Page:The New View of Hell.djvu/178

 Now if Man is often used as a collective term to denote the entire human race, and Angel in like manner to denote the whole angelic heaven, why should not Devil be used in the same way to denote all evil spirits in the complex? or, as Dr. Bushnell expresses it, "the total of bad minds"? These are all animated by one and the same bad spirit; they all breathe hatred, cruelty, revenge and murder; they are all joined in an alliance of evil; they all conspire to work deeds of darkness; and viewed collectively, what are they but one inhuman Monster or Devil?

And this view has the clear testimony of Scripture as well as of reason in its support. For we read of one "that was possessed with the devil," who was "always, night and day, in the mountains and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself with stones." This poor, devil-possessed creature met Jesus as He came out of the ship; and as soon as he saw Him "he ran and worshiped Him, and cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God?" And Jesus, commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man, "asked him. What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion; for we are many."—Mark v. 9. And immediately after, this same unclean spirit, called in verses 15 and 16 "the devil," is spoken of in the plural as "the unclean spirits." and "all the devils."

There are a number of other names by which the Devil