IS THERE A DEVIL?

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1047, 11 August 1930, Page 14

IS THERE A DEVIL?

OPINIONS OF ANGLICAN CLERGYMAN EVIDENCE IN SUPPORT “The question is often asked, ‘ls there a devil?’ ” said the Rev. G. E. Moreton, assistant-City Missloner, in speaking in St. Paul’s Church, City, last evening. His Scriptural reference ■was from St. James: ‘‘Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” "There is no good in shirking the question,” said Mr. Moreton. “If there is no devil then we- must roll away the mists of superstition from the teaching of the Church. The ques I tion needs to be faced because I think that belief in the evil one is dying out. If the new theology is true, if evil is only an undeveloped form of good, then there is no reason whatever for belief in an evil spirit. "I believe that nothing suits the devil better than for us to imagiue that he is dead,” continued Mr. Moreton. “I believe we are making a great mistake in thinking that tho devil is dead, for when ho shams death that is the most dangerous moment for Christian people *‘l cannot understand the Bible unless it is true. There is plenty of metaphor in the Bible; Qiere are plenty of things you cannot take literally, being imagery and picture, but when you come to the teaching about the evil spirit, is the Bibile an honest book in saying what it does, for instance, about the temptation of Our Lord?” DETAIL OF STORY People might not be disposed to take literally the statement that the devil took Our Lord to the pinnacle of the temple, or to the top of a high mountain, but could the story of the temptation have been given in such detail it there had not been an evil spirit? asked Mr. Moreton. Not only the teaching of the Bibja upheld the doctrine of an evil spirit, but the world today was sufficient proof of a subtle force working against good. The fiery darts of the wicked were continually hurled into our midst, some horrible thought or suggestion. Where did that come from ? The dervil was going about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he might devour, maybe the child of anyone in the congregation. ‘‘We in Auckland are not taking our religion very seriously,” said Mr Moreton. There is too much criticising the parson instead of getting on with the work of the Church, which is also a responsibility of the laity. “If you want to go to Heaven you can go; if you wish to go to hell you can go there—God has given you that privilege,” Mr. Moreton said “How on earth are you to expect the Church to make jour child a God-fearing citizen if you yourself do not set the example?”