LETTER XIX.

Gentlemen: I think we have now arrived at that point of our subject in which it will be necessary to endeavor, at least, to discover the origin whence proceeded the idea of a devil, which seems to have prevailed so extensively among the Jews after the Babylonish captivity, (which continued for seventy years,) and I think it quite probable that it was in that period they learned it of their Babylonish

masters.

The Magian religion prevailed in ancient Media and Persia at the time, and for many ages previous to the captivity. It was professed by the king and court, and also by the greater part of the people of Persia, when Cyrus overturned the Babylonish empire. They began first in Persia, says Dr. Prideaux, and there, and in India, were the only places where the sect was propagated, and there they continue even to this day. Their chief doctrine was that there were two principles, one of which was the cause of all good, and the other the cause of all evil-that is to say, God and the devil; that the former is represented by light, and the latter by darkness, as their true symbols; and, that of the composition of these two, all things in the world are made; and concerning these two gods there was this difference of opinion that whereas some held that both of them had been from all eternity, others contended that the good God, only, was eternal, and that the other was created; but they both agreed in this: that there will be a continual opposition between the two principles till the end of the world.

Here I think we may find the object of our search-the origin of the idea of a devil, as it prevailed among the Jews after their return from captivity. The Magian creed

appears to have been the parent stock from whence the opinions held in modern times are derived; for we find this doctrine no where else among the ancients, and that the Jews derived their knowledge of it from the Babylonians and Persians cannot be doubted. They could no where else obtain it, unless from their prophets, and that they did not teach it I have already proved; and that it has been transmitted to us through the Jews is also evident, unless, indeed, we were to suppose that we derived it from immediate revelation, and to contend that we derived it in that way, would be to assert that a doctrine was revealed to Christians which had been professed ages before by nations of heathens; and further, because the modern doctrine of a devil is so similar that it may be said to be almost a literal transcript of the Magian creed.

I have already shown that the Jews have no knowledge of a belief in any being answering to our ideas of a devil, previous to the captivity; and of the only two ways in which they could have acquired it, the most probable is, that they received it from the Magi, and then transmitted it to us almost in its original purity. And as a further confirmation of this opinion, we find, by the Apocryphal books, that this capital and distinguishing article of the Magian creed prevailed among the Jews soon after their return, and this I consider as conclusive evidence as to the manner and time of its introduction into the Jewish theology.

That they would still more readily adopt the doctrines of Magianism, after the reformation of that religion by Zoroaster, the celebrated reformer, who flourished about six hundred years before Christ, we have the following reasons for believing from Dr. Prideaux: "Zoroaster was the greatest impostor the world ever saw (excepting Mohammed,) and had all the craft and enterprising boldness of that Arab,

but much more knowledge, for he was skilled in all the learning of the East that was extant in his day, whereas, the other could neither read nor write; and, particularly, he was supposed to have been thoroughly versed in the Jewish religion, and consequently well acquainted with the sacred books of the Old Testament, which were then extant, which makes it most likely that he was, as to his origin, a Jew; and it is a prevailing opinion among the learned, that he had been a servant to one of the prophets, and that it was by this means he became so well skilled in the sacred books of the Jews.

"The chief reformation he made in the Magian religion was in the first principles of it; for, whereas, before they had held that there were two first causes-the one Light, or the Good God, who was the author of all good, and the other Darkness, or the Evil God, who was the cause of all evil— and that of the mixture of these two, as they were in continued struggle with each other, all things were made. He introduced a principle superior to them both: One Supreme God, who created both Light and Darkness, and out of these two, according to the alone pleasure of his own will, he made all things.

"It is the opinion of the learned that this impostor made the above improvement in the Magian creed, from the following declaration of the Prophet Isaiah, (xlv: 5, 6, 7,) 'I am the Lord, and there is none else; there is no God besides me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides me. I form the ligght and I create darkness; I make peace and create evil; I, the Lord, do all these things.' Here the God of Israel is represented as the author and creator of all things, in opposition to the Magian creed, with their two gods.

'He thus modified their creed by placing one Supreme Being at the head of all things, and then he places their two former gods under him, and in the character of angels. One of them he calls the Angel of Light, who is the author and director of all good; and the other the Angel of Darkness, (car modern devil,) who is the author and director of all evil-and that these two, out of the mixture of light and darkness, made all things that are; and that they are in perpetual struggle with each other, and that where the Angel of Light prevails, the most are good-and where the Angel of Darkness prevails, the most are evil; that this struggle shall continue to the end of the world; that then there shall be a general resurrection and a day of judgment, wherein a just retribution shall be rendered to all, according to their works; after which, the Angel of Darkness and his disciples shall go into a world of their own, where they shall suffer, in everlasting darkness, the punishment of their evil decus; and the Angel of Light and his disciples shall, in like manner, go into a world of their own, where they shall receive, in everlasting light, the reward due unto their good deeds; and that after this they shall remain separated forever, and light and darkness be no more mingled together."

So much for the Magian creed of Zoroaster. I have given it in full, to show that with such a mixture of truth with error it was well adapted to the prejudices of the Jews and also to the Magians. The former could receive it, because it acknowledged but one supreme God; the latter, because under him were placed the angels of light and darkness, answering to the good and evil gods of ancient Magianism.

Who can help seeing that the creed of Toroaster, with

very little alteration, and a change of names, is now the creed of nearly all Christendom.

With sentiments of respect, I conclude, and remain

Yours, &c.

WM. M'GIRR.

LETTER XX.

Gentlemen: I now shall proceed to a review of the New Testament, in order that we may see how far it sustains the idea of an evil agent distinct from man. I am aware that it is considered by some as an invulnerable fortress in support of a devil. I have even heard some professors assert that we might as well disbelieve the existence of a God, as to deny that of the devil; so that it is looked upon by such as little short of blasphemy to call the existence of his Satanic majesty in question.

I should, consequently, be viewed by them as denying the authority of the Scriptures. To such persons and remarks I have not much to say at this time, except to request them to suspend their judgment until they have heard me out: as I trust I have clearly shown that the word Satan, in the Old Testament, means nothing more than an adversary or opponent, and that the word devil is not to be found in it, in the singular number, and only four times in the plural, and in those cases, applied to heathen idols; and I have also shown that neither Moses nor the prophets had any idea of such a character, nor yet the great body of the Jewish nation, until they were carried captive to Babylon, I wish now to inquire how it happened. that the inspired writers of the Old Testament, though writing, as the Apostle Peter saith, "as they were moved