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SATAN BECOME AN ANGEL OF LIGHT; OR DEVICES OF THE LAST DAYS.

No. II.

In my last paper I endeavoured to set forth the mischievous consequences of that unbridled liberty of uttering opinions-more especially of printed opinions-which is so warmly contended for in the present day; and to shew, that the falsely called liberal spirit which has given rise to it is really a spirit from beneath;—that it is nothing more than 'Satan become an angel of light" who is the means of this unrestricted circulation of whatsoever is infidel, blasphemous, and seditious,—thus helping forward, with a fearful rapidity, the great crisis of apostasy.

If there be truth, in what I stated in the outset, respecting the influential character of opinions on society, it follows, that, by whatsoever means the sentiments and principles of action in mankind can be deteriorated, Satan must thereby derive no small advantage. The great source of what is good and healthful in these springs of action is divine revelation. This is the sun, which in the absence of its great author, concentrates and then radiates his heavenly glory, and thus proves the means of giving light to the world. And the source of all evil is that wisdom from beneath, which, however it may vary its aspect and become refined and subtilized by human reason and science, is really nothing more than an exhalation from the bottomless pit;-it is the prince of darkness putting his darkness for light, and bitter for sweet, and calling evil good and good evil.

It is obvious then, that another very evident mode of effecting the prevalence of false principles, is to obscure the LIGHT. If we could

remove the sun from the firmament of heaven at noon day, or prevent the transmission of its rays to the earth, we should as effectually involve the world in darkness, as if we waited for the period of midnight; and the devices therefore of Satan, to which I would next draw the attention of the Reader, are those which he is now practising for the accomplishment of this end.

It will serve to make more clearly manifest the importance to Satan's kingdom of darkening the light, if we only glance for a moment at the past history of the Church, and notice how the wily adversary has continually aimed at it. Under the Jewish dispensation he succeeded, by various means, in effectually withdrawing the Scriptures of God from observation; and when in the days of king Josiah a copy of it was accidentally discovered among the neglected rubbish and lumber of the temple, the effect of that discovery was like the sudden illumination of the heavens by lightning in the midst of the darkness of the tempest, revealing to men the horrors of their situation, into which they had fallen by a departure from the truth of God. We find the Jews of a later period, though having only the form of godliness, yet possessing a great outward reverence for the word of God, and becoming exceedingly scrupulous as conservators of the letter of the Scriptures; so that every letter of it was indeed counted, and every jot and tittle of it held in apparent reverence; and with passages of it they even bordered the hem of their garments and made phylacteries for their foreheads. But

Satan nevertheless contrived effectually to undermine its power and supersede its authority, by leading men in a spirit of self-righteousness to venerate their own moral and religious inventions, and by the introduction of a heap of traditions and superstitious observances to overcloud and obscure that very light which they held in their hands.

And how did the Christian Church afterwards fare, when, in addition to the radiance cast upon it by the Old Testament Scriptures, its light was increased as it were seven-fold, by the appearance of the Sun of righteousness himself, and by the records which his inspired apostles have transmitted of his doctrine and life? Alas! Satan again prevailed. Various circumstances, quickly led on to the obscuring and eclipsing of that light; the darkness of superstition again overspread the ecclesiastical firmament; and the Scriptures were once more effectually withdrawn from the observation and knowledge of mankind, until a discovery of them was again made by Martin Luther, and the world was once more astonished and dazzled with the splendour of its beams.

May we conclude, then, that as the sun arose once more at the Protestant Reformation on a benighted world, that darkness will no more overtake it ?-By no means: as it is from that period that we have had to date the open avowal of those infidel principles which now are permitted so unblushingly and exultingly to stalk abroad; so likewise have the efforts of Satan been equally determined and incessant towards effecting the withdrawal of the positive light and truth. But the circumstances of the age have required that his proceedings should be more masked and subtle; and he has consequently acted with much plausibility, and strictly in accordance with

his character as an Angel of Light. He has indeed aimed in the first instance at the extinction of the truth by open persecution; in like manner as, in the primitive age of christianity, he strove to extirpate it by a blow. But this circumstance enables him the more effectually to conceal his present mode of proceeding; for unreflecting persons are not wont to suspect him, whom they have known as a persecutor, to be attacking the truths of christianity by affecting to be a professor and admirer ofit; and that by means of many who appear to be good men even, but who are ignorant of his devices, he is advancing his designs.

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To proceed then to those devices for a considerable period there has been growing among professors of Christianity various principles of interpreting or of applying Scripture; by which the force of divine truth is in the first instance weakened and obscured, and then practically got rid of. Perhaps nothing tended more to lead on to the period of Popish darkness, than that vicious method of allegorizing Scripture first patronized by Origen. Affecting to fetch out of the Scriptures more light than they appeared to reflect on godly persons of sober and ordinary talents, they really left all Scripture to be interpreted according to men's fancy; and the plain and literal meaning, which is generally speaking the true light shining, was neglected; and not only so, but that which was called light now rested upon the uncertain basis of man's imaginative powers, which varied in different expositors, and thus led many to begin to question whether the Scriptures could be in all things a sure guide, since their real meaning could not be depended on. In this manner the authority of God's word insensibly lost its hold upon mens' consciences: it ex

isted in name, but was virtually superseded. Now the spiritualizing system (as it is called) which has more recently sprung up, leads practically to the same result as the allegorizing of Origen: it is in fact the same thing, only somewhat more volatilized, in order to accommodate itself better to the spurious refinement and vitiated taste, which has grown up in religious professors.

But there are other modes likewise of casting upon certain portions of God's word a measure of uncertainty sufficient to neutralize its counsel, so far as to deprive it of its practical utility, and thus to render it no longer a light to those who thus trifle with it. A pernicious hypercriticism is one means. It is almost impossible to press upon a certain class of religionists a text of Scripture, calculated in its obvious sense to convince them, but they immediately fly to the Greek to see if they cannot find some possible meaning which may be affixed to a preposition or a particle; or to the Hebrew, to see if they cannot by means of the vowel points give a different turn to the passage; and thus cast a doubt on its intended signification in that place, and deprive their adversary of its use. In like manner some will insist, that the Old Testament has no force or application under the Christian dispensation; that it is a mere shadow which belonged to them that were under the Law, but which has passed away as regards believers under the Gospel. And of the New Testament, they can make out that as much of the preceptive and doctrinal parts of the four Gospels, as do not please them, were spoken to the Jews, and were never intended for the Gentiles; and of the Epistles, that some were directed exclusively to the Jews, and others were for the use of particular Churches

only, and that however therefore the things contained in them may apply to the local circumstances of the respective parties, they have not any general application to the Church at large. By such methods may the authority of the whole word of God be indirectly got rid of, and its light virtually put out.

But Satan likewise still proceeds to work upon the fears of men, and to deter them altogether from exhibiting the light in circumstances in which it is most useful and necessary; and as, on the one hand, he

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opens his mouth in blasphemy against God," (Rev. XIII. 6,) so on the other hand will he if possible shut the mouth of piety and of deference towards God. It may seem paradoxical, that those who contend for a free course for all opinions, should yet except from this act of general toleration those opinions alone which are most proper to be uttered: yet so it is; and nothing can more decidedly betray the Satanic origin of this misnamed liberality. What infidel and blasphemous things have been and are continually uttered in the great council of this nation !— And yet, if any endeavour to base a measure upon a religious principle, or to remind the house of their obligations and responsibility to God, either some member rises and with great solemnity deprecates the introduction of religion in that place, and sits down amid the approving “hear hear" of the majority; or the more unceremonious method is resorted to of coughing it down, or scouting it with Oh, Oh," or some other obstreperous means of interruption.

It will at once be seen from whence comes the principle, that religion has nothing to do with politics. It is nothing more than an ungodly endeavour on the part of some to effect that indirectly, which they have not yet ventured to do openly,

—viz. insist that religion is nothing more than a speculative and unprofitable theory, and ought to have no practical influence on men in their ordinary duties ;—that in fact men are independent of God in their political relation to each other. For what can really be a greater absurdity and contradiction, than to profess, on the one hand, that men in the first place owe deference and obedience to God in their private and individual character; but that the moment they combine together in a public character, there is something in that act alone which releases them from their obligations to Him, and that they are then at liberty to act on different principles. Well we know that there is no middle principle. If it is not from heaven, it is from hell, however it may be called of men." This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish." (Jas. 111. 15.) The diabolical effect of it is to deprive men in their public proceedings of that light which can alone guide them to prosperity and safety and be as a wall of defence to them: and if in their public, so ultimately it will be found that they are equally defenceless in their more private capacity; for domestic habits, manners and opinions notoriously receive an influence and derive a character from political institutions. And what is more awful to consider, such public apostasy provokes the Lord to give men up to their own imaginations and to punish them by means of the sparks of their own kindling; even whilst the light of his Gospel is still abroad. "Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us ; we wait for

light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes we stumble at noon day, as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men. We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves; we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us." (Isa. LIX. 9—11.)

The principle of excluding reli. gion has not confined itself to the Senate. As has just before been observed, what becomes a principle in politics, will necessarily give a tinge to institutions of a more private character. If we examine the laws of the generality of Clubs, and of Mechanics' Institutes (I believe universally,) they proceed upon the principle of banishing religion, which is commonly excepted against by some express law. Again, there are but few Subscription Libraries in England, which do not, by some fundamental rule, forbid the introduction of religious works. The principle on which the London University has been established, is a covert design of Satan systematically to exclude religion from education; and thus instead of training up the rising generation in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, to leave the youthful heart, with all its natural propensities to evil and its indisposition to holiness, to wander about to seek religion elsewhere if it pleases, or to neglect it altogether if it would rather.*

It is grievous to perceive how ministers of the Gospel, who ought not to be ignorant of Satan's devices, are nevertheless in many instances deluded by him in this matter, and

* I know it may be said, that this proceeds from no intention or desire to exclude religion, but from the differences of opinion which must exist among Dissenters on that momentous subject. I grant that ostensibly this is true; but it serves to betray the immense evil of DISSENT, and how easily it precipitates men into that dangerous snare of Satan which I am now endeavouring to expose.

deterred from lifting up their voices and warning their people of the coming sword, lest they should have the reproach cast upon them of meddling with politics. This "angel of light" captivates indeed the minds of many virtuous persons, by setting before them a specious beau ideal of the ministerial character. He is tenderly alive for their reputation and usefulness, and dreadfully alarmed lest they should overstep in any way that decorum which he has himself prescribed to them. Let it indeed be some Socinian minister, or some noisy radical of any denomination, and he may spout away upon politics with full liberty, and earn golden opinions from the multitude. But let it be some minister who warns them of the ungodliness and danger of any of their political notions, and he is dismissed with the reprimand, that he should keep to his own province ;-that he may preach the Gospel, but has nothing to do with politics;-and that he is only moved by some interested motive when he does interfere. It is undoubtedly desirable that the ministers of Christ should study not to be meddling on every occasion, nor to act the part of political agents and underlings; and that they should make some sacrifices even to avoid the appearance, at times, of being under the influence of interested motives. But they are equally bound, in numerous other instances, to lift up their voice and to warn men in general of the awful tendency of political sentiments and maxims which are nothing less than the offspring of infidelity, and lead to apostasy and perdition.

There still remains to notice one other device of Satan whereby he endeavours to quench the light, and that is by endeavouring to abstract from it the most conspicuous and important doctrines. And this he

does by seducing religious pro fessors into circumstances and situations whereby they become compromised, and are under a sort of compact to keep certain doctrines out of sight. If the London University system of education necessarily excludes religion altogether, the Irish Education System proceeds upon the principle of withholding portions of important truth, in deference to the prejudices (as they are called) of men who were till recently in most public acts denounced as heretics and idolaters. The union of The Three Denominations "for political purposes" has led to similar fruits during their communion with each other; and serves to illustrate, how impossible it is for men to separate politics from religion without being previously blinded by Satan. The only common ground on which men can proceed, who hold opinions so diametrically opposed as calvinistic Trinitarians and Socinians, is by that merging of the fundamental principles of the former, which brings them down in reality to the standard and level of the more plausible of the latter, and makes them therefore practically Socinian. It is not sufficiently considered in the present day, what Socinianism -or, as it is more fashionably termed, Unitarianism—is. It can get on very well without the avowal of its own peculiar dogmas, if you will only allow it to pluck out and to place under the bushel, that which forms the life and power of vital christianity. It may not be positive Unitarianism, but it is negative Unitarianism; and it is almost as mischievous in the long run, from being unsuspected, and thus throwing persons off their guard, and leading them to imagine that they are viewing matters in the light of the Gospel, when it is not so. If we could abstract entirely from the light of day

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