oV Hi. ,. raver, '-.'i " ' ' ' " ' ' ' ' " '"' "
possibility'of the
DESTRUCTION
DEVOTION
He had said long before, ' The Son of man must be lifted up ' ( Jn 3"), and was to say soon after, ' For this cause came I unto this hour' (12'-"). See, further, art. Agony. J. Robertson.
DESTRUCTION.-The AV and RV tr. of <i7r<i\«a in Mt 7''. In Mt 26"* and in the parallel passage in Mk 14^ diruXcM is translated 'waste' in both Versions, and in Jn 17'", the only other instance where the word is used in the Gospels, both render it 'perdition.' In Mt 7" our Lord speaks of I ' destruction ' as the opposite of life eternal. In
profane authors dTrtiXeia invariably mp.aris, as its derivation from aw6\\viJ.i imjilips, i-.iiiiirtimi, mmi- hilation; and this fact has boon Imui'ly ii.-od by the advocates of the Conditioiial lTiiiiicirt:ility theory in support of their contention. Still the ' deslniction ' spoken of by our Lord in Mt 7'' has been held by expositors with practical unanimity from the first to mean a contmued life, whether endless or not, of misery after death. All the same, it has been admitted generally, e.ij. by Cremer, that eternal misery as a meaning of dTTciXeia ' is a signification peoiliar to the NT, and without analogy in classical Greek. ' There appears, on the whole, to be general agreement that whether ' destruction ' means a terminable or interminable life of misery after death, it does, at any rate, mean a prolongation of existence : it is exclusion from salvation, whether final or not. Whether or not there is a term to the duration of misery here- after— presuming that there is a continuance of life after death for those who go in the way of destruction — does not enter into the scope of this note (see Eternal Punishment), but it may be remarked as significant that the ' lost sheep are spoken of by our Lord as being found again, and that the word for 'lost' is the participle of awSWvui. This is one of the considerations that have made many feel warranted in holdinj' ' the larger hope ' even for those who go meanwhile in ' the way that leadeth to destruction.'
J. Cromarty Smith. DEVIL See DEMON and SATAN.
DEVOTION.— The word does not occur in the Gospels, but the idea is present everywhere, as marking the attitude of the man Jesus towards God, and thus providing a standard for imitation by every other man. Intrinsically the word denotes the act of presenting solemnly some gift or service to a deity, or to any one invested in thought for a time with some of the qualities or claims of a deity; but its use has been extended to cover alike such service itself, and even the psychological con- dition from which the act springs. As such, a correct analysis must find blended in devotion each of the three elements — thought, emotion, and volition — which are the mutually dependent frag- ments of the unit of personality, expressing itself as a whole in the exercises often called devotions. The intellectual element is a recognition of the dignity and patient grace of God, the sensitive a feeling of gratitude and desire to please, the voli- tional a strong resolve to carry out that desire ; and these three pass together quickly into appro- priate action, the whole man in the harmony of all his powers indicating by praise or service the depth of his loving regard.
In some definitions, too much prominence is };i\eii to the will. and devotion is confused with rehgrion generall\ , u- m V'l'iin i , Summa, 11.2 Ixxxii. 1 : ' Devotio nihil aliud e
hip (Atterbury, Scnnons, iv. 213) l>rincipal constituents. The si 1 of the will tow ards God is followed I oul to God and its suffusion witli
voluntas quaedam prompte tradendi Dei famulatum.' In certain phrai
: ad(
ynon>Tn for worship, devotion to the Sacred Heart is spoken of ; and in" others, as 'feasts of devotion,' it acquires an entirely technical sense, implying the absence of express obligation, w-ith an appeal only to the discretion and good feeling of the worshipper. But in the better use internal devotion is contrasted with external
effected in the heart under the influence 01 tiie Woi.i .^lMnl.
1. In the case of Christ each of these phases of devotion is represented in the Gospels. («) Though but a mere lad. He indicates already a habitual Godward set of His will (Lk 2*", He 10'); and afterwards He speaks of His purpose, sometimes with quiet assurance (Jn S^" ff^ 7'"), sometimes with a certain glow of satisfaction (4*" H*). Hin- drances and sore temptations, in which the play of a natural and useful instinct may be traced, did not divert Him (Lk 9^' 2'2^-). Glad, complete con- formity with the will of God, such as is an inte- gi-ant of every right conception of heaven, is set forth as on earth the aim ot every disciple (Mt 6"), reached at once and maintained without defect, though not without ettbrt (cf. Harnack, What is Christianitij ?^ 129 f.), by Him alone who could say, ' I and the Father are one ' (Jn 10*').
(h) Instances of tlie exaltation of His soul in the calm sense of security because of the accord of His will with that of the Father, occur in the impres- sion His fearlessness made at the cleansing of the Temple (2'^'-) — in His endowment with 'honour and glory' at the Transliiiiir.ilidii (2 P I")— in the strengthening iiiini>tr\ ..t .uiLrl, ;.rtor the Tempta- tion (Mt 4"), and tIio'.\,L;ui,y I Lk -2" RVm). The joy of Mt 11--'' and Lk 1U-' is aiiulher instance, as is also the outburst of triumphant relief at the retirement of Judas (Jn 13"'-). Nor should His perfect repose in the midst of peril (Mk 4^'-), and in the presence of angiy or eager mobs (Lk 4-'-"-, Jn 85» I0»"- 6'=), be overlooked. Partial and auxiliary explanations may be found in the exhaustion of fatigue or the mastery of His nerves ; but the real cause was moral and not physical, and should be sought in the self-consciousness of Jesus, in the stable correlation of His will and God's. The two streams of volition, human and Divine, met and merged in Him ; and thus He becomes for men at once an example of perfect devotion and a pledge of perfect grace.