DEVIL'S ADVOCATE
70)7
DEVIL-WORSHIPPERS
iirmisp that Lucifer was one of the angels (vho ruled
ml administered the heavenly bodies, and that this
ilanet was ei)nnnitted to his care. For in any ease
he so\ereii;iity with which these texl-s are primarily
oncerned is hut the rude right of eoiKiuest and tiie
lower of ^■\'\\ influence. His sway began by his vic-
orj' over our first parents, who, yielding to his sug-
- estions, were brought under his bondage. All sin-
lers who do his will become in so far his servants, or, a.s St. Gregory says, he is the head of all the ricked — " Surely the Devil is the head of all the i'icked ; antl of this head all the wicked are members" Certe iniquorum oninimn caput diabolus est; et Lujus capitis membra sunt omnes iniqui. — Horn. 16, a Evangel.). This headship over the wicked, as St. ?honia.s is careful to explain, differs widely from Christ's headship over the Church, inasmuch as Satan 5 only head by outward government and not also, as "hrist is, by inward, life-giving influence (Summa, 11, Q. viii, a. 7). With the growing wickedness of he world and the spreading of paganism and false eligions and magic rites, the rule of Satan was ex- ended and strengthened till his power was broken by he ^•ictory of Christ, who for this reason said, on the ve of His Passion: "Now is the judgment of the i'orld: now shall the prince of this world be cast out" John, xii, .'U). By the victory of the Cross Christ lelivered men from the bondage of Satan and at the ame time paid the debt due to Divine justice by hedding His blood in atonement for our sins. In heir endeavours to explain this great mystery, some lid theologians, misled by the metaphor of a ransom or captives made in war, came to the strange con- lusion that the price of Redemption was paid to Satan. But this error was effectively refuted by St. Lnselm, who showed that Satan had no rights over lis captives and that the great price wherewith we Fere bought was paid to God alone (cf. .\tonement). What has been said so far may suffice to show the >art played by the Devil in human history, whether n regard to the individual soul or the whole race of i.dani. It is indicated, indeed, in his name of Satan, he adversarj', the opposer, the accu.ser, as well as by lis headship of the wicked ranged under his banner in continual warfare with the kingdom of Christ. The wo cities whose struggle is described by St. .\ugustine ire already indicated in the words of the ,\postle, " In his the children of God are manifest and the children if the devil: for the devil sinneth from the beginning, •'or this purpose the Son of God appeared, that He night destroy the works of the devil" (John, iii, 10, !). Whether or no the foreknowledge of the Incarna- ion was the occasion of his own fall, his subsequent ourse has certainly .shown him the relentless enemy if mankind and the determined opponent of the Di- 'ine economy of redemption. And since he lured our irst parents to their fall he has ce.ased not to tempt heir children in order to involve them in his own ruin, "here is no reason, indeed, for thinking that all sins .nd all temptations must needs come ilirectly from he Devil or one of his ministers of evil. For it is ertain that if, after the first fall of Adam, or at the inie of the coming of Christ, Satan and his angels had leen bound so fast that they might tempt no more, he world would still have been fill('<I with evils. F'or lien would have had enough of t<'mptation in the weakness and waywartlne.ss of their hearts. But in hat case the evil would clearly have been far less than I is now, for the acti\-ity of Satan does much more han merely add a further source of temptation to the weakness of the world and the flesh ; it means a com- lination and an intelligent direction of .all the clo- iients of evil. The whole Church and each one of her hildren are beset by dangers, the fire of persecution, he enervation of ease, the dangers of wealth and of mverty, heresies and errors of opposite characters, ationali.sm and superstition, fanaticism and indiffer-
ence. It would be bad enougli if all t\uvp forces were
acting apart .and without any di'linitc purposi'. but the
perils of the situation are incalculably iiicri'a.scd when
all may be organized .and directed by vigilant and
hostile intelligences. It is this that makes t he .\postle,
though he well knew the perils of the world and the
weakness of tlie flesh. Lay special stress on the greater
dangers that come from the assaults of those mighty
spirits of evil in whom he recognized our real and most
formidable foes — "Put you on the armour of God,
that you may be able to stand against the deceits of
the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and
blood; but against principalities and powers, against
the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the
spirits of wickedness in the high places . . . Stand
therefore, having your loins girt about with truth,
having on the breastplate of justice, and your feet
shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in
all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you
may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the
most w-icked one" (Ephes., vi, 11, 16).
St. Ansf.lm, De Caxu Diaboli: Summa, Q. Ixiii; ibid.. III. 0. viii, a. 7; Scorns, In III. cli.st. v. vi; Suarf.z, De Angelis, VII; Whitehousk, Demon. Devil and Satan in Hastings. Diet, of the Bible; Gorhes, Die chHatl. Mystik (1830), Fr. tr. La mystique ruiturelte et diabotique (1855).
W. H. Kent. Devil's Advocate. See Advocatus Diaboli.
Devil-Worshippers. — The meaning of this com- pound term is sufficiently obvious, for all must be fa- miliar with the significance of its two component parts. But the thing denoted by the name is by no means so easy to understand. For there is such a strange startling incompatibility between the notion of devil and that of an object of worship, that the combination in this case may well present a grave difficulty. And the more we are able to understand about the charac- ter and history of the Devil and about the true nature of worship, the more difficult is it to believe that men can have been led, even in the utmost extremity of folly and wickedness, to worship the Devil. Yet, in- credible as it may seem, it is unfortunately true that some worship of this kind h;is prevailed at many times and among widely different races of mankind. The following considerations may help in some degree to lighten the difficulty presented by this singular phenomenon.
In the first place it may be well to recall the analogy between the worship given to a divine being and the tribute paid to a king. Both alike are sensible proofs of service and subjection. In the case of kings, be- sides the willing service paid to a just and legitimate sovereign, there may be tribute paid to some alien oppressor, or blackmail grudgingly given to some pirate chief or marauder in order to deprecate the evils that may be feared at his hands. And so in the case of religious worship, wo may find that in the rude polytheism of barbarous races, where the gods were not only many in number but various in character, besides the willing worship given to good and benefi- cent beings in the service of love and gratitude, there is a sort of liturgical blackmail offered to the evil and malignant gods or demons in order to placate them and avert their anger. In like manner, when we pass from Polytheism to the philosophic Dualism — where the worlds of light .and darkness, good and evil, .sharply defined, are constantly warring again.st each other — over against the good men, who offer worship to the good god, ,\hura Mazda, there are the wicked Daeva-worshippers who sacrifice to the Demons and to Ahriman their chief, the principle of evil.
Another source of this strange worship may be found in the fact that in the early days each nation h.ad its own natural gods; hence raci.al rivalry and hatred sometimes led one nation to regard the protect- ing divinities of its enemies as evil demons. In this way many who merely worshipped gods whom they
