen priestess, and not a prophetess of
the living God. Surely the eternal Spirit, the Spirit of
love, and power, and of a sound mind, will always be con
sistent with himself, whenever he inspires mortals to make
known the counsels of heaven. I may be reminded here
of the language of Jeremiah, chap. xx. 9, " Then I said, I
will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his
name. But his word was as a burning fire shut up in my
bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not
stay." But how different is this from the fury and force
of which the Sibyl speaks ! Jeremiah felt on this occasion
unwilling to prophesy, on account of the persecution to
which his message exposed him ; and the operations of
his conscience, and his sense of the importance of the
truths which he had to deliver, and consequently his un
easiness when he was silent, were the " fire shut up in his
bones," and which rendered him "weary with forbearing."
Fourthly. The abominable wickedness and gross im
purity of which the principal Sibyl had been guilty, accord-
* Floyer, p. 32. This language reminds us of Virgil and his Cumsean
Sibyl, rather than of David or Isaiah: —
"At PhoBbi nondum patiens immanis in antro
Baechatur vates, magnum si pectore possit
Excussisse deum ; tanto magis ille fatigat
Os rabidum, fera corda domans, flngitque premendo." JEn. vi. 77.
t Floyer, p. 84.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 1 99
ing to her own confession, nay, •in which she was living at
the time when she prophesied, render it very improbable
that God would have endowed her with the Spirit of in
spiration, or employed her to be his messenger to the world.
I know the history of Balaam is adduced as a sufficient
answer to this objection. I have already shown that it will
not apply ; that there is an essential difference between the
two cases. Amongst the Jews, " holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost ; " it is surely very
improbable that it would have been otherwise amongst the
Gentiles, had God been pleased to raise up any prophet
esses to them.
Fifthly. It may just be noticed that the Sibyls were all
women ; there was not a man amongst them. Now, though
there were some prophetesses amongst the Israelites, as
Deborah, and Huldah, and others, yet the generality of
those who were employed to publish the counsels of heaven,
and all who were commissioned to commit the volume of
inspiration to writing, were males. This, especially as com
bined with some other things which might be mentioned,
as it regards the character of the Sibyls, renders their claim
to inspiration altogether improbable.
Sixthly. The fact that some of the Sibylline predictions
are much clearer and more definite than any that were deli
vered by even Isaiah himself, or any of the Jewish prophets,
is a powerful argument against their inspiration ; whilst
their language and allusions, in several places, are proofs
that these parts of them, at least, were forgeries, com
mitted after the New Testament had been penned. Where
is there anything in the Old Testament like the following ?
" I will sing heartily of the great and celebrated Son of the
immortal God, to whom the Supreme Father gave the pos
session of a throne before he was born ; and taking flesh,
he became of two natures." " He was washed in the stream
of the river Jordan." " He is the first God of the first fire,
and his Son begotten of a dove, the Spirit which appeared

200 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
like a dove with white wings." " 0 land of Sodom ! thou
crownedst him with a crown of thorns, and didst mix bit
ter gall for the greater abuse." " Oh, the happy wood on
which God was extended," &c. Surely it is very unlikely
that clearer revelations would have been made to the Gen
tiles, concerning whom we read that " God suffered them
to walk in their own ways," than to that peculiar people
whose distinguishing privilege it was that to them were
committed the oracles of God ; the apostle certainly means
to them only. Indeed, it may well be said, that the oracles
in question are either so dark, and enigmatical, and inde
finite in their expressions, that they cannot be understood*
and are capable of being applied to almost anything ; or
else they are so plain and definite, that they excite a sus
picion of having been taken from history, and generally
received doctrines. We do not find in them that happy,
and wise, and, I had almost said, Divine medium, betwixt
literal statements, or unmeaning generality and mysticism,
which characterizes the Scripture prophecies ; and which,
while it does not enable men to become prophets, yet ren
ders it evident, when the prediction is explained by the
event, that everything, in all its minutiae, was known to the
Divine Spirit, by whom the sacred writers were inspired.
Seventhly. The passage which has just been quoted
from the epistle to the Romans, that to the Jews were com
mitted the oracles of God, and that this was the great
advantage, the chief privilege which they had, furnishes
another argument against the Divine inspiration of the
Sibyls. If these effusions were dictated by the Holy
Spirit, and were intended to answer, to a certain extent,
the same end that the communications of the Israelitish
prophets were, how could such an assertion be with pro
priety made, when oracles, in some respects plainer, were
given to the Gentiles, and prophetesses were raised up to
them in constant succession till the veiy coming of Christ?
And if God had given them a commission to deliver such

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 201
messages, would he not have enabled them to produce
credentials like those of Moses, and Elijah, and Samuel?
I know it is said, that these oracles afford a proof of the
truth ofthe Christian religion, and that they prepared the
Gentiles to receive it. Any support that they can yield
to the Gospel, is just like that wliich a bundle of reeds
could have given to the temple of Solomon, in addition to
all its massy pillars of hewn stone and cedar wood ; and I
should more than question whether a single heathen was
induced by those productions to embrace the cause of the
Saviour. The fathers, most assuredly, rather injured than
served the interest of the truth, by their apf)eals to the
oracles of the Sibyls. I know that, in the estimation of
some, the fact that Justin Martyr, and several others of the
ancient writers of the Christian church, quoted those books,
is the great argument for their genuineness. But it is
well known that Justin, whatever were his excellences in
other respects, was exceedingly credulous, and that he and
the fathers, as they are generally called, were far from
always adopting the best methods of defending the cause
to which they were so warmly attached.* A most striking
contrast, in this respect, as well as others, is presented
betwixt them and the apostles, for which we can account
only by allowing the inspiration of the latter, while the
former were left to their own unassisted powers. In addi
tion to what has been stated, it may be observed, that in
these books there is a reference to the doctrine of a mil
lennium, or of Christ's reigning on earth a thousand years.
This, according to Prideaux,t proves that they could not
have been written till after the second century, when this
doctrine was first introduced by Papias, bishop of Hiera
polis, in Phrygia. Those who believe in the inspiration
of the Sibyls may reply, that these passages contain a pro
phecy. This answer, however, can have no weight with,
those who think that the doctrine in question is anti-scrip-
* See Appendix K. + Book ix. p. 617.

202 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
tural. These books also contain a list of all the Roman
emperors, from Julius Caesar to Antoninus Pius, given in
such a manner as proves that they contain a history rather
than a prediction ; for why should the enumeration stop
here, if the author was a prophetess ? And in the same
book the pretended Sibyl tells us, that she was "wife to
one of the sons of Noah, and that she was with him in the
ark during the deluge ; and many other particulars of the
same nature are found in them, all savouring of fiction and
imposture. All these things put together, prove that a
great part of these books, instead of containing a true col
lection of the oracles received for Sibylline among the
heathen before the time of Christ, is nothing more than
the invention and imposture of the compiler."* On the
whole, these books must be numbered amongst those pious
frauds by which some of the mistaken advocates of Chris
tianity endeavoured to propagate and defend it. Though
these were not employed to any great extent till the third
century, nor publicly avowed, perhaps, till the fourth, yet,
as even in the apostle's time, " the mystery of iniquity,
whose coming was after the working of Satan, with all
power, and signs, and lying wonders," (and amongst the
latter, these supposed wonderful oracles must be reckoned,)
" was working," we may be certain that it had developed
itself in the second century to a degree sufficient to pro
duce the oracles in question, and which, whatever might
be the design of their author, have much more effectually
subserved the cause of Satan than that of the God of truth.
THE HEATHEN OEACLES.
The much-famed heathen oracles must not be omitted in
considering the agency of Satan, and the means which he
has adopted to oppose the cause of God, and to deceive
and ruin the souls of men. Of all the devices which he
has ever employed for these purposes, one of the most
* Prideaux, book iv. p. 627.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 203
successful has been to invest, as far as he was able, error
with the form, and to array it in the beauties of truth ; to
imitate all the methods which God has adopted to demon
strate the divinity of the true religion ; and thus to transform
himself into an angel of light. If God has raised up true,
Satan has raised up lying prophets. If God has com
missioned his servants to work real miracles, Satan has
employed his to exhibit counterfeit ones. If to the Jews
were committed the oracles of God, to the heathen were
committed the pretended oracles of Delphos and Dodona,
and many others. If the intrinsic excellence and the
purifying tendency of the doctrines of the Gospel, and the
beauties of holiness adorning the character of those who
have been commissioned to publish them, are amongst the
means which God has employed to recommend his truth,
the servants of Satan have been transformed as the min
isters of righteousness, and have pretended deep concern
for the happiness of those^to whom they have delivered
their message. And it has been thought, and is maintained
at the present day by some, that his giving answers by the
oracles to which our attention is now to be directed, has
been amongst the principal means by which he has carried
on his intercourse with our fallen, sinful world.*
The most famous of the ancient oracles, as all know, was
that of Apollo at Delphos, where he was worshipped under
the name of the Pythian, an appellation derived, according
to some, from the serpent Python, which he was supposed
to have killed, or according to others, from a Greek word
(irvdeo-dai) which signifies to inquire, because people came
thither to inquire of him. Historians give the following
account of the origin of that oracle. " There was a cavity
upon Parnassus, from whence an exhalation arose, which
made the goats skip and dance about, and intoxicated the
brain of those who inhaled it. A shepherd was anxious to
know the cause of these effects, and in order to satisfy his
* See Appendix L,

204 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
curiosity, he went and stood so near the cavity that he
inhaled the vapour, and was immediately seized with a
violent agitation of body, and a strange elevation of mind
(we may suppose something like what is produced by a dose
of opium), and pronounced words, which, though he did
not understand them himself, were significant of the future.
Others made the same experiment, and with the same
success." The ignorant and superstitious people of that age
and country, — who had forsaken and forgotten the living
and the true God, the glorious Creator, but who deified
almost every creature, imagining that there was something
Divine in the "exhalation, that it proceeded from some
divinity, or was under his control,— at first placed a tripod
over it, and appointed a priestess to inhale the vapour, and
to deliver oracles, while under its influence; and in process
of time, a city arose around the supposed sacred spot, and
a magnificent temple was built, and so enriched with the
offerings of superstition, and the exactions and avarice of
a crafty priesthood, that compared with it, the temple at
Jerusalem, dedicated to the true God, was probably poor
even when its treasures were most abundant. This oracle
at last threw all the others into the shade.
Now what we have to determine, if we can, respecting
these oracles, is simply this : were their temples the resort
of evil spirits, or merely of priests and priestesses, and
their assistants ? Did the answers that were returned to
those who came to inquire of them, emanate, at least,
partly, and at times, from the knowledge and power of the
former, or from the craft and management of the latter ?
I must own, that after giving to this difficult and yet in
teresting subject all the attention of which I am capable,
and reading pretty extensively on it, I must adopt the
opinion of those who think that the great probability is,
that they were entirely the result of human depravity and
fraud, and that evil spirits had no more share in them
than they have generally in tempting men to sin.

.THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 205
In one respect, indeed, all who believe in the existence
of Satan, and that he is the god of this world, and the spirit
that worketh in the children of disobedience, will at once
allow that they were his device, and that by them he carried
on his work of deceiving and ruining the human race. And
surely none who allow that he can exert any influence,
either on matter or on the minds of men, will find any
difficulty in allowing that, were we to reason abstractedly
on the subject, and attend merely to some isolated facts,
or at least reported facts, we should be led to conclude that
the probability is, that evil spirits did, at times at least,
inspire the priests and priestesses, and deliver the oracles
of heathenism. For what means, we might ask, could be
better adapted to carry on their great design of robbing
God of his glory, and of the allegiance and homage of his
rational creatures, and involving them in the thickest
darkness, and sinking them into all the abominations and
cruelties of idolatry, and thus, in the most insolent and
malignant manner, insulting God, and degrading human
nature ? And when we attend to the history of these
oracles, and consider the horrid crimes, the human sacri
fices, the gross, nameless impurities to which they were
rendered subservient, nay which in some cases they seem
to have originated, there appears at least some plausibility
in the arguments of those who maintain that men could
never have been induced to act so wickedly, so unnaturally,
had they not had irresistible evidence, that there was some
thing superhuman in the oracles by which these cruelties
were enjoined, and that in practising these crimes, they
were obeying their supposed divinities. Nor can I see
much force in the argument against this, taken from the
fact that these oracles frebuently uttered lies, and deceived
those who trusted to them ; for surely all will allow that,
as evil spirits have no certain knowledge of the thoughts of
men, or of the events of the future, they might therefore
be deceived themselves. On the same principle we may

206 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
account for their inability to give definite answers on
various occasions, when the inquiry was respecting futurity.
Nor can it be thought strange, that Satan should flatter the
rich and great, and assist and encourage them in their
plans and deeds of oppression, and robbery, and blood.
Suppose the oracle of Delphos did Philippise, according to
the charge which Demosthenes brought against it, and
another oracle did sanction Augustus, in the gratification
of his passions, by taking to his bed the pregnant wife of
another ; this is only, it may be said, what might be ex
pected from those impure spirits who delight in sin in all
its forms. But after having made these concessions, on
what grounds, it may be asked, is it maintained that none
of those oracles were managed, or their answers given, by
the direct influence of Satan, but solely by the craft of
men? In the first place, I should attach considerable import
ance to the fact, that the Scriptures give no sanction to the
theory that these oracles were managed by Satan or his
angels, in any other way than by their spiritual influence
in tempting men to iniquity of every kind. The inspired
writers, as we have already seen, represent the heathen
priests, and prophets, and diviners, and necromancers, as
impostors and liars ; but never, as far as I can find, as
being in league with Satan, so as to obtain from him the
knowledge of the future, or of distant objects and events,
and to be able to utter prophecies, or to tell what men
were doing in secret in a distant part of the world; or to
be able to divine their thoughts, or to tell, as Elisha the
prophet could do, by Divine inspiration, what they were
doing in their bed-chambers, as it is pretended the oracle of
Delphos did in the case of Crcesus ; and the god of Helio-
polis in the case of Trajan.
The answerer of Fontenelle, Father Baltus, the Jesuit,
maintains that we have at least one instance of a heathen
oracle recorded in the Scriptures, in 2 Kings i. 2. Ahaziah

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 207
" sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, inquire of
Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover of
this disease." But there is no mention made here of any
oracle, or any intimation given that the god of Ekron could
foretell future events. That the heathen had their idols
and their imaginary gods, whom they consulted on various
occasions, we all know. But this is quite different from
having an oracle like that of Delphos or Dodona, where
their gods were supposed to work miracles and foretell
things to come. God, by the prophet Isaiah, xii. 22,
challenges all the heathen deities to "show what shall
happen," to " show the things that are to come hereafter,
that we may know that ye are gods : yea, do good or do
evil, that we may be dismayed and behold it together."
But if there was at this very time, when Isaiah uttered those
words, an oracle at Delphos, under the superintendence of
a powerful fallen spirit, foretelling the future, and revealing
the unknown and the distant ; working miracles in fact, by
shaking, as was pretended, the superb temple to its very
foundations, whenever he came to inspire the priestess, and
to enable her to utter her predictions, (the true prophets
had not generally such visible credentials as these to attest
their missions,) and inflicting punishments on those who
disputed his power or profaned his temple, — if this had
been really the case, how easy would it have been for idola
ters to reply, " Here is a god that can foretell the future,
that can secure the greatest benefits to his worshippers,
and cause those who despise him to smart for their folly ! "
The prophet Isaiah never imagined, evidently, that any
idolaters could with the least plausibility return such an
answer, or urge such a plea as this. If these oracles were
really the resort of evil spirits, who could utter predictions
and perform supernatural actions, they presented by far
the most imposing form of heathenism, compared with
which idols did not deserve to be named. Why then did
the inspired prophet expend all his eloquence on the latter,

208 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
and make no allusion whatever to the former? which
would just be acting as if a disputant were to exhaust all
his resources in refuting one of the weakest arguments of
his opponent, and entirely omit the most forcible ; an art,
it must be confessed, with which disputants are not unac
quainted. All would see at once what was the reason, and
all would draw the obvious inference ; especially if there
was, as Father Baltus would have us to believe, at Ekron,
in Palestine, and on the very borders of the land of Israel,
an oracle like that of Delphos, uttering prophecies, and
deceiving its votaries by the inspiration of the devil; surely
Isaiah would have exposed it, and assured those who heard
his prophecy, or might read his book, that all this was the
work of Satan, and one ofthe worst forms of idolatry. On
this part of the subject it would be easy to enlarge ; but I
must rest satisfied with stating, that I cannot find the
existence of these oracles recognised in the Bible, any
farther than they are included amongst the false gods and
prophets of the heathen ; though considerable portions of
it were written to expose idolatry in all its forms.
Secondly. I would observe, (and this observation, per
haps, includes the reason why Satan was not allowed to
avail himself of these oracles, in the way in which some
suppose he was, by actually inspiring their agents, and
vending his lies through their instrumentality, ) we have
no evidence that God has ever permitted any real miracle
to be performed, or even wonder to be exhibited, or true
prophecy to be uttered, in support of any false religions,
much less of idolatry, the worst, or rather a concentration
of them all. It is evident from the principles laid down
in the Scriptures, that if this had been done, idolatry would
have been, to say the least, excusable. " If I had not done
amongst them the works which none other man did," says
Jesus Christ, "they had not had sin; but now have they
no cloak for their sin." The heathen would certainly have
had a cloak for their sin, if ^Esculapius at his oracle had

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 209
cured diseases, if the god of the oracle of Claros had, as is
reported of him, known the thoughts of men's hearts, and
"needed not that any one should testify of man; for he
knew what was in man," according to the assertion of an
evangelist respecting Jesus Christ.
Thirdly. If we consider the way in which oracles were
delivered, and the prodigies which were thought to attend
them were exhibited, we shall find everything to corre
spond with the hypothesis, that all was accomplished by
the craft of men, and not by the agency of Satan. If the
latter had been the case, if evil spirits had been permitted
really to take up their abode at Delphos, or at the cave of
Trophonius, for instance, why, at the former, should an
swers have been given at first only once a year, and after
wards only once a month ? and why should there have
been so many unfortunate days specified, in which it was
unlawful to consult the oracle at all ? And why should the
Pythia have been required to fast three days, and to pre
pare herself by purifications and sacrifices, and other cere
monies ? And why should she have been thrown into a
frenzy before she prophesied ? while, after all, the words
which she uttered were almost inarticulate ? Surely Satan,
had he been permitted, could have managed things better
than all this. And why should there have been any neces
sity for prophets to collect her ravings, and for poets to
turn them into verse ? And why should it have been requi
site for those who went to consult the oracle of Tropho
nius, to pass through all the following ceremonies and
preparatives '? They were first to spend some days in at
tending to expiations of all kinds, and presenting various
sacrifices ; and then they could not descend into the cave
till the auspices taken by inspecting the entrails of the
victims that were slaughtered, were favourable, according
to the report of the priests ; that is, till their own time came,
and all their preparations were complete : and then two
children, of the age of twelve or thirteen years, must rub
ix. p

210 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
all the body with oil. Then they were conducted to the
source of a river, and made to drink of two kinds of water ;
that of Lethe, or forgetfulness, which effaced from the mind
all profane and worldly thoughts with which it had been
occupied ; and that of Mnemosyne, wThich had the virtue,
according to their representations, to enable those who
partook of it to recollect all that they might see or hear
in the sacred cave. (Oh that we could procure a copious
draught of such waters whenever we read the Bible, or
hear the words of truth and wisdom !) Then they were
led to the statue of Trophonius, where they presented
their prayers ; when they were clothed with a linen tunic,
and adorned with certain sacred fillets or bandages, and
thus they were prepared to go to the oracle.
This was situated in a mountain in an enclosure of
white stone, on which obelisks of brass were raised. In
this enclosure was a cavern of the figure of an oven, cut
out by the hand of man, into which those who came to
consult the oracle descended, not by steps, but by small
ladders. When they had made this descent, they found
another small cavern, with a very narrow entrance. There
they lay down on the ground, and were required to take in
each hand a composition of honey, which they must by no
means quit. They then put their feet into the entrance of
the small cavern, into which they immediately felt them
selves drawn with great violence.
Then commenced their supposed intercourse with the
god. The future was said to be revealed to them, but in
different ways ; to some by what they saw, to others by
what they heard. They left the cavern in the same way
as they entered it, being drawn out by their feet. Imme
diately the attendants, or the ministers of the reputed god,
placed them on the chair of Mnemosyne, and asked them
questions respecting what they had seen and heard. " From
thence," says Fontenelle, " they were led away, all con
founded and deprived of their senses, which they recovered

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 2 L 1
by degrees, and then they began to laugh," (I suppose he
means at their own folly and the craft of the priests ;) " for
till this time, the grandeur of the mysteries, and the di
vinity with which they had been pervaded, must have
effectually prevented them from laughing." It seems to
me that they ought not to have waited so long before they
commenced their laughter.
Pausanias relates that there had been only one man who
entered the cave of Trophonius, and who never returned,
and this was a spy, who was sent thither by Demetrius,
to see if there were any treasures in the sacred place worth
plundering. The body of the unhappy person was after
wards found at a distance from the place ; but it had not
been thrown out by the sacred entrance of the cave.
"How many reflections present themselves," says Fon-
tenelle, "on all these transactions ! What fine oppor
tunities had the priests, during all these sacrifices, which
they demanded of all who entered the cave, to examine
whether the individual was a proper person to be admitted
into the cavern, and to see and hear the mysteries; for
assuredly Trophonius selected his favourites, and did not
receive all who applied ! How would all those ablu
tions and expiations, and nocturnal journeys, and passages
through narrow and dark caverns, fill the mind with super
stitious fears and terrors ! How many machines were they
able to employ, amidst the darkness which pervaded the
cave ! The history of the spy teaches us that there was no
safety in these recesses for those who did not go thither
with good intentions ; and that besides the sacred entrance,
which was generally known, there was another secret one
for the use of the priests. Who can doubt that, when those
who entered the cave were drawn by the feet into the small
cavern, cords were employed ? All was profound dark
ness, and they were prevented from using their hands, be
cause they must grasp the composition of honey, which they
must by no means lose. The caverns might be full of per-

212 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
fumes and odours which would affect the brain, and de
prive of the power of thought and feeling, and the waters
of Lethe and Mnemosyne might be prepared to produce
the same effect ; to say nothing of the spectacles and noises
which were calculated to operate in the same way. And
at last, when those who had consulted the supposed divinity
came out of the cave in this confused and disordered state,
they related what they had seen and heard to the priests
only, who well knew how to mould all so as to answer their
own purpose."*
Now, in connexion with all the oracles, some means of
a similar kind were employed, to give the priests and the
managers of them time to form their plans, to draw from
those who came to consult them the information that was
necessary to enable them to return an answer craftily
adapted to the circumstances of the case, and to mould it
into such a shape, that whatever might be the event, they
would be safe. We grant it may be said that evil spirits
might require all these preparations, in order to impress
the minds of those who applied to the oracle with an idea
of their sacredness, or because they would even mimic the
way in which the true God was worshipped ; or, that al
though Satan sometimes assisted the priests and the priest
esses, yet at other times he left them to themselves, and
then they needed all their apparatus, and all their craft, to
deceive those who applied to them. This is possible. But
we are considering now what were the facts of the case.
And I would ask, is it probable that if devils had been
permitted to manage these oracles, by inspiring the priest
esses, and producing dreams, and making impressions on
the senses, and employing all their experience and know
ledge to form conjectures respecting the future or the dis
tant, &c, that all this apparatus would have been necessary
for them ? and that they would ever, and that at the time
when they seemed to possess the greatest power, have
* Fontenelle, p. 92.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 213
limited their communications to their devotees to once in
the year, and afterwards have extended them no farther, as
the utmost stretch of their liberality, than to once a month,
and that they would have been so fastidious in the choice
of days ? And why could not the Pythia prophesy till she
was intoxicated by the vapour ? I must repeat the observ
ation, that if Satan had been permitted to manage those
oracles, he would have acted in another, and a superior
style. All must allow that much was done by the craft of
men, that all the ceremonies and apparatus were as well
calculated as they could be to aid them in their work of
deception. And I must think that nothing was ever done
or exhibited, no answers were ever given, but what maybe
accounted for in this way. When the temples were explored
and demolished, there were traces and evidences in abun
dance of the works and schemes of men ; nothing to indi
cate that any supernatural influence had ever been exerted.
" The thousands of frauds and impostures," says Rollin,
" which had been detected at Delphos, had not opened
men's eyes, nor in the least diminished the credit of those
oracles." It is a maxim in philosophy, not to admit, for
any effect or event, more causes than are necessary to
produce it. If the fraud and depravity of men, and the
spiritual influence of Satan, are amply sufficient to account
for all the effects connected with these oracles, and we are
sure that these causes were at work, in all their forms and
power, why seek for another cause, which was altogether
unnecessary to produce the effect-?
Great importance has been attached by those who
maintain that, at the least, some of the oracular responses
were dictated by evil spirits, to the answers that were re
turned to the sealed letters which were sent to them, and
returned unopened. Trajan, at the request of his friends,
applied to the god of Heliopolis, to know whether he
should be successful in his expedition against the Par-
thians. The emperor, who had not much faith in oracles,

214 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
wished to try the skill of the god, and, therefore, sent him
a sealed letter, which was to be answered without being
opened. There was nothing in the letter, and a blank was
returned with it in reply ; and this is considered by some
an evidence that Satan must have informed the priests of
the fact. But is this supposition at all necessary? We are
informed that the friends and courtiers of Trajan had a
high opinion of oracles, and that in order to induce him
to apply to them, they related to him the wonderful pre
dictions which they had uttered. Now, as it is well known
that the managers of some of these oracles had their agents
and friends in almost every place, (the false prophet Alex
ander, who had established his oracle at Pontus, had his
correspondents at Rome, who informed him of the most
secret affairs of those who applied to him,) is it at all im
possible or improbable that some of them might be amongst
the servants of Trajan, and that they might know how he
intended to try the oracle, and give information to the
priests ? And might not the managers of the oracle have
some way of opening these letters, and sealing them again
so dexterously, that no one could discover what had been
done ? The letters were required to be left in the temple all
night, on the altar of the god, to which, of course, the priests
had access. A much more effectual way of trying the god
would have been to require an answer, without sending the
letter. In reality, I can see no difficulty whatever in managing
this matter. The credulity of Trajan, the ease with which
he was satisfied, appears to me the most wonderful part of
the whole business, much more marvellous than anything
which was effected by the oracle. Plutarch informs us
that the governor of Cilicia, who was addicted to the
opinions of the Epicureans, and consequently had not
much faith in oracles, sent one of his servants to Mopsus,
with a sealed letter, to which he requested that, without its
being opened, an answer might be returned in a dream.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 215
The servant slept in a temple, and saw, in a dream, a fine-
looking man, who appeared to him and pronounced the
word " black." The servant returned this answer to his
master. It excited the ridicule of the Epicureans at court.
But the governor was astonished, and on opening his own
letter, and showing them that he had inquired whether he
should sacrifice a white or a black ox, they, too, were
astonished, and, according to Father Baltus, were com
pletely silenced. Now as it was necessary that the letter
should be carried into the temple, and left there during
the night in which the servant had the dream, where would
be the great difficulty of dexterously opening it and sealing
it again ? And then, it is very well known, that if one can
have access to a person when he is asleep, there is not
much difficulty in producing such a dream as it may be
wished he should have ; at least, this can be done in some
cases. And is it all likely that servants would be proof
against the address, the arts, and the bribery of the priests?
And, as Fontenelle has well observed, " If a demon gave
the answer, where was the necessity of its being forty days
out of the hands of the governor ? " And we may add, why
was not the governor himself favoured with the dream ?
in every case it was necessary that those letters should be
sent to the temple, and left there for some time. We can
see how this was necessary for the priests, but not how it
was so for the demons.
The famous story which occurs in the history of Crcesus
presents, it must be owned, considerable difficulties. In
order to put to the test the knowledge and fidelity of the
oracle of Delphos, Crcesus required it to tell what he was
doing at a certain time, which he specified : and in order to
try the god to the utmost, the king' resolved to be occupied
in the most unlikely way possible. Accordingly, he shut
himself up in a convenient place, and cooked a tortoise and
a lamb in a brazen vessel ; a very unlikely employment,
it must be owned, for a king. The oracle, however, speci-

216 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
fied his employment most correctly. Now I do not un
dertake to say exactly how this might be done, on the
supposition that evil spirits had no share in these responses.
The information which we have respecting it is very scanty,
and is given by those who were evidently believers in the
divinity of oracles, and were disposed to make the most of
fortunate occurrences or remarkable coincidences ; and it
would be wonderful if, at this distance of time, we could
detect everything that was accomplished by the fraud of
those practised deceivers. Many things equally strange and
unaccountable are found connected with the second sight,
with the experience of those who believe in dreams and
apparitions, and even in their almanacs, and their foretelling
the state of the weather. Suppose that we cannot tell how
the priests of Delphos obtained their information of what
Crcesus was doing ; this one unaccountable fact is a slender
foundation for the faith of those who believe that these
oracles were managed by Satan. In the words of Rollin
already quoted, " Thousands of frauds and impostures had
been detected at Delphos ;" and these are so many
thousands of proofs that the oracles were managed, and
their answers given, by the fraud of men ; and we have
only to place in opposition to these, two or three dubious
indications that they were under the superintendence of
devils. Which shall we believe ? Which hypothesis is the
more probable of the two, and supported by the best argu
ments ? But it is intimated in the story that Croesus was
not cooking the tortoise himself, but only ordering it to be
cooked. So then, some of his servants knew what he was
doing, and some time must elapse before the answer of the
oracle could be brought back. If then the priests had
some of these servants in their pay and interest, there
would be no great difficulty in managing this affair. There
have been kings and politicians, who by means of their
spies in every part of the country, and almost of the world,
have obtained intelligence of what was being transacted in

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 217
distant parts, almost, if not altogether, as surprising as
that which is supposed in this case. The story which is
related by Dr. Plot in his Natural History of Oxfordshire,
and inserted in the Encyclopsedia Britannica, under the
article Spectre, contains feats much more wonderful than
the answer of the oracle to Crcesus. The commissioners
of the commonwealth thought they had ocular and sensible
demonstration, that the house was haunted by a host of
demons, and consequently refused to remain in it any
longer. Many believed, for a long time, that no human
power could effect what was there exhibited. And had the
fraud not been discovered, and the means by which all the
apparent wonders were performed explained, it might have
been quoted to this day as an indubitable proof of Satanic
interference in the affairs of this world.
But the subject is almost boundless. It has been proved
by Van Dale, Fontenelle, and others, that all the oracles
had the machinery of deception in their temples and in
their vicinity, and that the very places where they were
situated were favourable to the tricks of their managers.
At Delphos almost all the inhabitants of the city were, in
one way or another, connected with the oracle, or under its
influence ; and they were therefore ready to assist the
priests. This furnishes a satisfactory answer to the objec
tion of Father Baltus, who asks, " How is it that the priests
were able to get their machinery constructed and repaired
without artificers and workmen of various kinds? and how
could silence be imposed on all these ? " We answer, With
the greatest ease. Fear on the one hand, and interest on
the other, would be quite sufficient to restrain their tongues,
and even to influence their views and thoughts. They
would not be disposed to think, (as, alas, their ideas of
their divinities were far from being very exalted !) that for
anything they knew, these machines might be necessary
for their gods, to enable them to carry on their operations.
There is no difficulty whatever in accounting for the origin

2 1 8 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
of those oracles, (we have already seen how the most famous
of them all, that of Delphos, commenced,) without attri
buting them in the first instance either to Satanic influence
in inspiring the priestesses, or to designed fraud on the
part of those who first pronounced them sacred. We have
only to recollect the erroneous and grovelling ideas of the
Gentiles respecting their gods, and their propensity to
deify almost everything, and to fancy spirits in every cave,
or mountain, or stream, or grove, and to attribute to their
influence every uncommon appearance. There were always
some amongst the heathen philosophers and princes who
did not believe in these oracles. Fontenelle maintains
that the Cynics, the Peripatetics, and the Epicureans,
despised and ridiculed them; and he brings forward an
instance of ffinomaus, a Cynic, diverting himself and
others, and rallying Apollo in grand style on account of
the oracle which he delivered to Crcesus, " That if he
passed the river Halys, he should overturn a great empire."
Father Baltus puts in requisition all his learning and
ingenuity, which certainly were by no means small, to prove
that Fontenelle was mistaken, and that none but a few
Cynics and Epicureans disbelieved and despised them ;
but without success. The fact is certain, that many of the
heathen accounted them cheats, and not a few who pro
fessed to believe in them, did so out of policy, Instances
are produced by Fontenelle and Van Dale, in which the
priestesses and priests were corrupted by bribes, or over
awed by power, to deliver as the oracles of the gods that
which had been suggested to them. The fraud was in some
cases discovered, and the culprit punished. But as the
proofs of intercourse with the supposed divinity depended
very much on the assertions and fidelity of these deceivers,
what dependence can be placed on them ?
New oracles were established at different places, which
soon became almost as popular as the old ones. Alexander
was astonished that he could so soon and so easily trans-

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 219
form his friend Hephtestion into a divinity, and that his
oracle succeeded so well ; and he was delighted to find,
that he could not only rise to the rank of a god himself,
but that he could make gods. And if we grant to Father
Baltus that Satan might come and take possession of these
new oracles, as he had done of the old ones, and endeavour
to render them subservient to his purpose, (it remains,
however, to be proved that he did so in either the one case
or the other,) still we have in those facts an historical ac
count of the way in which oracles were founded by the art
and influence of men, without any direct assistance from
evil spirits. There are not a few instances which might
easily be produced, in which the priests and prophets who
conducted those oracles were obliged to confess that they
had imposed on those who came to consult them, and to
expose all their apparatus and machinery to the world.
The Christian fathers themselves, disposed as they were
to believe that these oracles were managed by Satan, and
that they were silenced at the birth of Christ, had their
suspicions on this point. Clemens Alexandrinus, after
referring to the most celebrated oracles and necromancers,
says, " All these things are only extravagant impostures,
and pure tromperies, like games at dice. The goats which
have been employed for the purposes of divination, and
the ravens which have been taught to return answers, what
are they but the instruments or associates of those char
latans who deceive the world?" And Eusebius, in his
fourth book " De Preparatione Evangelica," assigns, as
Fontenelle expresses it, the best reasons in the world for
believing that the oracles were nothing but the work of
impostors. And if we should grant to Father Baltus that
he produced there the opinions of others, and what might
be said in defence of them, still it is evident, by the way in
which they are stated, that he thought these arguments not
destitute of weight. And there is great reason to fear that
Fontenelle is correct, when he insinuates that he was in-

220 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
fluenced too much by his mistaken zeal for the honour of
the Christian religion. This remark directs our attention
to a very interesting question : When did these oracles
lose their credit ? and by what means were they silenced ?
and what regard is due to the opinion and testimony of
the Christian fathers on this subject, when they maintain
that both these were effected by the coming of the Saviour,
and often by the mention of his name, by the very pre
sence of one of his followers, or even by the sign of the
cross ? This is a copious and interesting subject, and one
too on which it is impossible to enlarge in a part only of a
single lecture.
There can be no doubt, however, of the fact, that the
oracles began to be despised, and to fall into decay, before
the birth of the Saviour ; and that some of them, and even
that of Delphos, existed, and were consulted, and pretended
to give answers, long after that important event. This
Father Baltus himself is obliged to grant ; and he main
tains, and indeed proves, that neither Eusebius, nor Ter
tuUian, nor Athanasius, nor Lactantius, asserts that the
oracles ceased all at once, but only that they were silenced
by the spread of the Gospel, and by the name and cross of
Christ. Sir Thomas Browne reckons the opinion, that
oracles were silenced all at once at the birth of Christ,
amongst vulgar errors. And it is evident from history,
that they had not entirely ceased in the reign of Julian,
almost four hundred years after the advent of the Saviour.
On this point there can be no question ; while it is evi
dent, from the testimony of Plutarch, a heathen, and an
admirer of oracles, that they had begun to fall into decay
and lose their credit before the Christian era.
The principal subject of inquiry here is, what regard is
due to the statements of the fathers, as they are generally
called, when they declare that the oracles were frequently
silenced in the way which has just been mentioned ? They
make positive and yet strange assertions on this point. It

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 221
is evident, that most of them believed that the oracles were
delivered, partly at least, by devils, and that these devils
themselves confessed that they were silenced and deprived
of their power by the religion and followers of the Saviour ;
that these obliged the evil spirits who presided over the
oracles to own, even in the presence of the heathen, that
they were seducing spirits ; and that they constrained them,
by the mere invocation of the name of Christ, to come out
of the idolatrous priests and priestesses whom they had
possessed.* It does not appear, however, that the Pythian
priestess was ever, properly speaking, possessed by a spirit,
even if we believe all that is recorded of her, but only in
fluenced by one once a year or once a month. A few of
their statements must be given.
TertuUian, in his Apology, (cap. 23, )f thus writes : " Hi
therto, I have brought reasons ; now I will add facts which
demonstrate that your gods are no more than devils. Let
them bring before your tribunals any one really possessed
with a devil ; if a Christian commands him to speak, the
wretched spirit will then as truly own that he is no more
than a devil, as at other times he falsely says that he is a
god. Likewise, let them produce any one of those who
pretend to be inspired by a deity, which they receive into
them by the smoke and odour of sacrifices, and draw their
words from their stomachs with great pain. If that celes
tial virgin who promises rain ; if that 2Esculapius who pre
scribes medicine, and has prolonged the lives of three men
who were dying ; " (TertuUian seems to believe that iEscu-
lapius could work miracles ;) "if they do not own them
selves to be devils to the Christian who shall ask them,
because they will not dare to lie in his presence, put this
rash Christian to death immediately." Similar to this is
the testimony of Lactantius. " Let them bring," says he,
" one really possessed, and let the priest himself of Apollo
of Delphos, come with him ; they will both of them equally
* See Appendix M. + Answer to Fontenelle, p. 71.

222 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
tremble at the name of God ; and Apollo will Come out of
Ms false prophet with as much haste as the devil out of the
demoniac ; and this god being thus exorcised and driven
out, his false prophets will become dumb, and never speak
more. The devils, then, which the heathen had in exe
cration, are the same with the gods they adore." Cyprian
expresses himself with equal confidence. After having
said that they are evfl spirits that inspire the false prophets
of the Gentiles, that sth- up the fibres of the entraUs of
victims, govern the flight of birds, dispose lots, and deliver
oracles, by always mixing truth with falsehood to prove
what they say, he adds, " Nevertheless, these evil spirits,
adjured by the living God, immediately obey us, submit to
us, own our power, and are forced to come out of the bodies
they possess." And he invites Demetrius to come and see
with his own eyes the truth of what he asserts. Athanasius
asserts that the bare sign of the cross made the cheats and
Ulusions of the devil to vanish; and then adds, " Let him
that would make trial of this come, and amidst aU the de
lusions of devils, the impostures of oracles, and the prodi
gies of magic, let him use the sign of the cross, which the
heathens laugh at, and they shall see how the devils fly
away affrighted, how the oracles immediately cease, and
all the enchantments of magic remain destitute of their
usual force." Father Baltus* maintains, though he does
not cite any passage in support of his opinion, that the
presence of only one Christian, though unknown, nay, even
of an infant, armed with the sign of the cross, put all the
oracles and false prophets to sdence, and confounded all
the augurs and soothsayers, to the great astonishment of
the heathen and of the emperors themselves. Lactantius
asserts, that " when the heathen sacrifice to their gods, if
there be any one present whose forehead is marked with
the sign of the cross, the sacrifices do not succeed, nor the
false prophets give answer. This has given frequent occa-
* Baltus, p. 78.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 223
sion to bad princes to persecute the Christians. For some
Christian servants attending on their masters in their sacri
fices, having made the sign of the cross on their foreheads,
had put their gods to flight, and hindered them from de
scribing things to come by the entrails of the sacrifices,
which the soothsayers having learned from the devils them
selves to whom they were sacrificing, they complained that
profane persons were present, and thereby put the emperor
in a rage, and in order to purify their temples, urged them
to defile themselves with a real sacrifice, that ought to have
been expiated with the punishment of these persecutors."
"Prudentius," says Baltus, "elegantly describes an event
of this kind which happened when he was young, in the
presence of Julian the Apostate ; that at the very time that
he was sacrificing to his demons, one of the pages that
waited on him, being a Christian, did, by his presence and
the sign of the cross, hinder the success of his sacrifices
and magic enchantments, confound the soothsayers and
enchanters, and make the devils whom he had raised
vanish. And this is attested by both Theodoret and Gregory
Nazianzen." " It has often happened to me," says the lat
ter, " that I have hardly pronounced the venerable name
of Christ, but the devil took flight, murmuring and raging
for grief. The same thing has happened when I have only
made the sign ofthe cross in the air."
Gregory Thaumaturgus, who lived in the third century,
is said to have had such power over devils, that when he
once entered a temple where Apollo delivered oracles, he
drove out this false god by the sign of the cross, so that
he could answer his priest no longer, even though he
redoubled his sacrifices and enchantments, and used all
the secrets of his art. At last Apollo appeared to him, and
told him that he could not dwell in his temple any longer,
because of the person who had slept there last night. The
priest immediately ran after the holy bishop, and begged
of him, by all the hospitality he had experienced in the

224 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
temple, to restore his oracle. The saint consented, and
immediately wrote to Apollo, or the devil, in these terms :
" Gregory to Apollo ; re-enter." The demon instantly
obeyed, and the priest being thereby convinced of the
power of Gregory over his gods, forsook them and became
a Christian." " I know," says Baltus, " that your Anabap
tist physician will laugh at this ;" and really, if sorrow and
indignation would permit, the laughing would not be con
fined to either Anabaptists or physicians.
Now what are we to think of these statements, and what
conclusions are we to draw from them ? Father B., who
was a Roman Catholic and a Jesuit, believes them aU most
implicitly, and glories in them ; and maintains, that similar
miracles (this is a fact worthy of notice, and one which
should be kept in mind in forming an estimate of the
testimony of the fathers) are wrought in the Catholic
Church, — that is, according to him, in the true church, to
this day, and that they will be wrought to the end of time.
And it is natural to ask, have we not here the testimony of
pious, able, learned, acute men, who could reason most
correctly and powerfully in defence of the Christian religion
against the heathen, to what they themselves heard ? nay,
in some instances, to what they saw, and felt, and did ?
How can we reject their statements without undermining
all testimony as a ground of faith ? The question is im
portant : the subject is difficult. The fathers, with all their
defects, were a pious, noble, devoted class of men. With
how much heartiness did they embrace the religion of the
cross ! How firmly did they believe it ! How fearlessly
did they advocate its cause ! How did they, in some
respects, adorn it by their lives ! How ready were they to
die [on its behalf ! How certain is it that they are now
receiving the reward promised to those who confessed
Christ before men ! Well would it be for their successors
in the present day, if, in addition to their more extensive
and accurate knowledge, they had the heartiness, and zeal,

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 225
and faith of these ancient supporters of the Christian re
ligion. I am far from joining with those who despise and
revile them, and are disposed to think that it would be well
for the cause of religion and of the church, if all their writings
were blotted out from existence. Were this done, to say
nothing of the chasm that would be made in the history of
religion, were no other loss sustained, a most interesting
specimen of human nature, in very peculiar circumstances,
would be entirely lost. Still, I must say, I cannot place
much dependence on their testimony, or rather their powers
of observation and reasoning, or even on their fidelity, in
the particular under consideration ; and that for the fol
lowing reasons.
It is only too evident, that with all their excellences,
some of them were weak men, and all of them super
stitious, and many of them under the influence of false
views and maxims. I am afraid that the observations of
Principal Campbell, in his Ecclesiastical Lectures," on the
writers and clergy of a later age, will apply, in some
degree, to those whose sentiments and testimony have been
quoted, in relation to oracles, and the way in which they
were silenced. "The term 'pious fraud' was, in some
places, and for several ages, not introduced sarcastically,
as it is used with us at present, but employed to denote an
expedient not only innocent but commendable. The
patrons of ecclesiastical power had every advantage ; their
tricks, when undiscovered, wrought powerfully in their
favour ; and when discovered, (such was the superstition of
the times,) were, on account of the supposed holy purpose
to be effected by them, easily excused by all, and highly ap.
proved by many." I know that the system of pious frauds
was not avowedly adopted in the age of Justin, and
Origen, and Cyprian. But the spirit that produced them
was even then working. It could not be matured and
bear its fruits all at once. And when we consider that even
* Vol. ii.p.SO.
rx. Q

226 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
Augustine is said to have approved, in the latter part of his
life, of these impious expedients, we can scarcely expect
that Justin or TertuUian, with aU their enthusiasm, would
very strictly guard against them. It is evident that they
were superstitious to a degree which would render them
the easy dupes of impostors, as well as incline them too
readily to believe what 'they heard on this subject, and
even to misinterpret what they saw. Abundant proofs
might be adduced of this, did our limits allow. Again we
exclaim, What a falling off was immediately discerned when
the Spirit of inspiration was taken from the church ! What
a contrast betwixt the apostles, and even the apostolic, and
especially the primitive fathers !
And what a contrast, too, betwixt the ideas of Justin and
TertuUian, &c, respecting oracles and the silencing of
oracles, and the power of the very sign of the cross, and
of the mere presence of a Christian, — and those of Jesus
Christ and his apostles ! From them we never hear a word
respecting oracles managed by demons, or silenced by the
sign of the cross : and though Peter and Paul preached
the gospel in Greece and Asia Minor, in the very vicinity
of oracles and amongst their votaries, and no doubt, in the
very cities where they were established, yet we do not find
a syllable respecting them in the preaching or epistles of
these champions of the cross. We never find them glorying
in silencing these oracles by their veiy presence, or by the
sign of the cross, much less by the relics of a saint or martyr.
But why is this? Oracles were as much in repute in the
time ofthe apostles, as of Justin, or TertuUian, or Eusebius.
Paul was as able to silence them as Gregory Thaumaturgus,
or any one else. And his doing so would have been as
good a proof of the truth of the Gospel, as any of their
supposed miracles could have been. We cannot help
suspecting, nay, feeling certain, that his views and practices
were essentially different from theirs, and, consequently,
that the latter were not correct. It deserves to be noticed

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 227
likewise, that it was not till a considerable time after the
death of the apostles, that so much importance began to
be attached to the silencing of oracles. Justin Martyr,
who died about the year 167, ie, as far as I can find, the
first who has mentioned their being silenced in the ways
which have been specified above. And it is correctly ob
served respecting him, that "his judgment is not to be
trusted, for he has made strange mistakes. The corrup
tion of Christianity, by what was called philosophy, may
be traced to Justin, who is at once fanciful and dogmatical,'
founding arguments on allegories, to the neglect of sub
stantial verities nearer at hand, and then making asser
tions where he had no proofs."* And it is only too evident,
that as the age of the apostles and of inspiration receded,
superstition and corruption increased, and the fathers, as
they are called, became more childish in their views and
habits, and were more and more disqualified either to form
correct sentiments, or to give faithful reports. But it may
be said, whatever we may think of their judgments, or of
their theoretical views, they were certainly entitled to credit
as competent witnesses of what they saw and heard. In
answer to this it is sufficient to rephy, that the silencing of
oracles, and the expulsion of demons, were precisely those
facts, or supposed facts, respecting which there was the-
greatest danger of error, even if they had been always sin
cere and honest ; for in regard to these, there was the most
ample room for imagination on the one hand, and for
imposture on the other. For instance, in the example
which has already been quoted from Lactantius, in which
he asserts, that the silencing of demons by the sign of the
cross on their foreheads " often gave occasion to bad princes
to persecute them, because this put their gods to flight, and
hindered them from foretelling things to come by their
sacrifices, and the soothsayer having learned this from the
devil, that profane persons were present, &c, — how easy
* Bennett's Theology ofthe Early Christian Church.

228 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
was it for those soothsayers, if they could not succeed in
their auguries, or if they wished to excite the emperors
against the Christians, to pretend that it was the presence
of the latter, and the sign of, the cross, that prevented them
from being successful, and to affirm that their demons told
them so ! and the Christians were only too prone to beheve
such statements. How many cases are there in which the
views, and feelings, and wishes of men will prevent them
from being correct observers of the most palpable facts !
That which blinds the eyes of the understanding, will per
vert in many cases the eyes of the body. I knew a very
sensible, pious, and clever man, whose mind too was far
from being uncultivated, who had brought himself, by some
means, to believe that if a half-crown piece were suspended
by a string, held between the finger and the thumb, in a
common drinking glass, it would strike, against the sides
of the glass, the nearest hour of the day ; and, when held
by himself, it did so pretty exactly. I could not convince
him by argument, or by my own example, that he gave it
the impulse, and so managed it as to make it strike the
requisite number of times. But when I grasped his hand
in mine, and rested my arms on my knees, and kept it
quite steady, the striking was at an end ; though I do not
know that he was convinced, or is so to this day, but that
he was correct, and that the half-crown piece will indicate
the hour, in the specified circumstances. And when I
mentioned the fact to another intelligent person, I was
surprised to find that he believed it likewise, and main
tained that he had tried the experiment. How niany, un
der the influence of imagination, and credulity, and earnest
wishes, are, amidst all their honesty and abhorrence of
deceit, deceived by their eyes and ears ! And then, does
not the sign of the cross and the mere presence of Chris
tians, without their exercising any faith, or presenting any
prayers, nay, the very presence of a child, being sufficient
to work those miracles, render the whole suspicious ? We

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 229
find nothing like this in the New Testament, or amongst
the miracles of the Saviour or his apostles. And farther
if we credit the fathers, why not also, with Father Baltus,
Gregory Thaumaturgus, and his letter to Apollo ? And
can we stop here? Must we not go a step farther, and
believe with him in the efficacy of the relics of martyrs to
silence oracles, and put Satan to flight ? We find in Mark
xvi. 17, that the power of casting out devils, and conse
quently of expelling them from heathen temples, was, in
the gift and promise of the Saviour, connected with the
ability to speak with new tongues. What reason can be
assigned for the continuance of the former, and the with
drawing of the latter? If the believers, in the time of
TertuUian and Lactantius, could expel demons, why could
they not speak with tongues ? but to this I believe they
seldom pretended.* I have no doubt that the power of
working miracles of any kind was confined to the apostolic
age ; that when the followers of Christ ceased to be able
to speak with tongues, they were unable to cast out devils ;
but it was much easier for men to deceive both themselves
and others in the one case, than in the other.
In one sense it is quite true that the oracles were
silenced by the birth of Christ,— by the power of him re-
* " Irenieus declares that the gift of tongues was indulged to many in
his days. But it is very remarkable, that this primitive bishop, who ascribes
it so liberally to others, appears to have been in great want of it himself.
It was not the least part of his trouble that he was forced to learn the lan
guage of the Gauls, before he could do any good amongst them. And from
the time of Irenseus, there is not a single father, in all the succeeding ages,
who has ventured to make the least claim to it, or to speak of it in any other
manner than as a gift pecuUar to the first Christians in the time of the
apostles. And I might risk the merit of my argument on this single point :
that, after the apostolic times, there is not, in all history, a single instance,
either well-attested, or even so much as mentioned, of any particular person
who had exercised this gift, or preteudedto exercise it, in any age or country
whatever." — Middleton, p. 119. Dr. Chapman's a priori reasoning, and his
apology for the mistakes and weaknesses of Justin, and the fathers in
general, are very far from being a satisfactory answer to Middleton's facts
and arguments.

230 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
speeting whom the whole church may gratefully and trium
phantly say, " Unto us a Child is born ; unto us a Son is
given." I am far from thinking with Fontenelle, that if
Christianity had never been introduced into the world, the
oracles would all have been silenced. They would pro
bably have been carried on by the craft of men till the end
of time ; though I must think with him, that the presence
of Christians, and their known sentiments respecting ora
cles, that they were, in many cases at least, the work of
imposture, and consequently the keen and suspicious eye
with which they would scrutinise their pretensions, and
the sentiments which they diffused all around respecting
them, would necessarily disconcert the priests and their
assistants, and cause them to fail in some of their exhi
bitions. What juggler could perform his tricks success
fully, if he were afraid that his art was known, and if disgrace
and punishment were to be the result of his failure ? The
oracles, then, were silenced by Jesus Christ, by the light
which he, as the Sun of righteousness, spread abroad, and
b}r the spirit which his Gospel elicited, or rather formed .
He turned men from darkness to light, and from the power
of Satan unto God.
I know and feel the difficulties of the subject which I
have been discussing ; the plausible arguments which may
be advanced on the other side of the question; and how
undesirable it may seem to some, to bring such charges
as are implied in what I have advanced, against the suc
cessors ofthe apostles in the great work of evangelising the
world, and establishing the cause of God.* But religion
has nothing to fear from exposing the weaknesses and mis-
* See Middleton's " Free Inquiry," passim, and Isaac Taylor's masterly
and interesting " Ancient Christianity," for proofs, alas ! only too numerous
and convincing, that the fathers were not only superstitious and easily de
ceived, but that they were quite capable of practising imposition ; and that
where miracles, and Jews, and especially oracles, and casting out of devils,
are concerned, very little credit is due to their testimony, even respecting
what they profess to have seen and heard.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 231.
takes of its professors and advocates. It is injured by
being encumbered with their errors and faults. Let it
have free course,.let it be seen as it is, and it will be glo
rified. The truth of God will never abound by any man's
lie, however they may think that it is " to his glory."

LECTUEE V.
THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
DEMONIACS ; AXD ESPECIALLY THOSE TO WHICH OUR ATTENTION IS DIRECTED C?
THE NEW TESTA3IENT.
We come now to consider the difficult, yet interesting
subject of demoniacs, or possessions, as this directs our
attention to one of the ways by wliich evil spirits have, in
the estimation of most professing Christians, carried on
their intercourse with this world, in order to oppose the
plans of God, as well as to injure mankind, and to gratify
their own love of mischief and sin. Here it is natural to
ask, What is meant by possessions, or by demoniacs ? To
this question Farmer would answer, " A man is said to be
a demoniac, or to be possessed, when the demon within
him is supposed to occupy the seat of the soul, and perform
aU its functions in the body. During his possession, the
demoniac was sUent : it was the demon alone that spoke
in him. He was considered as being the very spirit by
which he was possessed. Hence, the demon and the de
moniac were often, in common speech, confounded toge
ther." He affirms, that "the doctrine of possessions im-
1 plies that demons can unite themselves to the human body,
jin the same way that the soul is united to it by God, so as
to govern all its organs." And he maintains, that " if they
can thus deprive men of their speech, and sight, and reason,
and then restore them to the use of these faculties, they
can rival the glory ofthe prophets of God."* But there is
much in these statements that is objectionable, and there
* Farmer on Demoniacs, p. 200.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 233
is reason to fear, that, though he might not be sensible of
it, he gave this description of possessions in order to place
the theory of those who maintained their reality in as dis
advantageous a light as possible, that it might be more
easily refuted. However that may be, his definition will
not be accepted by his opponents; all that we mean by'
possessions is, that the evil spirits brought those to whom
the term could be applied so far under their influence, as
to be able to vex and torment them, both in their bodies
and in their souls, in various ways and degrees, and to
cause them to think, and speak, and act, as they otherwise
would not have done. By a possessed person, we mean
one who, according to the language of the New Testament,
is held, or afflicted, or grieved by a demon ; according to
the language of the woman of Canaan, " My daughter is
grievously vexed with a devil," Matt. xv. 22. And it is
evident from some of the cases of demoniacs which are
recorded in the Scriptures, that they were not at all times
equally under the influence of the demons ; that they had
their paroxysms, and their intervals of comparative freedom
and ease. Luke ix. 38, " And behold a man of the com
pany cried out, saying, Master, I. beseech thee look on my
son, for he is my only child ; and lo, a spirit taketh him,
and he suddenly crieth, and it teareth him, that he foam-
eth again, and bruising him, hardly departeth from him."
This is quite different from the spirit's uniting itself with
the person as the soul does to the body. Indeed, it may
be questioned whether ever the possession was perpetual,
so as to imply that the demon was always present with
the person whom it harassed and vexed. And this re
minds us of the unfairness of one part of Farmer's descrip
tion of a demoniac. We by no means allow that the evil
spirit could restore sight, or speech, or hearing to those
whom it had deprived of them ; at least, if the deprivation
had been caused by a derangement of the organs, and not
merely by an influence exerted by the power of the demon

284 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
during the interval of possession. Whenever the Saviour
expelled the devil, he always restored the use of the faculty
that had been lost.
Now, perhaps, it might almost be expected, on account
of the sentiments which I have advanced respecting witch
craft, and Sibyls, and oracles, that I should adopt the
theory of those who maintain that no one was ever really
possessed by a demon, but that demoniacs were aU either
epileptics or madmen ; and that our Saviour and his dis
ciples, in miraculously curing them, merely Ixumoured the
prejudices of those with whom they were conversant, and
adopted the current language of the day. And it must be
owned, I should suppose, by all who have seriously con
sidered the subject, and grappled with its difficulties, that
this hypothesis possesses several advantages, and has been
supported by very plausible arguments, especially by Whis-
ton, Lardner, and Farmer. The latter, in particular, has
compassed sea and land, and put in requisition all hi3
learning and abilities, which were by no means smaU, to
prove, that there never were any real possessions in the
world ; and that all the cases which were thought to be
such, were different forms of insanity. And I readily allow,
that there is much in his theory to recommend it. The
principal objection to it, but it is a fundamental and insu
perable one, is a deficiency of evidence ; and especially the
necessity under which it lays him, of explaining away the
plain statements ofthe Bible, and of giving representations
of Jesus Christ and his apostles, altogether unworthy of
their character and station. His hypothesis affords at
once an easy solution of the difficult questions : — Why
were possessions so numerous in the days of Jesus Christ
and his apostles ? Why do we so seldom hear of them
before that period? and why are there no decided cases
of them now ? How are we to account for the great resem
blance betwixt them and epilepsy and insanity ? And what
are we to think of the stories which are recorded respecting

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 235
exorcists in the primitive church ? And why did the power
of casting out devils appear to continue so long after the
ability to work other miracles was withdrawn ? I must
candidly own, that were there not much more abundant
evidence in the Scriptures — and that, too, of a different
kind— for possessions, than for witchcraft and oracles ;
had the inspired records said as little respecting the former
as the latter ; had not the Saviour, and those whom he
commissioned to establish his Gospel, met with demoniacs
everywhere, and with oracles and witches nowhere, I should
have adopted Farmer's hypothesis. But when I appeal
to the law and to the testimony, and take into the account
the absurd conclusions to which Farmer, notwithstanding
all his ingenuity, is driven, and the charges which he is
obliged to insinuate, or which, at least, are involved in his
statements, against Jesus Christ and his disciples, I must
reject his theory, and embrace that of real possessions.
Whatever be the difficulties with which the latter is at
tended, they are, in my apprehension, fewer in number,
and less in degree, than those of the opposite hypothesis.
Now surely it will be allowed by all, that the onus pro-
bandi lies on those who deny the reality of possessions.
AU who read the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles,
either in the original or in a good translation, without any
previous ideas on the subject, or without any system to
maintain, wishing merely to understand the language of
the sacred writers, and regardless of consequences, or of
any opinions or hypotheses, would conclude that the Bible
teaches the doctrine of demoniacal possessions ; especially
as all allow that this doctrine was firmly believed when
the Scriptures were written, and that those to whom they
were addressed could understand their language in no
other way. They never for a moment imagined that
demoniacs were either lunatics, or epileptics, or insane.
The persons themselves, and all who were connected with
them, thought that they were under the influence of in-

236 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
visible, malignant spirits. There were many of their
actions which, to say the least, could most easily be ac
counted for on this supposition. These spirits are spoken
of as speaking and acting, and causing those who were
under their influence to speak and act, as they otherwise
would not have done. They are represented as entering
into men, as tormenting and injuring them in various
ways, as coming out of them, in consequence of which the
possessed were immediately delivered from their power.
We read of their speaking, presenting requests, and even
entering into conversation with him who came to expel
them ; as making confessions ; and as possessing a know
ledge of the Saviour's character and mission superior to
that of his own apostles. Jesus Christ gave his disciples
a power to cast them out, as well as to heal all manner of
diseases, which must of course have included epilepsy and
insanity. He appealed to the ejection of demons as one
great proof of his Messiahship ; nay, as the grand proof
that the kingdom of heaven was come nigh to the Jews.
He viewed the casting out of devils as one of the greatest
of his works, and allowed to his disciples, that next to their
names being written in heaven, it wras a cause for joy that
the " spirits were subject to them." In short, whether we
consider the actions and language of those demons them
selves, or of those who were under their influence, or of
Jesus Christ and his apostles, we are led to the conclusion
that they were real possessions ; or, as has already been
said, that invisible malignant spirits had brought the de
moniacs under their influence, and exerted over them a
mysterious, but real and fatal control. On all these par
ticulars, I may have occasion to enlarge a little hereafter,
in answering objections against them. Now certainly it is
the duty of those who maintain that possessions are only
the chimeras of imagination, nay, that to believe in them
is absurd and dangerous, dishonourable to God, destruc
tive of piety, and injurious to men, to assign some very

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 237
substantial reasons in support of their views ; and it is
only doing justice to those who adopt the contrary hypo
thesis to say, that they have laboured hard to maintain
their opinions, and that they have at least endeavoured to
answer all the arguments and objections of their oppo
nents. I shall examine the system of Farmer in his works
on Demoniacs, and Miracles, and Human Spirits, and in
his answers to those who have refuted him ; for he has
exhausted the subject, and has advanced everything ma
terial that can be said, either in defence of his own senti
ments, or in refutation of the contrary.
The foundation of his whole system is, that the term
" demons," (which our translators render "devils,") does
not mean Satan and his angels, or those fallen spirits
which were expelled from heaven, but the souls or spirits
of dead men;* that these were the principal and more
immediate objects of worship by all the heathen ; that the
term " demons " was employed in this sense by the
Seventy, and by the Jews in the time of our Saviour. He
maintains, that to suppose that Christ and his apostles
would use the term in any other sense, would be to cast
on them a foul reproach, and charge them with guilt of the
deepest dye; — strong language, implying a heavy charge
against his opponents. And his inference from all this is,
that as these souls of dead men could not be present in
this world, could not possibly possess any person, the
whole doctrine of actual possessions falls to the ground at
once ; and there is an absolute necessity, arising from the
very nature of the case, to understand all the language
which Christ and his apostles have used on this subject,
in a figurative sense, and to consider it, and all their
actions in relation to demoniacs, as being accommodations
to the prejudices of the age in which they lived. On the
contrary, Fell and others maintain, that Farmer's theory
here is fundamentally false; that the heathen worshipped
* Demoniacs, p. i3.

238 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
other gods before ever they thought of deifying their de
parted friends and great men ; and that they applied the
term " demon " to the former as well as to the latter, and
even before it was ever used in relation to the latter ; and
that some of them at least believed that there were evil
demons who had never been men ; and that the authors of
the Greek translation of the Bible, the Jews in general,
and our Lord and his disciples in particular, meant by the
term " demons," spirits which had fallen from heaven, and
had become the malignant and active enemies of God and
man. It is obviously impossible, in the compass of a part
of a lecture, to enter into a critical examination of their
reasoning and learned proofs taken from writers of every
description. All that can be done, and all that will be
required, is to give the result of a serious perusal and a
critical examination of them both.
In the first place, then, I must think that Farmer has
completely failed in substantiating his assertion, that " the
more immediate objects of worship among the ancient
nations, particularly amongst the Egyptians, Greeks, and
Eomans, were beings of an earthly origin, or such departed
souls as were believed to become demons, "* or, as he else
where expresses it, " dead men." FeU proves by quota
tions from Hesiod, Herodotus, Xenophon, and others, that
the most ancient gods of the Egyptians, Ethiopians, Per
sians, and other eastern nations, were supposed celestial
beings of some description, and not dead men. It would
appear that the first objects of then.- worship, after they
forsook the living and true God, were the sun, and moon,
and stars, or beings by whom they supposed these were
animated. Indeed, that this was the case is very evident
from the Scriptures. Job xxxi. 26, " If I beheld the sun
when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness, and
my heart hath been secretly enticed, aud my mouth kissed
my hand, this also were an iniquity to be punished by the
* Farmer on Miracles, p. 1ST.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 239
judges, for I should have denied the God who is above,"
as I should have been guilty of idolatry. Deut. iv. 16,
" Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image,
the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
the likeness of any beast that creepeth on the earth, the
likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth ;
and lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when
thou seest the sun, the moon, and the stars, even all the
host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and
serve them." There is no mention made in this enumera
tion of the idols or gods, whom the Jews were in danger
of worshipping, and those whom the nations with whom
they were surrounded served, (for we know that they
adopted these,) of the souls of dead men, or of demons,
unless it should be supposed that they are included in the
expression " male or female," and this is by no means
certain. Again, Acts vii. 41, "And they made a calf in
those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced
in the work of their own hand. Then God turned and
gave them up to worship the host of heaven." Deut.
xvii. 2, 3, " If there be found among you, within any of thy
gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee, man or woman
that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord thy
God, in trangressing his covenant, and hath gone and
served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun,
or the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have
not commanded." In short, Moses never supposed that
they were in any peculiar danger of falling into the wor
ship of dead men. The only passage wliich even Farmer,
after all his industry in research, and anxiety to establish
his own hypothesis, could find, which even appeared to
favour it, is, to say the least, capable of another applica
tion. Deut. xxvi. 14, "I have not given ought thereof"
(that is of the tithes) " for the dead," But by comparing
this passage with another, Psalm cvi. 28, " They joined
themselves to Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead,"

240 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
it would appear that by " the dead " here it is probable
dead idols are meant, which, as the Scriptures represent
them, can neither see, nor hear, and have no breath in
them. Now the representations which the other prophets
give of the heathen deities are similar to those of Moses.
2 Chron. xxxhi., 2 Kings xxi., xxiii, Jer. viii. 1. In these
minute descriptions of idolatry, no mention whatever is
made of the souls of the dead, which there would have
been, had they been the objects of worship amongst the
Jews. Nor has Farmer been able to prove his assertion,
that " deified human spirits were, according to the pagan
system of theology, associated with, and represented the
natural gods, and both were called by the same name."*
But were we to allow that this was done in some instances,
the practice was far from being universal, and it was not
introduced till many ages after the worship of supposed
celestial gods had been practised. The truth of the matter
seems to be this — that at first the Greeks, and afterwards
the Eomans, deified and worshipped their great men, and
that they introduced their own gods and superstitious
practices amongst the nations whom they conquered, and
attached the names of their deities, such as Jupiter, and
Apollo, and Mercury, and Venus, to those reputed divini
ties which were formerly worshipped in these countries.
And as the greater part of the Greek and Eoman gods
were deified men, a pretext has been afforded to Farmer
and others to maintain that all these nations paid their
religious homage to demons, and that these were the souls
of the dead. The fact is, however, that the term was not
confined to the latter. Amongst many other proofs of this,
Fell adduces the following from Plutarch, De Defectu
Oraculorum: — " Hesiod was the first who did properly
and distinctly lay down four rational natures, (that is,
created natures,) the gods, the demons, many in number,
and good in their kind, the demi-gods, and men ; for
* Miracles, p. 179.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 241
heroes are reckoned among the demi-gods." But it is not
necessary to dwell on this point, for Farmer himself con
fesses that the most ancient gods were not deified heroes,
and that there were always other gods worshipped besides
them. The following are his own words : — " These," that
is, the sentient nature of the sun, moon, and stars, " were
the first deities of all idolatrous nations, and they were
esteemed eternal, sovereign, and supreme. These were
distinguished by the name of natural gods." * The
heathens also believed that there were certain spirits who
held a middle rank betwixt the gods and men on earth,
and carried on all intercourse between them. These
spirits were called demons, distributors, or dispensers of
good and evil to mankind. They became the grand objects
of the religious hopes and fears of the pagans, of imme
diate dependence, and Divine worship." He also confesses
that the heathen philosophers believed in the existence of
evil demons, beings which bore a great resemblance to
fallen angels. f Both the fathers and the heathen philo
sophers asserted that " those beings whom the heathen
world worshipped as gods, were evil demons. Both of
them, in support of this assertion, urged the same argu
ments ; such as the actions ascribed to the heathen gods,
&c. Both taught that evil demons were spirits of a celes
tial origin, and that they were inspirers and authors of
prophecies and miracles."]: These concessions do in fact
subvert the very foundation of Farmer's system. He is
also obliged to own that the shedim, (ma?) Deut. xxxii, 17,
and the sengnirim, (tfTOto) Lev. xvii. 7, to whom the Jewsf
were forbidden to offer their sacrifices, were the idols or
gods of Egypt and Canaan, and these were not the spirits
of dead men. Fell thinks that they were the natural gods
of the heathen. Whatever they were, they do not favour
the hypothesis that the term " demons " and " vanities,"
» Farmer on Miracles, p. 172. + Ibid. pp. 171, 175.
J Ibid. pp. 219, 220.
IX. R

242 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
by which they are rendered in the Septuagint, refer to the
spirits of the deceased ; and very important considerations;
may be assigned in support of the version in which the
words are translated " devils." And if they should be ren
dered " demons," still the question would be, what kind of
beings are those demons ? and I apprehend they would be
found to be very different from the ghosts of dead men.
But if it should be granted, for the sake of argument,
that by the term demons are meant the spirits of those
who once had been inhabitants of this world, would it
foUow from this, as Farmer maintains, that there could be
no real possessions ? He allows, at least he does not deny,
that the soul exists after its separation from the body, in a
state in which it is capable of action, and happiness or
misery; and, consequently, he must admit, I should think,
that in the latter case it is in a state not dissimilar from
that of fallen angels ; and as we are assured that, after the
judgment, the wicked are to be condemned to the same
punishment with the devil and his angels, where would be
the absurdity of supposing that they may, immediately
after death, be associated with them in their impious
opposition to the plans of God, and to the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, and that therefore they might be able to act the
part of the demons mentioned in the New Testament, and
that they might be permitted to do so ? I know it will
immediately be replied, they are confined to their place of
punishment. They are represented, 1 Peter iii. 19, as
" spirits in prison." But are not Satan and his angels,
likewise, " cast down to hell and delivered into chains of
darkness, to be reserved unto judgment?" and yet I sup
pose Farmer would not deny that they are able to tempt
men, though they are not exempt from punishment. It
certainly follows from some principles which Farmer la
bours hard to establish, and which we may afterwards have
occasion to notice, that neither angels nor devils can have
any intercourse with this world, since this would be an

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 243
infraction of the immutable laws which God has esta
blished. But, thirdly, it is not possible that the Jews, and espe
cially the apostles, could have the same notions respecting-
demons that the heathen had. Were we to grant, that by
the term " demons," the Gentile nations meant the spirits-
of the dead, and much more when it is certain that they
used the term to signify beings of a different order, still
we must consider what were the religious knowledge and
belief of the chosen people of God, respecting the invisible
world. They knew that the gods of the heathen were
vanity, and had, in reality, no existence. They believed,
as is very evident from many passages of Scripture, and
from the testimony of Josephus, in the existence of angels.
both good and bad ; in other words, of fallen angels.
Hence we are told that the Pharisees maintained the ex
istence of both angels and spirits ; and the Saviour, and the-
apostles Paul, and Peter, and Jude, speak of " the holy
angels," and " the elect angels," and " the angels that kept
not their first estate," as beings the existence of wliich was
commonly believed amongst Jews and Christians, so that
it was no more necessary to prove it, than to demonstrate
that of God himself, and therefore any argument fairly
deduced from this acknowledged fact would be valid; and
at the same time, the general character of these spirits was
well known. The same remark will apply to the Christian
fathers. Now taking into the account these two things,
that the Jews did not believe in the existence of the
heathen gods which were called demons, and that they
believed in that of fallen angels, who were engaged, to the
utmost of their ability, in tempting and injuring men
would they not inevitably, when they used the term demon
apply it according to their own views and belief, and, there
fore, to fallen angels ? And they were justified in doing
so. The heathen applied the epithet in question, when
taken in a bad sense, to certain invisible spiritual agents,

244 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
that were inimical to men, and bent on doing them mis
chief. The Saviour and his apostles knew that though
the ideas of the heathen were grossly erroneous, yet there
were agents to whom the attributes of the supposed evil
demons did belong, and in designating whom the word in
question might well be used. How much more natural
was it for them to employ it in this sense than to apply it
to beings (as Farmer contends they must have done,) who
either did not exist at all, or else could not possibly act
the part which was assigned to them ! Fallen angels
could, and did. They were really evil demons. In this
way we may account for the fact, that many of the Chris
tian fathers assigned possessions to them, and I appre
hend we are necessarily led to the conclusion, that Jesus
Christ and his apostles applied the term demons to these
evil spirits in the case of demoniacs. How often is it the
case, that words are employed in a sense different from
their original meaning, because of the views of those who
have borrowed them and used them to express their own
sentiments, and on account of some similarity in the
objects with wliich, in the two cases, they are connected I
But Farmer, in his work on Miracles, advances and en
deavours to sujiport another proposition, which, if esta
blished, would render real possessions impossible, and
therefore would reduce us to the necessity of considering
all demoniacs as epileptics, or insane. It is this : " That
the same arguments which prove the existence of superior
created intelligences, do much more strongly conclude
against their acting out of their proper sphere." It is evi
dently implied in this, that the evidence which we have
for the existence of angels and devils is not so clear and
conclusive as are the proofs which assure us, that if they
do exist, they can have no intercourse with our world ;
and, therefore, that they can neither benefit nor injure us.
And though this is advanced to prove that miracles can be
performed by none but God, yet it is not uncharitable to

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 245
suspect that it is intended to support his favourite doc
trines, that all cases of supposed possessions are only
diseases, and that the temptations of Jesus Christ took
place in a vision, and that this was presented to him by
the Holy Spirit, and not by Satan.
Now it must immediately occur to all here, that this
proposition is directly contrary to the general doctrine of
Scripture respecting both good and bad angels. The
former are represented as "ministering spirits, sent forth
to minister to the heirs of salvation ; '' and numerous in
stances are recorded of their being emploj'ed in works
both of mercy and vengeance, and no extraordinary ability
seems to have been imparted to them on these occasions ;
they executed the commission given to them by their own
native powers, which they could exert at any time, in obe
dience to the Divine command: and yet our world is not
represented to us as that which Farmer would consider
as their proper sphere ; this is heaven, where they are always
employed in serving and praising God. And we learn
from the same infallible records, that fallen angels are in
cessantly engaged in tempting men to sin, and that they
have been permitted to interrupt, to disarrange, in the
most dreadful manner, the beautiful moral order which
God established, and indeed to throw it all into confusion.
Before Farmer's principle, then, can be established, so as
to furnish an argument against real possessions, all the
evidences which the Bible affords us, that either angels
or devils have any intercourse with this world, must be
nullified. But further, who can tell how extensive is the sphere
of action allotted to superior beings ? Are we warranted
to conclude, that because men, who are probably the very
lowest order of rational creatures, are, at present, confined
to one small province of Jehovah's dominions, none of his
subjects, whatever be their natures, or powers, or privi
leges, can pass beyond the limits of that in which they

246 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
were brought into existence, or in which they may gene
rally reside ? or that because man, on account of the gross-
ness of his body, and the influence of the laws of gravitation,
is confined to this earth, that angels, whether good or bad,
must be unable to visit various parts of the universe ? This
notion is not supported by either reason, or analogy, or
Scripture. It is just as if a horse or a sheep, supposing
it capable of thought and reflection, were to conclude, that
because it cannot navigate the ocean, and leave the little
island in which it is located, therefore no creatures in
existence can visit those parts of the earth which are sepa
rated by the mighty deep ; or as if a shell-fish, were it able
to reason, were to conclude, that because it cannot leave
the rock to which it adheres, therefore every living thing
must be so confined, and that the law under the influence
of which it exists, must be universal. Who can forbear
hoping at least, and pleasing himself with the idea, that
after death, and when the soul is united to a glorified body,
such as that which is described in 1 Cor. xv., he may be
able and permitted to range through a large part of the
universe, to pass from world to world, and from system to
system, converse with various orders and ranks of crea
tures, and contemplate and admire the perfections of Je
hovah, as manifested by the essential unity, the rich and
endless variety, and complete harmony, of his mighty
works ? Must we always behold these glorious suns, those
centres of mighty systems, and all their attendant worlds,
at such a distance, as that, with the exception of one, they
will appear like shining points, while multitudes of them
can never be recognised at all ; and shall we never be per
mitted to gratify a hallowed, a pious curiosity, which must
surely at times arise and work in every breast? I ask
again, what passage of Scripture or principle of reason
authorises the conclusion? Allowing, therefore, that the
mightiest spirits, both good and bad, have their allotted
spheres of action, we are not warranted to conclude that

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 247
this world may not be a part of that sphere, as the Scrip
tures teach us that it is. It does not follow, however, from
this, that either angels or devils are able to work miracles,
-or, in other words, to change or supersede the great esta
blished laws of nature. But to take possession of the per
son of a man, and to torment his body and agitate his mind,
surely do not involve anything miraculous. We find that
men can influence one another, and derange each other's
bodies and minds, and also control, to a certain extent,
¦some of the laws of the universe, and render them subser
vient to their purposes ; why, then, should it be thought
impossible that angels, who "excel in strength," should do
the same ? It does indeed follow, that if spirits are able
to operate on matter, they may be supposed to be able to
effect, on account of their invisibility, some things which
would appear to us miraculous. For instance, they might
raise a ponderous rock into the air, or shiver it to pieces,
without any apparent cause. But this would not be a mi
racle in itself, nor would it necessarily appear to be so to
those who saw it ; it would only be unaccountable. They
might conclude that both the one and the other were
effected by some unknown agent or force in nature. To
render it a miracle, even in appearance, it would be neces
sary that it should be announced as such ; that information
should be given to those who beheld it that the rock would
-be raised into the air, or the tree would be shivered in
pieces, without any natural cause, and at a certain time.
The earth might have opened and swallowed up Korah,
Dathan, and Abiram, without any miraculous interposition.
It was a miracle when it was announced, the time specified,
and supernatural power exerted to produce the predicted
phenomena. So that though spirits, by their natural power,
might do many things astonishing to men, as some of
these can to others, yet it does not follow that they can
work real miracles ; and we may be certain that holy angels
will not sport with the ignorance of men, and wicked

218 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
spirits will never be permitted to do so, or to perform any
thing which, if it be carefully examined, wiU exhibit the
properties of real miracles. Because, as these are one of
the great proofs of a Divine interposition in giving a reve
lation to the world, God will not suffer any of his creatures,
any rebels against his government, and no other would
attempt it, to forge the great seal of heaven, in such a way
as that the imposition could not be detected, even by his
loyal subjects who were desirous to know his wiU, and to
obey his commands. But though they cannot work mi
racles, yet, as Wollaston well observes, "As men may be
so placed, as to become, even by the free exercise of their
own powers, instruments of God's particular providence
to other men or animals ; so may we weU suppose that
these higher beings may be so distributed through the
universe, and subject to such an economy, (though I pre
tend not to tell what it is,) as may render them also instru
ments of the same providence ; and that they may, in pro
portion to their greater abilities, be capable, consistently
with the laws of nature, some way or other, though not in
our way, of influencing human affairs in proper places."*
The other arguments which Farmer employs in support
of his system, we shall have occasion to consider, in exa
mining more particularly the scriptural evidence for real
possessions, and some of the principal cases of demoniacs.
To these, therefore, we shall now proceed, after just re
marking that from what has already been observed, there
is nothing irrational in the doctrine, that wicked spirits
may bring men under their power, and harass and injure
them, according to the accounts which are given us in the
New Testament. On the contrary, we should be led from
reason, supposing that there are such beings as faUen
angels, to expect that something of this kind would take
place ; and the wonder is, that instances of it are not more
numerous. On Farmer's principles, indeed, we should
* Religion of Nature, sec. v. No. is.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 249
need no protection from evil spirits ; we might rest satis
fied that they cannot hurt us. But on the principles of
the Bible, our safety from them, as well as from evils and
enemies of every kind, must arise from the power and
vigilant care of God. He bruises Satan under the feet of
his people. It has indeed been urged, that if Satan pos
sessed such power as has been attributed to him in the
observations wliich have just been made, he could not be
restrained, without a perpetual miracle, from doing mis
chief of every kind. But does this follow? Can men, by
the influence of their authority, by the laws and arrange
ments which they make, and by the threatenings which
they utter, restrain their fellow-creatures, however vicious,
from perpetrating many crimes to which they are strongly
inclined ? And cannot the Sovereign of the universe, who
is everywhere present, and infinite in power, restrain all
the wicked spirits in existence within the bounds which
lie is pleased to appoint them? and that without the per
formance of a perpetual miracle, or of any miracle at all ;
and without depriving them of their power ? Most cer
tainly he can. He causes their wrath, as well as that of
men, to praise him, and the remainder of it he restrains.
I shall now make a few remarks, first, on those passages
which evidently imply, that the demons which were ejected
by our Lord and his disciples were evil spirits or fallen
angels ; and then consider some of the most remarkable
accounts of possessions or demoniacs.
In Luke x. 17, we are informed that the seventy, after
having fulfilled the commission which had been given them
by the Saviour, "returned again with joy, saying, Lord,
even the demons are subject to us through thy name. And
he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning faUing from
heaven. Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents
and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and
nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding,
in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject to you ; but

250 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
rather rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
Now, whatever is meant by Satan falling as lightning from
heaven ; whether it refers to his first expulsion from the
realms of perfect holiness and happiness, or to the ap
proaching overthrow of idolatry by the preaching of the
apostles, is indifferent to our present purpose. The term
" Satan," with the article, (tov Saravav,) is used as a proper
name, and refers, as has already been shown, to the leader
of the apostate angels, the great adversary of God and
men. The demons that had been ejected by the seventy
are evidently considered as belonging to him, and as en
gaged in maintaining his cause. Then" expulsion was a
victory obtained over him, the overthrow of his power, and
either one consequence of his being expelled from heaven,
or an indication that by the approaching subversion of
idolatry in the Eoman empire, he was to be, as it were,
cast down from the skies ; and the Saviour calls those
demons which were subject to the seventy, "spirits," ra
TTvclpara, not diseases. Now surely, whatever might be the
original meaning and application of the term " demon,"
and whatever the ideas of the Jews, and even of the seventy
themselves, respecting them, our Lord knew that they were
not the souls of dead men ; and if they were diseases, he
knew this also. How could he then, consistently with his
character and the design of his mission, call them spirits,
and represent them as in league with Satan, so that their
ejection was connected with the overthrow of his power,
with his expulsion from heaven? Allow that they were
some of the angels who kept not their first estate, and who
are represented as the angels of Satan, and then everything
in the passage is plain and natural. On the other suppo
sition, everything is strained and unnatural, and our Lord
employed language which his disciples could not possibly,
in their circumstances, understand ; nay, which necessarily
confirmed, I had almost said sanctioned, some grossly
erroneous views wliich they entertained ; and he has thus

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 25 1
contributed much to lead his followers, in all subsequent
ages, into mistakes on a very important subject. Who
can believe that the great Prophet and Teacher would act
in this way ? and that, too, when the great end of his mis
sion, the destruction of the works of the devil, was con
cerned ? The interpretation which has been given is con
firmed by the language of the 19th verse, compared with
Mark xvi. 15, 16, and Acts xxviii. 3 — 6. To whom can
the term " enemy" refer but to Satan ? And the idea con
veyed is, that those demons which the seventy had expelled,
were a part of his power ; and in the words serpents and
scorpions, there is evidently a reference to the deception
of Eve by the serpent, and to the curse wliich in conse
quence was pronounced on it, and the enmity which was
put between it and man.
Another Scripture which plainly teaches that the demons
of the New Testament were fallen angels, is Luke xi. 14 —
26, and the parallel passages. The Pharisees brought
against the Saviour the heavy and impious charge, that he
cast out demons by Beelzebub the prince of the demons.
It is not requisite, for the limits of this discourse will not
allow, to enter into any long discussion respecting Beelze
bub or Beelzebul. The views of Fell respecting him appear
to be correct. " The Phoenicians worshipped the sun,
which was undoubtedly meant under the term Beelzebub,
the most famous of all the heathen deities for his oracles.
But that the Pharisees, in their accusation of Christ,
alluded to this god of Ekron, is by no means evident, since
they do not even mention his name."* But whoever Beel
zebub was, and whatever was the import of his name, the
question here is, What was the charge which the Pharisees
brought against Christ ? what did they mean by " demons,"
and by "the prince of the demons ?" Now it appears to
me impossible, ignorant and superstitious as they might
be, with the Old Testament in their hands, and firmly be-
* Fell, Demoniacs, p. 133.

252 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
lieving it as they did, that they could for a moment believe
any heathen deity had the power which they here attribute
to the prince of the demons. But they knew that there
was a being who was in reality the prince of all wicked
demons ; would they not then be led by their views to
refer to him in the charge, " By the prince of the demons
he casteth out demons?" Accordingly we are informed,
that Jesus Christ " knew their thoughts;'' and in reference
to these, to the sense in which they used the term Beelze
bub, he framed his answer, " and said unto them, If Satan
cast out Satan, he is divided against himself ; how shall
then his kingdom stand?" Does not this imply that he
knew that they intended to charge him with ejecting
demons by the power of Satan, and that by Beelzebub and
his demons they meant the devil and his angels ? The
Saviour did not use the word Beelzebub in his answer to
them, but Satan, (6 2aravas,) replying according to their
intention, rather than the original import of the words
which they employed. But does not this likewise indicate
that the use of the name Beelzebub, as applied to the
prince of darkness, was not unknown amongst the Jews ?
And the fact that our Lord charged the Pharisees with
either having committed the sin against the Holy Ghost,
or having approximated to it, confirms the interpretation
that has been given ; as his warning implies the greatest
degree of malignity and guilt in those to whom it was
addressed. He likewise assured them that he cast out
devils by the Spirit of God, and that was an evidence that
"the kingdom of God was come unto them," or that he
was the Messiah, the Saviour of the world, and that his
ejection of demons was an evidence of his being more
powerful than Satan, that he was " binding the strong
man, and spoiling him of his goods." There cannot be a
rational doubt, that by " the strong man" here, he meant
the devil, whose works he came to destroy. He farther
informed them, that they might, if they would not believe

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 253
him, apply to some of their own countrymen, of their own
children, for evidence of the fact that he was not in league
with Satan, but that he ejected demons by a Divine power.
Luke xi. 19, " And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by
whom do your sons cast them out ? Therefore they shall
be your judges." I cannot think, notwithstanding the
learned and respectable names which sanction the inter
pretation, that by the " sons " of the Pharisees are meant
the Jewish exorcists, who ejected demons, by adjuring
them in the name of the God of Abraham. There is no
allusion to any such practice in the Old Testament. None
of the prophets were ever commissioned to work a miracle
of this kind as a proof of their mission, and we have no
instance of any besides prophets ever being employed to
work miracles. The testimony of Josephus in this case is
entitled to no credit,* connected as it is with his ridiculous
stories respecting the root Baaras, and the charms which
Solomon left behind him to eject demons, and cure diseases;
and of applying a ring, with a portion of this root, to the
nose of a possessed person, and thus drawing out the
demon through the nostrils. Nor can I think that our
Saviour here uses the argumentum ad hominem, however
conclusive it might be. Many, perhaps I should say most
commentators, think that by "the children" of the Pha
risees are meant their disciples, and that some of them
might be exorcists, who pretended to cast out devils, and
that the meaning of the Saviour is, " You allow that your
disciples eject evil spirits, by using the name of the God
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I have come, I preach and
cast out devils in his name, and therefore in charging me
with a compact with Beelzebub, you condemn both them
and yourselves." This reasoning the Saviour might em
ploy, without allowing that these exorcists performed any
real miracles. But Jesus Christ never used, as far as we
know, their form of exorcism, and most certainly none of
* Josephus, Antiq. lib. viii. c. 2 ; Bell. Judaic, lib. vii. u. 23.

254 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
their arts. He " commanded with authority the unclean
spirits to come out." And the probability is, that he did
this in the same manner as he delivered his sermon on the
mount — " I say unto you" — so that the people " wondered,
because he taught them as one having authority, arid not
as the scribes." We have a specimen of the manner in
which he acted on these occasions in Mark ix. 25 ; " Thou
dumb and deaf spirit, J charge thee, come out of him, and
enter no more into him." The Pharisees might therefore
urge that though their disciples cured demoniacs in the
name of the God of Abraham, he did it in his own name,
and thus might derive his power from Beelzebub. For
these reasons, I must coincide in opinion with those who
think that by "children" in this passage are meant the
disciples of Jesus Christ, who, as they were probably all
comparatively young, might be called, in a general way,
" the children" ofthe Jews, or even ofthe Pharisees ; and
probably some of their parents belonged to that sect, as
we know Nicodemus did ; and it is not at all unlikely that
they who brought the charge in question against Jesus
Christ were members of the sanhedrim. He communi
cated the power of casting out demons to his disciples ; he
might then appeal to them whether there Was any com
pact with Beelzebub in the case, and assure the Pharisees
that they should at last be judged by those who were, in a
sense, their own children. On the whole, then, this pas
sage clearly proves, both that by the term demons our
Saviour did not mean the souls of dead men but evil
spirits, and that the Jews were not unacquainted with this
application of the word.
Again, in Acts x. 38, we read that " God anointed Jesus
of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; who
went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed
ofthe devil : for God was with him." By " the devil" here
is evidently meant Satan. What other slanderer or false
accuser in the universe oppressed, or brought under his

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 255
power, those whom Jesus Christ healed during his per
sonal ministry? And the term " healed" might with the
greatest propriety be employed with regard to demoniacs ;
for possession in itself was a dreadful disease, and it was
also frequently the cause of other maladies. The apostle
undoubtedly refers here to the casting out of demons, and
he represents them as the agents of Satan, in oppressing
and injuring men. Could he with any propriety have used
this language, if there had been no such thing as real pos
sessions, and no diseases caused by the immediate agency
of Satan ; or if those to whom he addressed these words,
had, on account of their own views, and the notions that
commonly prevailed, thought that the spirits which
agitated and oppressed demoniacs, were the souls of those
who had once been inhabitants of this world ; unless they
had believed that these souls after death were wicked
spirits, and were associated with fallen angels ? Those
who heard him would infallibly think that by " those who
were oppressed by the devil," the apostle meant demo
niacs ; and after the Holy Spirit had been poured out on
the day of Pentecost, according to the promise of the
Saviour, Peter could not be ignorant of the truth on this
important point ; he could not be left to think, and to lead
others to suppose, that those who were merely epileptics
and insane, were possessed by fallen spirits.* Nor was
there any necessity to accommodate himself to the preju
dices of those whom he addressed ; for if he had said,
(suppose he had not believed in possessions,) that Jesus
Christ cured all that were diseased, and healed all that
were sick, it would have fully conveyed his meaning with-
* I am sensible that this reasoning will have very little weight with those
who can say with Dr. Priestley, " Though we admit that Jesus taught the
truth in a popular way, yet we very much doubt whether, in some instances,
he properly and accurately understood it." — Priestley on Necessity.
What intolerable presumption! What must be the state of that person's-
mind and heart into which the thought could by any possibility enter, that
he understood the truth better than Jesus Christ did !

256 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
out giving any offence. We must conclude, then, that this
passage affords an irrefragable proof of the reality of pos
sessions, and that demoniacs were not merely the subjects
of disease.
We shall now proceed to examine, as far as our limits
will allow, one or two of the accounts which are given us
of demoniacs in the New Testament ; from which it will
appear that the facts which are recorded respecting them,
and the way in which the Saviour acted in performing his
miraculous cures, as well as the general principles and
declarations of the Scriptures, prove that possessions were
real, and not imaginary. One of the most remarkable of
these cases is that which is recorded in Matt. viii. 28 — 34,
Mark v. 1 — 20, Luke viii. 26. It is not necessary for the
object of this lecture, to reconcile the apparent discre
pancy in the accounts of the evangelists. Mark and Luke
mention only one demoniac, while Matthew informs us
that there were two. Perhaps, as Doddridge supposes,
one was much fiercer than the other, and was therefore
alone thought worthy of particular notice by two of the
writers ; or, perhaps, there was at first only one, and the
question respecting his name was proposed to him only,
and another joined him afterwards. There is certainly
nothing improbable in this supposition. We cannot
imagine that these unhappy creatures were very sociable,
or that they were much together. The most prominent
circumstances of this remarkable and difficult case are the
following : —
First. The demoniac was so fierce and powerful that no
man could tame or subdue him, and no chains could be
found sufficiently strong to bind and confine him. To
account for this, one writer has suggested that "perhaps
they were not so expert at making chains as men are now;
that madmen are very powerful, their disorder furnishes
them with almost supernatural strength, or at least causes
them to exert what they have in almost a supernatural

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 257
way ; and that therefore it is not wonderful that no chains
sufficiently strong to bind this demoniac could be found."
Surely this does not deserve refutation. When we con
sider the houses, temples, and cities they could build, the
huge stones they could raise to a great height in their
walls, we feel certain that they could have formed chains
sufficient to bind effectually any insane person, even if he
had possessed the strength of twenty men. How com
paratively weak a chain will confine the strongest giant !
Secondly. The next remarkable circumstance is that
when he saw Jesus, and the unclean spirit had been com
manded by the Saviour to come out, the demoniac fell
down before him, and exclaimed, "What have I to do with
thee, Jesus, thou Son of God, most high ? I beseech thee
torment me not." Also the man with the unclean spirit,
in the synagogue at Capernaum, said, " What have I to do
with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth ? I know thee who
thou art, the Holy One of God," Luke iv. 34. And we
read that " demons" (not the demoniacs, as Farmer asserts,
but the demons when they came out — Baipovia . . . Kpa^ovra
ko\ \eyovra) " cried out, and said, Thou art the Christ, the
Son of God." Whiston and Farmer endeavour to account
for this, by saying that the testimony of John the Baptist,
and the miracles which Jesus had performed at the very
commencement of his public ministry, had rendered him
the object of universal attention, and had produced a strong
persuasion that he was the Messiah; that the reputed
demoniacs were epileptics or madmen; that in the intervals
of their fits and insanity they had heard the common
report respecting Jesus of Nazareth ; or that, long before
they were seized with their disorder, they might have
learned the high character of the Messiah ; that their dis
order might not only be temporary, but partial, not affect
ing their understandings, naturally quick, except on a
single subject, and that on all others they might be left in
full possession of themselves : that perhaps by the words,
ix. s

258 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
" the Son of God," they meant nothing more than a godly
man, and that their very disorder would enable them to
iudge better than others of the character of Jesus Christ. *
In the same way he explains the history of the Pythoness
at Philippi. He thinks that she laboured under melan
choly, or some species of insanity; that this fixed her
mind strongly on this one object; that she had heard be
fore of the character and doctrine of Paul, and thus was
led to follow him and his companions, and exclaim, " These
men are the servants of the Most High God, who show to
us the way of salvation ! "
But this interpretation is worse than unsatisfactory.
Though " all men mused in their hearts of John, whether
he were the Christ," and though great curiosity and much
discussion were excited by the preaching and miracles of
Jesus Christ, yet the people, in general, were very far
from believing that he was the Messiah, much less that he,
was the Son, and the Holy One of God. There was not
an individual amongst them, who was prepared to confess
this, with the exception of the disciples of the Saviour;
and their views on this subject, especially on the latter
part of it, were far from being clear. Hence, when Peter
made the declaration, " Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God," Jesus replied, " Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-
jona ; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but
my Father which is in heaven." Can we suppose, then,
that these madmen or epileptics, even when under the
influence of their fits, possessed that knowledge which was
exclusively the result of Divine teaching and influence ?
And not only did the demons confess this, but they also
knew the design of the Saviour's coming, to subdue and
punish them, in other words, to destroy the works of the
devil ; and that in the very commencement of his ministry,
before he had wrought many miracles of this kind ; nay,
it would appear when he wrought the very first, soon after
* Farmer on Demoniacs,

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 259
his return from the wilderness where he had been tempted
of Satan, Mark i. 24, Luke iv. 34. This can never be
rationally accounted for, on the supposition that the de
moniacs were madmen. And why were they afraid of
Jesus Christ, and why did they beseech him not to tor
ment them ? Farmer is obliged to grant that this might
be the effect of some supernatural impression. He finds
that his hypothesis fails him, and he is willing to believe
that the request was produced by the mere rebuke of the
Saviour, and by the awe in which the demoniac stood of
him ; and that on this account he forbore from assaulting
the company, as he had intended to do when he first ran
to meet them. And Farmer quotes with approbation the
sentiments of Wetstein, who supposes that " the demoniac-
was afraid of being beaten or bound, or having some un
grateful purgative administered to him." Here again the
causes assigned are utterly inadequate to the production
of the effects. If the demoniacs had been so much afraid
of Jesus Christ, they would have fled from him rather than
have run to meet him. It may be said, would not the
demons have acted in the same way? But they knew that
they could not escape by fleeing from him, and they might
hope to be able, by their requests, to induce him to defer
their punishment. And what imaginable reason could the
demoniacs have to think, that Christ came to torment
them ? Especially if they knew, as Farmer supposes they
did, that he was the Son, and the Holy One of God, they
might have rather supposed that he came to do them good,
to deliver them from demons, by which they thought they
were possessed. And why should they request him not
to torment them before the time ? ¦ To what time could a
demoniac refer? Farmer is obliged to confess his ina
bility to determine the precise ideas of the madman here.
And why implore him- not to send them into the deep?
What deep could an insane person have in view? And
what could he possibly mean by a request to enter into the

260 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
swine ? But let us grant, according to the account of the
evangelist taken in its obvious sense, that those persons
were really possessed by fallen spirits, and then every
thing appears natural ; the causes are sufficient to produce
the effect. It may be asked, But why did the demons come
to the Saviour, dr induce those who were under their power
to eome to him ; and why did they confess him, and bear
a most honourable testimony to him, in a way that was
calculated to promote his cause, and to overthrow their
own? To this I answer, The Saviour intended to cast
them out, and to relieve those whom they oppressed : and
the same power or influence by which they were ejected
might constrain them to approach him ; and then their
fear would naturally lead them to make the confession,
hoping, perhaps, that it would flatter the Saviour, and
induce him to comply with their request, not to torment
them. Here, again, the hypothesis that they were actually
possessed accounts for everything ; the contrary accounts
satisfactorily for nothing.
The next circumstance which requires notice -is the
question which Jesus Christ proposed to him, and the
answer that he returned. Verse 30, " And Jesus asked
him, What is thy name ? And he said, Legion ; because
many devils were entered into him." The proposal of this
question is utterly unaccountable, and I cannot help saying,
with reverence, altogether inconsistent with the character
of the Saviour, on the supposition that the man was merely
insane. He could not be under any necessity here, as it
is alleged he was in some other instances, to accommodate
his language to the prejudices of the people respecting
demoniacs. He might have wrought the cure without
saying anything that would have implied possession, or
that would have led to the statement respecting the legion.
It appears evident that he knew, though none else did,
that a number of evil spirits were concerned in tormenting
this unhappy person ; and that he thought it proper that

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 261
this remarkable fact should be known to his own attend
ants, and to the world in general. There is no necessity,
however, to determine the number of the demons, or to
suppose that there were six thousand of them. The ex
planation of Doddridge and others is quite satisfactory.
" There is no need of concluding from hence that the num
ber of these evil spirits was exactly the same with that of
a Eoman legion, which was upwards of six thousand. It
was a phrase that was often made use of to denote a great
number. It is observable that Luke here adds, that ' many
demons were entered into him ; ' so that it is evident that
they thought it not a lunacy, but a real possession. Pro
bably a band of evil spirits united in the vexation of this
unhappy creature ; but in what manner and order it is
impossible for us to say, who know so little of invisible
beings."* To this it may be added, that as a legion was
united under one commander, so might it convey the idea
of union, or of a band. And a number, though small in
itself, might be considered great when applied to beings
of a hateful or repulsive character. So the term legion
might figuratively, and in ordinary language, be applied
to these hateful spirits when engaged in the work of mis
chief, though their number, instead of being six thousand,
fell far short of a hundred. On the supposition, then, of
lunacy or insanity, this part of the narration is altogether
unaccountable. Still more so, however, if possible, are the next circum
stances, namely, the leave that was asked and given to enter
into the swine, and the consequence of this, the rushing
of the whole herd down a steep place into the lake, so that
they were aU choked. If the man had supposed that he
was possessed, he might have asked that the demons might
enter into the swine ; he could not wish to enter into them.
But if we were to grant that this wild idea might enter into
a madman's head, and this incoherent language might be
* Doddridge in loc.

262 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
uttered by him, (though the language was uttered by the
demons, and not by him,) how are we to account for what
follows ? Jesus Christ knew the facts of the case. Would
he have humoured the madman, and deceived those who
heard the conversation, by saying, " Go," and thus treating
a case of insanity as if it had been a real possession ? And
how are we to account for the effects which immediately
followed ? Would the demoniac's whim, and the Saviour's
humouring of it, cause two thousand swine to rush into
the lake ? This, ITneed not say, is an absurdity — an im
possibility. And hence those who deny the reality of pos
sessions are altogether at a loss here. Some of them, as
Dr. Lardner, say the swine were frightened by the two
madmen, and so were driven down the precipice into the
sea. This is altogether unsatisfactory, as it well may be,
to Farmer. He allows that it was impossible for two men,
however fierce, to put so vast a herd of swine into motion
in an instant, and to cause them aU to rush with violence
into the sea ; particularly since they, perhaps more than
most other animals, commonly run in a direction contrary
to that in which they are driven ; and that it was next to
impossible that these two men could have overcome all
those who tended the swine, especially as, in order to com
pass the herd, they must have separated from each other ;
and had they, under the influence of their disorder, driven
the swine into the sea, it is strange they did not follow
them thither. And it appeal's from the history, that at
the time when the demoniacs were cured, they were pre
sent with Christ, and the herd of swine at a distance from
them ; yet no sooner was leave given them to enter the
swine, than immediately the whole herd ran down the steep
place. The demoniacs therefore were cured before the herd
commenced running into the sea. How then could the mad
men drive it ? Not a single word more need to be said in
refutation of this absurd hypothesis, which is certainly more
worthy of an insane person, than of a learned divine.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 263
Not less absurd, however, nay, in my opinion, more so,
in some respects, is the supposition of Farmer himself.
He supposes that " the madness or insanity of the de
moniacs was miraculously transferred to the swine by the
power of God, to humour the madmen, and to punish the
owners of the swine." But there is not a word said about
any power or influence being exerted by Jesus Christ or
by God. The Saviour gave them leave, which plainly im
plies that they had the power ; all that they needed was the
permission. And could he possibly have done anything
better calculated to sanction and confirm the erroneous
ideas which, according to Farmer, were entertained re
specting demoniacs and possessions, than to ask questions
of the supposed demons, to receive their answers, to grant
them their request, and then to work a miracle to confirm,
I had almost said, the delusion, and to cause all who were
present to think that demons went out of the man, and
entered into the herd ? An hypothesis must be false which
needs such support as this. Farmer, indeed, pleads that
this miracle, transferring the madness of the demoniacs to
the swine, would ascertain the reality and spread the fame
of the miracle. There was no need for either of these.
The demoniacs had been in their miserable situation for
a considerable length of time ; perhaps for years. They
were known to multitudes. There could not be any col
lusion, any agreement betwixt Jesus Christ and them ; and
all who saw them believed in the reality of possessions, and
thought the expulsion of demons amongst the most won
derful miracles that could be performed. They would,
therefore, not be backward to spread the report of what
had been done, even if nothing had happened to the swine.
But what is strangest of all, Farmer maintains that the
miracle performed, according to his ideas, on the swine,
was calculated to correct the false notions that were enter
tained in that age respecting the power of demons. It is
surely not necessary to confute this hypothesis. Certainly

264 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
nothing could be better calculated to sanction those no
tions, however false they might be. And as one evidence
of this, we find that those who believe in the reality of
possessions, bring some of then- strongest arguments, to
this day, from what took place with regard to the swine ;
and it presents the greatest difficulties to their opponents.
What then must have been its effects on those who beheld
it, with all their ideas respecting the existence and power
of demons, and the reality of possessions ? I leave it to
common sense to return the answer. Farmer urges, that
the spectators could not see the demons, and, therefore,
their expulsion and entering into the swine, could not be
to them a proof of the Saviour's power; all that could be
witnessed were the sensible effects. But they could see
the demons just as weU as they could see insanity or epi
lepsy, in other words, the cause of those disorders ; aU that
they could see in either case were the sensible effects, from
which they judged when the cause was removed. It is an
egregious mistake, however, to say, as Farmer does, that
the demons acknowledged their own impotence, when
they asked for leave to enter into the swine, and that it
took place at the command of Christ, and is to be referred
to his power. The language employed by the evangehst
most plainly conveys the idea, that he gave only permis
sion, and that the demons possessed the requisite ability.
It is trifling to say, that they would not have destroyed the
herd, because that would have exposed them to some ter
rible punishment; just as if they must either keep pos
session of those animals, or else go into the deep, which
they so much dreaded ! The Saviour had not commanded
them to go into the deep, whatever it was ; rather, by
acceding to their request, he had intimated that he would
not punish them at present, and then they had no more
cause to fear his vengeance, after the destruction of these
animals, than before.
Farmer endeavours to support his theory, by saying,

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 265
that " it was necessary for Christ and his apostles to use
common language on the subject of possessions, just as
the sacred writers do in other instances, when they say
that the sun rose and set, and that he runs a race, and
that God lays the foundation of the earth, and that the
dew descends," &c. But there is no analogy between the
two cases. The employment of popular language on
natural or phUosophical subjects, could not lead to any
errors in religion. No other expressions could have been
used, unless the sacred writers had first taught the world
a new system of philosophy, which they were not commis
sioned to do, and which they could not have done. But
the doctrine of possessions related immediately and di
rectly to religion, and was intimately connected with
several of its most important doctrines, and with the very
design of the Saviour's appearance in our world, namely,
" to destroy the works of the devil." If there were no real
possessions, the common belief respecting demoniacs was
injurious, in ways innumerable, both to the temporal and
spiritual interests of men. It filled with imaginary super
stitious fears ; it caused the improper treatment of those
who were thought to be possessed; and prevented the
adoption of proper means to effect their cure. It led to
all the absurdities of exorcism. Amongst the heathen it
was connected with idolatry, and amongst the Jews it was
the source of many superstitious notions and practices.
It caused men to form wrong ideas of the miracles of the
Saviour, and led them to admire him, and to praise God,
for that which he never effected. Farmer himself has
laboured to prove that the doctrine of real possessions has
done, and does, Christianity the greatest injury in many
respects.* " It gives occasion to numberless supersti
tions ; particularly to those shameless impostures, the
possessions and exorcisms of the Eomish church, with all
the mummery of fanatic agitations. It affects the very
* Farmer on Miracles, p. 400.

266 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
foundation of Christianity, and discredits the evidence. It
sets revelation at variance with reason and experience, and
fixes an indelible reproach on those who professed to be
commissioned by God to publish it to the world ! " Heavy
charges, indeed ! It is not too much to assert that, if this
is true, it is a doctrine of devils ! — one of the most injuri
ous errors that the prince of darkness ever introduced into
the world; and surely it was just as false and pernicious
in the time of the Saviour and his apostles, as it is now.
Nay, the foundation of all the mischief which it has done
was laid then, by the way in which they treated supposed
demoniacs, and by their just omitting to utter a few plain
words respecting them. It evidently fell within the com
pass of their mission ; for it belonged to religious truth
and practice. This is evident from what Farmer himself
advances. Nay, it may be asserted with truth, that it
entered into the very essence of religion. Jesus Christ
could easily have condemned the tenet in question, if it
had been an error. When he cured the reputed demoniac,
if he had expressly asserted that there was no possession
in the case ; that there never had been such a thing as a
person possessed by evil spirits ; that supposed demoniacs
were insane or epileptic; and that as a proof of this he
would miraculously cure them ; and then commanded the
epilepsy, or the insanity, to depart, as he did the fever in
the case of Peter's mother, who could have disbelieved'
him ? Many converts, at least, would have been made,
and a foundation would have been laid for the subversion
of the whole error. But to take lower ground than this,
(though it is not at all too high — it is furnished by truth
and reason,) in curing demoniacs, the Saviour might have
abstained from using language which implied possession ;
he might have spoken a word, or laid his hands on them,
and healed them ; and he might have explained the matter
to his disciples, and informed them that there were no
real possessions ; that all supposed cases of them were

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 267
merely diseases ; and thus have prevented them from sanc
tioning and propagating the error. It is in vain (as
Farmer owns,) to plead the prejudices which prevailed,
and the offence which would have been given, as a reason
why the Saviour employed the common language on this
subject, and forbore to state the truth. He spoke with the
greatest plainness, and published the most offensive doc
trines, in instances when the prejudices of those whom he
addressed were much stronger than they were even in this
case. He did not forbear from foretelling his death, be
cause his disciples could not understand his statements,
and Peter even dared to rebuke him ; or to insist on the
necessity of eating his flesh and drinking his blood, be
cause some exclaimed, " This is a hard saying ; who can
hear it?" or from asserting his divinity, because the Jews
were so exasperated, that they endeavoured to stone him.
It is true that, as Farmer states, " the sacred historian calls
a certain disorder lunacy, using its ordinary name, without
sanctioning the idea that it was caused by the moon."
But it is the opinion of many philosophers and physicians,
and facts seem to corroborate the idea, that it is at least
influenced by that luminary; and there is nothing more
wonderful or improbable in this, than that the tides should
be subject to lunar influence ; and in curing lunatics the
Saviour never used language which implied that the moon
was the cause of the disorder which was called lunacy ; so
that the cases are not at all similar.
It does not follow from the reality of possessions, that
fallen spirits can work miracles. For how easily can men
produce diseases in others, and deprive them of sight or
hearing ! To constitute the infliction of blindness, or
dumbness, or epilepsy, as caused by a demon, a miracle, it
would be necessary, as has already been shown, that the
evil spirit should announce his design, so as to arrest the
attention of some spectators, and then immediately inflict
the disease, without the employment of any natural means.

268 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
This I apprehend is essential to the nature of a miracle,
at least to constitute it a proof of any doctrine or fact : and
hence, when Moses was sent to work miracles in Egypt,
he always foretold what he was about to effect, and directed
the attention of Pharaoh and his servants to the out
stretched hand of God ; and the same observation may be
applied to the prophets in general, as well as to Jesus
Christ and his apostles. Had the Saviour caused the fig-
tree to wither away in a night, without pronouncing a
malediction on it, or giving any intimation of his inten
tion, though the power exerted and the phenomenon would
have been the same, the act would not have been a miracle
demanding attention and belief. It might have arrested
notice, and excited wonder ; but it would have been attri
buted to some natural causes ; no interposition of the
Divine power would have been pointed out or recognised.
On the whole, I must think that the pernicious conse
quences, which Farmer and others attribute to the doctrine
of real possessions, imply very heavy charges against the
Saviour and his apostles. And I cannot see how their
character can be vindicated, but by maintaining that the
persons generally called demoniacs were actuaUy under
the influence of evil spirits. There is no difficulty pre
sented by the fact that many of them were affected by
epilepsy or insanity ; for Satan or any of his angels might
eause these, as well as any other disorders.
The limits prescribed will not aUow me to examine any
other cases of possession ; nor is it at aU necessary. The
principles already laid down, and the observations which
have been made, wiU apply generally. And if they are
correct, it will follow that the Pythoness, as she is gene
raUy called, of Philippi, was neither a pretender nor insane,
but actually possessed by an evU spirit. I had almost for
got to notice the objection which has been urged by some,
that it is inconsistent with the goodness of God to leave
men under the power of malignant demons in such a way

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 269
as is implied in the doctrine of real possessions. But it
scarcely deserves an answer. A single glance at the facts
which are presented to us all around, is sufficient to enable
us to refute it, and a thousand others of the same kind.
To say nothing of Satan being permitted to tempt men
to sin, one fell oppressor, or avaricious, merciless slave
holder, has caused more misery to the human race, than
has been the result of all the possessions which have ever
been permitted in the world. If it be thought strange
that, if evil spirits have been suffered to act in the way
supposed, they should not have tormented men more than
they have done, or even destroyed them, we can account
for this only on the principle which is implied in the lan
guage of God respecting Job, " Behold, he is in thy hand,
but spare his life;" and this is quite sufficient.
On the questions, why were possessions so much more
numerous in the time of our Saviour than they were
before, or have been since his advent ? and are there any
instances of possession, or does Satan cause diseases, now?
very few observations must suffice. To the first it may be
replied, that as the evil spirits inflicted maladies of various
kinds, and thus, as it were, concealed their presence and
agency, it might require the knowledge of the Saviour, and
of inspired men, to determine whether any epileptic, or
lunatic, or insane person was possessed or not; or whether
blindness, or deafness, &c, was caused by a demon. And
it is possible that the same may be the case now. But I
must own that I am very much inclined to think that they
were really much more numerous in the time of our Lord
and his apostles than ever they were before, or have been
since ; or that, possibly, they were confined to that period.
We read, as has been already stated, nothing of them in
the Old Testament. All that is recorded respecting the
Jewish exorcists is, to say the least, very suspicious.
Satan, we know from the character which is given of him
in the Scriptures, is going about seeking whom he may

270 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
devour. Evil is his good ; mischief, and misery, and sin
are his element. He needs no impartation of power to
enable him to take possession, either immediately or by
his agents, of the bodies of men. The idea of impartation
of ability, connected with what is recorded of him, is in
my apprehension very dishonourable to the Divine Being;
permission is all that was requisite. Satan has been ready
at any time to exert his influence on the bodies of men, as
well as to tempt them to the commission of sin, had he
not been laid under restraint. When, therefore, we take
into the account that the great purpose of the Saviour's
appearance in the world, was that he might vanquish
Satan, bruise the head of the serpent, and destroy his
works, what is there irrational or unscriptural in the sup
position, that evil spirits, who are amongst the principal
agents of Satan, should be permitted, when the Saviour
was here below, to take possession of far greater numbers
of men than they had ever done before, or have done since ?
Thus there would be afforded to the world a striking mani
festation, on the one hand, of their power and malice, and
of our obligations to God for protection from them, and
of the misery of those who shall be their victims for ever ;
and on the other, of the authority and glory of the Lord
Jesus Christ, of the importance of the end for which he
appeared in our world, and of his ability to accomplish
it in all its extent. The wrath of devils as weU as of men
is caused to praise God, and the remainder of it is re
strained. For the same reason, after the Saviour had
finished his work and ascended to heaven, and the age of
inspiration and of miracles had passed away, a restraint
might be laid on Satan, and on evil spirits in general, and,
consequently, possessions may have been much fewer
since. Nay, what is there irrational in supposing that an
entire prohibition is laid on Satan in this respect, so that
he is not permitted to bring any under his power as he
did then? We can scarcely see how evil spirits could

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 271
wreak their malice on men, when they were permitted to
bring their persons under their power, but by disordering
either their bodies or their minds, or both, and conse
quently, producing either epilepsy, or palsy, or insanity,
or blindness, or disease of one form or another. I cannot
conceive of the results of possession, but in some of these,
or similar forms. It must then be always difficult, — per
haps, to those who are not inspired, impossible, to tell
when disease is the result of Satanic influence, and when
it is not. There is always, as facts abundantly and lament
ably prove, a wide scope for craft, and imposture, and col
lusion here. Men have ever been able to cast out devils
when they could work no other miracle ; and yet the ejec
tion of evil spirits is numbered amongst the most splendid
of the miracles of Jesus Christ. According to the passage
which has been already quoted, it was when Jesus Christ
cast out an unclean spirit, that the people were amazed,
and exclaimed, " What thing is this ? what new doctrine is
this ? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean
spirits, and they do obey him." How could they with
propriety, or why would they have used this language, if
they had been familiar with the ejection of spirits by their
exorcists ? Taking all these things into the account, is it
not probable, I had almost said certain, that the power of
Satan, in this particular, would be very much restrained,
if not entirely destroyed, after the death of the apostles,
and of those on whom they conferred miraculous powers,
and amongst others the gift of discerning spirits ? When
the Spirit of prophecy departed from the Jewish church,
the power of working miracles ceased likewise. Is it not
reasonable to suppose, that a similar rule would be ob
served in the case of the Christian church ? so that when
the Spirit of inspiration had uttered its last accents, and
declared, " If any shall add to the words of the book of
this prophecy, or take away from them, God shall add to
him the plagues that are written in this book, or take away

272 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
his part out of the book of life ; " and when all those died
on whom the apostles had laid their hands, that they might
receive the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost, (and we
have no evidence that any besides the apostles ever could
impart this precious boon, but much evidence to the con
trary ;) is it not reasonable to suppose that the power of
working miracles would be recaUed, as the end to be
answered by it was answered ? I repeat it, and I think it
an important fact, we have no evidence that any but apos
tles, and prophets, and those to whom they imparted the
power, could ever work miracles. And I do not see why
any have a right to think they shall be able to eject demons
now, any more than to raise the dead, or open the eyes of
the blind, or why God would grant the former in answer
to prayer, any more than the latter. Far be it from me
to limit the power of God, or the efficacy of prayer : but
we must look for the exertion of the former, and the answer
to the latter, in the way which God has prescribed and
warranted. If, then, the question is asked, Whether there
are any instances of possessions and dispossessions in our
day, I would answer, I do not deny the possibility of them ;
I do not positively say there are none; but I must say I
have never met with a well-authenticated instance of either ;
never one respecting which I could say, This person was
undoubtedly possessed by a demon, and cured by the
prayers and efforts of men. One of the most remarkable
cases of this sort, as far as my knowledge extends, is that
recorded by Mr. James Heaton, and entitled, " The Extra
ordinary Affliction and Gracious Belief of a Little Boy,
whose name was John Evans, supposed to be the effects of
spiritual agency, carefully examined and faithfuUy nar
rated." The account is certainly a very astonishing one.
I have no suspicion of the integrity and good intentions of
the narrator, and of his sincere wish to discover and nar
rate the truth. Still, I can have little doubt that it was a
case of epilepsy, united, perhaps, with some other dis-

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 273
orders. And it is well if there was not something of craft
and management in the boy, and in some of his friends ;
and from the account which Mr. Heaton himself gives, this
was the opinion of some of the medical men who attended
him. I have myself seen a decided case of epilepsy, in
which there was no suspicion of any agency of evil spirits ;
and yet all the symptoms of this boy's case, as it regarded
staring, grinning, gnashing with the teeth, attempting to
bite, almost supernatural strength, so that it required four
persons to hold him, and frightful cries, were exhibited.
What might have taken place with regard to leaping, and
dancing, and answering questions proposed to him, on the
supposition that he was possessed, I cannot say, for he
was always held during the fits when I saw him. But
certainly his looks, and cries, and motions were sufficiently
fiendish. No attempts were made to exorcise him, for no
one thought he was possessed. Prayer was certainly made
to God for him, both by himself, (for he was a pious young
man,) and others ; proper medical means were used ; and
at last, I think after the lapse of a year or two, he got
permanently well, after some returns of the fits, as in the
case of John Evans, and continues so to this day. I can
not avoid the suspicion, that if he had thought he was
under the influence of an evil spirit, and had fallen into
the hands of those who believed in possessions, almost
every symptom, which was exhibited in the case of John
Evans, might have been found or produced in him ; and
had the same means been used to dispossess the supposed
demon, joined with similar perseverance and devotional
exercises, it might have been supposed that his recovery
was owing to a special interposition of Divine power in
answer to prayer. Some circumstances in the account of
Mr. H. are of such a nature, as to excite a suspicion that
the good friends, who were so laudably concerned for his
recovery, were rather credulous, and that the boy was not
free from craft and design. I shall give one paragraph of
IX. T

274 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
the account, as an illustration of what I mean. " His
attention and ghastly look were generally directed to those
who gave out a hymn, or prayed. But as he dreaded ad
jurations more than anything else, the person who adjured
shared most of his resentment. I had frequently proved
that he was sensible of what I said to him in thought only,
without the motion of my lips or eyes, or any visible indi
cation of my meaning whatever. I this morning tried it
again and again. Some of the brethren observed, that his
attention was directed to me more than to those who were
praying, and wondered what could be the cause. I was
then mentally adjuring the evil spirit, and he knew it, felt
it, and resented it. This was an astonishing fact; and
wishing others might try and witness the experiment as
well as myself, I whispered into Mr. Coath's ear, ' Adjure
in your own mind, and watch the effect.' He did so ; and
when he saw how the evil spirit, in a moment, resented
it, through the boy, in his astonishment he lifted up his
hand and eyes. This attracted the notice of Mrs. J. Ken-
nard, T. Sibley, and the Bev. Mr.  . In whispers they
inquired, ' What is that ?' In whispers they were informed.
They all tried it, and they all proved it, to their utter asto
nishment, that the evil spirit knew as well, and felt as much,
what was only mentally addressed to him, as what was spoken
aloud. The moment one of them addressed the demon
mentally, the demoniac fastened his eyes on him, and
grinned, and growled, and would sometimes spit on him
if he could. In whatever situation the man stood who did
this, whether at his head or feet, right hand or left, he
would instantly stare him horribly in the face, and by
various gestures and struggles to bite or get at him, show
how he felt, dreaded, and hated the mental stroke."- Now
I would ask, are we warranted by either Scripture or reason
to believe that any evil spirit, if it had been Satan himself,
can know the thoughts, the most secret workings and
* Heaton's Account, p. 90.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 275
prayers of the heart, in the way in which this is supposed
to have been done ? I must think we are not. It is
recorded of the Saviour, as an evidence of his superhuman
wisdom, that " he needed not that any should testify of
man, for he knew what was in man." But if the account
which is given of this demoniac be correct, the same might
be asserted of the evil spirit by which he was possessed.
He knew, it seems, the thoughts of all, at least of any who
were present. But all who have seen any person in a fit
of epilepsy, know well that, when he is held, as it seems
this boy was, he turns his eyes and his head rapidly in
every possible direction, so that any spectator may be sure
he will soon look him in the face. By a little help from
the imagination, his eyes will appear to be in any direction
at any time. Nor can I form any very definite ideas of
those mental strokes given by the words of adjuration.
I cannot conceive of any influence they could have of
themselves. If there was a spirit present, which was to
be ejected, this could be done only by the power of
God in answer to prayer; and have we any scriptural
warrant to think that the omnipotence of God would
be exerted in such a way, by repeated strokes, and yet
not producing the desired effect; only irritating the
malignant fiend, and not expelling him? It was not
in this manner that the Saviour and his apostles expelled
demons. I have already stated my suspicions that the boy was
the subject of epilepsy; there is reason to fear that he also
acted deceitfully, and imposed on those who attended him.
I shall mention only one instance in proof of this. " I
have before stated," says Mr. Heaton, " that at the door
was his oracle. He now went to consult it, or rather the
evil spirit."* Does it not appear strange and inconsistent
that this evil spirit, which had possessed and was torment
ing the boy, should keep an oracle at the door ? Or had
* Heaton, p. 88.

276 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
it an assistant spirit there ? Or if the boy was free from
its influence at that time, and wished to be delivered from
it, as appeared to be the case, from his desiring the prayers
of others for him, why did he go to consult it ? Could not
the spirit, which was so wise as to know the very thoughts
of men, have suggested to him at once what were the
intentions of those who were consulting where to meet?
At least, what additional information could be obtained by
going to the door, I cannot conceive. There are other
parts of the narrative on which similar remarks might be
made. On the whole, I cannot see anything in the narra
tion, which may not be accounted for by supposing it a
case of epilepsy treated as if it had been a possession.
And many other evidences of collusion and management,
besides those which have been specified, will suggest them
selves to those who critically examine the volume.
To the question, Do evil spirits inflict any diseases now,
as they did in the case of Job, and of some of whom we
read in the Scriptures ? all the answer I have to give is,
I would not assert that they do not ; but if they do, I
should not think it possible to distinguish them from other
diseases ; nor do I see any absurdity in maintaining that
they may yield, in some cases, to medical treatment. Satan
can cause them only by disordering the body ; and he may
be so restrained, that these disorders may be counteracted
by the blessing of God on the virtues of medicine and the
skill of physicians. We pray for that blessing, and we
return thanks when we think it has been bestowed, so as
to secure the restoration of health ; and that blessing can
counteract the craft and power of the devil, as weU as the
malignity of disease. On the whole, however, I must think
that it is far more irrational and unscriptural to deny that
there were real possessions and ejections in the days of
our Saviour and his apostles, than to believe that evil
spirits may still take possession of the bodies of men, and

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 277
cause various diseases ; but the belief of the former by no
means necessitates that of the latter ; and I must think,
that as the power of Satan to inflict diseases must have
been always very much restrained, so the probability is
that it is now entirely taken away.

LECTURE TI.
THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
ON TEMPTATION : — THE SAVIOUR'S TEMPTATION IN THE WLLDEENESS.
The principal way in which evil spirits have intercourse
with this world, and that in which their influence is most
destructive, is by tempting men to the commission of sin.
This I apprehend all who believe in the fact will allow,
whatever may be their opinion respecting the subjects to
which our attention has already been directed. It was in
this way that Satan first obtained the advantage over men,
and brought them under his power, and in which he stiU
endeavours to maintain his empire on earth. Those who
can detect and resist him here, have little to fear from him
on any other account. And as it was in the character of
the tempter that our Lord met and vanquished him, and
that, it would appear, before he triumphed over any of his
agents by casting out devils ; and as he did this in the
name and on the behalf of his people, in entering on this
part of the subject, our attention is naturally directed to
the account which is given by the pen of inspiration, of
our Saviour's temptation in the wilderness.
And as we have a very plain and circumstantial narration
of this remarkable event, given by two of the evangelists,
while it is alluded to by a third, we might suppose that it
can present but little difficulty, and that respecting it there
could not be two opinions. Nor, I must think, would there
have been, had not the statements been of a very extra-

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 279
ordinary kind, such as men cannot reconcile with their
preconceived opinions, and with what they think Satan
can or cannot do, or would have done, on the one hand,
and with what they suppose is consistent with the dignity
ofthe Saviour, and with the wisdom of God, on the other,
I must here repeat the remark which has been made in
substance already, that if any number of persons were to
read the statements of the inspired penmen, just to learn
what is the most natural and obvious sense of their lan
guage, all of them would adopt what is called the literal
scheme, namely, that Satan appeared to our Saviour, urged
him to turn stones into bread, set him on a pinnacle of the
temple and solicited him to cast himself down, conducted
him, by some means, to a mountain, gave him a striking
view of all the kingdoms of the world, and promised them
all to him, on condition of receiving from him one act of
homage. Now, such a mode of interpretation as this has
always one powerful recommendation. If it is not re
ceived, very cogent reasons should be assigned for its being
rejected. As far as my knowledge ofthe subject extends, five dif
ferent theories have been advanced respecting the way in
which our Lord was tempted. Some think this was done
in what may be called the common way, merely by sug
gestion ; others that his temptation was a diabolical vision,
exhibited to his imagination by the power of Satan ; others,
that it was a visionary, symbolical representation, presented
to him by the Spirit of God, of the trials to which he was
to be exposed during his personal ministry ; while it might
also answer the purpose of a present probation. A fourth
class maintain, that all the temptation arose from the re
flections and anticipations of the Saviour's own mind, se
riously meditating, amidst the solitude of the desert, on
his situation, the work in which he was engaged, and the
difficulties and obstacles which presented themselves in
various forms. And they imagine that these would appear

280 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
peculiarly formidable to him, on account of the languor of
his frame, reduced by his (according to them) partial fast
ing, or subsisting for forty days and forty nights on the
spontaneous productions of the earth in that mountainous
region, as John the Baptist is said to have come "neither
eating, nor drinking." They deem the whole narrative
highly figurative. All the refutation which this scheme
deserves will be included in the remarks which are made
on some others. A fifth class contend for the literal inter
pretation, and think that everything took place just as it
is recorded by the evangehsts.
On the first of these hypotheses, it is not necessary to
dwell. As far as I know, it is not adopted by many, and
by them it is suggested, rather than maintained. We can
easily allow that in this way the devil might urge the
Saviour to turn stones into bread ; but how he could set
him on a pinnacle of the temple, or take him up to a high
mountain, it is not easy, or rather, it is impossible to con
ceive. When Satan tempted Judas and Ananias in this
way, it is said that he " put it into their hearts," implying,
I apprehend, that he suggested it to their minds, and that
they were led by their own wicked hearts to adopt the sug
gestion. But in the narrative under consideration, it is
said that the tempter came to Jesus Christ, addressed him
in specified words, to which a verbal reply was given, and
took him from one place to another. In short, this inter
pretation seems altogether inadmissible, however simple
it may be, and free from some difficulties with which others
are incumbered.
The second theory to which I have adverted, is that of
those who, allowing that the whole of this history is to be
understood as a recital of visionary representations, con
tend that those visions were framed by the devil, and that
the temptations are to be ascribed to his immediate agency.*
This, it appears, was the opinion of Le Clerc, and to it
* Farmer's Inquiry, p. 27.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 281
Bishop Warburton was also inclined. But besides its being
contrary to the obvious meaning of the language employed,
there are two objections against it which immediately pre
sent themselves, and which I must own, did no others
occur, prevent me from adopting it. The one is, granting
that Satan could present such visionary scenes to the eyes
and imagination of the Saviour as this theory supposes,
yet is it possible that he could exert such power over his
mind and rational faculties, as to cause him to think that
he was carried first to the pinnacle of the temple, and then
to a high mountain, and that he actually heard Satan ad
dressing him ? Were we to allow that this could have been
done, would it not follow that, during the time that he was
subject in this degree to the power of the tempter, he
scarcely could have that command of himself, and that use
of his rational powers, which were necessary to enable him
to act voluntarily, and therefore to be the subject of tempt
ation, and to resist and vanquish the adversary ? And,
farther, it is a greater difficulty to suppose that Satan could
exercise this power over the mind of the Eedeemer, than
that he should transport his body from place to place,
through the air. To deceive Jesus Christ, and to cause
him to imagine that he was placed first on a pinnacle of
the temple, and then on a lofty mountain, implies a far
greater degree of influence over him, than what is supposed
in the literal interpretation.
The hypothesis of Farmer is the third that was men
tioned, and this, on account of the ability with which it
has been stated and supported, and its plausibleness in
many respects, will require a more extended examination
than has been given to the others.
His theory is, that the temptation was neither an out
ward transaction nor a diabolical delusion, but a Divine
vision ; or that " Christ was carried or brought into a wil
derness by a Divine afflatus, in a prophetic vision, that he
might be tempted by the devil, and was so tempted, during

282 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
his vision ; and that, therefore, what is called his tempt
ation by the devil was a Divine vision and revelation ; the
presence and agency of Satan was not real, but apparent,
or a part of the prophetic scenery ; and the history repre
sents Satan as coming to Christ and tempting him, and
removing him from one place to another; because the
vision consisted of a representation of Satan as appearing
and acting in this manner, and it was necessary the scenes
should be described just as they were represented to Jesus
Christ."* In support of this theory, Farmer commences
by asking, "With what propriety could it be said that
Jesus went into the wilderness in person at this time, when
he was there already ? It was in the wilderness that John
exercised his ministry, and he baptized our Saviour there. "f
But is it not veiy probable, nay, is it not certain, that some
parts of this region, which was denominated a wilderness
because it was thinly inhabited, were a desert when com
pared with others ? He was driven into that part of it
which was the resort of savage animals, and not of men ;
for he was forty days with the wild beasts. This could
not be in that locality where John was preaching, and to
which all Judea and Jerusalem went to be baptized. Light-
foot]: says, " The wilderness of Judea had indeed both
cities and villages and dwellings of men in it, but it had
also some places wild, without any such habitations, and
it had wild beasts in those parts." 1 Sam. xvii. 34, and
xxiii. 14; 2 Sam. xxiii. 20; Psalm lxi. ; Jer. xlix. 19. So
that it is easy to see how the Saviour was, in one sense, in
the wilderness before the temptation commenced, and yet
how he was driven into it in order to be tempted. The
long discussion of Farmer, in which he labours to prove
that " the Spirit often signifies the gifts or influence of the
Spirit," is nothing to the purpose. Who ever thought that
the Spirit could act, or, in any way, lead Jesus Christ into
* Farmer's Inquiry, p. 7, Contents. + Ibid. p. 46, Contents.
J Works, vol. i. p. 502.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 283
the desert, but by some afflatus or influence ? Nor can
there be any objection to translating the word dvifotfi?,
" brought." The great support of his system, in his
opinion, is that the phrases, 'Avrix^n W rov Xivevparos, Matt
IV. 1, To JIvevpa avrov iicfiaWei, Mark i. 12, Uvevparos ayiov
Trkf)pns,"'H.ycTo iv t& Tlveipan, Luke iv. 1, are equivalent to
the expressions which are used respecting the ancient
prophets and the apostle John in the Apocalypse, when
the meaning evidently is, that they had visions and ima
ginary scenes presented to their minds, so that they ap
peared to themselves to be carried from one place to an
other, whilst they never changed their locality, and to see
and hear that which was merely impressed on their ima
gination. Now to substantiate his position here, Farmer
ought to have proved, not only that the phrases which
have been quoted, are used with regard to those who were
favoured with visions, or prophetic inspiration, or mira
culous gifts, but that they are exclusively so, and to no
others, which, as I hope to be able to prove, is not the
case. The quotations which he has given from Ezekiel do not
prove his assertion, nay, they militate against it ; for the
sacred historian did not think it sufficient to say, " The
Spirit took me up ; " " the hand of the Lord was upon me,
and carried me by the Spirit of the Lord," &c, Ezek. iii.,
viii., xi., xxxvii., though these expressions are stronger than
those used by the evangelists ; but he also expressly in
forms us that all took place " in the visions of God," and
that " the Spirit took him, and brought him in vision ;" so
that we have in those places a professed description of a
vision. And the inspired penman does not seem to have
thought that the expressions " in the Spirit," or " by the
Spirit," necessarily implied that a visionary scene was pre
sented to the mind, or else why should he have added " in
vision," or " in the visions of God," but because the former
words alone might signify that Ezekiel was actually carried

284 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
from one place to another, as Philip was, Acts viii., and
that the scenes which are afterwards described were real ?
And with regard to the evangelist John, Eev. i. 10 and
iv. 2, though the phrase 'Eyevopnv iv liveipan is used, it is
not synonymous with those used by the evangelists
Matthew and Mark, 'Avrj^dn virb tov Hveiparos, To Hvevpa
iicPaWei avrov' and as it respects the iv ra HvevpaTi of Luke,
all must allow that iv often signifies by as well as in ; and
in this very place Schleusner renders it a, ab, so as to sig
nify either the efficient or instrumental cause, and refers
to the parallel passage in Matt. iv. 1, in support of his
rendering. And besides, the whole of the scenery, and aU
the events recorded in the Eevelation, are of such a nature,
that it is necessary to understand them as having been
presented to the apostle in a vision. Many of them could
not possibly be facts and realities. This is obviously not
the case, notwithstanding aU the efforts of Farmer to prove
the contrary, with the narration of the evangelists. It is
given as a simple statement of facts ; its connexion both
with what precedes and follows, as a part of a historical
account, requires us to understand it literally. As one
proof of this it may be observed, that no commentator, I
should suppose no reader, ever understood the Eevelation
so ; all have seen at once that it was a vision ; on the
other hand none, tiU Farmer suggested the idea, (as he
himself labours to prove,) ever thought that the tempta
tion of the Saviour was a Divine vision, or that Satan
was not the actual tempter. How can we account for
this, but from the difference of the connexion and the
language, in the two cases ? Surely, if it is just as plain,
as Farmer intimates, that Christ was tempted in a vision,
produced by the influence of the Holy Spirit, as that
Ezekiel and John saw visions of God, ihe fact could not
have escaped the notice of all the learned and acute
readers, and commentators, and critics, who have studied
the word of God before Farmer was born. It may be

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 285
observed, that the language used by the evangelists does
not refer the temptation of Christ to the Holy Spirit at all,
but merely his being led into the wilderness, doubtless by a
Divine influence, or by the afflatus of the Spirit; but it
was in order " to be tempted by the devil," not to have any
communication made to him by the Holy Ghost. I have said
that there are several places, in which the terms in question,
Ino tov Uveiparos and iv ra Xlveipan, cannot refer to a
vision, but to plain facts and realities. For instance, Luke
ii. 27, Simeon " came by the Spirit, iv ra Uveipan, into the
temple." It is evident that he came actually, and not in a
vision or in imagination. Again, Luke iv. 14, " Jesus
returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee," iv tj}
Swdpci tov Hvevparos. This most certainly means that he
actually returned, in the literal sense of the word, and not
in a vision. And let it be noticed here, that this passage
refers to his returning from the scene of his temptation to
preach the Gospel ; as his returning then is literal in the
one case, is it not necessary to understand his going in the
same sense in the other ? His returning " in the power
of the Spirit," or " by the power of the Spirit," into Galilee,
signifies, not that he returned in a vision, but actually;
and as the same preposition is used, is it not fair to
say that it has the same meaning in the other place ?
Farmer maintains it means that he was furnished with the
gifts of the Spirit, to enable him to preach and work mira
cles. Were we to grant this, it by no means excludes the
leading and guidance of the Spirit, causing him to go into
the place specified ; but this is not its natural signification
here ; as the Holy Spirit had been poured out on him
before, when he was baptized, for the purposes specified by
Farmer, and that very recently. Again, we read, Acts
viii. 39, " The Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, so
that the eunuch saw him no more," Uvevpa Kvplov ripwaa-e.
Here, also, it is plain that this was not done in a vision,
but really ; and if it should be said, " Perhaps this means

286 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
no more than that the Spirit rendered PhUip invisible to
the eunuch," it may be replied, that this is not the natural
meaning of the word employed, or rather, it is never used
in this sense ; and even were we to aUow this, it makes no
difference in the force of our argument, for there was no
vision, or ecstasy, or trance, in the case. Again, Acts
xiii. 4, we read, " So they being sent forth by the Holy
Ghost, vnb tov ILvevpaTos tov ayiov, departed unto Seleucia."
Here, again, the formula imo tov YLvevparos cannot relate to
a vision ; it can mean nothing else than that by the influ
ence, and in obedience to the command of the Holy Ghost,
they actually went unto Seleucia. Other instances might
be adduced; but these are quite sufficient to prove that
the expressions under consideration do not, by any means,
naturaUy signify a vision or trance caused by the influence
of the Spirit. Thus, I hope, it is manifest that one main
piUar, or rather the main piUar, of Farmer's system is
utterly insufficient for its support.
As a recommendation of his hypothesis, Farmer urges
the advantages which are secured by his view of the sub
ject. I must think it is easy to show that aU the advan
tages which he specifies, are more obviously and effectuaUy
secured by the common hypothesis. For instance, he
maintains that " the several scenes of which it is composed
contain a real trial, such as occasioned a very bright dis
play of the virtue and piety of our Eedeemer, and yet he
was not accessary to his own temptation ; the mind being
passive to all the scenes which are presented to it in a
vision." And then he strangely asserts, " But upon the
common hypothesis there was no temptation at aU, and if
there had been any, his being exposed to them was the
matter of his own choice."* But his assertion, that on the
common hypothesis it was no trial at aU, is founded on
something which many of the maintainers of the ordinary
interpretation wUl by no means grant, nay, on what they
* Inquiry, p. 116.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 287
positively deny, and think they can disprove ; namely, that
the devil appeared in what may be called his own form, or
in such a way that he could be immediately recognised.
They think that he would, doubtless, put in requisition all
his power and craft, in order to conceal himself. This he
did when he seduced our first parents, and it may confi
dently be asserted, that whenever he tempts, he always, in
one respect or another, puts on the appearance of an angel
of light. And there are some at least of the advocates of
the common hypothesis, who never felt any difficulty in
the question, " Why the devil should assault our Lord at
aU, and what advantage he could possibly hope to gain
over him ? " On the contrary, it would have been a much
greater difficulty and wonder, in their estimation, if Satan
had not, as far as he was permitted, tempted him. What
right have we to suppose, however it may have been as
serted by some, and taken for granted by others, that Satan
knew in what sense Jesus Christ was the Son of God, or
that he was acquainted with the doctrine of his divinity ?
These truths were but obscurely revealed in the Old Tes
tament ; they were but very imperfectly known by the
Saviour's own apostles till after the descent of the Spirit
on the day of Pentecost. Who was to teach them to
Satan ? He saw the Eedeemer in his human nature, like
others, frail and mortal, and the subject of all sinless in
firmities. He had prevailed against our first parents not
withstanding their innocence and holiness, and the peculiar
privileges which they enjoyed ; why might he not hope to
vanquish the Saviour also, who, in some respects, was
apparently inferior to them, and placed in much more dis
advantageous circumstances ? And if he knew the design
with which our Lord appeared in the world, could his
malice and rage suffer him to forbear attacking the great
Captain of salvation ? Nay, were we to allow that Satan
was acquainted with the divinity of Jesus Christ, there
would be no inconsistency or difficulty in conceiving that

288 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
the assault would be made, for he might hope to harass
and impede the Eedeemer, which, to use the language of
the poet, " If not victory, is yet revenge."
But we must likewise remember, that with all the craft,
and policy, and natural sagacity, which Satan possesses, he
is the most foolish, because the most wicked being in
existence, and it is the very property of folly and wicked
ness to act irrationally. " Though the devil be exceedingly
cunning and subtle, yet he is one of the greatest fools and
blockheads in the world, as the subtlest of wicked men
are. Sin is of such a nature, that it exceedingly infatuates
and stultifies the mind ; men deliberately choose eternal
torments, rather than miss of the pleasure of a few days.
Sin has the same effect on the devils, to make them act
like fools ; and so much the more, as it is greater in them
than in others."* What success, what benefit, could Satan
propose to himself, on any rational principles, in rebeUing
against the Most High at first, or in continuing his course
of opposition to him ? and if he could act thus foolishly
and irrationally in heaven, of what folly is he not capable
in hell ? He must know that he is only increasing his own
misery, plunging himself deeper and deeper in the bottom
less gulf of guilt and wretchedness. He must know that
to desist from provoking God, and to endeavour to propi
tiate him, would, at the least, render him less miserable
than he must otherwise be ; and yet he perseveres, and
omits no opportunity of provoking the Almighty. This is
just as irrational as to make an attack on Jesus Christ,
even if he knew his divinity. It may be said that despair
urges him on, in the first case ; it would equally do so in
the second.
The difficulty, then, which Farmer here has in view, as
incumbering the hypothesis of his opponents, exists, I
must say, only in his own imagination. And although he
* Edwards, vol. ii. p. 612.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 289
asserts, in the quotation which has been made, that " each
of the scenes of which the temptation was composed, con
tained a real trial, such as caused a bright display of the
virtue and piety of our Eedeemer," yet in another place he
speaks doubtfully on this point. For he says that " it is
possible this vision might contain a present trial."* With
out denying the possibility of this, or the fact that it would,
in some degree, have caused a development of the prin
ciples and character of the Saviour, surely it must be
evident, that if the temptations were real, and carried on
by Satan himself, the trial was far greater, and the mani
festations of the virtue and piety of the Eedeemer much
more effectual and conspicuous ; for we suppose that Satan
concealed himself as much as possible from the Saviour,
and assumed in one way or another the appearance of an
angel of light, and that he proposed his temptations in the
most artful way. On Farmer's hypothesis, Jesus Christ
must have known the tempter, so that all the objections
which, on this account, are urged against the common
interpretation, apply to his with more than double force ;
and on his scheme there was no pressure of real want in
the first temptation, and no influence of external circum
stances and concealment of the tempter in the other.
Farmer thinks that one advantage of his scheme is that,
according to it, " the Saviour was not accessary to his own
temptation ; and on the common hypothesis his being
exposed to it, was the matter of his own choice." And
what then ? Was not his being exposed to temptation at
all, was not his undertaking the work of human redemp
tion, and all the labours, and temptations, and sufferings
attendant on it, the matter of his own choice ? And
was not this his glory, and one thing that contributed
essentially to the perfection of his work? But it is
not true that he exposed himself to temptation, without
a call from the very highest authority ; for he was " led
* Tage 83.
IX. u

290 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted." And
whenever the Spirit leads any one into temptation, it is
his duty to go.
Farmer attaches great importance to the symbolical
design of the vision on his theory. He thinks it gave
Jesus Christ an interesting and instructive view of all
the temptations which awaited him during his ensuing
ministry, and, therefore, had a tendency to prepare him
for them. But we ask, was it at aU necessary on this
account ? Did he not know well, before this, from the
experience which he had, ere he commenced his public
labours, and especially from the influence of the Spirit
which descended on him at his baptism, all that awaited
him, and all that he had undertaken ? Could such a com
paratively obscure, symbolical representation, as that which
Farmer thinks his temptation was, add to the clearness of
his views, or the extent of his knowledge ? Bather, had it
been intended to answer this purpose, it would have re
quired his previous knowledge to understand and apply it.
This supposed vision did not give him the least intimation
respecting his death, or the treachery of one of his dis
ciples ; and yet he knew from the beginning that he was
to be delivered to be crucified, and who believed not, and
who should betray him ; so that, on Farmer's hypothesis,
I cannot see any important end whatever that was answered
by his temptation.
He thinks that his scheme wUl " teach the adversaries
of the Gospel, that they ought to be cautious in taking
offence at any particular passages in it, that may have
been injudiciously explained." But I must think, that to
explain away the obvious meaning of the Scriptures, and
to wrest their language to suit a favourite hypothesis, will
give the adversaries of the Bible a greater advantage over
it, and do more to prejudice them against it, than a plain
statement of its facts and doctrines, with all their attendant
difficulties and mysteries, can possibly do. " The foolish-

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 291
ness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God
is stronger than men."
Another advantage which Farmer thinks his system
secures is, that it exalts the character of Christ, and con
firms our faith in his Divine mission, because of the trial
to which it exposed him, and the view which it gave him
of the future difficulties of his ministry. " He foresaw all
the evils which he was to combat, the very worst to which
human nature is liable. He knew that he was to spend
his life in want and contumely, and then to finish it on
the cross."* True ; but, as we have just seen, he did not,
he could not, obtain that knowledge from anything that
occurred during his temptation in the wilderness, not even
if it had been a symbolical representation ; for there was
no allusion to his death, much less to his death on the cross.
He evidently learned what was to come upon him from
another source, which afforded him a much clearer fore
knowledge "from the beginning" of all the trials and
sufferings he was to undergo in the execution of his office.
This knowledge did, indeed, " add the highest lustre to-
his character." And, as we may afterwards show, so did
the temptation in the wilderness, but in a way different
from that which Farmer supposes, and in a degree far
superior. I would not be uncharitable, or bring anything like
unfounded or rash charges against any one ; especially
against a man of Farmer's ability and learning. I am
willing to allow that he was sincerely desirous to serve the
cause of religion, and that he was convinced that his
scheme was calculated to do so. But I cannot avoid
saying, that surely nothing but a strong propensity to
fancy everything good in his own hypothesis, could have
led him to add, in the third place, that his account of
Christ's temptation " furnishes ample instruction and con
solation to his disciples under those manifold and great
* Inquiry, p. 119.

292 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
temptations that they may have to encounter."* What
great consolation and instruction can they derive from his
having an imaginary scene presented to him in a vision,
where the temptations were very feeble, if they existed at
all ; where the scenes and the trials were such as they
can never realise? Abundant consolation and instruction
are indeed afforded by our Saviour's temptation in the
wilderness, as well as by his previous knowledge of all that
he had to perform and suffer, and the part which he
acted through his whole life ; but this will be the case
only when the temptation is considered as real, and his
knowledge as being much more accurate than what could
possibly be obtained from any symbolical representa
tions that could be given him in such a vision as Farmer
imagines. Such is a short, but, as far as I have been able to accom
plish my design, a correct representation of the arguments
by which Farmer supports his system, and the advantages
with which he thinks it is attended. The former I must
deem faUacious ; and the latter are, in some cases, only
imaginary, and in others, the alleged advantages result
more abundantly from the ordinary interpretation. The
only advantage, as far as I can see, which it secures, is
that it avoids the necessity of supposing that Satan con
veyed Jesus Christ through the air, or persuaded him to
go, first to the pinnacle of the temple, and then to the
mountain where he was shown all the kingdoms of the
world, and all their glory. On these statements we may
afterwards make a few remarks. But, in addition to the
want of sufficient evidence, his system is liable to very
serious objections. It departs, without necessity and
without warrant, from the plain and obvious sense of the
narration. It attributes, in the plainest language, to the
devil that in which he had no influence, in which he acted
no part, any more than if he had had no existence ; nay, I
* Inquiry, p. 123.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 293
had almost said, it represents the Spirit of God as ascrib
ing that of which he himself was the author, to Satan.
Had Farmer's scheme been correct, I must think, notwith
standing all he has advanced to meet the objection, that
the sacred historian would have said, The Spirit set him
on the pinnacle of the temple, and, The Spirit took him
up to a high mountain. It might be necessary, on
Farmer's hypothesis, to represent Satan as tempting,
but not as conveying the Eedeemer from one place to
another. This, if Farmer's sentiments respecting Satan
are correct, is what he not only did not, but what he could
not do ; for he supposes he has no power over matter.
Farmer confesses, or rather maintains, that to the view
and apprehension of Christ at the time, the vision con
tained certain alluring proposals, made to him by the devil,
in order to solicit him to evil;* and he docs not mean
here that Christ learned from the vision, that these allur
ing representations would be made to him afterwards, in
the course of his ministry, but they were made to him at
that time, as he is showing that " the vision bore the form of
a present trial." If so, then inevitably the Spirit of God,
according to Farmer's scheme, presented " alluring pro
posals to the mind of Christ, which had a tendency to
solicit him to evil." And farther, I must maintain and
repeat it, that on this scheme, there was no adequate
important end answered ; as Christ already possessed all
the knowledge professed to be communicated, and was
soon to be exposed to much severer trials than any by
wliich he could possibly be exercised in a vision.
For all these reasons, and for others which may be
afterwards stated, I must reject Farmer's scheme, and
adopt the common interpretation of this important passage ;
and believe that Jesus Christ was actually led by the in
fluence of the Holy Spirit into a sterile, uninhabited part of
the wilderness ; that Satan really appeared to him in dis-
* Inquiry, p, 149,

294 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
guise, and endeavoured first to induce him to change
stones into food ; and then to cast himself down from the
pinnacle of the temple ; and then, in order to obtain the
possession of all the kingdoms of the world, to fall down
and worship the being who had shown him this wonderful
sight. Before making any particular remarks on these
various temptations, I shall consider the objections which
Farmer urges against what is called the literal scheme.
First. He objects that " it is unsuitable to the sagacity
and policy of Satan, because his personal appearance could
serve only to frustrate his intention." But this objection
is founded on a false hypothesis. None of those who
adopt the literal scheme think that Satan appeared in his
proper character. We mav, as has already been stated, be
certain that he did not. It would not be difficult to show
that Farmer's attempt to prove that he must, if he appeared
at all, have done so in his proper form, is an entire failure.
The question is not, what our Lord knew ; but what Satan
attempted, what was the imposition which he endeavoured
to practise. And even our Lord's calling him Satan in the
last temptation will not, of itself, prove that he knew him ;
since he called his own disciple Peter, Satan, when he
merely meant that he was acting the part of Satan, or of
an adversary.
Secondly. He objects that " this explication is very ill
calculated to promote the honour of the Saviour, or the
instruction and consolation of his disciples. We can
scarcely preserve on our minus a sufficient reverence ofthe
sanctity of the Eedeemer, when we behold him in such
familiar conference with, and under the power of an un
clean spirit, who at pleasure transports his Sovereign and
his Judge from place to place, raises him to the most con
spicuous stations to expose him to public derision, and
wantonly and arrogantly propounds to him one foolish
Enterprise after another.'* Now it deserves consideration
* Inquiry, p. 12.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 295
whether this objection, if it has any force, does not militate
against his own hypothesis, partly at least, as well as
against that of his opponents ; for if it would not be con
sistent with the dignity of the Eedeemer to be thus treated,
would it be consistent with his dignity to be caused to think
that he was thus treated, or with the veracity of the Spirit
of truth to produce the deception ? But, not to insist on
this, there is nothing in the literal scheme which repre
sents our Saviour as exposed to public scorn ; for if he was
seen when on the pinnacle of the temple, which is not
certain, his position and appearance would excite wonder
rather than scorn. And it is not at all intimated or granted,
that he remained long there, to attract much public notice ;
and in the other temptation none saw him. And with re
gard to foolish enterprises being proposed to him, sinful
enterprises are always foolish ; but what other has Satan
to propose ? It was a foolish enterprise that he proposed
to our first parents, to try to become as gods, and yet he
succeeded ; and how often have his most ridiculous pro
posals been accepted ! And why should it be thought in
consistent with the dignity and power of the Saviour to
be transported by Satan from place to place, when " he
hid not his face from shame and spitting," and did not
refuse patiently to endure the most ignominious treatment
from the most wicked and worthless of mortals ? Nay, he
suffered himself to be nailed to the cross betwixt convicted
thieves. How foolish is it to urge, that because the Saviour
permitted Satan to place him on the pinnacle of the temple,
he was accessary to his own dishonour, clanger, and tempt
ation ! There was no dishonour in the case, any more
than in being crucified. And it was as necessary that the
Saviour should obtain a spiritual and moral victory over
Satan by resisting his temptations, as it was that he should
die on the cross. Farmer might with just as much pro
priety maintain, that Jesus Christ was accessary to his
own disgrace and death, by becoming incarnate. Nor was

290 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
there any real danger of falling from the pinnacle on
which he was placed ; at least, none but what the Saviour
knew he could avoid. And as to temptation, he came
into the world for this very purpose, that he might meet
and vanquish temptation; and it was only by doing so
that he could accomplish his work, and become the Sa
viour of his people, and be " able to succour these that
are tempted."
On this part of the subject, Farmer maintains that the
passage, Heb. iv. 15, " He was in all points tempted like
as we are, yet without sin," cannot, on the common hypo
thesis, refer to our Saviour's temptation in the wilderness,
because we are not tempted by Satan in person, appearing
in a visible form, as he is supposed to have done to our
Saviour. But did he never appear in a visible form to any
of those who were saved by Christ, and rescued from the
power of the devil ? Did he not appear in a visible form
(not his own) to our first parents, when he tempted them ?
and have we not reason to hope that they were saved by
Jesus Christ ? And as the first Adam was tempted in this
way, and Satan might suppose that it gives him some
peculiar advantage over those whom he assaults, does it
not appear fit and becoming, in some respects, that he
should be permitted to attack the second Adam, the Saviour,
the seed of the woman, in this way also, that in all things
Jesus Christ might be " made like unto his brethren," in
all the forms in which ever any of them were assaulted by
the tempter ? And with regard to his example not being a
complete pattern of virtue if he voluntarily exposed himself
to temptation, it is enough to qbserve that it is not only
our duty to pray against temptation, and to flee from it,
but also to face it in all its forms whenever we can be sure,
as Christ was, that we are in the path of duty, and following
the guidance of the Spirit of God.
Another objection which is urged against the literal
scheme is, that it " ascribes to the devil the performance

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 297
of the greatest miracles,"* such as assuming a visible form,
speaking with an audible voice, and conveying men from
place to place ; and the principal argument which he em
ploys against his being able to do these is, " that we have
no proof from experience, our sole instructor in the estab
lished laws of nature, that Satan can do any of these."
But how limited is our experience ! How egregiously shall
we err, if we make it the measure of all that is possible, of
all that spirits can do, of all that has been ! We have no
experience of the performance of miracles ; but shall we
therefore conclude that none were ever wrought ? This
is exactly Hume's argument against miracles in general,
which has been so effectually refuted by Campbell and
others. But this objection is founded entirely on Farmer's
theory respecting evil spirits, which is by no means granted.
It is evident from many examples recorded in the Scrip
tures, that good angels have the power of assuming a visible
form, of speaking with an audible voice, and of removing
bodies from one place to another; and that doing so does
not imply a miracle in the proper sense of the word. But
on this subject some remarks have already been made,
which need not be repeated here. The rest of his objec
tions will be noticed in the review of the different tempta
tions, to which I shall therefore now proceed; noticing
only such particulars as bear more directly on the subject
of this Lecture. And it will be evident, from what has
been said, that I adopt the literal scheme, as being that
which is suggested by the language of the evangelist, agrees
best with the scope and connexion of the passage, is most
honourable to the Saviour and to the Spirit of God, and
most instructive and consolatory to the Christian, as im
plying the greatest victory over Satan, and with him, over
all the hosts of hell.
In the account which we have of the first temptation,
Luke, chap. iv. 1, informs us that Jesus " being full of the
* Inquiry, p. 19.

298 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan," where he had just
been baptized by John, and it was at his baptism that the
Spirit descended on him ; so that if this phrase denotes, as
Farmer would have us to believe, that he was wrapt up in
a vision or trance, it would seem to foUow that his return
from the river was only imaginary or visionary, and not
real ; for his return from Jordan, as well as his being led
into the wilderness, took place under the influence of the
Holy Ghost. He was led by the influence of the Spirit,
or, as Mark expresses it, " was driven," that is, urged by
strong impulse to go, into the wilderness. It is of no im
portance where this wilderness was, whether, as some sup
pose, it was the desert of Horeb, which they think was
called by way of eminence " the wilderness," or some desert
part of the wilderness of Judea. Maundrel, who inspected
those places, gives it as his opinion that it might be the
wilderness near Jordan, which, as he assures us, "is a
miserable and horrid place, consisting of high barren moun
tains, so that it looks as if nature there had suffered some
horrid convulsions."* In such a place it is natural to
suppose wild beasts would be found, and accordingly Mark
informs us that "he was with the wild beasts." In this
dreary region he remained all alone forty days, during
which time he abstained from food, partly, perhaps, be
cause the exercises of his mind and his conflicts with Satan
were so interesting and absorbing, that he disregarded the
demands of nature, or scarcely ever felt them. Still there
was something miraculous in his being preserved so long
without food, and, perhaps, he was preserved from the
cravings of appetite, for it was not till he had fasted forty
days, that "he afterwards hungered:" doubtless he was
engaged all the while in prayer and meditation, subject to
the attacks of Satan, made on him with all the skiU and
power that this great enemy could put in requisition. The
attention of Satan must have been arrested by the extra -
* Maundrel's Travels, p. 7S.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 299
ordinary birth of Jesus Christ, and the remarkable scenes
of his childhood and youth ; but especially by the testimony
and preaching of John, and by what took place at his bap
tism. Whether, then, the tempter knew in what sense
Jesus Christ was the Son of God or not, he had heard and
seen enough to assure him that the son of Mary was some
extraordinary being, and that he was probably the Messiah
promised to the fathers. This was sufficient to excite his
malice and rage, and God was pleased to permit him to
assume a visible form, and make a personal attack on the
blessed Eedemer, and that in circumstances the most fa
vourable for his purpose ; in consequence of which the
defeat of the great destroyer, and the victory of the Saviour,
were the more conspicuous. It was a remarkable coinci
dence, nay, much more than a coincidence, for it was
doubtless the arrangement of infinite wisdom, and designed
for the instruction of the church, as well as the trial of the
Eedeemer, that as Moses fasted forty days when the law
was given, (or rather twice, forty days and forty nights) and
Elias, when the honour of the law was, in a special man
ner, vindicated by him, so that he has been called its re
storer, abstained from food duiing an equal period; so
Jesus Christ, when he publicly commenced that course of
obedience by which the law was fulfilled and honoured,
fasted the same length of time. It is by activity and labour,
and self-denial, and not by indulgence, that great things
are accomplished, that God is glorified, temptations are
overcome, and high honours are secured. " Forasmuch,
then, as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm your
selves also with the same mind ; for he that hath suffered
in the flesh hath ceased from sin." Such coincidences as
these show the unity of the Scriptures, that all things were
known to their Author from the beginning, and that one
great, simple, yet complex plan is developed and carried
into execution by all the different dispensations of provi
dence and of religion which the Scriptures have introduced

300 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
or presented to the world. " There are diversities of admi
nistrations, but the same Spirit, and the same Lord."
During the whole of these forty days, he was tempted
of Satan. Farmer thinks that his visionary temptation
continued through all this period ; and that the time is to
be taken literally, however figurative everything else may
be ; though, after all his special pleading and criticism, I
cannot see his consistency here. In Daniel and the Eeve
lation the time is not given literally ; in these visions, we
have " times, and a time, and a half," in days, for years.
This is one argument for the literal scheme. How Satan
tempted him during these forty days, how the conflict was
carried on, We are not told ; and conjecture would be fruit
less, and entirely unsatisfactory. We may conclude, how
ever, that the great adversary would vary his mode of
attack ; and it is by no means certain that he did not
assume some visible form before the close of the forty
days, when he made his last, and it seems his grand as
sault, for that time. Hence, as Doddridge correctly ob
serves, the words of Matthew should be translated, " And
the tempter coming to him," which rather implies that he
had attacked him before. At the end of these forty days
he felt the demands of appetite ; nature craved its appro
priate supply. Of this Satan took advantage, as we may
be sure he always does of the circumstances, and feelings,
and appetites of those whom he wishes to seduce, and said
to him, " If thou be the Son of God, command that these
stones be made bread," or become loaves. Now it is most
absurd to suppose, as Farmer would have the maintainers
of the literal scheme to do, that he " appeared in his own
proper shape," (what that is, I am at a loss to determine,)
or in any form which would betray him, or in which he
would be easily recognised. Perhaps he assumed the form
of a man wandering in the desert, and professed to have
heard of the character and claims of Jesus Christ, and that
he wished to ascertain the truth respecting him ; and sug-

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 301
gested that if the Saviour would work this miracle, he would
both satisfy his own appetite, which he might surely do
with the greatest propriety, when his fast of forty days was
ended, and would also enlighten and guide an inquirer
after truth ; which was one purpose of his coming into the
world : or Satan might assume some other form, and try
to provoke and irritate the Saviour to show his power.
He could not, on this occasion, assume the appearance of
a good angel ; for no inhabitant of heaven would have
expressed a doubt whether or not Jesus Christ was the
Son of God, or would have undertaken to suggest to him
what he should do. Now this was a temptation not only
to distrust the goodness and providential care of his hea
venly Father, and to question whether he would provide
for him, in due time, or not, but also to impatience under
his present trial, as well as to prefer the gratification of
his senses, to following the dictates of reason and con
science, and to entire obedience to the command of God.
Satan had prevailed against Eve, partly, by appealing to
her appetite, and by exciting its cravings ; by directing her
attention to a tree good for food, and pleasant to the eyes ;
(how many victories has he gained by the same means !)
and he hoped in this way to overcome Jesus Christ like
wise. But how much more powerful was the temptation
in the case of our Saviour, than in that of our first parents !
They had access to all the trees of the garden, numbers of
which were doubtless " good for food, and pleasant to the
eyes : " they , could not have felt the painful cravings of
appetite. Jesus Christ was in a desert, where no supplies
could be obtained, and had fasted forty days, and nature
was urgently demanding a supply for her wants. They
transgressed an express positive command. There was no
such command, as far as we know, given to the Saviour;
he was left to infer from circumstances how it was proper
for him to act. And yet they were overcome, and he
triumphed. It is impossible to prove, as some attempt to

302 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
do, that this temptation was weak, or that it scarcely de
serves the name of a temptation, but on principles, or for
reasons, which would equally apply to all his trials ; and
thus it would follow, that instead of being " in all points
tempted like as we are," he was never so tempted at all.
And likewise, let it be observed, that he would be much
more clearly and forcibly taught what temptations of a
similar kind awaited him, and therefore that he must never,
amidst all the poverty to which he submitted for the sake
of man, and all the sufferings to which it exposed him,
work a miracle for the supply of the most urgent neces
sities of nature, than he could have been by any vision
ary representation, exhibited to his mind by a trance or
ecstasy ; so that the literal scheme answers even the end to
which its opponents think the whole temptation was in
tended to be subservient, much better than the visionary •
one could possibly do.
Jesus Christ was clad in the armour of righteousness on
the right hand and on the left. He was effectually fortified
against temptation by correct views and holy principles.
He was furnished with the sword of the Spirit, and he
knew well how to wield it, and Ivy it he overcame. He
immediately answered, "It is written," in the history of
the Israelites, when they were, as I now am, in a desert,
and were entirely dependent on the special providence of
God, and therefore the declaration is in every point of view
applicable to my circumstances, " Man shall not live by
bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God shall he live." Deut. viii. 3. It is of greater
importance that he should obey the command of God,
than that he should procure his necessary food in the most
pressing exigencies. The meaning of this expression, as
applied by the Eedeemer to himself, may perhaps be
learned from his declaration on another occasion, John
iv. When the disciples besought him, saying, " Master,
eat," he replied, " My meat and my drink is to do the will

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 303
of my heavenly Father, and to finish his work." This was
more important in the estimation of the Eedeemer, and
more refreshing and animating to his frame, than the
choicest viands could be ; and he perhaps knew it was the
will of God that he should fast till angels came from heaven
to minister to him : though, when we consider the con
nexion in which the words stand in Deuteronomy, and
their original application to the Israelites, their meaning
would seem to be, God can support me without bread by
his powerful word ; or he can furnish me, as he did them,
with a miraculous supply ; and therefore I will depend on
him, and wait for him, and not abuse my power of working
miracles, by an application of it to a purpose which it was
never intended to serve. Whatever may be in this, we
learn, from the answer of the Saviour, the important truth,
that all things which God has spoken and recorded in the
volume of inspiration will, if believed and obeyed, contribute
to spiritual, and therefore to eternal life, and that disobe
dience to any of them produces spiritual, and exposes to
eternal death.
The next temptation includes the greatest difficulty to
those who adopt the literal scheme. We are informed,
Matt. iv. 5, " Then the devil taketh him up into Jerusalem,
the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle," or on a wing,
or on one of the battlements, " of the temple." Now there
is plainly no necessity for maintaining or allowing that this
temptation immediately followed the other. We are at
liberty to suppose that Satan retired, and assumed another
form, probably that of a celestial spirit, sent to render
some service to Jesus, or to give him the opportunity of
performing a miracle ; and for this purpose to convey him
to the pinnacle of the temple. The great difficulty which
presents itself here, — and it is one which all who adopt
this interpretation must have felt, — is, how did Satan
accomplish this ? and how was it consistent with the dig
nity of the Son of God, to permit himself thus to be trans-

304 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
ported from place to place, by the prince of hell ? We
have already answered the latter part of the objection. It
was as necessary for Christ to be tempted, and to vanquish
temptation, as it was to die and to overcome death. He
could do either the one or the other, only in consequence
of his voluntarily exposing himself to it, only by deter-
minately, as it were, entering into a contest with the ene
mies of his people ; and it was no more inconsistent with
his dignity to permit Satan to take him from place to place,
than to suffer his enemies to bind and buffet him, and to
spit on his face, and to nail him to the tree. " He hum
bled himself, and became obedient unto death," exposing
himself to the attacks of Satan and to every kind of indig
nity. Those who adopt the hypothesis that the temptation
ofthe Saviour took place in a vision, are fond of represent
ing the matter as if, in the literal scheme, it is supposed
or allowed, that Satan appeared in his own form, or in such
a way that he could be recognised by even the spectators,
who might behold him as the prince of hell ; carried the
Saviour through the air in some such way as a ravenous
bird does its prey ; or persuaded or forced the Eedeemer
to accompany him, and to engage in conversation all the
way. This is to caricature the matter, not to describe it.
The evangelist has not informed us how he took or brought
him, first to the temple, and then to the mountain. We
know little or nothing of the powers of unembodied spirits,
especially of one so mighty as Satan doubtless is; and
therefore we are not concerned to specify the mode, nor do
we think it incumbent on us to answer objections founded
on any imaginary schemes. But if Satan appeared as a
man, and induced the Saviour to accompany him, he doubt
less assumed the form of a good man ; and as the know
ledge of Jesus Christ, in his human nature, was not infinite,
as it was capable of increase, Luke ii. 52, he mio-fit be left
in ignorance of what Satan was till he discovered himself
by the proposal he made ; and then, if the Jews saw him

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 305
they could have no conception of the character of the
being who accompanied Jesus Christ ; or if he was carried
through the air, it was done by Satan in the guise of a
good angel, and perhaps, in such a way as to be visible to
none. Lightfoot* indeed asserts that " our Saviour, as he
flew in the air, and as he stood on the temple, was visible
and conspicuous to the people ;" but we have no evidence
that this was the case ; and it is very unlikely, were we to
grant that he was conveyed through the air, that this would
be done in such a way as Lightfoot supposes. As to the
part of the temple on which he was placed, those who have
paid far more attention to the form of that edifice than I
can pretend to have done, are not agreed, nor can it be
determined from the word impvyiov, which is employed by
the evangelist. Farmer, indeed, raises vast difficulties
here, as if theije was no part of the temple on which he
could be placed, or to which he could ascend. The remark
of Doddridge is as pertinent, and his conjecture as likely,
as any I have met with, — that though " pinnacle " agrees
very well with the etymology of the Greek word, yet accord
ing to its use amongst us, it leads the English reader to
suppose that he stood on the top of a spire. The truth is,
the top of the temple was flat, and had a kind of battle
ment round it ; and on the edge of this battlement we may
suppose that Satan placed Christ in attacking him with
this temptation. "\
Perhaps, as Satan saw that Jesus Christ was subject to
the common infirmities of human nature, he thought that
if he could induce him to cast himself down, and if no
angel should come to his rescue, he might be dashed to
pieces at the bottom, and being found by the Jews in this
condition, he might be charged with self-destruction, and
thus he would be ruined both as regarded his life and his
character. But, doubtless, his great design was to induce
the Eedeemer to work an unnecessary miracle, to presume
* Works, vol. i. p. 007. + Doddridge, in loc.
IX. X

306 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
on the providence of God, and on a miraculous preserva
tion, without a warrant, and in such a way as would amount
to a tempting of God, and thus to lead him into sin ; and
perhaps also Satan wished to excite ostentatious feelings
in his breast, as the miracle would arrest the attention of
all who were about that part of the temple, and thus a
striking proof would be given that he was the Son of God
and the Saviour of the world, as well as an evidence that
he could depend on the promise of his heavenly Father for
preservation as well as for food ; though I must own I am
disposed to question whether the proof of his Messiahship,
or of his being the Son of God, was any part of this tempt
ation, or of the end proposed to be answered by throwing
himself down from the temple. To have answered this
end the claim should have been announced to the specta
tors, and their attention should have beeii arrested, and
then the miracle performed in confirmation of the doctrine
which had been stated. And Jesus Christ had not yet
commenced his ministry, and therefore had not claimed to
be regarded as the Son of God and the Saviour of the
world, unless indeed by the preaching of the Baptist.
However, presumption, by a wanton exposure of himself
to destruction, and an unwarrantable dependence on the
promise of God, were the only ends, as far as we know,
that Satan proposed to him, and to which the Saviour
alluded in his answer, " Thou shalt not tempt the Lord
thy God." Satan had endeavoured to wrest from the
Eedeemer the sword of the Spirit, and thus to vanquish
him with his own weapons ; but he was immediately baffled
in his attempts, and laid prostrate at the feet of him who,
amidst all the weakness of humanity, was still the Lord of
hosts, mighty in battle, and able to spoil principalities and
powers. We are taught by the reply and example o'f the
Saviour, that we tempt God whenever we expose ourselves
unnecessarily to danger, and hope to be preserved by a
special interposition of providence ; or whenever we expect

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 307
the end, without using the means ; or place unwarrantable
trust on the Divine promises.
The objections wliich the opponents of the literal scheme
urge against it, because it implies that Satan performed
miracles, (Farmer is pleased to say, the greatest miracles,
such as appearing in a visible form, conveying the Saviour
through the air, &c.,) have already partly been answered.
No miracle, properly speaking, was performed. The laws
of nature were neither suspended nor contravened, unless
it can be proved, which has not yet been done, that Satan
cannot assume a visible form, or exert any influence on
matter. The contrary appears to be the case, from the
facts which are recorded in the Bible respecting the minis
try of angels. Something wonderful indeed may have been
effected, which might have appeared a miracle to those
that did not understand it. But how often do men per
form that which appears wonderful or even miraculous to
some of their fellow-creatures, by taking advantage of the
laws of nature, and rendering them subservient to their
purpose ! If Satan has the power of rendering himself
visible, and of removing a quantity of matter from one
place to another, no law of nature was controlled or sus
pended, even were we to allow that he conveyed the
Saviour through the air.
Perhaps to add force to this temptation, Satan assumed
the appearance of a good angel, and pretended that he was
sent to guard him, and thus to afford him a striking proof
of the care of his heavenly Father, and of the truth of his
word, and to show him that he might securely depend on
it in time to come. And if the promise related to the
saints in general, most assuredly the Son of God had a
special interest in it ; He might depend on its accomplish
ment. Many of the remarks which have been made, will apply
to the third temptation, especially as it regards the convey
ance of the Saviour to the top of a high mountain. It is

308 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
of no importance, as it is impossible to determine where
this mountain was. The principal difficulty that presents
itself here is, how could all the kingdoms of the world, in
their glory, be shown in a moment of time, or shown at
all? By what means was this done? Great importance
is by some attached to the words, " a moment," or " an
instant of time," iv o-nyp% xp°vov- Farmer strangely main
tains, that the literal scheme supposes the performance of
what was not only miraculous, but absolutely impossible,
because, at the least, Jesus Christ must have had time to
turn himself round, and survey all these scenes, and this
could not be done in an instant. But surely this is mere
trifling. It is not said that all these were presented to
him, or exhibited to his view, so that he might survey them
in a moment of time. Besides, what occasion is there to
take these words literally ? How often do we say that we
will do things in a moment, when we mean, and are well
understood to mean, that we will do them immediately, or
in a very short time ! And similar forms of speech are,
doubtless, found in all languages.
Not to dwell on the different theories wliich have been
advanced respecting the manner of the exhibition in ques
tion, that which supposes it was done in a kind of pano
ramic scene, or visionary representation, seems by far the
most eligible. There is a great difference between allow
ing that Satan could operate on the senses and mind of
the Saviour, and throw him into a trance, and cause him
to believe that a thousand things which had no existence
were realities, so that he should be affected by them as if
he had actually seen and heard them, and supposing that
he could present a striking scene, by exhibiting a beautiful
picture of actual realities, which would excite lively ideas
of the original, while the Saviour was not deceived, but
still knew that it was but a picture. Men can do the
latter; what difficulty, theti, is there in supposing that
Satan, with all his powers, and knowledge, and experience,

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 309
can do it more effectually ? He probably intended to
deceive Jesus Christ here, to cause him to think that what
he saw was a reality ; and to aid the deception, he took
him up to a very high mountain. There is no necessity,
however, for allowing that Jesus Christ was deceived ;
though if he had been the subject of what is called a
deceptio visiis, this would not have been at all dishonour
able to him ; it would have been an illustration of an
important fact, that in all things, as far as the innocent
weaknesses of human nature were concerned, " he was
made like unto his brethren." Lightfoot * says, " Now
the acting of Satan in this delusion was the framing of an
airy horizon before the eyes of Christ, carrying such pomp
ous and glorious appearances of kingdoms, and states, and
royalties, and riches in the face of it, as if he had seen
those very kingdoms, and their very state indeed ; " and he
applies to the illustration of this theory the difficult pas
sage, Eph. ii. 2, " The prince of the power of the air," t6v
Spxovra rrjs ii-ovcrias tov aipos, as if Satan was called " the
prince ofthe power of the air," because he can operate on
it, and by it form shadowy representations of things, caus
ing them to appear as if they were realities. f This seems
much more probable than that he showed him all the land
of Judea, or any other part of the world. How could any
view that could be given from a mountain, however lofty,
even if the vision of the Saviour had been strengthened or
assisted in the most remarkable manner, be with any
propriety called, " showing him all the kingdoms of the
world, and all their glory?" How small a portion of
the earth, and in how indistinct a manner, can the
strongest eye behold at once, from the most advantageous
position !
The temptation was a promise, that if the Saviour would
perform to the tempter, whoever he might be, one act of
homage, all these kingdoms, and glory, and riches, should
* Woiki, vel. i. p. 519. t fee Appendix N.

3 1 0 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
be his; "for," says the father of lies, "all these are de
livered to me, and to whomsoever I will, I give them."
And Satan might think that the fact of his presenting them
to him in so extraordinary a manner might aid the delusion
which he was endeavouring to practise, and be considered
as a proof that he indeed had them at his disposal, and
might, therefore, induce Jesus Christ to comply with his
terms. Lightfoot applies the promise to the Eoman empire,
and endeavours to show with how much truth Satan might
say that all these were delivered to him ; and he thinks
that he might have actually fulfilled his promise to Jesus
Christ, by raising him to the throne of the Caesars. His
remarks and reasonings, however, appear to me to be much
more ingenious, if not fanciful, than solid.
Now, whatever may be thought respecting the strength
of this temptation, it was much more powerful as a reality
than in a vision ; and it included in it all that Satan could
offer, — all the pleasures and honours of the world, as well
as all its riches and power. Satan was sure that Jesus
Christ was a man, whatever he might be besides, — that he
was subject to the sensibilities and affections of human
nature. He well knew what sacrifices men will make, what
crimes they will commit, how they will dare the wrath of
the Almighty, in order to obtain possession of one kingdom.
He might, therefore, rationally, in a sense, hope to excite
the passion of ambition in the breast of Jesus Christ, to
receive from him the required act of homage, and thus to
accomplish his ruin, and that of the cause of God and of
human happiness.
Promptly, and with becoming holy indignation, was the
offer rejected, and the tempter rebuked, and commanded
to depart. And here again, he was put to flight by the
sword of the Spirit. " Get thee behind me, Satan." "Get
thee hence; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord
thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Satan was now
caused to know that he was recognised, and his plans de-

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 311
tected, and that it was in vain for him to make any further
attempts ; and, perhaps, Jesus assumed his authority as
the Son of God, exerted his power, and positively com
manded Satan to depart. Whatever may be in this, we are
informed that " the devil departed from him for a season,"
which plainly implies that he intended to attack him again,
and that he actually did so, though, as far as we know, not
in the same manner, appearing in a visible form, and
transporting him from place to place. This is by no means
implied in the language of the evangelist. But that he did
assault him afterwards is certain, from John xiv. 30, " The
prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me."
On the symbolical scheme, indeed, the words could not
with propriety be used, for according to it, Satan had not
attacked him at all, and he never, as far as we know, was
the subject of another vision. Hence, Farmer labours
hard, but very unsuccessfully, to explain this expression in
a consistency with his hypothesis ; and though he refers
his implied returning to the realisation of the vision in the
trials and temptations to which the Saviour was exposed, it
could not be said, on this principle, that the devil departed
from him even for a season ; for as Jesus Christ entered
forthwith on his personal ministry, these immediately
commenced. The ¦ angels, we are informed, came and
ministered to the victorious Saviour. They supplied him
with the food which was necessary to recruit his ex
hausted frame. Doubtless this, as well as his fasting,
is to be taken literally. This Farmer is obliged to al
low ; and this is another evidence that the whole account
of the temptation is a literal record of what actually took
place. How insignificant are the victories of the most celebrated
earthly conquerors over all the power of their fellow-men
combined in the mightiest armies, when compared with
the moral and spiritual victory which the Eedeemer, on
this occasion, gained over the prince of darkness, flushed

312 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
and animated with the recollection of all the triumphs
which he had achieved during four thousand years over mul
titudes of the human race, including many ofthe wisest and
best that had ever appeared in the world ; an Abraham, a
Jacob, a David ; commencing with their great progenitors
in a state of innocency ! The victory was gained in human
nature, in circumstances the most advantageous to the
tempter, and most unfavourable to the Saviour. What a
contrast between his situation and that of our first parents
in paradise ! and yet he conquered, and they were over
come. Whatever the influence of the union of the Divine
and human natures in the person of the Eedeemer, the
victory was achieved in the latter, amidst all its innocent
infirmities, by the force of wisdom and noble principles,
and holy dispositions ; of love to God, and benevolence
to the human race. What would have been the con
sequences if the Saviour had been overcome, if we may
be allowed to make such a supposition ! How direful
were the results of the victory which was gained over
Adam in paradise ! What confusion, and crimes, and
misery, have deluged the earth in consequence ! But
what must have been the result, if the second Adam, the
champion of heaven and earth, of God and men, against
the prince of darkness, the hosts of hell, had been van
quished ! He fought and triumphed for us. And he says
to all his people, " Be of good cheer; I have overcome the
world." I have overcome Satan, and death, and hell. I
have overcome temptation in all its forms ; and, therefore,
you shall overcome also. And hence the promise, " The
God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly."
What benefits and blessings may we all derive from the
victory gained by the Eedeemer on the occasion to which
our attention has been directed ! If we are still over
come by the great enemy of souls, because we will not
enlist and fight under the Saviour's banner, our state is
desperate, we must be as miserable for ever and ever

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 313
as Satan can make us. On the contrary, if we gain
the victory, the kingdom of heaven and all its glories
are ours ; and we can overcome only through the " blood
of the Lamb," and by taking to us " the whole armour
of God."

LECTUKE VII.
THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
THE TEMPTATIONS OF SATAN IN THEIR COMMON OE OUDINAr.Y FOBM.
"We are not ignorant of his devices." — 2 Coa. ii. 11.
We come now to the last, but in some respects the
most important part of our subject, viz. the manner in
which Satan exerts his power or agency through the medium
of ordinary temptation. To his attacks in this way we are
all exposed, at any time, and in ways, perhaps, of which it
is difficult for us to form any idea. And were he permitted
now to take possession of the persons of men as frequently
and as far, as he did in the time of our Saviour ; did we
behold them every day, wherever we went, reduced on this
account to the most deplorable situation by his power and
malice, we should have much more to fear — as surely as
the representations of the Scriptures are correct — front his
invisible attacks, from his efforts to cause us to break the
law of God, and to prevent us from availing ourselves of
the provisions of the Gospel, than from anything he could
do by inflicting either bodily or mental diseases. Nay,
were we to admit all that the most credulous have reported
and believed respecting oracles and witchcraft, and all the
delusions that Satan has practised, and all the misery he
has caused by these means, still his influence as a tempter
has been more destructive than it would have been by all
these practices and arts. In possessions, as far as he
brought men under his power, so as to produce insanity,
he deprived them, at the same time, of their responsibility,

THE AGENCY OF EVIL. SPIRITS. 315
so that he could not involve them in guilt ; and witchcraft
and oracles have always been limited to a few persons and
localities ; but as tempters to sin by their invisible in
fluence, evil spirits have ranged through the whole world ;
and we have no reason to think that any son or daughter
of Adam has been exempted from their attack, or has not
been led by them into the commission of sin. Every
truly good man has constantly to wrestle with these fallen
principalities and powers ; and facts prove that delusions
as gross have been imposed on men, and crimes as horrid
have been practised, where oracles were unknown, as where
they exerted all their power, and uttered the most egregious
falsehoods as revelations from heaven, and enjoined, as the
only way of escaping the vengeance of their supposed
deities, the commission of the most shocking crimes.
Though the Mexicans had their temples, and altars, and
priests, they had not, as far as I have been able to learn,
any oracles like those of Greece and Eome ; and yet where
was ever the human mind more fearfully darkened and
perverted by ignorance and error, or the heart of man
more depraved and debased by superstition ? Where was
ever that which is at once one of the most cruel, impious,
and revolting crimes, to which Satan ever tempted, or
which infatuated mortals ever perpetrated, practised to so
great an extent as in Mexico ? Or where did the genius
of cruelty ever glut itself more with the most barbarous
infliction of torment ? What are all the human sacrifices
that ever were demanded by the oracles of ancient heathen
ism, compared with the twenty, or sometimes fifty thousand,
which, we are informed, were presented to his sanguinary
deities by Montezuma in one year ? Nay, where have
greater abominations been practised, than among Jews
and professed Christians, to whom were committed the
oracles of God ? And in the production of all these,
Satan, as a tempter, has had a large influence. Who, then,
has not cause to dread his craft, and malice, and power ?

316 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
Who may not be injured, if not ruined, by his devices ?
How important, then, is it to know them ! How arduous,
and yet how necessary, is the attempt to point them
out! On the nature of temptation, and on the import of the
word, it is not necessary to dwell. It signifies in general
to try or prove, to put to the test of experiments : the
word rrra, which is generally used in Hebrew to signify
trial or probation, and hence temptation, comes from one
that signifies to try by the smell ; and this sense will
sometimes enable men to ascertain the most subtle, hidden
qualities of objects ; and in a general way it means to
try, to prove, in order to ascertain. In Greek, the word
that signifies to tempt, ireipd£a>, comes from one, ireipa,
which means to pierce, to bore through, " to pierce a
vessel, that the liquor which is in it maybe known;"*
and, therefore, it signifies a thorough, effectual trial, by
experience and facts. It is employed in either a good or a
bad sense, for a trial or experiment made either by God,
for the most holy and benevolent, or by Satan, for the
most wicked and malignant purposes. Hence the old
distinction, " Diabolus tentat ; Deus probat," "The devil
tempts; God proves." God tempted, or tried, and proved
Abraham, that his faith might be found unto glory, and
honour, and praise, might be exhibited to the admiration
and imitation of the whole church, and might obtain a
great reward in heaven. Satan tempted Judas and
Ananias, that he might draw them into sin, and thus ruin
them for ever. God, indeed, may tempt, or try men,
when he knows that they will not abide the trial, but that
they will fall, as he did the Israelites in the wilderness.
He there proved them, and discovered all that was in their
heart, though he knew how perversely they would act ; but
he never tempts men in order to lead them to commit sin.
We are warranted by the nature, the commands, the
» Dr. Owen on Temptation, p. 439.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 317
threatenings, and promises of God, to say, that there
never has been in the universe a rational creature that has
fallen before temptation, whose victory over it would not
have been pleasing to the Divine Being, and followed with
his approbation. Satan is always gratified, he ever feels an
infernal pleasure, when men fall before temptation ; when
it is successfully resisted, he is mortified. He tempts
under the influence of the most malignant dispositions,
and for the attainment of the basest and the most cruel
purposes. Much as there is that is mysterious on this subject, there
are several things which, if the principles that have been
advocated in these lectures are correct, are as obvious as
they are important. First, that Satan does tempt men, nay
that, if the expression might be applied to spirits, it is his
meat and his drink. When we consider the character and
circumstances of Satan and his associates, the part which
they acted in heaven, their eternal exclusion from thence,
the way in which wilful sin, and obstinate impenitence,
amidst constant punishment, and irritating collision with
the object of dislike and hatred, while its glories are more
and more displayed by every attempt to obscure them,
must operate, we may be certain, as has already been
shown, from what we observe amongst rational creatures
in this world, nay from experience itself in some degree,
that Satan will be disposed, will be determined to tempt
as far as he has it in his power. And there is nothing
more mysterious in the fact that God permits him to
carry on the work of temptation, throughout the whole
extent of this earth, and that for ages, than that he suffers
large portions of it to be brought under the dominion of
some wicked human spirits, and filled, through their in
fluence, with miseries and crimes ; so that they have been
correctly designated "incarnate devils." It has been
properly observed by an old writer,* " Nothing is more
* Gilpin, Demonologia Sacra.

318 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
likely to beget malice, than hurts, and punishments, and
degradations from happiness. Satan's curse, though just,
fills him with rage and fretting against God, when he con
siders that from the state and dignity of an angel of
light, he is cast down to darkness, and to the basest con
dition imaginable. Where the heart is so wicked that it
cannot accept the punishment of the iniquity, all punish
ment is as poison, and envenoms the breast with rage
against the hand that inflicted it. Thus doth Satan's fall
enrage him, and the more when he sees man instated into
a possibility of enjoying that which he has lost. Hence it
may be concluded that Satan, being a wicked spirit, and
his wickedness being capable of working higher or lower,
according to occasions, and with a suitableness thereto,
cannot but show an inconceivable malice against us ; our
happiness and his misery," (and it may be added the glory
of God, and his own conscious deformity and vileness,)
" being such proper occasions for the wickedness of his
heart to work upon."
But to dismiss all general analogical reasoning on this
subject, the word of God clearly reveals and states the
fact, that Satan and his angels are constantly, assiduously
engaged in attempting to render men like themselves in
moral impurity and, wretchedness. From it we learn the
alarming, important fact, that he introduced, by his craft
and influence, as a tempter, sin into our world ; that he
prevailed against our first parents amidst all the innocence,
and privileges, and happiness of paradise ; and it gives us
a most instructive view of the manner in which he con
ducted the first temptation, and triumphed over all the
wisdom and virtue of the progenitor and representative of
the human race. Not only have we several instances given
us in the Scriptures of his tempting individuals, but he is
represented to us as " the god of this world," 2 Cor. iv. 4.
He has subjected men to his power, he renders them sub
servient to his purposes, imposes on them his yoke and

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 319
his laws, and in a sense receives their homage, indirectly,
if not directly. He is also called " the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit," or the ruler of the spirit,
" that worketh in the children of disobedience," Eph. ii. 2.
When men are converted and brought to embrace the
Gospel, especially when they are delivered from idolatry,
they are, according to the representations of the Bible,
" turned from darkness tonight, and from the power of
Satan unto God," Acts xxvi. 18. As it is expressed in
another passage, they are " delivered from the power of
darkness, and translated into the kingdom of God's dear
Son," Col. i. 13. The " enemy," that sowed the tares in
the field of the world, in which the Son of man sowed the
good seed of the word of God, " is the devil," Matt. xiii.
39. " For this purpose the Son of God was manifested,
that he might destroy the works of the devil," 1 John iii. 8.
"The old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, deceives the
whole earth," Eev. xii. 9.
Now from these and similar representations, it clearly
follows, that every system of error, and superstition, and
idolatry, everything that has caused the moral darkness
in which the nations have been involved, the pollution in
which they have wallowed, and the absurdities and cruelties
which they have practised, has been, in an important
sense, the work of Satan. He has indeed found the
materials in abundance, in the human heart, of which he
has constructed his systems ; men have been his ready
coadjutors in erecting them. In their dispositions and
passions there has ever been something congenial to every
error which he has wished to disseminate, to every corrupt
and wicked practice to which he has tempted. May I not
say that in some .cases they have even tempted the tempter,
and furnished him with the hints which he has improved ?
Still, these systems and crimes, to which I have alluded,
are his works. The darkness, in all its ignorance, and
errors, and pollution, and. cruelties, is the kingdom in

320 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
which he reigns. He is " the ruler of the darkness of
this world." He can, in some way or other, exert an in
fluence to involve men in ignorance, or keep them in it ;
to induce them to embrace error, and to commit crimes of
every description. And that he is constantly engaged in
this infernal work, is plainly implied in those passages'
which have been already quoted, as well as in many others.
Whether there be any other revolted region of Jehovah's
dominions, into which he is permitted to roam, any other
rational beings whom he has brought under his control, it
is not for us to say. It is easy to make assertions, and to
take things for granted ; but certain it is, that this world
occupies a large share of his malignant regards, and that
here he is dreadfuUy successful in the work of destruction.
There is not an error or false doctrine to be found in all
the records or systems of error, there is not a crime in the
long black catalogue of crimes, which the depraved in
genuity, and appetites, and passions of men have led them
to commit, that is not, directly or indirectly, the result of
his influence ; nay, not one of which we can positively say
that he is not the instigator. But as he has revolted from
his rightful sovereign, " the King eternal, immortal, and
invisible," and erected the standard of rebeUion against
the Most High, and has had the audacity, the dreadful
temerity, to enter the lists with Almighty Power, to " defy
the Omnipotent to arms," (oh, what abundant evidence
have we in the history and present deeds of our own
species, that rational beings are capable of this ! other
wise, it might be deemed almost incredible,) and as he,
probably, fell by aspiring after that to which he urged our
first parents, seeking equality with God, — idolatry, in some
one of its forms, nay, in all its forms, must be in a
special manner his invention, his work, because it is a
worshipping and serving the creature more than the
Creator. Whether the comparatively refined and elevated
system of Persia, and Chaldea, and Peru, in framing and

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 321
practising of wriich, though men forgot Jehovah, the self-
existing, eternal, infinite Source of life, they still directed
their eyes and their attention in a sense to heaven, and
adored the fire, the sun, and moon, and stars, and all the
host of the spacious firmament; or the absurd mundane
mythology of Greece and Eome, with its gods and -god
desses of terrestrial origin, and human passions of the
lowest, grossest order, the deformity, and folly, and abomi
nation of which could not be hidden by all the genius and
splendid achievements of their great men, and by all their
magnificent and beautiful temples, and altars, and statues,
and paintings ;— nay, these rendered the darkness, and
deformity, and folly only more palpable; — or the ex
travagant, monstrous, libidinous, murderous idolatry of
India, with its myriads of gods, and nameless obscenities,
and revolting self-murders, and worse than self-murders, in
the cruel, unnatural destruction of those whom nature, and
justice, and religion recommend to the most affectionate
love ; — or the fierce, diabolical superstition of Mexico,
slaughtering its hecatombs of human sacrifices ; — or the
stupid, grovelling idol-worship of Africa and the Southern
Ocean, whose images seem to have been devised and
formed by the very genius of ughness, the spirit of de
formity ; — all of these systems breathe his temper, bear
his image and superscription, in their absurdity, impiety,
unnaturalness, lust, and cruelty; all are the worst, the
grossest that he could induce men to adopt in their various
circumstances ; and all answer, in a greater or less degree,
his purpose,— to affront the God of heaven, and degrade
and destroy the sons of men.
We may also conclude from the general principles and
statements of the Bible, and from what we know of the
nature of Satan, that he has had a large share in producing
all the various corruptions of Christianity that have de
stroyed its spirit, deformed its heavenly beauty, and coun
teracted the design of its Author; nay, rendered it the
ix. *

322 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
savour of death unto death. Alas, how soon were effectual
substitutes for all the gods and goddesses, and super
stitions, and festivals, and mysteries of Greece and Eome,
introduced into the Christian church under the form of
canonised mortals; while Satan found a more efficient
vicegerent in the Man of sin, than ever he had done in the
pagan emperor ! The mystery of iniquity was operating in
the time of the apostles ; and soon, and most conspicuously,
when beheld either in the light of prophecy, or of Chris
tianity in general, was " that wicked one revealed, whose
coming was after the working of Satan, with power, and
signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish."* Error was most
artfully arrayed in the garb of truth, and vice adorned
with the name and habiliments of virtue ; and both were
caused to exhibit all the attractions of which they are ca
pable, to hearts that secretly hated holiness and relished
sin, and therefore would not receive the love of the truth
that they might be saved.
What allurements could unrighteousness possibly pre
sent, which were not found in this Antichristian system ?
It had (and it has) its austerities and mortifications to
gratify the morose and the proud ; its indulgences and
carnivals to gratify the voluptuous. It had its honours
and high stations to allure the aspiring, and its monas
teries and nunneries for the recluse and the ascetic. It
had its merits and works of supererogation for the lovers
of pleasure. It presented its riches to the votaries of
money, and its voluntary poverty to those who, in this
way, sought the reputation of superior sanctity. It had
its vows of celibacy for those who, notwithstanding the ex
press denunciations of the Bible, thought there was some
thing holy in refusing to marry, and forbidding it to others,
and its concubinage to enable them at the same time to
gratify the flesh. It had its miracles for those who de-
* See Sortain's Lectures.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 323
sired signs and wonders, and its infallibility for those who
wished to dispense with the labour of thinking and an
swering for themselves. It had its confessions for those
who desired to live in sin, and yet preserve an easy con
science ; and, what would be incredible, were it not proved
by fact, its confessions before the perpetration of the act,
to diminish the guilt of the most horrid crimes, nay, in
some degree to sanction them, and its ritual observance
for those who disliked the spirituality of religion : its bap
tismal regeneration, (we heartily wish that this was con
fined to the church of Eome,) for those who did not care
to examine whether they were born again, and to labour to
enter in at the strait gate, and its extreme unction and
priestly absolution for those who had neglected all atten
tion to religion to the very last, and after all, its purgatory,
as the forlorn hope for those who have no other hope,
from even all its provisions. It had its palaces, and its
titles, and its thrones for the rich and aspiring, and its
alms and holidays for the poor. It had its visible head
for those who could not, or would not, look by faith to the
invisible Head of the church in heaven, and its images and
sacrifices for those who had no spiritual perception of the
" one sacrifice, which has for ever perfected those who are
sanctified," and who could not realise the cloud of wit
nesses, nor read their Bibles to learn the character of
those whom they ought to follow, and " who, through
faith and patience have obtained the promises." In short,
what had it not, that could possibly be included in the
comprehensive term, " the deceivableness of unrighteousness,"
suited to the taste 'of those who wished to serve God and
mammon ? And it has all these still, in the present day ; and
all connected apparently, in the most artful manner, with
the authority and institutions of the great Head of the
church, and therefore calculated to bind the conscience in
the chains of priestcraft and superstition. This system

324 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
has been called by one, who was no mean judge,* " Satan's
master-piece which exceeded all that he had ever contrived
before, and which he can never equal again." It threw
into the shade all the superstitions and idolatry of Greece
and Eome, as it regards art, subtlety, and accommodation
to the various tastes of men ; and fascinations, and pro
visions for gratifying the passions, and enslaving the con
science. What a proof have we of this in the fact, that
notwithstanding all the knowledge, and fidelity, and love to
the truth, and noble boldness of the reformers, of a Luther,
and a Zuingle, and a Knox, and many others, they could
not unravel all these arts of Satan, they could not break
through all the trammels in which they were held, and
cast off the whole of the yoke which had been imposed on
the church of God, nor escape from all the fascinations of
" the deceivableness of unrighteousness ! " But they car
ried much of the spirit of the Antichristian system which
they exploded, into the churches which they formed, and
there it remains, to a lamentable extent, to this day, and is
operating to produce a retrograde movement. When will
the command be universally heard and obeyed by the pro
fessed disciples of Jesus Christ : " Come out of her, my
people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you
receive not of her plagues ?"
On the same principles, we may be certain, that Satan
has exerted a powerful influence in the introduction of
every error, and every system of error, by which the pe
culiar doctrines of the Gospel have been obscured or
denied, in every age of the church or part of the world.
Even if those errors have had their source in the perverse
mind or corrupt heart of man, he who abode not in the
truth, and who maintains his cause by means of falsehood,
would, doubtless, endeavour to render them subservient to
his design. As it is by means of the truth that Jesus
Christ converts sinners, and sanctifies and saves his own
* Cecil.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 325
people, the great patron of sin and enemy of souls must
labour, with all his craft and energy, to counteract that by
which his works, — ignorance, and delusion, and sin in all
their forms, — are destroyed. The locusts which so terribly
devastated the earth, came, we are informed, out of the
smoke which arose from the bottomless pit. How exten
sively injurious and even fatal may be the influence of but
one error respecting the nature and character of God, or
the relations in which he stands to men ; the obligations
ofthe Divine law, the criminality and destructive tendency
of sin, the way in which it may be forgiven, and its punish
ment in a future world ; or the glories, and dignity, and
work of the Eedeemer, or the way in which sinners may
be interested in his work ; or the danger to which men
are exposed in consequence of the existence and character
of their spiritual foes ! As surely as there is a tempter, an
adversary to the cause of God and truth, he will endeavour
to render all these errors subservient to his cause. Hence
we may be certain that he puts in requisition all his ener
gies and resources to oppose the ministers of the Gospel
and missionaries of the cross. He will doubtless hate the
leaders and standard-bearers in the army of Immanuel. We
cannot wonder in this respect, however we may in another, at
the corruptions which have been introduced into the Gospel
ministry, or at the way in which it has been perverted to
subserve the cause of error and vice, and rendered subser
vient to the lowest, vilest purposes of avarice, ambition,
voluptuousness, tyranny, and spiritual domination ; or that
some ofthe most revolting scenes that hell has ever enacted,
or earth witnessed, should have been presented in connexion
with its sacred offices, and by men who have professed to
minister at its altars. John might well marvel when he
"saw the women drunken with the blood ofthe saints, and of
the martyrs of Jesus." In a special manner those who are
engaged in making inroads on the territories of the prince
of darkness, attacking him in his own kingdom, disturbing

326 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
him in his very seat, where he keeps his house and his
goods in peace, must expect his fiercest opposition ; and
when they are successful he must hate them and their
converts with a peculiar hatred, and commission against
them his most effective squadrons. They, in particular,
" wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with principalities
and powers." How Satan arranges his forces, or whether
he leaves any region of the earth, where his dominion is
already firmly established, nearly vacant, that he may
bend all his efforts against another, where his empire of
error and vice is attacked, according to the supposition of
an ingenious and excellent writer,* I do not undertake to
say : though I am afraid his motions are so swift, and his
forces so numerous, that we cannot safely reckon on his
absence from any part of the world ; and his agents are
impure as well as malignant, and will tempt to lust as
well as to error, or impiety, or cruelty. The former is
offensive to God and ruinous to men, as well as the latter;
and "the adulteress hunts for the precious life." Moloch
and Venus were worshipped by the same individuals
amongst the heathen. I cannot conceive that there can
be any depraved propensity in the frame of man of which
Satan will not avail himself, or any sin to which they are
prone, or which easily besets them, to which he will not
tempt. The heathen, before they are turned from the
power of Satan unto God, are as notorious for uncleanness
as for cruelty. I cannot, therefore, fully accord with the
sentiments of the respected and excellent author of the in
structive Life of Bunyan, when he says, " accordingly, the
bloody and libidinous vices prevail most in those places
where Satan does least, and visits but seldom. "t I should
rather say, they, as well as vice in all its forms, prevail
most, where Satan has done 7nost, and where he has accom
plished his work, and entirely subverted the true religion,
or prevented its establishment. Whenever this is known,
» Philip's Life of Bunyan, p. J 54. + Ibid.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 327
it must, just in the degree in which it prevails, prevent
vice of every description. I am afraid too, that we cannot,
by any inroad we can make on Satan's territories, however
desirable it is that this should be done to the greatest pos
sible extent, cause any sensible withdrawment of his forces
from our churches at home. Whatever may be in this, the
fact is certain that missionaries must expect and encounter
his most determined opposition, and that he will, as far as
he can, incite princes and rulers to impose restrictions on
the heralds of the cross, to persecute them and their con
verts ; and the emissaries of the Man of sin to insinuate
error where missionaries preach the truth ; and his vilest
slaves, those who perform his lowest drudgery, to tempt
their converts to drunkenness and sensual indulgence.
And how will he rejoice if he can induce the various divi
sions of the army of Immanuel to turn their arms against
one another — if he can involve the agents of missionary
societies in mutual strife and contention, and cause them
to oppose each other's progress ; and thus furnish the
world with objections against them!' May all concerned
in the management of missionary societies and churches,
be able to say with Paul, " We are not ignorant of his
devices ! "
A second important and certain principle here is, that
Satan cannot compel to the adoption of error, or to the
commission of sin ; he can only entice and deceive. The
act must be voluntary. If such an application of a passage
of Scripture might be allowed, it might be said that Satan
makes his dupes, as Jesus Christ does his people, " willing
in the day of his power." And when we consider that, as
far as I can see, he can persuade, directly, only by sug
gesting thoughts or ideas to the mind, or by exciting the
passions, and directing the attention to external objects,
(if he can do this,) much as we have to dread from him,
and well founded as are the warnings that are given us in
the Scriptures, yet his power is not so great as some

328 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
imagine, and therefore their efforts to lessen their guilt by
criminating Satan, by pleading as Eve did, " The serpent
beguiled me," will be fruitless. If he has some advantages
in the work of temptation over men, they have, when they
act the part of tempters, some over him. He cannot, when
he tempts in his own person, like them, address those
whom he wishes to delude, in verbal, eloquent discourses,
and employ a train of specious reasoning and interesting
illustration. He cannot avail himself of the fascination
of the voice, or the eye, or the action, nor of excited feeling
and sympathy, nor is he permitted to present to us written
discourses, to which the attention may again and again be
directed, and which are valued as literary treasures. He
must, therefore, avail himself of the assistance of men who
have embraced error, or who will plead for vice. It is prin
cipally through their instrumentality that he diffuses either
the one or the other. How effective a minister of Satan is
the learned infidel philosopher, metaphysician, or historian,
or the atheistic, licentious poet, or the irreligious, scoffing
novelist, who renders all the stores of his learning, and the
creations of his imagination, and the colourings of his
fancy, subservient to arraying piety in the garb of enthu
siasm, or hypocrisy, or of a contemptible weakness ; and
heartless licentiousness and cruelty, in the attractions of
sincerity and ingenuousness and nobleness of spirit !
How dreadful the responsibility of those who thus pervert
the most valuable gifts of the Father of spirits — of Him
who puts knowledge into the heart, and wisdom into the
inward parts ! How much would the influence of Satan
be diminished, were he thrown, as it regards every indi
vidual, entirely on his own resources and direct attacks !
This deserves the attention and grave consideration of all,
who, by purchasing and reading such works, and even
recommending them, because of the genius and learn
ing of their authors, contribute to preserve them from
oblivion, and even to increase their celebrity. Can there

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 329
be a doubt whether the mischief which they effect is
not greater than any good of which they are the instru
ments ?
I must own I scarcely understand what Gilpin and
others mean by Satan's power of spiritual fascination, as
something apart from, or more than, his ability to inject or
suggest thoughts, and thus to inflame the appetites or
passions. Gilpin describes it as follows : " Satan's own
power of spiritual fascination is that by which he infatuates
the mind of men, and deludes them, as the external senses
are deceived by enchantment or witchcraft. That Satan
is a cunning sophister, and can put fallacies on the under
standing — that by subtle objections or arguments he can
obtrude a falsehood upon the belief of the unskilful and
unwary — that he can betray the judgment by the affections,
are things of common practice with him. But that which
I am now to speak of is of a higher nature, and though it
may probably take in much of his common method of or
dinary delusion, yet in this it differs at least, that it is more
efficacious and prevalent. . He hath, by special com
mission, a power to lead those to error effectually, without
missing his end, that have prepared themselves for that
spiritual judgment by a special provocation ; and for aught
we know, as he hath an extraordinary power which he
exerts at such times, so he may have an extraordinary
method which he is not permitted to practise daily, nor
upon all. And thus some do describe it: ''Tisa delu
sion with a kind of magical -enchantment ; ' so Calvin,
'A Satanical operation whereby the senses are deluded.'
Thus Perkins, who after he had asserted that Satan can
corrupt the fantasy or imagination, compares this spiritual
witchcraft to such diseases of melancholy as make men
believe that they are or do what they are and do not, (as
the disease called lycanthropia,) and to the enchantments of
Jannes and Jambres who deluded the senses of Pharaoh."*
* Gilpin, Demonologia Sacra, p. 181.

330 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
He might well add, " A particular account of the way in
which the devil does this, is a task beyond sober inquiry."
And then he proceeds to prove from Scripture that Satan
does possess this power.
The first text which he quotes, and therefore I should
suppose, one which he thinks most clearly proves his point,
is Gal. iii. I, " 0 foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched
(or fascinated, or charmed) you, that you should not obey
the truth ? " This passage, however, is far from proving
his assertion ; for, in the first place, no mention is made
of Satan — there is no allusion to him. On the contrary,
it is evident from several hints which are given in the
epistle, that Paul had false brethren or teachers in view.
Chap. iv. 17, "They zealously affect you, but not well;
yea, they would exclude you, that ye may affect them."
Chap. v. 7, 10, 12, " Ye did run well ; who did hinder you
that you should not obey the truth ?" " He that troubleth
you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be," &c. These
passages render it evident that it was false teachers who
had bewitched the Galatians. They might, indeed, well be
considered the agents or ministers of Satan, as the apostle
calls them in another place; but this is quite different
from the spiritual fascination which we are considering.
These advocates of error could not exert any direct
spiritual influence on the mind ; they could employ only
the common arts of seduction. Farther, the apostle was
far from considering the Galatians, with all their errors
and faults, as given up by God, and entirely under the
power of Satan ; so that if he did possess this direct power
of fascination, he had not employed it on them. On the
contrary, Paul still had hope that those very persons whom
he denominated "foolish," and "bewitched," were truly
pious. Hence we have the following language, chap. v. 10,
" I have confidence in you through the Lord, that you will
be no otherwise minded." And hence he addressed them
as " brethren," not as reprobates given over by God to the

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 331
power of Satan; "And I, brethren," &c. And he thus
concludes his epistle : " Brethren, the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ be with your spirit, Amen." It is evident
that the word " bewitch " is used by him in a figurative
sense, to intimate that the error which they had embraced
was most palpably gross ; that their conduct was egre-
giously foolish and irrational ; or as Calvin expresses it,
(for his language by no means implies the direct magical
fascination, in defence of which Gilpin quotes it,) " Neque
tantum quod se decipi passi fuerint, eas arguit, sed quadani
veluti magica incantatione defudi." "Neither does he cen
sure them, that they had suffered themselves to be deceived
only, but even to be deluded by a kind of magical incan
tation." Besides, as the allusion here is to the "practice
of witches and sorcerers," it is more than doubtful whether
they ever were able " by secret powers to bind the senses
and effect mischiefs."*
The next passage he quotes is 2 Thess. ii. 9, 10, " Whose
coming is after the working of Satan, with all powers, and
signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received
not the love of the truth that they might be saved ; and
for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that
they should believe a lie." Surely it is evident that there
is no allusion here to any mysterious spiritual fascination,
or bewitching, but to the lying signs and wonders that
were wrought, and to the allurements that were presented
to their appetites and passions. It is indeed said that
God would " send them strong delusion." But this might
be done, and was done, by giving them up to the influence
of the lying wonders, and to the dispositions of their own
hearts, as he did the Israelites in another case, when they
embraced errors as gross as those which the apostle had
in view. Psalm lxxxi. 11, 12, "But my people would not
hearken to my voice, and Israel would none of me ; so I
* Gilpin, p. 183.

332 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
gave them up to their own hearts' lusts, and they walked in
their own counsels." Here we have the cause, and even
in a sense, the process, of the spiritual fascination of which
the apostle speaks.
The only other passage which Gilpin quotes, is Eom. i.
28, " God gave them over to a reprobate ;mind." These
words, taken in their connexion, plainly show, that men,
when given up by God to their own incUnations, to the
lusts of their own hearts, and to the ordinary temptations
of Satan, may embrace the grossest errors, and practise
the greatest abominations, without any other influence.
And in the same way, we may easily account for all the
errors, and crimes, and abominations, however vile, and
odious, and extraordinary, and unnatural, and suddenly
embraced, or committed; or however earnestly pursued,
which Gilpin adduces as facts which support his theory.
In fine, I must consider this spiritual fascination, and his
view of it, as altogether uninteUigible ; as ascribing a
power to Satan, which we have no proof that he possesses ;
as utterly unsupported by Scripture ; and as unnecessary
to account for any facts which the history of error and vice
presents to us. Were it possessed and exercised, those
who are under its influence would, so far, be almost blame
less ; because it is represented as irresistible, and as, in a
degree, depriving them of the power of thought and
action, however culpable they might be, in committing
those crimes which induced God to give them up, in the
way and measure supposed, to the power of the great
enemy of souls,*
This suggests a third general principle on this subject,
namely, that as Satan is not possessed of omniscience or
ubiquity, he carries on the work of temptation, to a great
extent, through the instrumentality of those fallen spirits
who are called his angels. This term denotes their in
feriority, and subjection to him, and their being united
See Appendix O.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 333
with him in his infernal occupation. We have already
stated the opinion of Jonathan Edwards, with regard to
the vast superiority of Satan to the angels who fell with
him, and there is no absurdity, no improbability, in the
supposition, that his pre-eminence is so great, that he can
induce them all to submit to his dominion, and to obey
his laws, and that he is, in reality and effectually, the prince
of hell ; and he has this advantage, that all his subjects,
like himself, are influenced by the principles of hatred to
God and man, and delight in perpetrating mischief, so
that they enter into the spirit of the work which he
appoints them, as far as temptation and seduction are
concerned. And there is no danger of their so far revolt
ing from him, as to desert his standard, join the army of
Immanuel, and fight for the cause of holiness and heaven.
May we not suppose, then, if what has been advanced is
at aU correct, that some of these evil spirits far exceed
others in capacity, that they can manage the work of
temptation with much greater craft and efficiency, and
that some of the lower orders are not much superior to
men in mental power ; and that several of these were em
ployed in harassing the man that had the legion ; and that
Satan, with the assistance of those who are next to him in
rank, presides over them all, appoints them their various
spheres, and even calls them to account, how they have
acted and succeeded ; and that for this reason, not only for
his personal efforts, and direct influence, but also, and
principally, for his indirect, because of the way in wliich he
marshals, and prompts, and leads on all the armies of
hell, we read so much in the Bible of Satan, and, com
paratively, so little of his angels ? Just as in the history
of a warfare, we read so much more of the general,
especiaUy if he is one of consummate abilities, than of
the inferior officers and soldiers. It is enough for us to
know, that he has these under his command. The subject
is thus stated and illustrated, by the eloquent pen of a
master intellect : —

334 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
" It has been said, that to ascribe to Satan such an
interference in the moral concerns of the world, as is im
plied in his incessantly tempting men to sin, is to suppose
him omnipresent, a supposition repugnant to the nature of
a finite being. It must be confessed, the Scriptures of
the New Testament teach us to conceive of Satanic agency
as occurring in almost every act of deliberate sin : he is
said to have filled the heart of Ananias ; to have entered
into Judas, ' after he had taken the sop.' To infer from
thence, however, that any proper omnipresence is attri
buted to this apostate spirit, betrays inattention to the
obvious meaning of the inspired writers. We are taught
to conceive of Satan as the head of a spiritual empire, of
great extent, and comprehending within itself innumerable
subordinate agents. The term Satan, in application to
this subject, is invariably found in the singular number,
implying that there is one, designated by that appellation.
His associates in the principal rebeUion are spoken of in
the plural number, and are denominated his angels.
Thus the punishment reserved for them at the close of
time, is said to be ' prepared for the devil and his angels.'
What their number may be, it is vain to conjecture ; but
when we reflect on the magnitude of the universe, and the
extensive and complicated agency in which they are
affirmed to be engaged, we shall probably be inclined to
conjecture, that it far exceeds that of the human race.
In describing the affairs of an empire, it is the uniform
custom of the historian, to ascribe its achievements to one
person, to the ruling mind under whose auspices they are
performed, and by whose authority they are effected ; as it
is the wiU of the chief which, in an absolute monarchy,
gives unity to its operations and validity to its laws, and
to whose glory or dishonour its good or ill fortune re
dounds ; as victories and defeats are ascribed to him who
sustains the supreme power, without meaning for a
moment to insinuate that they were the result of his

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 335
individual agency. Thus, in relating the events of the
last war, the ruler of France would be represented as con
ducting at once the most multifarious movements, in the
most remote parts of Europe, where nothing more was in
tended than that they were executed, directly or indirectly,
by his orders. He thus becomes identified with his
empire, and spoken of as though he pervaded all its
parts. Thus the sovereign of Great Britain, by a fiction
of speech, perfectly understood, is represented as the direct
object of every offence, and as present in every court
of law. .........
" Conceiving Satan, agreeably to the intimations of the
word of God, to be the chief or head of a spiritual
dominion, we easily account for the extent of the agency
he is affirmed to exert in tempting and seducing the
human race ; not by supposing him to be personally
present whenever such an operation is carrying on, but by
referring it to his auspices, and considering it as belong
ing to the history of hjs empire. As innumerable angels
of light fight under the banner of the Eedeemer, so there
is every reason to conclude, the devil also is assisted by
an equally numerous host of his angels, composing
those principalities and powers over which Jesus Christ
triumphed in the making ' a show of them openly.' On
this principle, the objection we are considering falls
entirely to the ground ; and no more ubiquity or omnipo
tence is attributed to Satan by our system, than to Alex
ander, Caesar, or Tamerlane, whose power was felt, and
their authority acknowledged, far beyond the limits of
their personal presence."
Now though it may be true, as Hall conjectures, that
the number of these unhappy, malignant beings far ex
ceeds that of the human race, we have no evidence that
this is so. But even if this supposition should be correct,
are we to imagine that this comparatively small, incon
siderable world is the only part of the universe assigned

336 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
to them for their abode, or that they are all continually
present on this earth, or that they are engaged in nothing
else than in tempting men to sin ? WUl not the malice
which bums in the heart of Satan against God and his
holy, happy creatures, induce him to make attempts on
other parts of the dominion of Jehovah ? Whether he
has been suffered to do so or not ; or whether, if aUowed
to make the attempt, he has realised success in any other
of them, it is not for us to say ; our wishes and feelings
would lead us to hope that he had not. That he should
be permitted, however, to try, is not more mysterious than
that he should be aUowed to invade paradise, or to attack
and harass the church of God, or the Saviour himself. It
is true we have no hint given us in the Bible that such is
the case ; but we must recoUect that the Bible does not
contain the history of faUen angels, but of the fall and
recovery of human beings. Now, if these suppositions
are admitted to be probable, and I must own they appear
to me to be exceedingly so, we are not left to conclude
that, even taking into the account the great activity of
Satan and his emissaries, they can always fill, as it were,
the whole earth, and that there must constantly be a fallen
angel at hand to tempt every man, or to take advantage of
any opportunity that may occur of soliciting him to sin ;
though none can be sure that this is not the case. But
with all the hosts of hell under his command, Satan can
not be, even in their persons, and through their instru
mentality, everywhere present, or possessed of anything
Uke ubiquity, according to the sneering representations of
some of our opponents. And this view of the matter
corresponds, as we have already seen, with the representa
tions of the Bible. Satan, even considering the term as
denoting the whole of the influence that he can exert,
" goes about seeking whom he may devour;" he "goes to
and fro on the earth, and walks up and down on it." His
great aim, we may be sure, is to bring aU men, whether

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 337
nations, families, or individuals, into such a state as that
they may be tempted, as the Scriptures express it, " of
their own lusts," and prove tempters to one another, so
that they may perform his work, and fall an easy prey to
his agents. And he doubtless endeavours to render, as
much as possible, the master-minds in every locality his
instruments in diffusing error, in patronising vice, and
opposing the cause of heaven ; so that " the kings of the
earth may set themselves, and the rulers take counsel
together, against the Lord, and against his Anointed."
In the fourth place we may, I think, be certain that
Satan endeavours, as much as possible, to conceal his
operations, and to carry on the work of temptation in
such a way that he may not be perceived or suspected.
He did so when he attacked and ruined our first parents ;
and, probably, as we have already seen, when he assaulted
our Saviour in the wilderness. And except in those two
instances, we have no satisfactory evidence that ever he
appeared in a visible form, or uttered any verbal language.
He is too much in earnest to throw impediments in the
way of his own success. For this reason, I must own it
appears to me very improbable that, even if he were per
mitted, he would have acted as the believers in witchcraft
think he has done, namely, that he would appear to any of
his devotees, or conduct himself in such a way as that his
operations might be detected, and his malignant character
discovered. The craft that induces him to assume the
form of an angel of light, would scarcely suffer him to
show himself as a fiend of hell. He endeavours to ruin
men by atheism and infidelity, by causing them to doubt
of his own existence. Would he then appear in a visible
form, furnish proofs of the existence of a God, and of
spirits, and of the truth of the Scriptures? One of his
devices is to lull men asleep in carelessness and disregard
of religion. Would he then do anything to alarm them,
and render them sensible of their danger? Will the
ix. z

338 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
fowler discover himself to the bird that he is endeavouring
to ensnare, or the ambuscade to the army that it wishes to
surprise and defeat ? If they will, then may we grant that
Satan will appear in a visible form, and expose his opera
tions to those whom he is attempting to seize as his prey.
It is true he " goes about as a roaring lion ; " but even the
lion will crouch and conceal himself till his intended
victim is within his reach, and not unnecessarily alarm
that which he wishes to destroy.
Fifthly. We may be certain that Satan will ever avaU
himself of all the advantages that are afforded him by the
dispositions, the character, and the circumstances of those
whom he tempts. As it has been sometimes expressed,
he will never row against the stream or tide, when he can
avail himself of its impetus. His earnestness in the work
of destruction will effectually prevent this. He wUl tempt
the proud, and those whose attainments, or situations, or
performances, are calculated to produce elation of mind,
to pride and ambition ; the voluptuous and unchaste, to
unhallowed indulgence and impurity ; the discontented to
fretfulness and repining ; the irritable and passionate to
anger ; the malicious and envious to revenge ; the peevish
and dissatisfied to murmuring and impatience ; the rich to
" trust in uncertain riches ; " to " deny God, and to say,
Who is the Lord ? " and the poor to discontent and envy,
or to " steal and take the name of God in vain ; " the self-
righteous to " trust in themselves, and to despise others ; "
the profane to swear and desecrate the ordinances of
religion ; those who are naturally of a bold and sanguine
disposition, to presumption ; and the melancholy, timid;
and dejected, to heartless, groundless suspicion or despair.
He did not tempt Peter or John to betray the Saviour ;
probably he could not have succeeded with either; but
Judas, who was dishonest and covetous, to whom, there
fore, the paltry sum of thirty pieces of silver would be an
object, while he was devoid of any real love to his Master.

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 339
It is true he tempted Peter, notwithstanding his zeal and
boldness, to deny his Lord. But it was when that disciple
was placed in peculiar circumstances, in which there was a
probability that he might be induced to act contrary to his
natural disposition ; and, perhaps, while Peter's ardent
temperament would often induce him to act rashly, he was
rather warm, zealous, and forward, than truly courageous.
Satan tempted Ananias and Sapphira, who were evidently
under the influence of that love of money which is the
root of all evil, to lie and keep back part of the price of
the land, which they had sold. But before he could hope
to induce Job to complain, and charge God foolishly, or
Abraham to give way to unbelief, he must have the ad
vantage, the assistance, of peculiarly favourable circum
stances ; the former must be overwhelmed with calamities,
and the latter brought into such a situation, that he
thought his life in danger. It is plainly implied in 2 Cor.
ii. 11, that Satan is, as it were, constantly watching
to take advantage of the circumstances of men, especially
of professors of religion, in order to tempt them with
success. " Lest Satan should get an advantage of us ;
for we are not ignorant of his devices." I know some
would render the word Satan here, the slanderer, or
accuser, and refer it to some of the enemies of religion.
But, to mention nothing else on this occasion, their
heathen neighbours would not concern themselves whe
ther these Christians were or were not too strict in their
discipline, whether or not they received and comforted the
excommunicated person, of whom the apostle had been
speaking. He evidently means, ' Lest Satan, the great
adversary, shall be able to injure the church at Corinth,
and the cause of religion in general, by taking advantage
of their severity to the unhappy person who had fallen
into sin.' For the same reason, the apostle exhorts the
Ephesians, chap. iv. 26, 28, " Be ye angry and sin not :
let not the sun go down upon your wrath ; neither give

340 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
place unto the devil." This plainly implies that Satan is
ready to take advantage of our frame of mind to tempt us
to the indulgence of that depraved disposition, or to the
commission of that sin, whatever it may be, to which we
are inclined ; into which something that is lawful in itself
may betray us, if we are not on our guard. He will
always endeavour to push us over that precipice near to
which we have been brought, or to hurry us down the
declivity on which we may be standing. And this is one
way in which we may account for the dreadful excesses of
furious passion, into which some men are frequently
wrought, and the shocking crimes into which, in con
sequence, they are plunged. No wonder that the vessel is
dashed to pieces, when, under a full press of sail, it is
driven by a tempestuous wind and a flowing tide against a
rock. The way in wliich some Christians have been harassed
by blasphemous, abominable thoughts, suddenly, forcibly,
and irresistibly suggested to their minds, and that some
times for a length of time, wherever they were, or however
they were occupied, may further illustrate our subject.
Though it is difficult, or rather impossible, to tell how far
these may be the native production of that depraved heart,
out of which, the Saviour himself assures us, "proceed
evil thoughts, and blasphemies," in all their various forms,
yet surely none who believe in the agency of Satan, and
that he has a power of suggesting anything to the mind,
can doubt for a moment, that they are often to be attri
buted to him, and that in such a degree, that those who are
harassed with them are unfortunate rather than guilty, are
objects of pity rather than of blame. Bunyan is far from
being the only person who has known from experience
what it is to have " a storm of blasphemous thoughts
burst upon him, stirring up questions against the very
being of a God, and his only beloved Son, and whether
there were, in truth, a God or a Christ, and whether the

THE AGENCY OF EYIL SPIRITS. 341
Scriptures were not a cunning story, rather than the pure
word of God." And some can add with him likewise, "I
may not and dare not utter, by either word or pen, even
at this time, other suggestions."* Some know by bitter
experience, what it is to be haunted by such suggestions
against the being of a God, the truth of the Scriptures,
and of all the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel, one after
another, as well as other " suggestions," which cannot be
named, for months, and at times for years together, so as
to have their lives embittered to such a degree, that they
would not for worlds consent to be exposed to such buf-
fetings again, or to be the subject of their former expe
rience. They have found, as Bunyan did, that the blowing
of the wind, the least noise, the most insignificant occur
rence, excited the suggestion ; nay, that it was habitually
present to the mind, "working in their breast, struggling
for utterance, as if an evil spirit had taken up its abode
there, and was endeavouring to usurp the office of the soul.
Again I must assert, to deny that such thoughts are owing
to the suggestions of Satan, would be equivalent to deny
ing that he has any influence whatever over the human
mind, or that he can suggest any ideas at all ; still I appre
hend, that careful observation would discover something
in the frame, or the experience, or the circumstances of
the individual, favourable to such suggestions : perhaps in
his want of clear views of the evidence for the existence ot
God, or of the truth ofthe Scriptures, or ofthe perfect recti
tude of the Divine dispensations ; or in a secret dissatis
faction with something that God has permitted, or which
he requires ; or perhaps in the state of the bodily health.
This may be in such a condition as to dispose to dissatis
faction with everything, and therefore to gloomy, melan
choly musings and feelings ; and of this Satan takes ad
vantage. And, probably, without it, as such thoughts are
directly contrary to all the principles of piety, and, there-
* Philip's Life of Bunyan, p. 114.

342 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
fore, to all the views and feelings of the Christian, Satan
could not succeed with his blasphemous injections ; and
the morbid state of health, or the melancholy frame of
mind, might not produce them, without his concurrence.
I apprehend it has been found, when those who have been
the subject of these distressing experiences have made ac
curate observations on themselves, and have recorded the
result, that when the health has been improved, and the
bodily frame has been invigorated, or anything has occurred
to cheer and animate the mind, the blasphemous sugges
tions have immediately become less powerful and frequent,
or perhaps have entirely ceased. When the Christian is
in a state of bodily, mental, and moral health, he will not be
troubled with these thoughts. I repeat it, the probability
is, that Satan could not then produce them. He must in
such cases have something in the subject on which to
work, and therefore I do not hesitate to express my con
viction, that though they proceed from him, and though
prayer, and faith, and waiting on God, are the weapons
with which the adversary must be encountered, temperance,
exercise, and medicine may have some influence in coun
teracting them, and that, in some cases, without these,
even religious considerations and exercises may faU of pro
ducing the desired effect, unless God should be pleased to
appear for the individual in an extraordinary way, and
even almost to work a miracle.
All will see that the subject now under consideration is
very copious, and that to do it justice would require a
whole course of Lectures, instead of a single discourse.
There are many other topics on which it is desirable to
touch, did our limits allow. If the principles which have
been advanced are correct, it is evident that Satan can
suggest thoughts to the mind. Indeed, could he not, it is
difficult to see how he could tempt at all in ordinary cir
cumstances. Spirits must have some way of communi
cating their ideas to one another; and, therefore, it is

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 343
rational as well as scriptural to think, that Satan can, to
a certain extent, impart or suggest his thoughts to men.
Whether he can do so immediately, or whether he must
employ the brain or some part of the bodily organisation,
whilst the soul is intimately and wonderfully united to the
corporeal part of our frame, is a subject on which we can
not now enter. Much may be said in support of the affir
mative. It would seem, however, that he must carry on
his temptations, in our circumstances, entirely by sugges
tion or injection. He cannot alter the appearances or the
nature of external objects, nor, as he was permitted to do
in the case of Jesus Christ, place us in circumstances
favourable to his design. He can only take advantage of
them, and tempt when the seducing object is before us ;
and this, perhaps, he can always do.
It may be asked here, Does he know our thoughts ?
Perhaps he does to a greater extent than is generally ima
gined. It is true that, in the full sense of the term, God
only " knows the thoughts and tries the reins of the chil
dren of men." He only knows them immediately or di
rectly, (being present, so to speak, with the very essence of
the soul,) infallibly and universally as it regards all men,
and all creatures, and all times. In no case are study and
investigation of even a single individual necessary for him.
But it does not follow from this, that Satan, a powerful,
experienced and sagacious spirit, may not know them, to a
certain extent, in consequence of his minute observation
and scrutiny ; nay, when we consider how they are con
nected with our bodily frame, and operate upon it, that he
may not know them, in some cases, by a kind of direct
inspection. In order to form as accurate an idea as possible of Satan's
temptations, we have only to consider how any man, dis
tinguished for his mental power, knowledge of human
nature, address, and depravity, would act, in endeavouring
to render others subservient to his corrupt purposes. We

344 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
may be certain that, in addition to taking advantage of
their tempers, and frames, and habits, and circumstances,
and employing generally the fittest instruments to effect
his purposes, he would exhaust all the arts of sophistry,
and false, yet specious reasoning.
That everything which is calculated to induce the
young, for instance, to defer attention to religion to a
future period ; the careless to continue to trifle, or the
proud to indulge their high imaginations ; the self-righteous
to build for eternity on their own works ; the moral and
amiable to rest satisfied with their essentially defective
goodness ; the impure to indulge their appetites and pas
sions ; the passionate to give way to anger and rage, and
the vindictive to gratify their revenge ; the infidel and
atheistic to say in their hearts, " There is no God ; " the
rich to trust in their riches, and the poor to indulge dis
content, or to murmur at the arrangements of providence ;
the Christian to be slothful, to conform to the world, and
to omit any present duty ; in short, all that can be an
apparent reason, or afford a specious disguise, in the case
of any individual, for the commission of any sin, or for
neglecting what God requires, will be suggested and urged
by him in the most forcible way ; or, as has been said,
that in tempting men, he will exhaust all the arts of
sophistry and false logic. This he did in the case of our
first parents, and of the blessed Eedeemer ; and in order to
gain an acquaintance with the way in which he attempts
to ruin us, we should carefully study these examples and
exposures of his devices.
It follows from this, and from the representations of the
Bible in general, that our danger from evil spirits is very
great ; and, perhaps, the more so, because it is impossible
to distinguish, generally speaking, betwixt their sugges
tions, and the propensities and workings of our own hearts.
The great object of Satan is, by means of these, to conceal
his purposes, to keep us in ignorance of his agency and

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 345
intentions, and thus to prevent us from taking the alarm,
and making resistance. How necessary is it in this re
spect, as well as in others, to live and walk by faith, and
not by sight ! simply, and firmly, and practically to believe
what the Scriptures state, and to act under the persuasion
that it is all strictly true ! Alas ! how much of our security
arises from our inability to see, and hear, our spiritual
enemies the hosts of hell, and from the practical unbelief
of which this is the occasion ! But we must in this re
spect as well as others, " look not at the things wliich are
seen, but at those which are not seen." And whether we
believe it or not, the fact is certain, that these malignant,
wretched, yet crafty and powerful spirits, are determined
to ruin every one of us for ever and ever, if they possibly
can ; and that we must overcome them by the weapons of
truth and piety, by the force of wisdom, and holy dispo
sitions, and right principles, or else they will vanquish,
and completely destroy us. There is no medium ; none
can avoid the conflict. They will attack us ; they have
attacked us. Let us beware of the extremes of either at
tributing to Satan everything which is sinful, or nothing ;
of thinking and speaking as if he were omniscient or om
nipresent, or as if we forgot that his knowledge, and power,
and activity, are fearfully great.
The question then, is, how are we to vanquish these in
fernal deadly foes? To this I answer, First — We can con
quer them only through the power, and grace, and merit
of the Saviour. Here, especially, " without him we can do
nothing." We must be sure, then, that we are interested
in him, and in the promise, " The God of peace shall
bruise Satan under your feet shortly." We must be in
such a state, that we can " be strong in the grace that is in
Christ Jesus." Nothing can possibly be a substitute for
his mediation and influence.
Secondly. We must keep our hearts with all diligence ;
we must be careful that they are in such a state, that, in

346 THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.
some degree, we may be fortified against the temptations
of Satan by our views, and dispositions, and habits ; by
knowledge, and wisdom, and self-command, and purity;
in a word, by all the graces of the Holy Sphit, and thus
we must " put on the whole armour of God." " He that is
of God," in this respect, " keepeth himself, and the wicked
one toucheth him not." " He that is born of God cannot
sin, for his seed remaineth in him," even " the incorruptible
seed of the word."
Thirdly. We must constantly watch over ourselves as it
regards our circumstances, and everything that might give
Satan the advantage over us. " Be sober, be vigilant," is
the command of the great Captain of salvation, in relation
to this part of our duty. We must realize the presence of
God, and be careful not to " grieve the Holy Spirit."
Fourthly. We must carefully and conscientiously use aU
the means of grace. He that waits on God in them, has a
promise that he " shah renew his strength." And the com
mand in connexion with this subject is, " Praying always
with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit." This is
a part of the whole armour of God, as well as the way
to call in the aid of omnipotence, and so to " be strong in
the Lord, and in the power of his might."
In these Lectures our attention has been directed to
subjects the most mysterious, the most awful, the most
cheering and consolatory, and the most practical. First —
The most mysterious : the permission of sin, and aU its
dreadful consequences, respecting which we must stiU ex
claim, after all the researches of piety, and genius, and
learning, " Oh the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom
and knowledge of God ! how unsearchable are his judg
ments ! " And from it we may learn our own weakness,
and the extent and magnificence of the plans of God.
Secondly — The most awful and alarming. We have had
to meditate on the complete ruin of myriads of glorious
creatures, formed originally in the image of God, and on

THE AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS. 847
the fall, and depravity, and wretchedness of our own race,
and on the lamentable victories which Satan has gained
over them. Oh ! what a spectacle is a whole world, is our
. own world, lying in wickedness, and in the wicked one !
How perilous the circumstances of every one of us !
Thirdly — The most glorious subjects : the victories and
triumphs of the Son of God, and the Eedeemer of the
human race, gained in the most honourable way, and for
the most benevolent and glorious purposes. Fourthly — To
the most practical. They come home to the business and
bosoms of every one of us. We cannot fully explain the
way in which sin entered the universe, nor the reason why
it was permitted. But we are plainly informed, how we
may be delivered from it. We may easily and clearly un
derstand how we may be made as holy as ever we were im
pure : how we may be as effectually justified as if we never
had been guilty, and be rendered as safe as if we never had
been exposed to any danger. There is much that is myste
rious in the manner in which Satan tempts, and endeavours
to destroy us. But we have all necessary directions re
specting the way in which we may obtain the victory over
him. And notwithstanding his power, and craft, and
malice, and our own weakness and folly, he cannot ruin
us, but in consequence of our refusing to avail ourselves of
the privileges which we enjoy, and of the grace that is
offered to us. Oh ! let us remember, and may God cause
us to feel, that we are actually, certainly, inevitably en
gaged in a conflict with the powers of darkness, (unless we
are already vanquished by them, and are therefore wretched
captives and slaves,) for our lives, and souls, and all the
happiness of heaven ! He that is overcome must lose —
"he that overcometh shall inherit all things."

APPENDIX.

A. Page 8.

Chrysostom seems to have thought that the flame in which the
rich man was tormented in hell, had banished his selfishness and
apathy, and rendered him, in some degree at least, benevolent and
pitiful. Alirbs a-ivoTvx&v tt)s evepyetrias, erepois irpo^evei tV aonnpiav
\om6v. ETSes ivas u^hs fy irpb rovrov, iras <piAi£vdpa>wos iyevero pera
ravra ; irpb ra>v btpBaXpav Kelpevov vaperpexe rbv Adfrpov £3j/, vvvl Se
Kal atsavTuv (ppovri£ei tZv trvyyevSiv' Kal roVe pev iv treptovaia wv, rpbs
tV iXeelvi)V ovk eireKajMreTO tov tttuxov 6iav, vvvl Se ev bSvvais Kal
avdymis &v aTrapatT^rois, K^Serai rav alru irpotTTjKSvjtcov, Kal ctfioT
TreiLtpBfjvai rbv ravra airayyeXovvra avrols ; bpus Ttas (plXavBpanros yeyove
/ta! %u.epos KalavpiiaSriTriK6s. — Chrysostom's Works, vol. ii. part 1
p. 790. 1838.
"When he could not obtain any benefit for himself, he would
afterward have secured the salvation of others. Observe how cruel
he was before ; how benignant he had become then. When he lived
on the earth, he passed by Lazarus lying before his eyes ; but now
he feels solicitous even for his absent relations ; then, when he
abounded in riches, he was not moved to pity by the affecting
spectacle of a poor beggar ; but now, when he was affected by end
less pains and torments, he was concerned for his kindred, and
prayed that one might be sent to testify to them of what he suffered.
Bo you see how benignant, and clement, and merciful, he had
become?"

B. Page 83.

I know this is questioned, or rather denied by many whose senti
ments, on account of their ability, learning, and piety, are entitled to

350 APPENDIX.
the most serious consideration. But I must beg leave respectfully,
yet decidedly, to differ from them. I cannot but think that all those
actions, which some would ascribe to reason, in what are commonly,
but erroneously, if the hypothesis which I am controverting is cor
rect, denominated irrational animals, may easily be accounted for
from their instincts, the acuteness of their senses, and the habits
which these enable them to form. Por what purpose is instinct
bestowed by the great Creator ? Obviously, just to enable those
creatures which have it, to do what reason, — it may be said, perfect
reason,1 were it possessed, — would dictate. When bees, for instance,
build their cells in the form of regular hexagons, and arrange them
in such a way as to give them the greatest degree of strength, this
is just what they would do if they were profound mathematicians ;
and when they select those flowers which contain the juice most
eligible for forming honey, they act just as if they were accomplished
naturalists. If there are any who vrill maintain that they do these
by ratiocination, and not by instinct, I must decline, for reasons which
I shall not state, to enter into any controversy 'with. them. Instinct,
and the acuteness of their senses, enable the inferior animals' to do
more wonderful, more apparently intelligent things, than any which
they are supposed to do by reason ; and if these can enable them to
effect the greater, why not also the less ? The faculty of reason,
I must think, forms a part of the image of God, in which man alone
was created, and it renders him capable of the moral image of his
Maker. And it was respecting him, and not the inferior animals,
that God said, "Let us make man in our image," &c. The Scrip
tures favour, I had almost said, teach, the doctrine that brutes
cannot reason. — Ps. xxxii. 9 : "Be not like the horse or the mule,
which have no understanding." — Job xxxv. 10 : " None saith
Where is God, my Maker, who teacheth me more than the beasts of
the field, and maketh me wiser than the fowls of heaven."  2 Peter
ii. 12: "But these, as natural brute beasts, (&\oya ' faa, dumb or
irrational animals,) made to be taken and destroyed." — Jude, verse
10 : " But what they know naturally as brute beasts, (aKoya fs"«,
dumb or irrational animals,) in these they corrupt themselves."
1 " And reason magnify o'er instinct as you can,
In this 'tis God directs, in that 'tis man."-Pope.

APPENDIX. 35 1

C. Page 89.

I retain the English translation of this important verse, because I
am convmced that it is correct. It agrees much better with the
literal meaning of the words in the original, with the Hebrew idiom
and construction, and with the connexion and scope of the passage,
than any other that I have seen. It is very generally translated,
" Who maketh the winds his messengers, flaming fire his ministers."
And I regret to find that Walford, in his very excellent transla
tion of the Psalms, renders it so. I am glad, however, that Storr
and Flatt, in their Biblical Theology, show that it cannot, with
a due regard to the construction of the original, be so rendered.
" Dn'1! to vrneto nirrn TOsta ntoi>, ' He employs his angels like winds,
and his ministers like flaming fire.' It is evident from grammatical
considerations, that in this passage angels are meant. In the com
mentary in the Epistle to the Hebrews, chap. i. 7, these words are
rendered thus, ' He employs his angels like winds, and his ministers
like lightning.' But if the idea of the passage were intended to be
this, 'He employs the winds as his messengers,' the word rnrwr,
winds, must have been before TOfcta (his angels,) just as, in the third
verse, tra» precedes, in the sentence, ilW] trcs Dten, 'He uses the
clouds as his chariot;' Moreover it ought to be irvwo instead of
mytca in the hemistich, ' He maketh the flaming fire his minister or
servant.' With this interpretation the context fully accords ; for it
was not the object of the writer of the Psalms to give a general de
scription of the visible works of creation, and to begin with a repre
sentation of heaven. On the contrary, this psalm rather contains a
delineation of the providence of God, in special relation to this earth,
beginning with the 5th verse. To this description is prefixed a short
song of praise and celebration of the greatness and glory (v. 1 — 4) of
our Lord and Benefactor, just as in the 103d Psalm, an ode in com
memoration ofthe greatness of God is appended to the description of
the Divine goodness (v. 1 and 2 ;) but the mention of the angels is
quite as appropriate in the celebration of the greatness of God, as
are the contents of the second and third verses, (compare Isa. xi. 22,
and Psalm Ixviii. 3, &c.) Thus, also, are the angels mentioned in
the descriptions of the Divine greatness in Psalm ciii. 20, 1 Kings
xxii. 29, Dan. vii. 10." — Ward's Storr and Flatt's Biblical Theology.
By S. S. Schmucker, D.D., p. 138.
With Storr and Elatt, as far as it regards the grammatical structure

352 APPENDIX.
of the words, I entirely agree. The translation, " He maketh the
winds his messengers, flaming fire his ministers," would never have
been suggested by a simple consideration of the Hebrew text. It is
not what the psalmist says, but what some commentators think he
must have meant, because they imagine he could not be speaking of
those beings who are usually termed angels. Thus Walfbrd : " There
is no reason to think that angels are here meant, because the psalmist
is speaking of those material agents whom God employs to perform
his will." I venture, however, (though it is with diffidence I differ
from so accurate a scholar,) to assert that there is sufficient reason to
think that the psalmist is speaking of angels, and of the creation of
angels ; and that it was quite consistent with his design to do so. It
is true, that, as Storr and Flatt have asserted, ' ' the psalm contams a
description of the providence of God in special relation to this earth."
But what could be better suited to bis design, than to commence
with a reference to the creation of the earth, and of the universe in
general ? What could be more calculated to impress the mind with
the greatness and glory of God ? Creation was the introduction to
providence. How natural, then, to make u. reference to the former,
an introduction to a delineation of the latter, especially when the
psalmist was about to dwell on the effects of the laws which God
established when "in tljs beginning he made the heavens and the
earth." Accordingly, this he does in the second and following
verses. There is an allusion to the creation of light, and to its being
diffused all abroad as a kind of covering to the heavens, the habita
tion and throne of God ; to the stretching out of the firmament, and
to its " dividing the waters from the waters," and to the formation of
the clouds and winds, as well as to their being employed as the
instruments of accomplishing his pleasure ; and then to the creation
and nature of the angels ; then, to laying the foundation of the earth,
and to various operations which were connected with moulding it
into a suitable habitation for men ; after which he proceeds to point
out the continued operation, in the dispensations of providence and.
as instruments in the hand of God, of the laws which had been esta
blished, and of the agents which had been created. What could
better illustrate the greatness and glory of God than the creation of
angels, his most glorious agents and messengers, and rendering them
spirits and flames of fire, and thus representing their nature and
powers by language borrowed from wind, or air, and fire — the most
subtile and powerful, and, according to our ideas, spiritual substances
with which we are acquainted ; especially when he employs the very
same imagery to assist us, in forming some conceptions of his own

APPENDIX. 353
spirituality, and power, and glory? " God is a Spirit" — Tlvevpa a
®ebs' the Greek word, it is well known, exactly corresponds to the
Hebrew rrn, the plural of which is employed in the passage under
consideration. " Our God is a consuming fire ; " and fire was one of
the indications of the Divine presence, when God appeared to the
patriarchs, Exod. iii. How natural, then, I repeat it, and how
accordant with what the Scriptures teach us of the nature and
powers of these celestial beings, called angels, or, by way of emi
nence, messengers, and how consistent with the design of the
psalmist to refer to the creation of angels, and to represent them as
being made spirits and flaming fire, and therefore as amongst the
most glorious of the works of God ! I can see no occasion for
rendering the passage as Storr does, " He employs his angels like
winds, and his ministers like flames of fire." Indeed, this is not so
much a translation as a paraphrase. There is no particle of compari
son in the original. It is not what the psalmist says, but what some,
influenced by their own theories, and their views of the connexion,
think he must have meant ; but the grammar and the construction of
the Hebrew language are against them. Add to this, that the
Septuagint renders the passage exactly as it is given in our version,
'O notwv tovs ayyeXovs avrov irvebpara, Kal tovs Xenovpyobs aurov irvp
tpXeyov. And the inspired author of the Epistle to the Hebrews
adopts, and therefore sanctions their translation, and that, when,
incontrovertibly, he is speaking of the nature and dignity of angels,
in order to show that, spiritual, great, and glorious as they are, they
are still inferior to the Son of God. Most certainly he unequivocally
asserts, that the meaning of that portion of the Old Testament which
he quotes, is, that God has made his angelic ministers and messengers,
spirits. Those who disbelieve the plenary inspiration of the sacred
writers, and maintain that, even when writing in the name of their
Lord and Master to the churches, and furnishing those records which
were to be preserved for the instruction and guidance of the disciples
of Christ in all ages, they were fallible, and liable to misquote and
misapply passages from the Old Testament, may, in consistency with
their hypothesis, maintain that the meaning of the psalmist is, " He
maketh winds his messengers, and flaming fire his ministers ;" but
I cannot see how those who contend for the infallibility of the
penmen of the New Testament, when writing to the churches in the
name of God, can do so. I must think that it is unspeakably dis
honourable to an inspired apostle to insinuate that, in order to show
who and what angels are, he should quote and apply to them a
passage from the Scriptures of the Jews, which had no relation to
IX. 2 A

354 APPENDIX.
them, and which, therefore, could prove or illustrate nothing respect
ing them ; nor will it be of any avail to say that the apostle quotes
from the Septuagint, a translation of the Old Testament which was
commonly used amongst the Jews. If that translation was erroneous,
if it misrepresented the mind of the Spirit as originally communi
cated to the psalmis-t, can we suppose it would have been quoted by
an inspired writer to prove or illustrate an important doctrine ?
Surely not. I must own that, were I to think that the translation
which I am controverting is eorrect, I should be disposed to adopt
the Socinian hypothesis, and maintain that the writers of the New
Testament might err, even in their doctrinal sentiments, and in their
views of the meaning of the Old Testament Scriptures. I can see
no alternative. It is no valid objection to what has been advanced,
that the word nirm is in the plural in Psalm civ. 4 ; because it is
used in this form when undoubtedly applied to spirits. Prov. xvi. 2 :
"The Lord trieth ninn the spirits ;" Zech. vi. 5 : These are the four
spirits (ninn) of the heavens, which go out from standing before the
Lord of the whole earth." See also Numb. xvi. 22, xxvii. 16. The
importance of the subject, and of the principle connected with it,
must be my apology for dwelling so long on this passage. Even if
we were to adopt Storr and Flatt's interpretation, the passage would
tonvey the idea, that angels are far superior to men in activity and
power, and can move with inconceivable force and rapidity from
place to place.

D. Page 93.
Jonathan Edwards supposes that " Satan, before his fall, was the
chief of all the angels, of the greatest natural capacity, strength,
and wisdom, and the brightest of all the stars of heaven. That
the king of Tyrus was but a type of Satan, Ezekiel xxviii.
12 — 19. Nay, that before his fall, he was the Messiah or Christ, as
he was the'anointed ; so that, in this respect, Jesus Christ is exalted
into his place in heaven ; and that Lucifer, or Satan, while a holy
angel, and having the excellency of all those glorious things that
were about him all summed up in him, was a type of Christ." And
that as he was the highest of all God's creatures, so he was the top
and crown of the whole creation ; he was the brightest part of the
heaven of heavens, that brightest part of the whole creation. " He
was the archangel, the prince of the angels, and all did obeisance
unto him." "And that he had, as God's chief servant, and the
grand minister of his providence, and the top of the creation, in some

APPENDIX. 355
respeet committed to him, power, principality, and dominion over the
whole creation, and all the kingdoms of providence. But when it
was revealed to him that, high and glorious as he was, he was to be
a ministering spirit to the race of mankind which he had seen newly
created, which appeared so feeble, mean, and despicable— and that
he should be subject unto one of that race who was afterwards to be
born; this occasioned his fall." And he thinks that, in his fallen
state, " he is so much superior to the rest, that he maintains a
dominion over them, and is able to govern and manage them ; that
they durst not raise rebellion against him ; all the rest of the devils
are his servants, his wretched slaves ; they are spoken of as his
possession, 'The devil and his angels.'" — Works, vol. ii. p. 608.
Much of this, I must think, with all due respect for the piety and
intellect of Edwards, is purely gratuitous assertion ; much more of
it is built on a very slender foundation. Still, it is evident from the
Scriptures, that there is one of these spirits vastly superior to any of
the others : that he rules over them, and employs them as his agents
in executing his plans.

E. Page 95.

Edwards, in the passage which has been quoted, supposes that the
first sin of Satan was refusing to act the part of a ministering spirit
to man, a creature which had been recently brought into existence,
and far inferior to himself ; and, especially, his refusing to consent to
do homage to one of his race, who was afterwards to be born, viz.,
the Lord Jesus Christ. There are, however, several things taken for
granted here, wliich should have been proved ; such as, that Satan
did not rebel till man was created ; that anything was revealed to
hinn respecting Jesus Christ, or the plan of human redemption. We
have no evidence that this was the case ; and he might, for anything
that we know, have sinned ages before the creation of our world.
But, even if the conjecture of Edwards is correct, still the essence of
his sin was towering ambition.

F. Page 163.

" The narrator of the following story, Peter Walker, though an
enthusiast, was a man of credit, and does not even affect to have seen
the wonders, the reality of which he unscrupulously adopts on the
testimony of others, to whose eyes he trusted rather than to his own.
The conversion of the sceptical gentleman of whom he speaks is

356 APPENDIX.
highly illustrative of popular credulity, carried away into enthusiasm,
or into imposture, by the evidence of those around, and at once
shows the imperfection of such a general testimony, and the ease with
which it is procured, since the general excitement of the moment
impels even the more cold-blooded and judicious persons present
to catch up the ideas, and echo the exclamations of the majority, who
from the first had considered the heavenly phenomenon as a super
natural weapon-schaw, held for the purpose of a sign and warning of
civil wars to come.
" ' In the year 1686, in the month of June,' says the honest
chronicler, 'many yet alive can witness, that about the Crossford
Boat, two miles beneath Lanark, especially at the Mains on the
water of Clyde, many people gathered together for several afternoons,
where there were showers of bonnets, hats, guns, and swords, which
covered the trees and the ground ; companies of men in arms march
ing in order upon the river side ; companies meeting companies,
going all through each other, and then all falling to the ground and
disappearing ; other companies immediately appeared, marching the
same way. I went three afternoons together, and as I observed there
were two-thirds of the people who were together saw, and a third
that saw not, and though I could see nothing, there was such a fright
and trembling on those who did see, that was discernible to all from
those that saw not. There was a gentleman standing next to me,
who spoke as too many other gentlemen speak, who said, ' A pack of
damned witches and warlocks who have the second sight ! the devil
ha't do I see ! ' and immediately there was a discernible change in
his countenance. With as much fear and trembling as any woman
I saw there, he called out, ' AU you that do not see, say notiiing ; for
I persuade you it is the matter of fact, and discernible to all that is
not stone blind ! ' And those who did see, told what works (i.e.
locks) the guns had, and their length and vrideness, and what handles
the swords had, whether small or three-barred, or Highland guards,
and the closing knots of the bonnets, black or blue ; and those who
did see them there, whenever they went abroad, saw a bonnet and a
sword drop in the way.'
" This singular phenomenon, in which a multitude believed,
though only two-thirds saw what must, if real, have been equally
obvious to all, may be compared with the exploit of a humourist, who
placed himself in an attitude of astonishment with his eyes riveted
on the well-known bronze lion that graces the front of Northumber
land House in the Strand, and, having attracted the attention of
those who looked at him, by muttering, ' By heaven it wags — it wags

APPENDIX. 357
again ! ' contrived, in a few minutes, to blockade the whole street
with an immense crowd, some conceiving that they had absolutely
seen the lion of Percy wag his tail ; others expecting to witness the
same phenomenon." — Scott's Demonology, pp. 13 — 15.

G. Page 170.

It may be expected, that some notice will be taken of the Jewish
exorcists, of Simon Magus, and of the Philippian damsel, who was
possessed with the spirit of divmation. The first and the last of
these will come, more naturally, under the case of demoniacs. And
with regard to Simon Magus, all that it is necessary to notice, after
what has been advanced, is, that the -words e^ia-riSv and i^eo-TaKevat,
which are translated bewitched, Acts viii. 9, 11, merely mean to
fascinate, or, more properly, to astonish greatly. Now, in a. figura
tive sense, it might be said that he bewitched them, that is, by his
pretences and his arts, he fascinated or charmed them, just as we
sometimes say of beautiful scenery, it is quite charming, or of persons,
that their manners are quite fascinating or enchanting. But there is
reason to think that, as our translators were believers in witchcraft,
and as the pedantic and bigoted monarch, under whose auspices, far
from being of a favourable nature, the translation was made, wrote a
book on that art, they used the word in the ordinary, literal sense,
and perhaps it has been very generally so understood. The passage,
however, ought to be rendered, " There was a certain man called
Simon, who beforetime, in the same city, practised magic and greatly
astonished the people of Samaria. And to him they had regard,
because of long time he had greatly astonished them by his magic
arts." It is quite unnecessary to prove to any Greek scholar, that
this is a correct rendering of the original words, and that they never
signify to bewitch according to the ideas of the believers in witch
craft. In Matt. xii. 23, we read, "All the people were amazed at his
doctrine.'' Mark ii. 12, we are informed, that when Jesus
Christ had cured the paralytic, " they were all amazed, and glorified
God." Mark v. 32, when the Saviour raised the damsel to life, those
who saw it, " were astonished with a great astonishment." Many
other passages might be quoted, but it is unnecessary. In all those
passages the same verb is used which in the case of Simon Magus is
rendered "bewitch;" and what should we have thought, or what
sense would there have been conveyed, if in the texts just quoted we
had read, "The people were bewitched at his doctrine;" "They
were all bewitched, and glorified God ; " " They were bewitched with

358 APPENDIX.
a great witchery." So far, then, the case of Simon Magus gives
no countenance whatever to the modern notions respecting witchcraft.
He is, indeed, said to have used sorcery, (jiayeiav.) But it ought
to have been rendered "used" or "practised magic." The magicians,
it is well known, were a sect of Eastern philosophers, famous for
their wisdom and learning. To them those wise men who were led
by a remarkable star to Bethleham, to pay their homage to the infant
Saviour, belong (and are we not warranted, from this narration,
to hope that there may have been other wise and good men belonging
to this sect in all ages before the birth of Christ ? What right have
we to suppose that these were the only ones that ever existed?)
So famous was this race of philosophers, that a learned man and a
magian became equivalent terms. As might have been expected,
the consequence of the fame they justly acquired was, that a multi
tude of pretenders to science, and empirics who deceived the vulgar
by their arts, professed to belong to this class of philosophers. This
brought discredit on their name, and the term magician was frequently
taken in an unfavourable acceptation. In the bad sense in which it
was understood, a magician may be defined, one who pretended
to supernatural powers, and who supported his credit by an acquaint
ance with some facts in natural philosophy, not generally known, and
by juggling tricks. From what the sacred historian then says of
him, Simon may be viewed as one who pretended to supernatural
power, and who gained credit, because, by an acquaintance with the
secret powers of nature, he could produce effects that astonished the
illiterate, or, because by his dexterity as a juggler, he imposed upon
their simplicity. This is the utmost that can be deduced from what
Luke says respecting him, and in this there appears no such compact
with Satan, as is understood to take place in witchcraft."*

H. Page 177.

I srEAK generally : I know some exceptions to this statement may
be produced. For instance, during the witchcraft mania in New
England, some respectable persons were accused and executed ; a
Captain Aldin was committed, but made his escape after he had been
in prison fifteen months, so that he was never brought to trial. Mr.
Burroughs, a minister of the Gospel, was put to death, on a charge of
witchcraft : but he died protesting his innocence, and refuting the
charges which had been brought against him, which he did in so
solemn and pathetic a manner, as to draw tears from many of the
* Paterson on Witchcraft, p. 100.

APPENDIX. 359
spectators. Several of those who were executed during that melan
choly period seem to have been persons of respectable characters in
every sense of the word. A Mr. Philip English and his wife fled the
country, rather than expose themselves, though conscious of their
innocence, to the danger of a trial. They left behind them an estate
worth fifteen hundred pounds, which was confiscated, and only
about three hundred pounds of it was restored to them, when they
found it safe to return home. " But even in this ease the accusers
commenced with a poor Indian maid, who probably was a believer in
witchcraft, as her countrymen generally were, and might talk about
it to the children of Mr. Parris, a minister of Salem, in whose house
she lived, and boast to them of her skill in spells and charms ; and
this would be sufficient to inflame their imaginations, stored as their
memories doubtless were with stories respecting witches and ghosts,
and cause them to suppose that they saw and heard ten thousand
things which never existed. All, who, in the period of childhood
and youth, have, unhappily for themselves, been accustomed to hear
such accounts from their parents or others, and have been believers
in even their possibility, and been terrified by them, can recollect
the state of their minds and feelings on some occasions, and how
easily, if their nerves had not been pretty strong, they might have
believed that they saw spectres, and felt strange effects produced on
their bodies. This maid servant, then, was first accused by those
children, whom probably she had prepared for such a work, and
presently others thought themselves bewitched, and charged different
persons with being accomplices of Satan, in causing their sufferings.
Even a child of four or five years old was accused and apprehended
as a witch. The accusers said this child bit them, and they would
show the marks of small teeth upon their arms. As many as the
child cast its eye upon would complain that they were in torments ;
and even a dog was said to bewitch some, and cause them to fall into
fits, when it looked upon them, and it was, in consequence, put to
death ! But at last, after a storm of sixteen months, during which,
nineteen persons having been hung, and one pressed to death, and
eight more condemned, and above fifty having confessed themselves
witches, of whom not one was executed — above one hundred and
fifty having been put in prison, and above two hundred more executed,
the accusers, who commenced with an Indian slave, having become
sufficiently bold to accuse of witchcraft the more respectable people
amongst them, and even the justices that had prosecuted others — it
was thought full time to put a stop to those practices, and accordingly
soon after (April, 1693) all the accused were set at liberty, and those

360 APPENDIX.
who had fled for their lives returned home ; and it was found in this
case, as in others, that when men ceased to believe in witchcraft, and
to prosecute for its supposed crimes, it soon ceased to exist.

I. Page 177.

A remarkable case of this kind is related in the Encyclopaedia
Britannica.* " Gassendi, the philosopher, found a number of people
assembled together, to put a man to death for having intercourse
with the devil ; acrime which the poor wretch readily acknowledged.
Gassendi begged of the people that they would permit him to ex
amine the wizard before putting him to death. They did so, and
Gassendi, upon examination, found that the man firmly believed
himself guilty of this impossible crime. He even offered to Gassendi
to introduce him to the devil. The philosopher agreed ; and when
midnight came the man gave him a pill, which he said it was
necessary to swallow before setting off. Gassendi took the pill, but
gave it to his dog. The man having swallowed his, fell into a pro
found sleep, during which he seemed much agitated by dreams. The
dog was affected in a similar manner. When the man awoke, he
congratulated Gassendi on the favourable reception he had met with
from his sable highness. It was with difficulty Gassendi convinced
him that the whole was a dream, the effect of soporific medicine, and
that he had never stirred from one spot during the whole night."

K. Page 201.

It has been shown only too clearly, by those who have most care
fully studied this subject, that the Fathers are not entitled to the
praise of even sincerity and honesty, much less of accurate discrimi
nation, and careful sifting of evidence, in their attempts to defend the
cause of religion. There appears to be too much truth in the fol
lowing charges of Farmer against them. " Indeed, the .Fathers so
often speak from those motives " (of policy) " alone, as all must
allow, that it is sometimes difficult to know when they speak accor
ding to their own inward persuasion. St. Jerome gives the following
very just account of them : ' Quia interdum coguntur loqui, non
quod sentiunt, sed quod necesse est, dicunt adversus ea quae dicunt
Gentiles.' Whenever they have anrend to serve, no caution can be
too great, in following them." f I may well add with him, " In the
* Article Spectre. t Farmer on Demoniacs, p. 53.

APPENDIX. 361
case before us, they had many ends to serve." The same Jerome,
speaking in another place of the different manner which writers found
themselves obliged to use, in their controversial and in their dog
matical writings, intimates, that " in controversy, whose end was
victory rather than truth, it was allowable to use every artifice which
would best serve to conquer an adversary. In proof of which,
Origen, says he, Methodius, Eusebius, Apollinaris, have written
many thousands of lines against Celsus and Porphyry ; consider
with what arguments and what slippery problems they baffle what
was contrived agamst them by the spirit of the devil ; and because
they are sometimes forced to speak, they say not what they think,
but what is necessary against those who are called Gentiles. I do
not mention the Latin writers, TertuUian, Cyprian, Minutius, Victo
rious, &c, lest I be thought not so much to be defending myself as
accusing others." * Those who are best acquainted with the writ
ings and character of the Fathers, will be most disposed to think,
that I have, in various parts of these Lectures, attached too much,
rather than too little importance to their testimony respecting oracles,
demoniacs, and miraculous gifts. Middleton and others have proved
to a demonstration, that no true miracles were ever wrought after
the time of the apostles, and that all those to which the Fathers
attached so much importance are aniongst those "signs, and lying
wonders, and deceivableness of unrighteousness," by which the man
of sin, coming after the working of Satan, was to be characterised.
If not, where are those lying wonders to be found ? for those miracles
were intimately connected with the corruption of the doctrine, disci
pline, and practice of the church, and, therefore, with the rise of the
man of sin, and they are " part and parcel " of the system of popish
miracles, as they are performed to the present day. And there can
not be a doubt, that if Puseyism, with its pestilent heresies, de
stroying the very spirit of the Gospel, should make a little more
progress, it will soon have its lying miracles, to subserve the schemes
of the crafty, and excite the astonishment of the ignorant and super
stitious. Thus it will, in two ways, most effectually answer the ends
of Satan : it will counteract and neutralise, in the case of those who
embrace it, the influence of the religion of Jesus Christ, and expose
it to the sneers of infidels and of the profane, and furnish them with
pretexts for altogether rejecting the claims ofthe Bible.
* Middleton's Free Inquiry, p. 158.

362 APFEND1X.

L. Page 203.
It does not come within the plan of these Lectures to give a history
of oracles. A brief view of some of the chief of them, abridged from
Kollin, must suffice.
The oracle of Dodona, a city of the Molossians, was one of the
most celebrated. There Jupiter was supposed to give answers, either
by vocal oaks or doves, or by resounding basons of brass, or by the
mouths of priests and priestesses.
The oracle of Trophonius, in Bceotia, was also in great repute.
Those who consulted it were required, before they could obtain an
swers, to pass through a procc ^s which we may afterwards have oc
casion to describe, quite sufficient to shake the strongest nerves, and
to disturb and confound the soundest reason, and to render any man
the dupe of the priest by whom it was managed.
Another ancient and highly esteemed oracle was that of the Bran-
chidae, in the neighbourhood of Miletus. It had its name from Bran-
chus, the supposed son of Apollo. Its temple was plundered and
burnt by Xerxes, in his return from Greece, but he established the
priests belonging to it in a remote part of Asia, to secure them from
the vengeance of the Greeks. They were afterwards re-established
at Miletus, where a temple was built that exceeded in riches and
magnificence all the other temples of Greece.
There was an oraele of Apollo at Claros, a town of Ionia, in Asia
Minor, where the answers were given by a man, and not by a woman,
as at Delphos. This man, though unlearned, and indeed ignorant,
required to know only the names and number of those who came to
consult him. When he had obtained these, he returned into a cave,
and having drunk of the water of a certain spring within it, he de
livered answers in verse to those who came to consult him, though
he was not acquainted with the laws of metrical composition. He
was said to have foretold to Germanicus his sudden death, though in
dark and ambiguous terms, according to the custom of oracles.

M. Page 221.

The following story taken from Plutarch, is inserted by Eusebius,
in his "De Praeparatione Evangelica," and he, apparently at least,
thinks it worthy of credit, and Balbus himself does not deny that
Eusebius believed it, though it was not the only ground of his faith
in regard to oracles.

APPENDIX. 363
"There was a certain pilot of the name of Thamus, whose vessel
was entirely becalmed one evening between the islands of Cephalonia
and Corfu. All who were in the ship were perfectly awake, indeed
the greater part of them were spending the evening in drinking to
gether, when very suddenly they heard a voice which came from the
island, and called Thamus by name. He did not regard it the first
and second time, but at the third he answered. The voice com
manded him, when he should have arrived at a certain place, to pro
claim aloud that the great Pan was dead. All who were in the ship,
whether sailors or passengers, were immediately seized with fear and
terror ; and the question was, whether the master of the ship should
obey the voice. Thamus concluded that if, when he arrived at the
specified place, he should have a favourable wind, he would proceed
without taking any notice of what had happened, but that if he
should be arrested by a calm, he would make the proclamation, as he
had been ordered by the mysterious voice. He was surprised to find
that no sooner had he reached the place mentioned by the voice than
the wind ceased, and a dead calm ensued ; and consequently he cried
aloud with his whole strength, ' The great Pan is dead.' No sooner
had he uttered these words, than all who were in the ship heard
groans and lamentations from every quarter, as of a great number of
persons who were surprised and distressed by the news. All who
were in the vessel were witnesses ofthe adventure. The report of it
soon reached Pome, and the emperor Tiberius having wished to see
Thamus himself, assembled a number of those who were skilled in
the pagan theology, to learn from them who this great Pan was.
And it was concluded amongst them that he was the son of Mercury
and Penelope." This is one of the stories that we must believe if we
would attach much importance to the testimonies of the Fathers
respecting the cessation of the oracles. Another follows, which was
taken by Eusebius from Porphyry, one of the most determined oppo
nents that Christianity ever had. " The priestess is no longer able
to utter her voice ; she has been long since condemned to silence.
Present always to Apollo the sacrifices which are worthy of a God."
And thus the heathen oracles were believed to announce the fact,
that they were silenced by the birth of Jesus Christ. Augustine,
however, owns that Porphyry may have forged these oracles to de
ceive the Christians, and thus involve them in disgrace.

N. Page 309.

It deserves consideration, whether Satan is not called " the prince
of the power of the air" for the same reason that birds are called

364

APPENDIX.

" the fowls of the air," because they pass through it from place to
place. I cannot admit the theory of spirits having no relation to place
or to material objects. If the former and the latter are both realities,
both substances, and if Satan is engaged in going to and fro on the
earth, they must surely have some relation to each other. Satan,
then, is called the prince of that infernal power, or army, which
transports itself from place to place with the greatest celerity, not by
moving on the earth, but by passing through the air. The fowls of
the air are so denorninated, not because they inhabit it properly
speaking, any more than land animals do, or have power over it, but
because it is the medium through which they move from one place to
another. And this power, taking the words Qovaias and Trvebparos
as nouns of multitude, is " the spirit that worketh in the children of
disobedience," the spirit that influences them and tempts them to
sin. They " are entangled in the snare of the devil," and " led cap
tive by him at his will.' '

O. Page 332.

I would just observe here, that while the volume to which I have
referred discovers great piety, and learning, and acquaintance with
the human heart, and may be read with much advantage by those
who know how to discriminate, it can by no means be recommended
as containing a philosophical, accurate, scriptural view of the impor
tant subject of Satanic temptation. Gilpin's plan is, after ascribing
to the devil all possible bad and depraved qualities, (and in this he
may be allowed to be correct,) to represent him as the direct author,
by his own influence, by his sophistical reasoning, and crafty devices,
of all the errors that have ever been invented or embraced, and all the
crimes that have ever been committed in the world, and therefore, of
all the wicked inventions wliich men have ever found out ; while it is
certain that their own depraved ingenuity and corrupt passions, and
various circumstances, would have led them, in many cases, to act in
the specified way, even if there had been no fallen spirits in existence.
It is comparatively easy to write a volume in this way. But the
plan of ascribing every temptation, and error, and crime to Satan,
and thus oi practically, though not theoretically, representing him  at
least through the instrumentality of his agent— as omnipresent, is
not calculated either to make men sensible of their own guilt, or to
enable them to form correct views of their danger, or of the real
power of their infernal enemies.

INDEX.

Abaddon, a title ofthe devil, 104.
Adversary of David, Satan was,
69, 70.
Ahab and his lying prophet, 72.
Angels, a flame of fire, 351, 353.
Angels, good, 86 ; their power,
87, 88.
Angels that sinned, 17, 27; fallen,
82 ; their fall, 97, 98.
Antichristianity of Rome, from
Satan, 322.
Apollo, oracle of, at Delphos, 203.
Balaam, a magician, 156, 159.
Baptismal regeneration, a delusion
of Satan, 323.
Baxter, a believer in witchcraft,
131, 132; his testimony, 173, 175.
Baxter's World of Spirits, 134.
Beelzebub, the idol of Ekron, 53 ;
chief of evil spirits, 54 ; heathen
oracle of, 207 ; worshipped by
the Phoenicians, 251, 253.
Blasphemous thoughts suggested
by evil spirits, 340, 341.
Brown, Sir T., on vulgar errors,
220.
Bunyan's temptations, 340, 341.
Campbell, Dr., on pious frauds,
225.
Christ's miraculous cures, and
dispossessing of devils, 46, 47 ;
rebuke to the devil, 310, 311 ;
victory over the world, 312.
Christ's temptations, five theories
of it, 279 ; examination of them,
IX.

280, 281 ; theory of Hugh Far
mer examined, 282, 292 ; con
flicts during the forty days, 298,
300.
Chrysostom on hell torments, 349.
Credulity and infidelity danger
ous, 2, 3.
Crcesus, his proposition to the
oracle at Delphos, 215, 216.
Danger from the temptation of
Satan, 344, 345.
David by Satan and evil spirits,
55, 67, 68.
Delphos, oracle of Apollo at, 203.
Demoniacs, their condition, 232,
233 ; real possessions, 234, 236.
Demons of the heathen, 5 ; celes
tial beings, 239.
Devils or demons, ofthe heatheD,
237 ; natural gods, good and
evil, 241 ; possession of men by,
247, 254 ; a legion enter into
one, and into the swine, 260,
263.
Devil, the, tempts Christ, 296,
306 ; shows him all the king
doms of the world, 307, 309.
Devil, what the name imports, 28,
31 ; the first tempter, 34 ; his
anticipated punishment, 42, 43 ;
the chief of evil spirits, 91, 104.
Diabolus, or devil, its significa
tion, 51, 55; chief of the evil spi
rits, 96 ; " tempts, God proves,"
316. 2 B

366

INDEX.

Divination, 137, 138.
Diviner, Balaam, a, a false pro
phet, 139.
Edwards, President, on the fall
of Satan, 354.
Egyptian magicians, their impo
sitions, 145, 156.
Endor, the witch of, 160, 161 ;
did she raise up Samuel? 162,
167.
Eusebius believed the oracles to
be the work of impostors, 219.
Evans, John, the case of, 272,
275.
Evil spirits, — their existence, 1 ;
taught throughout the scrip
tures, 4, 5 ; probable from an
alogy, 6, 7 ; from reason and
experience, 9 ; they are tempt
ers, 10 ; dreaded, 11 ; deniers
ofthe doctrine of, 12, 13 ; opini
ons of Russell Scott, 14, 16 ;
criticisms of their denial of the
doctrine, 17, 20, 36 ; Satan, the
chief, 53, 57 ; tempt men, 70,
71 ; their power, 93, 95 ; their
depravity and malignity, 100.
Existences, material and rational,
84, 85.
Fallen angels, 90.
Fall of man, the history of the,
62, 64.
Farmer, Hugh, on miracles, 148 ;
on the magicians of Egypt, 149 ;
on demoniacs, 232, 237 ; on
possessions by devils, answered,
260, 268 ; his theory of Christ's
temptations, examined, 281,296.
Fathers, the, their testimony re
garding the heathen oracles,
222, 223 ; its value, 224, 226.
Frauds and impostures at Del
phos, 213.
Gassendi, a story by, 360.
Gesenius, on the word Satan, 55.
Gilpin'sDemonologia, 317; fascin
ations of Satan, 329, 331 ; un
tenable, 332.
Gloucester, the Duchess of, ac
cused of witchcraft, 177.

God, the, of this world, Satan, 318.
Good, Dr. J. M., on the Book of
Job, 73.
Gregory, Thaumaturgus, on the
heathen gods, 223.
Hall, Robert, on temptation by
Satan, 334, 335.
Heathen gods, 240, 241.
Heathen oracles, 202 ; their cha
racter, 204, 205; how delivered,
209 ; temples and altars the de
lusions of Satan, 320, 321.
Heathen priests impostors and
liars, 206.
Heaton, Mr., his case of John
Evans, 272, 275.
Heber, Bishop, on evil spirits, 66.
Herodotus, Hesiod, andXenophon,
on Demons, 238.
Hopkins, the witch-finder, an im
postor, 180, 186.
Imagination, the power of the, in
enthusiasts, 356.
Irenaeus, on the continuance of
miraculous gifts, 229.
Job, the tempter of, 72, 75 ; did
Satan produce the fire to destroy
his property? 119, 129.
Josephus believed the existence
of evil angels, 243.
Judas, tempted by Satan, 76, 77.
Jupiter and Apollo, gods of the
Greeks and Romans, 240.
Justin Martyr, his judgment, 227.
King James on demonology, 129,
130.
Lactantius, on the silencing of the
heathen oracles, 192, 227.
Luther, a believer in witchcraft, 131.
Magician, Balaam, a, 156, 157.
Magicians, the Egyptians, 145 ;
impostors, 146, 147 ; their tricks,
148, 151.
Mather's Wonders of the Invisible
World, 134.
Mexicans, their human sacrifices,
315.
Middleton, Conyers, on the fall of
Adam, 60 ; on miraculous gifts,
229; on miracles, 361.

INDEX.

367

Ministers of Satan, infidel writers
are, 328.
Miracles, none after the apostles'
time, 361 ; when they ceased,
229.
Moses, miracles of, in Egypt, 146,
154.
Mysteries ofthe heathen, 210, 211.
Mystery of iniquity by Satan, 322.
Notes in Appendix, 349, 364.
Oracles. See heathen oracles, and
Sibylline oracles.
Oracles, new ones established,
216, 218 ; how silenced by
Christ, 230 ; Rollin on, 362.
Pan said to be dead, 362.
Pinnacle of the temple, Christ
tempted on, 304, 305.
Pious frauds, 225.
Plott, Dr., a story by, 217.
Plutarch, on the heathen oracles,
240.
Possessions, demoniacal, 242, 245 ;
not miraculous, 247 ; real cases
of, 249 ; cases examined, 256,
260 ; objections against by Far
mer, examined, 261, 267.
Priestley, Dr., his rash statement,
255.
Puritans, the, believed in witch
craft, 139.
Pythian oracle, 203.
Reason and instinct, 350.
Robinson and his witch-accusers
impostors, 182, 184.
Rollin, on the heathen oracles, 362.
Romish idolatry, 322, 324.
Romish Inquisitors, torturing the
Waldenses, 174.
Samuel, the prophet, — was he
raised up ? 164, 166 ; Samuel
was not raised, 168, 170.
Satan, his delusions, 44, 45 ; mean
ing of the name, 51, 53 ; who
intended, 55, 57 ; the tempter
of Eve, 60 ; and of Cain, 61,
62 ; of David, 66, 68 ; a human
adversary, 69 ; the chief of fal
len angels, 91, 92 ; the author
of heathenish superstition and

idolatry, 126, 127 ; permitted
to afflict Job, 129, 276; aided
by a legion, 336.
Satan taking Christ upon the tem
ple, 303.
Scott, Russell, his criticisms re
garding diseases cured by Christ,
16, 46, 47.
Scott's Demonology, 176, 177.
Serpent, the, an intelligent enemy,
60.
Serpent, the old, the devil, 319.
Shore, Jane, charged with witch
craft, 177.
Sibyls, their origin, 191, 192.
Sibylline oracles, the, 191 ; poli
tical forgeries, 192, 193 ; their
falsehood and destruction, 194 ;
character ofthe Sibyls, 195, 196 ;
examined, 197, 198 ; proofs of
their being forgeries, 199, 202.
Simon Magus and his sorcery, 357.
Sorcery and witchcraft, 128 ;
charges of, 177.
Spirits. See evil spirits.
Spirits have power over matter,
106, 107; objections against,
considered, 110, 111 ; their ac
tivity, 112, 113 ; have alocality,
114 ; knowledge of, 115.
Stories of witches, 174, 175.
Temptation by Satan, 278, 314 ;
inhuman sacrifices by the Mex
icans, 315; by many evil spirits,
333 ; suited to the various cha
racters of men, 337, 339.
Tempter, the, Satan, 327.
TertuUian, on the falsehood of
heathen oracles, 221.
Torture to compel confessions of
witchraft, 178, 180.
Trophonius, the cave of, 211.
Unitarian expositions of testimony
regarding Satan, 60, 65.
Ventriloquism, 140, 141.
Walker, Peter, history, 355.
Wardlaw, Dr., on the power of
Satan, 117, 120.
Watchfulness necessary to Chris
tians, 346.

368

INDEX.

Watts, Dr., some opinions of re
garding angels, 106, 114.
Wilderness of Judea, 282, 298.
Witchcraft and sorcery, 127, 128 ;
believed by Luther, Bacon, Bax
ter, and Hale, 131, 132 ; not
countenanced by the Scriptures,
135 ; its professors knaves, 136,
137 ; disappearance of, 187,
189 ; persecution for, 358, 359 .

Witches hanged in Suffolk and
Essex, 173 ; theories of, 174,
181.
Witches impostors, deceivers, &c,
143.
Witch, its meaning, 135, 136.
Witchfinders, 180, 186.
Wizard, a diviner, 138, 139.

THE EXr>

Reed and Pardon, Printers, Paternoster Row, London.

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