Refutation of the intervention of the devil By Monsignor Freyssinous, Bishop of Hermopolis
In response to the opinion that attributes to a cunning of the devil the moral transformations brought about by the teaching of the Spirits, we have repeatedly said that the devil would not be very clever if, in order to succeed in losing man, he begins by pulling him out of the quagmire of disbelief, and brings him back to God; that it would be the conduct of a fool and naïve. It has been objected to this, that this is precisely the masterpiece of the malice of this enemy of God and of men. We acknowledge that we do not understand the malice.
One of our correspondents sends us, in support of our reasoning, the following words from Monsignor de Freyssinous, bishop of Hermopolis, taken from his Conferences on religion, volume II, page 341; Paris, 1825.
“If Jesus Christ had worked his miracles by virtue of the devil, then the devil would have worked to destroy his empire, and he would have used his power against himself. Certainly, a devil that would seek to destroy the reign of vice to establish that of virtue, would be a strange devil. This is why Jesus, to reject the absurd accusation of the Jews, said to them: “If I work wonders in the name of the devil, then the devil is divided with himself; he therefore seeks to destroy himself, ”- an answer without a replica.”
Thanks to our correspondent for kindly pointing out to this important passage from which our readers will take adequate benefit. Thank you also to all those who pass to us what they find, in their readings, of interest to the doctrine. Nothing is lost.
Many clergymen, as we see, are far from professing opinions as absolute as certain members of the clergy, on the devilish doctrine; Bishop de Hermopolis is, in these matters, an authority whose value they cannot deny. His arguments are, precisely, the same that the Spiritists oppose to those that attribute to the devil, the good advice they receive from the Spirits. What is, in fact, that the Spirits do, if not destroy the reign of vice, to establish that of virtue, bringing back to God those that disregard and deny Him? If this is the work of the devil, he would act like a professional thief that would restore what he stole and engage other thieves to become honest people. Then, he should be congratulated on his transformation. To support the voluntary cooperation of the spirit of evil to produce good, is not only nonsense, but it is also to deny the highest Christian authority: that of Jesus. One could conceive that the Pharisees, in the time of Jesus, believed this, in good faith, because then, one was no more enlightened on the nature of Satan than on that of God, and that it was part of the theogony of the Jews to consider two rival powers. But today, such a doctrine is as inadmissible as the one that attributed to Satan certain technological inventions, such as the press, for example; those that defend it are, perhaps, the last ones to believe in it; it is already becoming ridiculous and frightens no one, and before long, nobody will dare to seriously invoke it.
The Spiritist doctrine does not admit a power rivaling that of God, and even less could it admit that a fallen being, thrown by God into the abyss, could have recovered enough power to counterbalance His designs, removing from God his almighty power. According to this doctrine, Satan is the allegorical personification of evil, as Saturn was, among the Pagans, the personification of time, Mars that of war, Venus of beauty.
The Spirits that manifest themselves are the souls of men, and there are among them, as among men, good and perverse, advanced and tardy; the good ones say good things, give good advice; the perverts say bad things, inspire bad thoughts, and do evil as they did on earth; seeing wickedness, deceit, ingratitude, and the perversity of certain men, one recognizes that they are no better than the worst Spirits; but, incarnate or discarnate, these evil Spirits will, improve one day, when they have been touched by repentance.
Compare the two doctrines and see which one is the most rational, the most respectful to the Divinity.
