An essay on evil spirits; or, reasons to prove their existence

Front matter

AN

ESSAY

ON

Preface

In these days of fanciful innovation, and bold impiety, Scriptural Doctrines are abused and perverted on the one hand, by the extravagance of folly and enthusiasm ; and are insulted on the other, by the scoffs of Socinians. They are ridiculed as a vague and visionary scheme, which finds its origin only in the wild imaginations of men. Notwithstanding the contempt and ridicule which are continually poured from the lips of opposers, the author avows himself a believer in all the peculiar and essential doctrines of the Gospel ; and his intention in publishing this essay is, to defend these doctrines against the injudicious evasions, wild reveries, bombastical assertions, and sarcastical animadversions, of those men who would rob Christianity of its glory, blast our hopes, and make this world one vast scene of misery and chaos.

In this controversy, the author sincerely desires truth to have its full weight. He contends for no human creeds or explications whatever ; they may

A be right, or they may be wrong ; infallibility is not stamped upon any human creed whatever ; consequently none ever pretended to infallibility, but the absurd system of Popery. Suffer the author to add, that it is his firm opinion, that the articles, liturgy, and homilies, of the established Church, approach nearer to divine inspiration than any other human system ever extant.

Notwithstanding the superior excellency of this divine establishment, and although the author can, consistent with his own conscience declare, that there is not one point of Christian Doctrine inculcated by it, but what is fully supported by the infallible testimony of revelation ; yet it is only human, or, in other words, the compilers of this most excellent system of rules and doctrines, were only fallible ; therefore, no man can appeal to it or any other, and confidently say, u Thus saith the Lord" The highest that can be said of any human creed, however excellent, is, that it is a stream from the great fountain or source of all truth ; and a fountain must for ever excel its streams. Therefore, the author is determined to make the Scripture, the great fountain of infallible truth, the grand standard of his faith and practice, audits sacred decisions the universal authority on which he will build every part of that system unto which he gives his assent ; and he would Lave Mr. Heineken, and his Socinian brethren, to recollect, that he attacks them because he believes iii.

they are blinded by prejudice and plunged into error—because he believes that the system of Socinianism is false, and derogatory to the Son of God ; injurious to Society at large ; dangerous in the extreme to all who embrace it ; and in its nature ab - surd to such a degree, as to render it disgusting to every sensible man.

There is no doubt but the genuine truths of Christianity will ultimately prevail : God will vindicate his own cause. The powers of darkness have long attempted to subvert the whole system of Divine truth, but they have not prevailed, nor is it to be apprehended they ever will. The Great Head of the Church is shaking the nations, and is about to purge his floor ; the gold, silver, and precious stones, shall abide the day of trial ; but the chaff will be blown away ; the wood, hay, and stubble, shall be burnt up ; all superstitious rites shall be subverted ; but the word of the Lord shall endure for ever; his counsels shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure. Here then the author rests his faith. Antichrist may fall, superstitious observances may cease, religious establishments may tumble into ruins, empires and kingdoms may be overturned, princes and governors may be dethroned, the great men of the earth may take part with the enemies of truth, error and delusion may run like wild-fire, unbelievers may rage, and zoould-be philosophers imagine a vain thing ; yea, all nature may sink into a perfect noniv.

entity ; the solid rocks may be dissolved ; the vast mountains on our globe may disappear and be not ; the most invulnerable of all material substances — in a word, all the stupendous orbs which garnish the heavens, may vanish like shadows, die like the shrill echo, and be no more ; but the Bible shall arise out of its present obscurity, and being stripped of all human appendages, shall universally be had in honour, while the enemies of evangelical religion shall be confounded world without end. Yea,

« They shall pass away like the baseless fabric of a vision, " And leave Dot a wreck behind,"

While all those solemn realities of the Gospel shall survive

" The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds."

The reader will be pleased to observe that though the term Unitarian is generally used in this Essay, yet it is used gratuitously ; for the body so designated have no more right to it than the Trinitarians. The author would not have used it but for a certain friend, whom he highly esteems for his piety and benevolence, who said he would use the term Unitarian iustead of Socinian, as they called themselves by that name. The reason why the author would not concede to them in the term Unitarian, is, because they have chosen it expressly to intimate that they, among Christians exclusively, hold the existence of one God, and that Trinitarians

V.

hold the existence of more Gods than one ; an imputation which they well know every person who believes in the Divine Trinity, rejects with abhorrence.

Again, in arguing with Trinitarians, they generally endeavour to prove that the Scriptures, in a great variety of passages, assert that there is but one God ; and when they have proved this point, viz. the Divine Unity, they triumph and consider the dispute as ended, and their antagonist overthrown. In this way they insinuate to their readers, that Trinitarians hold the existence of more Gods than one, and that all their arguments are intended to support this doctrine. Whereas, every Unitarian knows perfectly well that the unity of God, is as entirely and as avowedly holden by those who believe in the ever blessed and adorable Trinity, as by himself, that none of their arguments are directed against it, and that this point of Christian Doctrine has never been, and never can be in debate between him and them, so long as the unity of God is equally holden by both parties. That the doctrine of the Trinity involves or infers the existence of more Gods than one, every Unitarian has a right to prove, and may with perfect fairness prove, if he can. But to say that Trinitarians believe in the existence of more Gods than one, and to treat them as if they thus be. lieved, when it is perfectly well known that every Trinitarian disclaims such belief with indignation, is vi.

conduct, which, in my opinion, admits of no justification. Every Trinitarian with the strictest propriety may say, " The Lord our God is one Lord, and

HIS NAME ONE."

The author went to hear Mr. Heineken deliver a Lecture, in which he endeavoured to prove the non-existence of an evil spirit, called the Devil, or Satan. His mind was much wounded to see so many Atheists and Deists ; and likewise a great number of men and women, who, in their simplicity and ignorance, drank in his disgusting heterodoxy, not knowing that it was more dangerous than a draught of the essence of hemlock. The author made two or three remarks, and determined to oppose him. — When Mr. Heineken heard of his intention, he very candidly came forward, and made him an offer of his Sermon, which the author read with the utmost candour ; yet he must confess that what is contained in it, is contrary to every principle of philosophy, and the plain language of the Scriptures. But he is not warranted in commenting on his own observations. Such as they are, he commits them to the world, and earnestly recommends them to the candour and attention of those to whom he now appeals. There perhaps is much in this essay that will be grating in the ears of the hypercritic, who can derive a sort of flimsy pleasure from labouring to pry into the deepest recesses of grammatical accuracy. However he would observe, that his present circum* vii.

stances forbid him being critically nice respecting this in the present essay.

Should this work, through the divine blessing, prove beneficial to society in general, or should any of those who have fallen a victim to the powerful darts of sophistry, be drawn from those labyrinths of absurdity, or others be prevented from falling into the same snare, his intention in writing it will be realized. It is the first time that he ever attempted to assume the character of an author, and without dedication or patron, he abandons this essay to its ultimate fate.

PREFACE

TO THE

SECOND EDITION.*

It is with great pleasure and gratitude to the enlightened public, for their kind and liberal support which they have afforded the author, that he sits down to write the following short preface. As a Second Edition of this work is just going to make its appearance in the world, so soon after the first, is, to the author, a matter of astonishment, and thankfulness to the religious world, as it is only four months since the first edition made its appearance ; and notwithstanding the many defects which were scattered through its pages, yet the author has received many testimonies of approbation, which have removed that suspense under which he laboured, relative to its fate. As the author was unknown to the departments of literature, he could not but be anxious to know its destiny. He waited the issue, with a mind fluctuating in doubt, whether the

# The reader will please to observe, that the Preface to the First Edition as it now stands, is considerably altered.

X.

arguments which he advanced, in Ol der to prove the existence of evil spirits, would have the same weight, and appear with the same cogency and clearness to the mind of every reader, as to his. He was sensible, that neither he nor Mr. Heineken, could influence or deceive the judgment of an enlightened public.

With these views, the first edition made its appearance, and its reception far exceeded his most sanguine expectations. The demand for it at present, is great ; therefore, he judges it necessary to publish another edition, under the patronage of a generous public. There are many persons who have interested themselves in the publication of this little work, whose names would gratify his feelings to publish, but it is a liberty which he dare not take ; it is to these, in particular, and the religious world in general, that the author is indebted for a patronage so liberal and great ; and which he trusts he will never forget, so long as gratitude is capable of warming his heart.

Though the author has had the advantage of correcting the first edition, yet, he has not the vanity to suppose that the second is perfect; there are many defects and inaccuracies, which he humbly hopes the candid reader will pardon and over look,

November tth, IS25.

CHAP. I. Miscellaneous Observations

Notwithstanding the light of Evangelical (ruth, which shines with a brilliancy not to be equalled by mid-day splendour, yet, it is amazing to think what ignorance and superstition remain : what darkness, more intense than midnight gloom ! How true are the words of the prophet, that darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people ; for infidelity is stalking abroad with its ugly features, spreading its contagion and infusing its poison, exulting in the most ridiculous chimeras, and carried away with the most bewildered enthusiasm. Notwithstanding the blackness and darkness of infidelity, Mr. Heineken stands in a situation ten thousand times more awful ; for when I take into consideration the destructive consequence of his prin-

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ciples, they appear fraught with results the most alarming, and consequences the most fatal. They lead the unhappy victim, who becomes fettered and entangled with them, into a delusion superlatively awful ; and hurry him, under a garb of the most fantastical hypocrisy, to the verge of eternal ruin. As a proof of what I have asserted, I would have Mr. lleineken to observe, that there are many persons, some of whom I am acquainted with, and others of whom I have been informed, who were, a little while ago, strongly attached to the Christian faith ; but by means of attending his lectures, their attachment has been destroyed, and they are now wandering in the dark regions of infidelity, and upon his principles are defending that preposterous system of Scepticism. This proves the assertion of Bishop Warburton, where he says, that Unitarianisra " is a sort of infidelity in disguise;" or, as Mr. Wilberforce represents it, " a sort of halfway house from nominal orthodoxy to absolute infidelity ;" or, as Mrs. Barbauld is said to have called it, " Christianity in the frigid zone." Now I would ask Mr. Heineken to tell me, what good has resulted from his preaching ? I know of none : 1 have pointed him out an evil, and one of a serious nature ; " and if he which converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death,"* what must be the consequences of that preacher's labour, which leads only * James iv. 20.

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to death. It is strikingly evident to every sound reasoner, that Unitarianism leads to the grossest errors, and plunges its unhappy dovotees into a vortex of unfounded theories. What is there in the gospel to recommend it, and render it a subject worthy of a Divine revelation, when all its peculiar and essential doctrines are taken away ? I must confess, that the arguments which the Unitarians have made use of in order to support their system, and the miserable subterfuges which they have resorted to ; have done more towards convincing me that their system is a destructive jargon, than all the mighty series of reasoning which has been advanced against them. Seldom are they at a loss for a gloss, or an evasion, in aiming at the accomplishment of their object. If they meet with a passage whose indubitable reading, and whose obvious plain meaning, is such as every unbiassed man would pronounce favourable to any of those doctrines which they so unreasonably despise, they are ready with ample stores of metaphorical, enig - matical, and idiomatical forms of interpretation ; and stubborn must be that text which will not yield to one or other of their modes of treatment. Thus they explain away the obvious import of the Bible, and thereby forsake the paths of reason and Scripture, and wander into the visionary regions of dogmatical enthusiasm, which destroys the transcendent grandeur and glory of the sacred pages.

According to the principle of Unitarianism, our inquiry is not to be, what is the plain and obvious meaning of the writers of the Scriptures, agreeably to the ordinary and established rules of interpretation ; but is it possible to understand their words otherwise ? Men may talk of prejudice, but I can conceive of few prejudices more strong or more deceitful than that which is involved in such a principle. It is surely a very suspicious circumstance as to the foundation on which any system rests, when its abettors feel it necessary formally to warn their readers ff to be on their guard against what is called the natural signification of words and phrases "* This is ignorance with a witness ! it opens the flood-gate of error, and truth is lost in the ocean of absurdity ; for if we reject the natural signification of words and phrases, we must for ever wander in the barren fields of speculation and uncertainty. Here they slide into an error which violates every sentiment of propriety, and converts the plain and unadorned language of the Scriptures into a useless and unnatural pleonasm ; and those doctrines which the writers have inculcated with so much emphasis, they unnerve and paralyze, and with false glosses and wild evasions, destroy all point and emphasis, evaporate all its spirit, and freeze every syllable of it to very ice. It is difficult to maintain a Scripture controversy with the * Read Belsham's Calm Enquiry, pages 4, o.

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class of speculators I am now opposing, for two reasons. First, they will say any thing rather than give up their pre- conceived opinions. That their opinions are merely preconceived, any person may easily discern, who examines their writings with any degree of attention. To prove that they will say any thing, I need only refer the reader to two assertions made by two of their most learned advocates, relative to the innocence and purity of our Lord Jesus Christ. One of them speaks of him as "fallible and peccable and the other says, we have " no sufficient data by which to determine whether during his private, as well as public life, he was free from sin or not ; and that is is to us a matter of no material consequence But what saith the Scriptures : — "To the law and to the testimony; if we speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in us." If we examine both Testaments, we shall invariably find that they represent Jesus Christ as a holy and innocent character, without the least iota of impurity or inherent depravity. Hence, says the Apostle — " Such an high- priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens ; who needeth not daily, as those high- priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins and then for the people's. "f 6i He did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." " Ye are redeemed with the

* Priestley and Belshat*. f Heb. vii. 26, 27. b 3

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)>recious blood of Christ, as of a lamb, zcithout blemish and without spot."* " He was manifested to take away our sins ; and in him is !m sin"f Are not these declarations sufficient to satisfy every uiind that feels itself bound by the authority of the Scriptures ? If Jesus Christ contained within himself the least inherent depravity, or committed the slightest evil, all these Scripture designations of him must be considered as the mere rhaphsody of admiration, or the unmeaning bombast of eulogy. It perhaps is of no meterial consequence to the frozen-hearted Unitarian, whether Christ was a sinner or not; but to every sound Christian, it is a matter of the greatest importance; for if Jesus Christ was a sinner, or an unholy being, the whole system of Christianity tumbles into ruins.

The second reason why it is extremely difficult to maintain a process of Scriptural reasoning with these men, is, that the notions which they entertain respecting the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, are so very vague, futile, and undefined.

" The Scriptures," says one of their most eminent writers, M were written without any particular inspiration, by men who wrote according to the best of their knowledge, and who, from circumstances, could not be mistaken with regard to the greater facts of which they were properly zdtnesses ; but,

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(like other men subject to prejudice) might be liable to adopt a hasty and ill-grounded opinion concerning things which did not fall within the compass of their own knowledge, and which had no connection with any thing that was so. We ought all of us, therefore, to consider ourselves fully at liberty to examine, with the greatest rigour, both the reasonings of the writers, and the facts of which we find any account in their writings ; that, judging by the rules of just criticism, we may distinguish what may be depended on from what may not."*

" I like the honesty of this avowal," (says a learned critic,) " but I presume you will agree with me in thinking, that Deism ought to have been the profession of him who makes it." Every one must at once perceive, that according to this view of the Scriptures, there is nothing certain in them. And if we deny the infallibility of the Holy Sbriptures, and look upon them as the fallible productions of men, all our hopes of arriving at truth must be totally eclipsed, and the bright prospects of futurity be overspread with blackness and darkness for ever. Therefore, the reasoning of those men who deny that the writers of both Testaments were constantly under infallible guidance, is a dangerous error ; the most animating doctrines of the gospel are left entirely uncertain — a ground is laid for heartrending doubts and fearful anticipations, which no- * Priestley's History of Early Opinions, vol. iv. p. 5.

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firing can remove, but a firm persuasion that the sacred writers wrote their histories under the immediate agency and superintendence of the Divine Spirit. The same writer, in speaking of the Arian opinion, that the world was formed by Jesus Christ as a subordinate agent of the Father, has these words : " Now, as it is not pretended that there are any miracles adapted to prove that Christ made and supports the world, 1 do not see that we are under any obligation to believe it, merely because it was an opinion held by an apostle."*

Dr. Priestley made no scruple " to call the apostle St. Paul an inconclusive reasoner."f <• Neither 1," says he to Dr. Price, <; nor I presume yourself, believe implicitly every thing which is advanced by any writer in the Oid or New Testament. 1 believe them to have been men, and therefore fallible." And again : "That the books of Scripture were written by particular divine inspiration, is a thing to which the writers themselves make no pretensions." But let the Apostles speak for themselves : " But there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you, thau that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gos-

* Priestley's History of Early Opinions, p. 63. f Priestley's Corruptions of Christianity, voJ. ii. p. 370

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pel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For 1 neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not."* And again he says, " And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's w isdom, but in demon* stration of the Spirit and of power : that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."f Now, reader, judge for yourself. Can the gospel, which was inculcated by the Apostle, be both a revelation from God, and at the same time, fallible production of men ? Impossible ! If we deny the universal inspiration of the Scriptures, we involve ourselves in a dilemma from which we cannot easily extricate ourselves. But the writer to whom I have all along referred, goes farther than this in one of his letters to Dr. Price, relative to the pre-existence of Jesus Christ, and says, "I would not build an article of faith of such magnitude, on the correction of John's recollection and representation of our Lord's language : and so strange and incredible does the hypothesis of a preexistcnt state appear, that, sooner than admit it, I wo||d suppose the whole verse to be an interpolation, or that the old apostle dictated one thing, and * Gal. i. 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 20. f 1 Cor. ii. 4, 5.

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his amanuensis wrote another."* Hence, it appears, that Dr. Priestley would believe any tiling however monstrous, rather than the plain and obvious meaning of the words of Scripture. Although all the writers of this class may not reject, in terms equally unqualified, the inspiration of the sacred Scriptures, yet they are all characterized by the same homogeneal laxity, relative to this important point. Another of them says, that " Peter speaks according to the conception of the Jews, when he says, Prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost ; f? and adds, " the prophets may have delivered the offspring of their own brains as divine revelation." And another says, u what have we to do with the New Testament, when it contradicts the light of nature r" I ask, where does the Scripture contradict reason ; for I suppose that is what he means by the tight of nature* There are many doctrines contained in the Scripture, which are necessarily above reason ; but it does not follow that they are contrary to it. Mr. Belsham says, that "Paul in his Epistles, introduces many liarsh and uncommon figures."f Again, lie says, " The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews indulges himself in an ingenious, but forced and fanciful analogy. "J ^ay, he goes farther than this, for he

* Priestley's Letters to Dr. Price, page 58. t 1*1% ifetetmii'js Calm Inquiry, p. 19. J Ibid, p. 19.

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says, that " our Lord sometimes uses metaphors of the most obscure and offensive kind"*

1 hope these quotations are sufficient to shew how \ague and undefined are the opinions of this class of men respecting the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures : for if we give up their universal inspiration, we must look upon them as a mixed compound. And how am I to distinguish between that which is ininspired, and that which is not ? Here is a foundation for doubting ; by this our confidence is at once destroyed ; the mind is carried into the cold regions of barren speculation, and is lost in the great vortex of infidelity. This is a subject of importance, and one which ought to be carefully studied by every Christian, in order that he may render a reason for the hope that is in him.

That the Scriptures were written by plenary inspiration, is a doctrine that has been believed through successive ages, and has remained impregnable to all the shafts of impious ridicule, and unshaken by the bolder artillery of blasphemous invective. " Some men," says a learned author, " have adopted very strange and dangerous notions, respecting the inspiration of the Scriptures. Dr Priestley denies that they were written by a particular divine inspiration ; and asserts, that the writers, though men of the greatest probity, were fallible, and have actually committed mistakes in their narrations and * Ibid. p. 18.

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their reasonings. Rat this man and his followera, find it their interest to weaken and set aside the authority of the Scriptures, as they have adopted a system of religion from which all the distinguishing doctrines of revelation are excluded. Others consider the Scriptures as inspired in those places where they profess to deliver the Word of God ; but in other places, especially in the historical part, they ascribe to them only the same authority which is due to the writings of well-informed and upright men. But as this distinction is perfectly arbitrary, having no foundation in any thing said by the sacred writers themselves, so it is liable to very material objections : it represents our Lord and his Apostles, when they spoke of the Old Testament, as having attested, without any exception or limitation, a number of books as divinely inspired, while some of them were partly, and some were almost entirely human compositions : it supposes the writers of both Testaments to have profanely mixed their own productions with the dictates of the Spirit, and to have passed the unhallowed compound on the world as genuine. In fact, by denying that they were constantly under infallible guidance, it leaves us utterly at a loss to know when we should or should not believe them. If they could blend their own stories with the revelations made to them, how can I be certain that they have not on some occasions published in the name of God, sentiments of their own, to which they were desirous to gain credit and authority ? Who will assure me of their perfect fidelity in drawing a line of distinction between the divine and the human parts of their writings ? The denial of the plenary inspiration of the Scripture, tends to unsettle the foundation of our faith, involves us in doubt and perplexity, and leaves us no other method of ascertaining how much we should believe, but an appeal to reason. But when reason is invested with the authority of a judge, not only is revelation dishonoured, and its author insulted, but the end for which it was given is completely defeated."

Hence it is certain, that to suppose that the sacred pages are partly divine and partly human, is an exitious error, for it leaves us entirely in doubt which to believe as divinely inspired. The mind is carried into barren climes of confusion and uncertainty, and instead of arriving at truth, gives up its pursuit as a painful and unprofitable research. The denial of the full or complete inspiration of the Scriptures, opens a door for infidelity, which all the energies of those who deny the fact will never be able to shut. And instead of the Scriptures being a solid foundation, upon which to build our faith, there can be no firm ground of trust placed in them, no settled hope, no permanent consolation — timidity and gloom must inhabit every bosom, and render life, in many instances, a burthen.