§ 4. Evil Angels. The Scriptures inform us that certain of the angels kept not their first estate. They are spoken of as the angels that sinned. They are called evil, or unclean spirits ; principalities ; powers ; rulers of this world; and spiritual wickednesses (i. g., wicked spirits) in high places. The most common designation given to them is SaLfjiovi<;, or more commonly Sai/Aoj/ta, which our ti'anslators unfortu- nately render devils. The Scriptures make a distinction between StajSoAos and Sat/xwv, which is not observed in the English version. In the spiritual world there is only one Sta/3o/\os (devil), but there are many SaLfiovia (demons). These evil spirits are represented as belonging to the same order of beings as the good angels. All the names and titles, expressive of their nature and powers, given to the one are also given to the others. Their original condition was holy. When they fell or what was the nature of their sin is not revealed. The general opinion is that it was pride, founded on 1 Tim. iii. 6. A bishop, the Apostle says, must not be " a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil ; " which is commonly understood to mean the condemnation which the devil incurred for the same sin. Some have conjectured that Satan was moved to rebel against God and to seduce our race from its allegiance, by the desire to rule over our globe and the race of man. Of this, however, there is no intimation in Scrip- ture, His first appearance in the sacred history is in the character of an apostate angel. That there is one fallen angel exalted in rank and power above all his associates is clearly taught in the Bible. He is called Satan (the adversary), 8ia^oA.os, the traducer, o TTovripo^, the evil one ; the prince of the power of the air ; the prince of darkness ; the God of this world ; Beelzebub ; Belial ; the tempter ; the old serpent ; and the dragon. These, and sim- ilar titles set him foi'th as the great enemy of God and man, the opposer of all that is good and the promoter of all that is evil. He is so constantly represented as a personal being, that the rational- istic notion that he is only a personification of evil, is irreconcila- ble with the authority of Scripture and inconsistent with the faith of the Church. The opinion that the doctrine of Satan was in- troduced among the Hebrews after the Exile, and from a heathen source, is no less contrary to the plain teachings of the Bible. He is represented as the tempter of our first parents, and is dis- tinctly mentioned in the book of Job written long before the Babylonish captivity. Besides this representation )f Satan in
644 PAET I — THEOLOGY. [Ch. XHI. — Angrm.
general terms as the enemy of God, he is specially set forth in Scripture, as the head of the kingdom of darkness, which em- braces all evil beings. Man by his apostasy fell under the dominion of Satan, and his salvation consists in his being translated from Satan's kingdom into the kingdom of God's dear Son. That the SaLfjLovLa who are represented as subject to Satan, are not the spirits of wicked men who have departed this life, as some have main- tained, is clear. .(-^O Because they are distinguished from the elect angels. (2.) From its being said that they kept not their first state (Jude 6). (3.) From the language of 2 Pet. ii. 4, where it is said God spared not the angels that sinned. (4.) From the application to them of the titles " principalities " and " powers," which are appropriate only to beings belonging to the order of angels.
Power and Agency of Evil Spirits.
As to the power and agency of these evil spirits, they are repre- sented as being exceedingly numerous, as everywhere efficient, as having access to our world, and as operating in nature and in the minds of men. The same limitations, of course, belong to their agency as belong to that of the holy angels. (1.) They are dependent on God, and can act only under his control and by his permission. (2.) Their operations must be according to the laws of nature, and, (3.) They cannot interfere with the freedom and responsibility of men. Augustine says of Satan : " Consentientes tenet, non invitos cogit." Nevertheless, his power is very great. Men are said to be led captive by him ; evil spirits are said to work in the hearts of the disobedient. Christians are warned against their devices, and called upon to resist them, not in their own strength, but in the strength of the Lord and armed with the whole panoply of God.
Great evils, however, have arisen from exaggerated views of the agency of evil spirits. To them have been referred, not only all natural calamities, as storms, conflagrations, pestilences, etc., but what was far more lamentable, they have been regarded as entering into covenant with men. It was thought that any person could enter into a contract with Satan and be invested for a season with supernatural power upon condition that the person thus endowed yielded his soul to perdition. On this foundation rested the numer- ous prosecutions for witchcraft and sorcery which disgraced tne annals of all Christian nations during the seventeenth and eight- eenth centuries. The most enlightened men of Europe yielded