In the period elapsing between the close of the :Apocrypha and the appearance of Jesus, the Jew ish ideas of angels, as well as of demons and the Devil, received an extensive development. This angelology and demonology, wholly foreign to the older Hebrew religion. was derived in all its essential characteristics from the system of Zoroaster, with which the .Jews had become familiar by their long and close intercourse with the Persian empire during the exile, and sub sequently. It '.as, however, impossible to trans fer the dualism of Zoroaster into a creed so purely monotheistic as that of the Jews: this would have destroyed the foundation on which their entire history rested. Two beings. equally eternal, equally powerful. was an idea which no Hebrew—mindful of the glorious deliverance of his forefathers out of the land of Egypt. of the law given amidst the thunders of Sinai, of the manna in the wilderness, of the triumphs in Canaan, and the Golden Psahns of David—could for one moment entertain. But, on the other hand, now that as a nation the Jews were be come weak and of little account, hemmed in. and crushed by mighty and advancing empires, no conception could seem more true, or prove more consolatory, than that which permitted them to attribute their misfortunes to the agency of a demoniacal race, headed by a potentate only in ferior to Jehovah himself. They could now be lieve that Cod had not forsaken His 'chosen people."Thus, the dualism of Zoroaster sug gested the kingdom and royalty of Satan, but the doctrine shaped itself in harmony with the national monotheism. The Devil and his demons were represented as having been originally anqcl.s, who had fallen from their 'high estate,' been punished by God, and had therefore as sumed a position of hostility, without, however, being able materially to frustrate the divine pur poses. These opinions found an almost universal reception among the people, as well as among those Jewish theologians who along with the Mosaie law, held oral tradition to lie an authen tic source of religious dol.trine. Indeed, the only Jewish sect which rejected them was that of the Saddneees, who considered them. as also the doctrines of the resurrection from the dead, of the Messiah. of the Messianic kingdom, of the last judgment, of rewards and puni:Innents, and of angels and to be new, outlandish anti Mosaic myths and theories. This eonfliet of opinion among the blew: prevented their ideas of the Devil and demon: from obtaining, in spite of their broad diffusion, a doginatie and syste matic stability. The populace and the Phari sees believed fervidly in the existence of such evil spirits: but their conceptions had not only all the heat, but all the eonfusedness of super stition.
The New Testament contains distinct recogni tion of the prevalence of this extended popular demonology, by which, in particular, various. diseases were ascribed to the agency of the evil spirits. Whether this is by accommodation to the ideas of the times has been much discussed, and the solution will depend upon the prevail ing conception of the nature and character of Christ. Whatever place the New Testament Means to give to the lesser demons in the course of human history, its teaching as to the exist ence and evil influence upon humanity of the chief evil spirit is beyond question. Ile bears a great variety of names, as Satan (Matt. iv. 10, etc.), the Devil (as Heb. ii. 14), the Adversary (1. Pet. v. 8). the Enemy (Matt. xiii. 39), the Opposer (1. Tim. V. 14), the Traducer of the Brethren (11ev. xii. In), the old Serpent (Rev. xx. 2), the Great Dragon (11ev. xii. It), fre quently Beelzebub (Matt. x. 25), once Bella ( II. Co•. vi. 15). These names describe well the character imputed to him. He is the 'evil one,' the 'tempter.' who opposes Jesus and seeks to draw the disciples as well as their Saviour into sin, has power over the world, of which lie is the 'Prince' and 'God.' and shows his power in
the moral corruption of heathenism. Even in respect to him. popular ideas are allowed to come in, as when his habitation is said to he the 'air': but such elements do not affect the main teaching of the New Testament. See DE MONIAC.
The primitive Church assumed the personality of the Devil as an unquestionable fact. The New Testament ideas on this point were not only greatly enlarged, but in many respects entirely changed, partly through the introduction of a considerable number of heathen notions, and pa rtly through t Ile dogmatic tendencies of the time, in eonsequence of which the various statements in the Bible regarding Satan and evil were uncritically and unhistorieally heaped to gether, and a doctrine of Satanic agency elabo rated logically. Holding firmly to the belief of a Satanie kingdom of darkness opposed to Christ's kingdom of light, the majority of the early Christians ascribed all evil, physical as well as moral, to the Devil and his demons: failures of the crop, sterility. pestilence, murrain among cattle, mental maladies, persecutions of the Christians, individual vices, heresies, astrol ogy, philosophy, and especially the whole body of heathenism. with its mythology and religious worship. 'The heathen gods were believed to be conquered by the work of Christ, but not to lie powerless; they sank down into demons, and so a part of their mythology passed into the doctrine of the Devil. it was they who, as demons, meaning to deceive. uttered oracles, were present at sacrifices, rind inhaled the sacrificial incense. 'I he doctrine of the lordship of the Devil over the human race, so far as it was unregenerate. gave rise to the custom of exorcising. not only those in whom special sign; of demoniacal 1,o: session appeared (see ENERCUMENS.), but all eamlidates for baptism, whether infants or adult:. (See Exoticism.) But while the power of the Devil over all not guarded by Christian faith and rites was supreme, over those who were so protected it was utterly weak. No Christian.
men the weakest. could be forced to do evil; and the sign of the ero--. the commemoration of fsatan's defeat in the decisive combat, stunt:cut to put him to flight. The lives of the chilly during the Nlidulle Ages. are full of narra tixes of ineounters with the Devil. under some times a -eductive. sometimes a terrifying form; and °Ile .1 the best-known incidents, in Luther's life is his single combat With hill' 111 the 1Vart bort!. m lull the enemy was said to have been put to slight by it well aimed inkstand.
fh• fall of the Devil from his former estate of an angel of light has been a subject much discussed by theologians. Sonic assert that he was originally the highest of all the angels; others, the prime of one of the lower orders. The -in of the angels is generally supposed to 1111t lot•ell pride: this view is based not only upon the indieations of Scripture. but upon this tieing the most probable temptation for their ineorpo real nature. Some assert that their revolt took place upon (he revelation to them that in the divine eoutisel it was intended that (lout should assume a nature lower than theirs, that of man. \\ hilt. the problem of the origin of evil is often considered insoluble. there is a certain plausi bility in the view that evil was thus primarily nothing more than the choice by the angels of lower good, their own glory, in preference to a higher. the glory of clod. Evil \you'd then have diverged more anti more from good as tittle went on. until it assumed the features I if positive and repulsive enormity of some of its manifesta tions. theologians assert that the angels haul and refused one chance of repentance; but it is more generally believed that the high per fection of their nature made their act decisive and irrevocable.