The devil : a lecture

The Devil

If the Devil should die, would God make another?

A LECTURE

BY

ROBERT Q. INGERSOLL

London :
R. FORDER, 28 STONl£CUTTER-STREET, E.C.

Price Sixpence.

THE DEVIL.

If the Devil should die^ would God make another?

A LECTURE

BY

ROBERT G. INGERSOLL.

London :
R. FORDER, 2^ STONECUTTER-STREET, E.C.

1899.

THE DEVIL.

I.

IF THE DEVIL SHOULD DIE, WOULD GOD MAKE
ANOTHER ?

A LITTLE while ago I delivered a lecture on "Super-
stition," in which, among other things, I said that the
Christian world could not deny the existence of the
Devil ; that the Devil was really the keystone of the
arch, and that to take him away was to destroy the
entire system.

A great many clergymen answered or criticised this
statement. Some of these ministers avowed their belief
in the existence of his Satanic Majesty, while others
actually denied his existence ; but some, without stating
their own position, said that others believed, not in the
existence of a personal devil, but in the personification
of evil, and that all references to the Devil in the Scrip-
tures could be explained on the hypothesis that the
Devil thus alluded to was simply a personification of
evil.

When I read these answers I thought of this line
from Heine : " Christ rode on an ass, but now asses
ride on Christ.''

4 THE DEVIL,

Now, the questions are, first, whether the Devil does
really exist ; second, whether the sacred Scriptures
teach the existence of the Devil and of unclean spirits ;
and, third, whether this belief in devils is a necessary
part of what is known as "orthodox Christianity."

Now, where did the idea that a Devil exists come
from ? How was it produced ?

Fear is an artist — a sculptor — a painter. All tribes
and nations, having suffered, having been the sport and
prey of natural phenomena, having been struck by light-
ning, poisoned by weeds, overwhelmed by volcanoes,
destroyed by earthquakes, believed in the existence of a
Devil, who was the king — the ruler — of innumerable
smaller devils, and all these devils have been from time
immemorial regarded as the enemies of men.

Along the banks of the Ganges wandered the Asuras,
the most powerful of evil spirits. Their business w^as
to war against the Devas — that is to say, the gods —
and at the same time against human beings. There,
too, were the ogres, the Jakshas, and many others who
killed and devoured human beings.

The Persians turned this around, and with them the
Asuras were good and the Devas bad. Ormuzd was
the good (the god), Ahriman the evil (the devil), and
between the god and the devil was waged a perpetual
war. Some of the Persians thought that the evil would
finally triumph, but others insisted that the good would
be the victor.

In Egypt the devil was Set — or, as usually called,
Typhon — and the good god was Osiris. Set and his
legions fought against Osiris and against the human
race.

THE DEVIL, 5

Among the Greeks the Titans were the enemies of
the gods. Ate was the spirit that tempted, and such
was her power that at one time she tempted and misled
the god of gods, even Zeus himself.

These ideas about gods and devils often changed,
because in the days of Socrates a demon was not a
devil, but a guardian angel.

We obtain our Devil from the Jews, and they got him
from Babylon. The Jews cultivated the science of
Demonology, and at one time it was believed that there
were nine kinds of demons : Beelzebub, prince of the
false gods of the other nations ; the Pythian Apollo,
prince of liars ; Belial, prince of mischief-makers ;
Asmodeus, prince of revengeful devils; Satan, prince of
witches and magicians ; Meresin, prince of aerial devils,
who caused thunderstorms and plagues ; Abaddon, who
caused wars, tumults, and combustions ; Diabolus, who
drives to despair; and Mammon, prince of the tempters.

It was believed that demons and sorcerers frequentl}^
came together and held what were called "Sabbats";
that is to say, orgies. It was also known that sorcerers
and witches had marks on their bodies that had been
imprinted by the Devil.

Of course these devils were all made by the people,
and in these devils we find the prejudices of their makers.
The Europeans always represent their devils as black,
while the Africans believed that theirs were white.

So it was believed that people by the aid of the Devil
could assume any shape that they wished. Witches
and wizards were changed into wolves, dogs, cats, and
serpents. This change to animal form was exceedingly
common.

6 THE DEVIL.

Within two years, between 1598 and 1600, in one
district of France, the district of Jura, more than six
hundred men and women were tried and convicted
before one judge of having changed themselves into
wolves, and all were put to death.

This is only one instance. There are thousands.

There is no time to give the history of this belief in
devils. It has been universal. The consequences have
been terrible beyond the imagination. Millions and
millions of men, women, and children, of fathers and
mothers, have been sacrificed upon the altar of this
ignorant and idiotic belief.

Of course, the Christians of to-day do not believe that
the devils of the Hindus, Egyptians, Persians, or Baby-
lonians existed. They think that those nations created
their own devils, precisely the same as they did their own
gods. But the Christians of to-day admit that for many
centuries Christians did believe in the existence of
countless devils ; that the Fathers of the Church
believed as sincerely in the Devil and his demons as
in God and his angels ; that they w^ere just as sure
about hell as heaven.

I admit that people did the best they could to accoun
for what they saw, for what they experienced. I admit
that the devils as well as the gods were naturally pro-
duced— the effect of nature upon the human brain. The
cause of phenomena filled our ancestors not only with
wonder, but with terror. The miraculous, the super-
natural, was not only believed in, but was always
expected.

A man walking in the woods at night — just a glim-
mering of the moon — everything uncertain and shadowy

THE DEVIL. 7

— sees a monstrous form. One arm is raised. His
blood grows cold, his hair lifts. In the gloom he sees
the eyes of an ogre — eyes that flame with malice. He
feels that the something is approaching. He turns, and
with a cry of horror takes to his heels. He is afraid to
look back. Spent, out of breath, shaking with fear, he
reaches his hut and falls at the door. When he regains
consciousness, he tells his story, and, of course, the
children believe. When they become men and women
they tell father's story of having seen the Devil to their
children, and so the children and grandchildren not only
believe, but think they know, that their father — their
grandfather — actually saw a devil.

An old woman sitting by the fire at night — a storm
raging without — hears the mournful sough of the wind.
To her it becomes a voice. Her imagination is touched,
and the voice seems to utter words. Out of these words
she constructs a message or a warning from the unseen
world. If the words are good, she has heard an angel ;
if they are threatening and malicious, she has heard a
devil. She tells this to her children, and they believe.
They say that mother's religion is good enough for
them. A girl suffering from hysteria falls into a trance
— has visions of the infernal world. The priest sprinkles
holy water on her pallid face, saying : '^ She hath a
devil." A man utters a terrible cry ; falls to the ground;
foam and blood issue from his mouth ; his limbs are
convulsed. The spectators say : " This is the Devil's
work."

Through all the ages people have mistaken dreams
and visions of fear for realities. To them the insane
were inspired ; epileptics were possessed by devils ;

8 THE DEVIL,

apoplexy was the work of an unclean spirit. For many
centuries people believed that they had actually seen the
malicious phantoms of the night, and so thorough was
this belief — so vivid — that they made pictures of them.
They knew how they looked. They drew and chiselled
their hoofs, their horns — all their malicious deformities.

Now, I admit that all these monsters were naturally
produced. The people believed that hell was their
native land ; that the Devil was a king, and that he and
his imps waged war against the children of men.
Curiously enough, some of these devils were made out
of degraded gods, and, naturally enough, many devils
were made out of the gods of other nations. So that,
frequently, the gods of one people were the devils of
another.

In nature these are opposing forces. Some of the
forces work for what man calls good ; some for what
he calls evil. Back of these forces our ancestors put
will, intelligence, and design. They could not believe
that the good and evil came from the same being. So
back of the good they put God ; back of the evil, the
Devil.

II.

THE ATLAS OF CHRISTIANITY IS THE DEVIL.

The religion known as '' Christianity " was invented
by God himself to repair in part the wreck and ruin that
had resulted from the Devil's work.

Take the Devil from the scheme of salvation — from
the atonement — from the dogma of eternal pain — and
the foundation is gone.

The Devil is the keystone of the arch.

He inflicted the wounds that Christ came to heal. He
corrupted the human race.

The question now is : Does the Old Testament teach
the existence of the Devil ?

If the Old Testament teaches anything, it does teach
the existence of the Devil, of Satan, of the Serpent, ot
the enemy of God and man, the deceiver of men and
women.

Those who believe the Scriptures are compelled to
say that this Devil was created by God, and that God
knew when he created him just what he would do, the
exact measure of his success ; knew that he would be
a successful rival ; knew that he would deceive and
corrupt the children of men ; knew that, by reason of
this Devil, countless millions of human beings would
suffer eternal torment in the prison of pain. And this
God also knew, when he created the Devil, that he,

lo THE DEVIL.

God, would be compelled to leave his throne, to be born
a babe in Palestine, and to suffer a cruel death. All
this he knew when he created the Devil. Why did he
create him ?

It is no answer to say that this Devil was once an
angel of light and fell from his high estate because he
was free. God knew what he would do with his freedom
when he made him and gave him liberty of action, and,
as a matter of fact, must have made him with the inten-
tion that he should rebel ; that he should fall ; that he
should become a devil ; that he should tempt and corrupt
the father and mother of the human race ; that he should
make hell a necessity, and that, in consequence of his
creation, countless millions of the children of men would
suffer eternal pain. Why did he create him ?

Admit that God is infinitely wise. Has he ingenuity
enough to frame an excuse for the creation of the
Devil ?

Does the Old Testament .teach the existence of a real,
living Devil ?

The first account of this being is found in Genesis,
and in that account he is called the " Serpent.'' He is
declared to have been more subtle than any beast of the
field. According to the account, this Serpent had a
conversation with Eve, the first woman. We are not
told in what language they conversed, or how they
understood each other, as this was the first time they
had met. Where did Eve get her language ? Where
did the Serpent get his ? Of course, such questions are
impudent, but, at the same time, they are natural.

The result of this conversation was that Eve ate the
forbidden fruit and induced Adam to do the same. This

THE DEVIL, II

is what is called the "Fall/' and for this they were
expelled from the Garden of Eden.

On account of this, God cursed the earth with weeds
and thorns and brambles, cursed man with toil, made
woman a slave, and cursed maternity with pain and
sorrow.

How men, ^qo& men, can worship this God ; how
women, good women, can love this Jehovah, is beyond
my imagination.

In addition to the other curses the Serpent was cursed
— condemned to crawl on his belly and to eat dust. We
do not know by what means, before that time, he moved
from place to place, whether he walked or flew ; neither
do we know on what food he lived ; all we know is that
after that time he crawled and lived on dust. Jehovah
told him that this he should do all the days of his life.
It would seem from this that the Serpent was not at
that time immortal ; that there was somewhere in the
future a milepost at which the life of this Serpent
stopped. Whether he is living yet or not, I am not
certain.

It will not do to say that this is allegory, or a poem,
because this proves too much. If the Serpent did not
in fact exist, how do we know that Adam and Eve
existed? Is all that is said about God allegory and
poetic, or mythical? Is the whole account, after all, an
ignorant dream ?

Neither will it do to say that the Devil — the Serpent
— was a personification of evil. Do personifications of
evil talk ? Can a personification of evil crawl on its
belly ? Can a personification of evil eat dust ? If we
say that the Devil was a personification of evil, are we

12 THE DEVIL,

not at the same time compelled to say that Jehovah was
a personification of good ; that the Garden of Eden was
the personification of a place, and that the whole story
is a personification of something that did not happen ?
Maybe that Adam and Eve were not driven out of the
Garden ; they may have suffered only the personifica-
tion of exile. And maybe the cherubim placed at the
gate of Eden, with flaming swords, were only personi-
fications of policemen.

There is no escape. If the Old Testament is true, the
Devil does exist, and it is impossible to explain him
away without at the same time explaining God away.
' So there are many references to devils, and spirits of
divination and of evil, which I have not the time to call
attention to ; but, in the Book of Job, Satan, the Devil,
has a conversation with God. It is this Devil that
brings the sorrows and losses on the upright man. It
is this Devil that raises the storm that wrecks the homes
of Job's children. It is this Devil that kills the children
of Job. Take this Devil from that book, and all mean-
ing, plot, and purpose fade away.

Is it possible to say that the Devil in Job was only a
personification of evil ?

In Chronicles we are told that Satan provoked David
to number Israel. For this act of David, caused by the
Devil, God did not smite the Devil, did not punish
David, but he killed 70,000 poor innocent Jews, who
had done nothing but stand up and be counted.

Was this Devil who tempted David a personifica-
tion of evil, or was Jehovah a personification of the
devilish ?

In Zachariah we are told that Joshua stood before the

THE DEVIL, 13

angel of the Lord, and that Satan stood at his right
hand to resist him, and that the Lord rebuked Satan.

If words convey any meaning, the Old Testament
teaches the existence of the Devil.

All the passages about witches and those having
familiar spirits were born of a belief in the Devil.
When a man who loved Jehovah wanted revenge on his
enemy, he fell on his holy knees, and from a heart full
of religion he cried : " Let Satan stand at his right
hand."

Ill,

TAKE THE DEVIL FROM THE DRAMA OF CHRISTIANITY
AND THE PLOT IS GONE.

The next question is : Does the New Testament teach
the existence of the Devil ?

As a matter of fact, the New Testament is far more
explicit than the Old. The Jews, believing that Jehovah
was God, had very little business for a devil. Jehovah
was wicked enough and malicious enough to take the
Devil's place.

The first reference in the New Testament to the Devil
is in the fourth chapter of Matthew. We are told that
Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be
tempted of the Devil.

It seems that he was not led by the Devil into the
wilderness, but by the Spirit ; that the Spirit and the
Devil were acting together in a kind of pious con-
spiracy.

In the wilderness Jesus fasted forty days, and then
the Devil asked him to turn stones into bread. The
Devil also took him to Jerusalem and set him on a
pinnacle of the temple, and tried to induce him to leap
to the earth. The Devil also took him to the top of a
mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world,
and offered them all to him in exchange for his worship.

THE DEVIL. 15

Jesus refused. The Devil went away, and angels came
and ministered to Christ.

Now, the question is : Did the author of this account
believe in the existence of the Devil, or did he regard
this Devil as a personification of evil, and did he intend
that his account should be understood as an allegory,
or as a poem, or as a myth ?

Was Jesus tempted ? If he was tempted, who tempted
him? Did anybody offer him the kingdoms of the
world ?

Did the writer of the account try to convey to the
reader the thought that Christ was tempted by the
Devil ?

If Christ was not tempted by the Devil, then the
temptation was born in his own heart. If that be true,
can it be said that he was divine ? If these adders,
these vipers, were coiled in his bosom, was he the son
of God ? Was he pure ?

In the same chapter we are told that Christ healed
** those which were possessed of devils, and those which
were lunatic, and those that had the palsy."

From this it is evident that a distinction was made
between those possessed with devils and those whose
minds were affected and those who were afflicted with
diseases.

We are told that at the same time, a good way off,
many swine were feeding, and that the devils besought
Christ, saying : " If thou cast us out, suffer us to ^o
away into the herd of swine." And he said unto them :
"Go."

Is it possible that personifications of evil would desire
to enter the bodies of swine, and is it possible that it

1 6 THE DEVIL,

was necessary for them to have the consent of Christ
before they could enter the swine? The question
naturally arises : How did they enter into the body of
the man ? Did they do that without Christ's consent,
and is it a fact that Christ protects swine and neglects
human beings ? Can personifications have desires ?

In the ninth chapter of Matthew there was a dumb
man brought to Jesus, possessed with a devil. Jesus
cast out the devil, and the dumb man spake.

Did a personification of evil prevent the dumb man
from talking ? Did it in some way paralyze his organs
of speech ? Could it have done this had it only been a
personification of evil ?

In the tenth chapter Jesus gives his twelve disciples
power to cast out unclean spirits. What were unclean
spirits supposed to be ? Did they really exist ? Were
they shadows, impersonations, allegories?

When Jesus sent his disciples forth on the great
mission to convert the world, among other things he
told them to heal the sick, to raise the dead, and to
cast out devils. Here a distinction is made between
the sick and those who were possessed by evil spirits.

Now, what did Christ mean by devils ?

In the twelfth chapter we are told of a very remark-
able case. There was brought unto Jesus one possessed
with a devil, blind and dumb, and Jesus healed him.
The blind and dumb both spake and saw. There-
upon the Pharisees said : " This fellow doth not cast
out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils."

Jesus answered by saying : ** Every kingdom ;^divided
against itself is brought to desolation. If Satan cast
out Satan, he is divided against himself."

THE DEVIL, 17

Why did not Christ tell the Pharisees that he did not
cast out devils — only personifications of evil ; and that
with these personifications Beelzebub had nothing to
do?

Another question : Did the Pharisees believe in the
existence of devils, or had they the personification
idea?

At the same time Christ said : " If I cast out devils
by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is
come unto you/*

If he meant anything by these words, he certainly
intended to convey the idea that what he did demon-
strated the superiority of God over the Devil.

Did Christ believe in the existence of the Devil?

In the fifteenth chapter is the account of the woman
of Canaan who cried unto Jesus, saying : " Have mercy
on me, O Lord, thou son of David. My daughter is
sorely vexed with a devil." On account of her faith
Christ made the daughter whole.

In the sixteenth chapter a man brought his son to
Jesus. The boy was a lunatic, sore vexed, oftentimes
falling in the fire and water. The disciples had tried to
cure him and had failed. Jesus rebuked the devil, and
the devil departed out of him, and the boy was cured.
Was the devil in this case a personification of evil ?

The disciples then asked Jesus why they could not
cast that devil out. Jesus told them that it was
because of their unbelief, and then added : " Howbeit
this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."
From this it would seem that some personifications
were easier to expel than others.

The first chapter of Mark throws a little light on the

i8 THE DEVIL.

story of the temptation of Christ. Matthew tells us
that Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilder-
ness to be tempted of the Devil. In Mark we are
told who this Spirit was : —

" And straightway coming up out of the water he
saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove
descending upon him.

" And there came a voice from heaven, saying :
'Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'
" A nd immediately the Spirit driveth him into the
wilderness. '*

Why the Holy Ghost should hand Christ over to the
tender mercies of the Devil is not explained. And it is
all the more wonderful when we remember that the
Holy Ghost was the third person in the Trinity and
Christ the second, and that this Holy Ghost was, in
fact, God, and that Christ also was, in fact, God, so
that God led God into the wilderness to be tempted of
the Devil.

We are told that Christ was in the wilderness forty
days tempted of Satan, and was with the wild beasts,
and that the angels ministered unto him.

Were these angels real angels, or were they personi-
fications of good, of comfort ?

So we see that the same Spirit that came out of
heaven, the same Spirit that said ^*This is my beloved
son," drove Christ into the wilderness to be tempted of
Satan.

Was this Devil a real being ? Was this Spirit who
claimed to be the father of Christ a real being, or was
he a personification ? Are the heavens a real place ?
Are they a personification ? Did the wild beasts live,

THE DEVIL, 19

and did the angels minister unto Christ ? In other
words, is the story true, or is it poetry, or metaphor,
or mistake, or falsehood ?

It might be asked : Why did God wish to be tempted
by the Devil ? Was God ambitious to obtain a victory
over Satan ? Was Satan foolish enough to think that
he could mislead God, and is it possible that the Devil
offered to give the world as a bribe to its creator and
owner, knowing at the same time that Christ was the
creator and owner, and also knowing that he (Christ)
knew that he (the Devil) knew that he (Christ) was the
creator and owner ?

Is not the whole story absurdly idiotic ? The Devil
knew that Christ was God, and knew that Christ knew
that the tempter was the Devil.

It may be asked how I know that the Devil knew
that Christ was God. My answer is found in the same
chapter. There is an account of what a devil said to
Christ : —

" Let us alone. What have we to do with thee, thou
Jesus of Nazareth ? Art thou come to destroy us ? I
know thee. Thou art the holy one of God."

Certainly, if the little devils knew this, the Devil him-
self must have had like information. Jesus rebuked
this devil and said to him : " Hold thy peace, and come
out of him." And when the unclean spirit had torn
him and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.

So we are told that Jesus cast out many devils, and
suffered not the devils to speak because they knew him.

So it is said in the third chapter that " unclean spirits,
when they saw him, fell down before him and cried,
saying : ' Thou art the son of God.' "

20 THE DEVIL,

In the fifth chapter is an account of casting out the
devils that went into the swine, and we are told that
" all the devils besought him saying : * Send us into the
swine/ And Jesus gave them leave/'

Again I ask : Was it necessary for the devils to get
the permission of Christ before they could enter swine ?
Again I ask : By whose permission did they enter into
the man ?

Could personifications of evil enter a herd of swine,
or could personifications of evil make a bargain with
Christ ?

In the sixth chapter we are told that the disciples
" cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that
were sick." Here, again, the distinction is made
between those possessed by devils and those afflicted
by disease. It will not do to say that the devils were
diseases or personifications

In the seventh chapter a Greek woman, whose
daughter was possessed by a devil, besought Christ
to cast this devil out. At last Christ said : " The devil
is gone out of thy daughter."

In the ninth chapter one of the multitude said unto
Christ : '' I have brought unto thee my son which hath
a dumb spirit. I spoke unto thy disciples that they
should cast him out, and they could not."

So they brought this boy before Christ, and when
the boy saw him the spirit tare him, and he fell on the
ground and "wallowed, foaming."

Christ asked the father : " How long is it ago since
this came unto him ?" And he answered : " Of a child,
and ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire and into the
waters to destroy him."

THE DEVIL, 21

Then Christ said : " Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I
charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into
him."

** And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came
out of him ; and he was as one dead ; insomuch that
many said : * He is dead.' "

Then the disciples asked Jesus why they could not
cast them out, and Jesus said : " This kind can come
forth by nothing- but by prayer and fasting."

Is there any doubt about the belief of the man who
wrote this account? Is there any allegory, or poetry,
or myth in this story ? The devil, in this case, was not
an ordinary, every-day devil. He was dumb and deaf ;
it was no use to order him out, because he could not
hear. The only way was to pray and fast.

Is there such a thing as a dumb and deaf devil ? If
so, the devils must be organized. They must have ears
and organs of speech, and they must be dumb because
there is something the matter with the apparatus of
speaking, and they must be deaf because something is
the matter with their ears. It would seem from this
that they are not simply spiritual beings, but organized
on a physical basis. Now, we know that the ears do
not hear. It is the brain that hears. So these devils
must have brains — that is to say, they must have been
what we call '' organized beings."

Now, it is hardly possible that personifications of evil
are dumb or deaf. That is to say, that they have

physical imperfections.

In the same chapter John tells Christ that he saw
one casting out devils in Christ's name who did not
follow with them, and Jesus said : '' Forbid him not."

22 THE DEVIL,

By this he seemed to admit that some one, not a
follower of his, was casting out devils in his name,
and he was willing- that he should go on, because, as
he said : " For there is no man which shall do a
miracle in my name that can lightly speak evil of
me.

In the fourth chapter of Luke the story of the tempta-
tion of Christ by the Devil is again told with a few
additions. All the writers, having been inspired, did
not remember exactly the same things.

Luke tells us that the Devil said unto Christ, having
shown him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment
of time : " All this power will I give thee and the glory
of them, for that is delivered unto me, and to whomso-
ever I will I give it. If thou wilt worship me, all shall
be thine."

We are also told that when the Devil had ended all
the temptation he departed from him for a season. The
date of his return is not given.

In the same chapter we are told that a man in the
synagogue had a "spirit of an unclean devil." This
devil recognized Jesus, and admitted that he was the
Holy One of God.

As a matter of fact, the Apostles seemed to have
relied upon the evidence of devils to substantiate the
divinity of their Lord.

Jesus said to this devil : " Hold thy peace and come
out of him." And the devil, after throwing the man
down, came out.

In the forty-first verse of the same chapter it is said :
" And devils also came out of many, crying out and
saying : * Thou art Christ, the Son of God.' "

THE DEVIL, 23

It is also said that Christ rebuked them and suffered
them not to speak, for they knew that he was Christ.

Now, it will not do to say that these devils were
diseases, because diseases could not talk, and diseases
would not recogfnize Christ as the Son of God. After
all, epilepsy is not a theologian. I admit that lunacy
comes nearer.

In the eighth chapter is told again the story of the
devils and the swine. In this account Jesus asked the
devil his name, and the devil replied " Legion."

In the ninth chapter is told the story of the devil
that the disciples could not cast out, but was cast out
by Christ, and in the thirteenth chapter it is said that
the Pharisees came to Jesus, telling him to ^q away,
because Herod would kill him, and Jesus said unto
these Pharisees : " Go ye, and tell that fox, behold- I
cast out devils."

What did he mean by this ? Did he mean that he
cured diseases ? No. Because in the same sentence
he says, ''And I do cures to-day," making a distinction
between devils and diseases. :^

In the twenty-second chapter an account of the
betrayal of Christ by Judas is given in these words :

"Then entered Satan into Judas Iscariot, being of
the number of the twelve."

" And he went his way and communed with the chief
priests and captains how he might betray him unto
them.

'' And they were glad, and covenanted to give him
money."

According to Christ, the little devils knew that he was
the Son of God. Certainly, then, Satan, king of all the

24 THE DEVIL.

fiends, knew that Christ was divine. And he not only
knew that, but he knew all about the scheme of salva-
tion. He knew that Christ wished to make an atone-
ment of blood by the sacrifice of himself.

According to Christian theologians, the Devil has
always done his utmost to gain possession of the souls
of men. At the time he entered into Judas, persuading
him to betray Christ, he knew that if Christ was
betrayed he would be crucified, and that he would make
an atonement for all believers, and that, as a result,
he, the Devil, would lose all the souls that Christ
gained.

What interest had the Devil in defeating himself?
If he could have prevented the betrayal, then Christ
would not have been crucified. No atonement would
have been made, and the whole world would have gone
to hell. The success of the Devil would have been
complete. But, according to this story, the Devil out-
witted himself.

How thankful we should be to his Satanic Majesty.
He opened for us the gates of paradise and made it
possible for us to obtain eternal life. Without Satan,
without Judas, not a single human being could have
become an angel of light. All would have been wing-
less devils in the prison of flame. In Jerusalem, to the
extent of his power, Satan repaired the wreck and ruin
he had wrought in the Garden of Eden.

Certainly the writers of the New Testament believed
in the existence of the Devil.

In the eighth chapter it is said that out of Mary
Magdalene were cast seven devils. To me Mary
Magdalene is the most beautiful character in the New

THE DEVIL, 35

Testament. She is the one true disciple. In the
darkness of the crucifixion she Hngered near. She
was the first at the sepulchre. Defeat, disaster, dis-
grace, could not conquer her love. And yet, according-
to the account, when she met the risen Christ he said :
"Touch me not." This was the reward of her infinite
devotion.

In the Gospel of John we are told that John the
Baptist said that he saw the Spirit descending from
heaven like a dove, and that it abode upon Christ.
But in the Gospel of John nothing is said about the
Spirit driving Christ into the wilderness to be tempted
by the Devil. Possibly John never heard of that, or
forgot it, or did not believe it. But in the thirteenth
chapter I find this :

" And supper being ended, the Devil having now put
into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray
him."

In John there are no accounts of the casting out of
devils by Christ or his apostles. On that subject there
is no word. Possibly John had his doubts.

In the fifth chapter of Acts we are told that the
people brought the sick and those which were vexed
with unclean spirits to the apostles, and the apostles
healed them. Here, again, there is made a clear dis-
tinction between the sick and those possessed by
devils. And in the eighth chapter we are told that
" unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of
them."

In the thirteenth chapter Paul calls Elymas the
child of the Devil, and in the sixteenth chapter ^n
account is given of " a damsel possessed with a spirit

26 THE DEVIL,

of divination, who brought her masters much gain by

soothsaying."

Paul and Silas, it would seem, cast out this spirit,
and by reason of that suffered great persecution.

In the nineteenth chapter certain vagabond Jews
pronounced over those who had evil spirits the name
of Jesus, and the evil spirits answered : "Jesus I know,
and Paul I know ; but who are ye ?'*

" And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on
them, so that they fled naked and wounded."

Paul, writing to the Corinthians, in the eighth chapter
says :

" I would not that ye should have fellowship with
devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the
cup of devils. Ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's
table and the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord
to jealousy ?"

In the eleventh chapter he says that long hair is the
glory of woman, but that she ought to keep her head
covered because of the angels.

In those intellectual days people believed in what
were called the Incubi and the Succubi. The Incubi
were male angels and the Succubi were female angels,
and, according to the belief of that time, nothing so
attracted the Incubi as the beautiful hair of women,
and for this reason Paul said that women should keep
their heads covered. Paul calls the Devil the " prince
of the power of the air."

So in Jude we are told "that Michael, the archangel,
when contending with the devil he disputed about the
body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing
accusation, but said : * The Lord rebuke thee.' "

THE DEVIL. 27

Was this devil with whom Michael contended a
personification of evil, or a poem, or a myth?

In First Peter we are told to be sober, vigilant,
" because your adversary, the Devil, as a roaring lion,
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour/'

Are people devoured by personifications or myths ?
Has an allegory an appetite, or is a poem a cannibal ?

So in Ephesians we are warned not to give place to
the Devil, and in the same book we are told : *' Put on
the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand
against the wiles of the Devil."

And in Hebrews it is said that " him that had the
power of death — that is, the Devil"; showing that the
Devil has the power of death.

And in James it is said that if we resist the Devil he
will flee from us ; and in First John we are told that he
that committeth sin is of the Devil, for the reason that
the Devil sinneth from the beginning ; and we are also
told that " for this purpose was the Son of God mani-
fested, that he may destroy the works of the Devil."

No Devil — no Christ.

In Revelation, the insanest of all books, I find the
following : "And there was war in heaven. Michael
and his angels fought against the dragon, and the
dragon fought and his angels.

"And prevailed not ; neither was their place found
any more in heaven.

"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent,
called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole
world : he was cast out into the earth, and his angels
were cast out with him.

•* Therefore, rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell

28 THE DEVIL,

in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of
the sea ; for the Devil is come down unto you, having
great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a
short time."

From this it would appear that the Devil once lived
in heaven, raised a rebellion, was defeated and cast
out ; and the inspired writer congratulates the angels
that they are rid of him, and commiserates us that we
have him.

In the twentieth chapter of Revelation is the fol-
lowing : —

"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having
the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his
hand.

"And he laid hold on the dragon — that old serpent,
which is the Devil and Satan — and bound him a thou-
sand years.

"And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him
up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the
nations no more till the thousand years should be ful-
filled ; and after he must be loosed a little season."

It is hard to understand how one could be confined
in a pit without a bottom, and how a chain of iron could
hold one in eternal fire, or what use there would be to
lock a bottomless pit ; but these are questions probably
suggested by the Devil.

We are further told that " when the thousand years
are expired Satan shall be loosed out of his prison."

"And the Devil was cast into the lake of fire and
brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are,
and shall be tormented day and night forever."

In the light of the passages that I have read we ,gan

THE DEVIL. 29

clearly see what the writers of the New Testament
believed. About this there can be no honest difference.
If the Gospels teach the existence of God — of Christ —
they teach the existence of the Devil. If the Devil
does not exist — if little devils do not enter the bodies
of men — the New Testament may be inspired, but it is
not true.

The early Christians proved that Christ was divine
because he cast out devils. The evidence they offered
was more absurd than the statement they sought to
prove. They were like the old man who said that he
saw a grindstone floating down the river. Someone
said that a grindstone would not float. "Ah," said
the old man, " but the one I saw had an iron crank
in it."

Of course, I do not blame the authors of the Gospels.
They lived in a superstitious age, at a time when
Rumor was the historian, when Gossip corrected the
"proof," and when everything was believed except the
facts.

The Apostles, like their fellows, believed in miracles
and magic. Credulity was regarded as a virtue.

The Rev. Mr. Parkhurst denounces the Apostles as
worthless cravens. Certainly I do not agree with him.
I think that they were good men. I do not believe that
any one of them ever tried to reform Jerusalem on the
Parkhurst plan. I admit that they honestly believed in
devils — that they were credulous and superstitious.

There is one story in the New Testament that illus-
trates my meaning.

In the fifth chapter of John is the following : —

" Now, there is at Jerusalem, by the sheep market, a

30 THE DEVIL,

pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue * Bethesda,
having five porches.

" In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk — of
blind, halt, withered — waiting for the movingof the water.

" For an angel went down at a certain season into
the pool and troubled the water : whosoever then first
after the troubling of the water stepped in was made
whole of whatsoever disease he had.

"And a certain man was there which had an infirmity
thirty and eight years.

" When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had
been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him :
^ Wilt thou be made whole ?'

" The impotent man answered him : ' Sir, I have no
man when the water is troubled to put me into the
pool ; but while I am coming another steppeth down
before me.'

"Jesus saith unto him : * Rise, take up thy bed and
walk.'

" And immediately the man was made whole and took
up his bed and walked.''

Does any sensible human being now believe this
story? Was the water of Bethesda troubled by an
angel ? Where did the angel come from ? Where
do angels live ? Did the angel put medicine in the
water — just enough to cure one ? Did he put in
different medicines for different diseases, or did he
have a medicine, like those that are patented now,
that cured all diseases just the same ?

Was the water troubled by an angel ? Possibly what
apostles and theologians call an angel a scientist knows
as carbonic acid gas.

THE DEVIL. 31

John does not say that the people thought the water
was troubled by an angel, but he states it as a fact.
And he tells us, also, as a fact, that the first invalid
that got in the water after it had been troubled was
cured of what disease he had.

What is the evidence of John worth .^

Again, I say that if the Devil does not exist, the
Gospels are not inspired. If devils do not exist,
Christ was either honestly mistaken, insane, or an
impostor.

If devils do not exist, the Fall of Man is a mistake
and the Atonement an absurdity. If devils do not exist,
hell becomes only a dream of revenge.

Beneath the structure called " Christianity " are
four cornerstones — the Father, Son, Holy Ghost, and
Devil.

IV.

THE EVIDENCE OF THE CHURCH.

The Devil was Forced to Father the Failures of God,

All the fathers of the Church believed In devils.
All the saints won their crowns by overcoming- devils.
All the popes and cardinals, bishops and priests,
believed in devils. Most of their time was occupied in
fighting- devils. The whole Catholic world, from the
lowest layman to the highest priest, believed in devils.
They proved the existence of devils by the New Testa-
ment. They knew that these devils were citizens of
hell. They knew that Satan was their king. They
knew that hell was made for the Devil and his angels.

The founders of all the Protestant churches — the
makers of all the orthodox creeds — all the leading
Protestant theologians, from Luther to the president
of Princeton College — were, and are, firm believers in
the Devil. All the great commentators believed in
the Devil as firmly as they did in God.

Under the " Scheme of Salvation " the Devil was a
necessity. Somebody had to be responsible for the
thorns and thistles, for the cruelties and crimes.
Somebody had to father the mistakes of God. The
Devil was the scapegoat of Jehovah.

For hundreds of years good, honest, zealous Chris-
tians contended against the Devil. They fought him

THE DEVIL, ZZ

day and night, and the thought that they had beaten
him gave to their dying lips the smile of victory.

For centuries the Church taught that the natural
man was totally depraved ; that he was by nature a
child of the Devil, and that new-born babes were
tenanted by unclean spirits.

As late as the middle of the sixteenth century every
infant that was baptized was, by that ceremony, freed
from a devil. When the holy water was applied the
priest said : " I command thee, thou unclean spirit, in
the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost, that thou come out and depart from this infant,
whom our Lord Jesus Christ has vouchsafed to call to
his holy baptism, to be made a member of his body,
and of his holy congregation."

At that time the fathers — the theologians, the com-
mentators— agreed that unbaptized children, including
those that were born dead, went to hell.

And these same fathers — theologians and commen-
tators— said : " God is love.''

These babes were pure as Pity's tears, innocent as
their mother's loving smiles, and yet the makers of our
creeds believed and taught that leering, unclean fiends
inhabited their dimpled flesh. O, the unsearchable
riches of Christianity !

For many centuries the Church filled the world with
devils — with malicious spirits that caused storm and
tempest, disease, accident, and death — that filled the
night with visions of despair ; with prophecies that
drove the dreamers mad. These devils assumed a
thousand forms — countless disguises in their efforts to
capture souls and destroy the Church. They deceived

34 THE DEVIL,

sometimes the wisest and the best ; made priests forget
their vows. They melted virtue's snow in passion^s
fire, and in cunning ways entrapped and smirched the
innocent and good. These devils gave witches and
wizards their supernatural powers, and told them the
secrets of the future.

Millions of men and women were destroyed because
they had sold themselves to the Devil.

At that time Christians really believed the New
Testament. They knew it was the inspired word of
God, and, so believing, so knowing — as they thought —
they became insane.

No man has genius enough to describe the agonies
that have been inflicted on innocent men and women
because of this absurd belief. How it darkened the
mind, hardened the heart, and poisoned life ! It made
the Universe a madhouse presided over by an insane
God.

Think ! Why would a merciful God allow his
children to be the victims of devils ? Why would a
decent God allow his worshippers to believe in devils,
and by reason of that belief to persecute, torture, and
burn their fellows-men ?

Christians did not ask these questions. They
believed the Bible ; they had confidence in the words of
Christ.

PERSONIFICATIONS OF EVIL.

The Orthodox Ostrich Thrusts His Head into the Sand,

Many of the clerg-y are now ashamed to say that they
believe in devils. The belief has become ignorant and
vulg-ar. They are ashamed of the lake of fire and
brimstone. It is too savage.

At the same time they do not wish to give up the
inspiration of the Bible. They give new meanings to
the inspired words. Now they say that devils were
only personifications of evil.

If the devils were only personifications of evil, what
were the angels ? Was the angel who told Joseph who
the father of Christ was, a personification ? Was the
Holy Ghost only the personification of a father ? Was
the angel who told Joseph that Herod was dead a per-
sonification of news ?

Were the angels who rolled away the stone and sat
clothed in shining garments in the empty sepulchre of
Christ a couple of personifications ? Were all the
angels described in the Old Testament imaginary
shadows — bodily personifications ? If the angels of
the Bible are real angels, the devils are real devils.

Let us be honest with ourselves and each other, and
give to the Bible its natural, obvious meaning. Let us

36 THE DEVIL.

admit that the writers believed what they wrote. If
we believe that they were mistaken, let us have the
honesty and courage to say so. Certainly we have no
right to change or avoid their meaning, or to dis-
honestly correct their mistakes. Timid preachers sully
their own souls when they change what the writers of
the Bible believed to be facts to allegories, parables,
poems, and myths.

It is impossible for any man who believes in the inspi-
ration of the Bible to explain away the Devil.

If the Bible is true, the Devil exists. There is no
escape from this.

If the Devil does not exist, the Bible is not true.
There is no escape from this,

I admit that the Devil of the Bible is an impossible
contradiction ; an impossible being.

This Devil is the enemy of God, and God is his.
Now, why should this Devil, in another world, torment
sinners, who are his friends, to please God, his enemy ?

If the Devil is a personification, so is hell and the
lake of fire and brimstone. All these horrors fade into
allegories — into ignorant lies.

Any clergyman who can read the Bible, and then say
that devils are personifications of evil, is himself a per-
sonification of stupidity or hypocrisy.

VL

Does any intelligent man now, whose brain has not
been deformed by superstition, believe in the existence
of the Devil ? What evidence have we that he exists ?
Where does this Devil live ? What does he do for a
livelihood ? What does he eat ? If he does not eat, he
cannot think. He cannot think without the expen-
diture of force. He cannot create force ; he must
borrow it — that is to say, he must eat. How does he
move from place to place ? Does he walk or does he
fly, or has he invented some machine ? What object
has he in life ? What idea of success ? This Devil,
according to the Bible, knows that he is to be defeated ;
knows that the end is absolute and eternal failure ;
knows that every step he takes leads to the infinite
catastrophe. Why does he act as he does ?

Our fathers thought that everything in this world
came from some other realm ; that all ideas of right
and wrong came from above ; that conscience dropped
from the clouds ; that the darkness was filled with imps
from perdition, and the day with angels from heaven ;
that souls had been breathed into man by Jehovah.

What there is in this world that lives and breathes
was produced here. Life was not imported. Mind is
not an exotic. Of this planet man is a native. This
world is his mother. The maker did not descend from
the heavens. The maker was, and is, here. Matter

38 THE DEVIL,

and force, in their countless forms, affinities, and repul-
sions, produced the living-, breathing world.

How can we account for devils ? Is it possible that
they creep into the bodies of men and swine ? Do they
stay in the stomach or brain, in the heart or liver ?

Are these devils immortal, or do they multiply and
die ? Were they all created at the same time, or did
they spring- from a single pair ? If they are subject to
death, what becomes of them after death ? Do they go
to some other world, are they annihilated, or can they
get to heaven by believing on Christ ?

In the brain of science the devils have never lived.
There you will find no goblins, ghosts, wraiths, or imps
— no witches, spooks, or sorcerers. There the super-
natural does not exist. No man of sense in the whole
w^orld believes in devils, any more than he does in
mermaids, vampires, gorgons, hydras, naiads, dryads,
nymphs, fairies, or the anthropophagi — any more than he
does in the Fountain of Youth, the Philosopher's Stone,
Perpetual Motion, or Fiat Money.

There is the same difference between religion and
science that there is between a madhouse and a univer-
sity— between a fortune-teller and a mathematician —
between emotion and philosophy — between guess and
demonstration.

The devils have gone, and with them they have taken
the miracles of Christ. They have carried away our
Lord. They have taken away the inspiration of the
Bible, and we are left in the darkness of nature without
the consolation of hell.

But let me ask the clergy a few questions : —

How did your Devil, who was at one time an angel

THE DEVIL. 39

of light, come to sin ? There was no other devil to
tempt him. He was in perfectly good society — in the
company of God — of the Trinity. All of his associates
were perfect. How did he fall? He knew that God
was infinite, and yet he waged war against him, and
induced about a third of the angels to volunteer. He
knew that he could not succeed ; knew that he would
be defeated and cast out ; knew that he was fighting
for failure.

Why was God so unpopular ? Why were the angels
so bad ?

According to the Christians, these angels were spirits.
They had never been corrupted by flesh — by the passion
of love. Why were they so wicked ?

Why did God create those angels, knowing that they
would rebel ? Why did he deliberately sow the seeds
of discord in heaven, knowing that he would cast them
into the lake of eternal fire — knowing that for them
he would create the eternal prison, whose dungeons
would echo forever the sobs and shrieks of endless
pain?

How foolish is infinite wisdom !
How malicious is mercy !
How revengeful is boundless love !
Again, I say that no sensible man in all the world
believes in devils.

Why does God allow these devils to enjoy themselves
at the expense of his ignorant children ? Why does he
allow them to leave their prison ? Does he give them
furloughs or tickets-of-leave ?

Does he w^ant his children misled and corrupted so
that he can have the pleasure of damning their souls ?

VII.

THE MAN OF STRAW

Some of the preachers who have answered me say
that I am fighting a man of straw.

I am fighting the supernatural — the dogma of in-
spiration— the belief in devils — the atonement, salva-
tion by faith — the forgiveness of sins, and the savagery
of eternal pain. I am fighting the absurd, the mon-
strous, the cruel.

The ministers pretend that they have advanced — -
that they do not believe the things that I attack. In
this they are not honest.

Who is the " man of straw " ?

The man of straw is their master. In every ortho-
dox pulpit stands this man of straw — stands beside the
preacher — stands with a club, called a "creed," in his
upraised hand. The shadow of this club falls athwart
the open Bible — falls upon the preacher's brain, darkens
the light of his reason, and compels him to betray
himself.

The man of straw rules every sectarian school and
college — every orthodox church. He is the censor
who passes on every sermon. Now and then some
minister puts a little sense in his discourse — tries to
take a forward step. Down comes the club, and the
man of straw demands an explanation — a retraction.

THE DEVIL. 41

If the minister takes it back — good. If he does not,
he is brought to book. The man of straw put the
plaster of silence on the lips of Professor Briggs, and
he was forced to leave the Church or remain dumb.

The man of straw closed the mouth of Professor
Smith, and he has not opened it since.

The man of straw would not allow the Presbyterian
creed to be changed.

The man of straw took Father McGlynn by the
collar, forced him to his knees, made him take back his
words and ask forgiveness for having been abused.

The man of straw pitched Professor Swing out of
the pulpit, and drove the Rev. Mr. Thomas from the
Methodist Church.

Let me tell the orthodox ministers that they are
trying to cover their retreat.

You have given up the geology and astronomy of
the Bible. You have admitted that its history is
untrue. You are retreating still. ^^You are giving
up the dogma of inspiration ; you have your doubts
about the Flood and Babel ; you have given up the
witches and wizards ; you are beginning to throw
away the miraculous ; you have killed the little devils,
and in a little while you will murder the Devil him-
self.

In a few years you will take the Bible for what it
is worth. The good and true will be treasured in the
heart ; the foolish, the infamous, will be thrown away.

The man of straw will then be dead.

Of course, the real old petrified, orthodox Christian
will cling to the Devil. He expects to have all of his
sins charged to the Devil, and at the same time he will

42 THE DEVIL,

be credited with all the virtues of Christ. Upon this
showing on the books, upon this balance, he will be
entitled to his halo and harp. What a glorious, what
an equitable, transaction ! The sorcerer Superstition
changes debt to credit. He waves his wand, and he
who deserves the tortures of hell receives an eternal
reward.

But if a man lacks faith the scheme is exactly
reversed. While in one case a soul is rewarded for
the virtues of another, in the other case a soul is
damned for the sins of another. This is justice when
it blossoms in mercy.

Beyond this idiocy cannot ^o.

VIII.

KEEP THE DEVILS OUT OF CHILDREN.

William Kingdon Clifford, one of the greatest men
of this century, said : *' If there is one lesson that
history forces upon us in every page, it is this : — Keep
your children away from the priest, or he will make
them the enemies of mankind."

In every orthodox Sunday-school children are taught
to believe in devils. Every little brain becomes a
menagerie, filled with wild beasts from hell. The
imagination is polluted with the deformed, the mon-
strous, and malicious. To fill the minds of children
with leering fiends — with mocking devils — is one of
the meanest and basest of crimes. In these pious
prisons — these divine dungeons — these Protestant and
Catholic inquisitions — children are tortured with these
cruel lies. Here they are taught that to really think is
wicked ; that to express your honest thought is blas-
phemy ; and that to live a free and joyous life, depend-
ing on fact instead of faith, is the sin against the Holy
Ghost.

Children thus taught — thus corrupted and deformed —
become the enemies of investigation — of progress. They
are no longer true to themselves. They have lost the
veracity of the soul. In the language of Professor
CHfford, '' they are the enemies of the human race."

44 THE DEVIL,

So I say to all fathers and mothers : Keep your children
away from priests ; away from orthodox Sunday-schools ;
away from the slaves of superstition.

They will teach them to believe in the Devil ; in hell ;
in the prison of God ; in the eternal dungeon, where the
souls of men are to suffer for ever. These frightful
things are a part of Christianity. Take these lies from
the creed, and the whole scheme falls into shapeless ruin.
This dogma of hell is the infinite of savagery — the dream
of insane revenge. It makes God a wild beast — an
infinite hyena. It makes Christ as merciless as the
fangs of a viper. Save poor children from the pollution
of this horror. Protect them from this infinite lie.

IX.

CONCLUSION

I ADMIT that there are many good and beautiful
passages in the Old and New Testament ; that from
the lips of Christ dropped many pearls of kindness —
of love. Every verse that is true and tender I treasure
in my heart. Every thought, behind which is the
tear of pity, I appreciate and love. But I cannot
accept it all. Many utterances attributed to Christ
shock my brain and heart. They are absurd and
cruel.

Take from the New Testament the infinite savagery,
the shoreless malevolence of eternal pain, the absurdity
of salvation by faith, the ignorant belief in the exist-
ence of devils, the immorality and cruelty of the Atone-
ment, the doctrine of non-resistance that denies to
virtue the right of self-defence, and how glorious it
would be to know that the remainder is true ! Com-
pared with this knowledge, how everything else
in nature would shrink and shrivel ! What ecstasy
it would be to know that God exists ; that he
is our father, and that he loves and cares for the chil-
dren of men ! To know that all the paths that human
beings travel, turn and wind as they may, lead to the

46 THE DEVIL.

gates of stainless peace ! How the heart would thrill
and throb to know that Christ was the conqueror of
Death ; that at his grave the all-devouring monster was
baffled and beaten forever ; that from that moment the
tomb became the door that opens on eternal life ! To
know this would change all sorrow into gladness.
Poverty, failure, disaster, defeat, power, place, and
wealth would become meaningless sounds. To take
your babe upon your knee and say : " Mine, and mine
forever !" What joy ! To clasp the woman you love
in your arms, and to know that she is yours, and for-
ever— yours though suns darken and constellations
vanish ! This is enough : To know that the loved and
dead are not lost ; that they still live and love and wait
for you. To know that Christ dispelled the darkness
of death and filled the grave with eternal light. To
know this would be all that the heart could bear.
Beyond this joy cannot ^o. Beyond this there is no
place for hope.

How beautiful, how enchanting, Death would be !
How we would long to see his fleshless skull ! What
rays of glory would stream from his sightless sockets,
and how the heart would long for the touch of his
stilling hand ! The shroud would become a robe of
glory, the funeral procession a harvest home, and the
grave would mark the end of sorrow, the beginning of
eternal joy.

And yet it were better far that all this should be
false than that all of the New Testament should be
true.

It is far better to have no heaven than to have
heaven and hell ; better to have no God than God

THE DEVIL. 47

and Devil ; better to rest in eternal sleep than to be
an angel and know that the ones you love are suffer-
ing eternal pain ; better to live a free and loving life —
a life that ends forever at the grave — than to be an
immortal slave.

Works by Colonel R. G. Ingersoll

Some Mistakes of Moses.
The only complete edition in
Eng-land. Accurate as Co-
lenso, and fascinating* as a
novel. 132 pp., IS.; superior
paper, cloth, is. 6d.

Defence of Freethought.

A Five Hours' Speech at the

Trial of C. B. Reynolds for

Blasphemy. 6d.
Shakespeare. 6d.
The Gods. 6d.
The Holy Bible. 6d.
Reply to Gladstone. With

a Biography by J. M. Wheeler.

4d,
Rome or Reason ? A Reply

to Cardinal Manning. 4d.

Crimes against Criminals.

3d.
Oration on Walt Whitman.

3d.
Oration on Voltaire. 3d.
Abraham Lincoln. 3d.
Paine the Pioneer. 2d.
Humanity's Debt to Thomas

Paine. 2d.
Ernest Renan and Jesus

Christ. 2d.
True Religion. 2d.
Three Philanthropists. 2d.
Love the Redeemer. 2d.

London : R. Fc^Rni

SuPERSTinoN. 6d.
Is Suicide a Sin ? 2d.
Last Wo r ds on S u i c i d i: . ?. Ci
God and the State. 2d.
Why am I an Agnostic ?

Part I. 2d.
Why am I an Agnostk ?

Part II. 2d.
Faith and Fact. Reply to

Dr. Field. 2d.
God and Man. Second reply

to Dr. Field. 2d.
The Dying Creed. 2d.
The Limits of Toleration.

A Discussion with the Hon.

F. D. Coudert and Gov. S. L.

Woodford. 2d.
Household of Faith. 2d.
Art and Morality. 2d.
Do I Blaspheme ? 2d.
The Clercy anp Common

Sense. 2d.
Social Salvation. 2d.
Marriage and Di\'C)rcf. 2d.
Ski'lls. 2d.

TlIK CiRKAT MiSTAKK. id.

Ln'K Tories, id.
Myth and Miracle, id.
Real Blasfiihmy. id.
Repairing the Idols, id.
Christ and Miracles, id.
Creeds and Spiritualu y. ul.

'X Sh'iucull^M-slrit'l , !•:.(

THE FREETHINKER.

edited by

G. W. FOOTE,

And contributed to by leading FrectliougJif ivrii

PubUshed every Thursday. Price Twopenc

PUBLISHER^^^ R. FORDER, 28 StONECUTTER-STREE