The History of the Devil, As Well Ancient as Modern: In Two PartsDefoe, Daniel
Philosophy
The History of the Devil, As Well Ancient as Modern: In Two Parts
Defoe, Daniel
Devil -- Early works to 1800
On this occasion suffer me to make an excursion from the usual stile of
this Work, and with some solemnity to express my Thoughts thus:
How glorious is the wisdom and goodness of the great Creator of the
World! in thus restraining these seraphic OUTCASTS from the power of
assuming human or organic bodies! which could they do, envigorating them
with the supernatural Powers, which, as Seraphs and Angels, they now
possess and might exert, they would be able even to fright mankind from
the face of the Earth, and to destroy and confound God's Creation; nay,
_even as they are_, were not their power limited, they might destroy the
Creation it self, reverse and over-turn nature, and put the World into a
general conflagration: But were those immortal Spirits embodied, tho'
they were not permitted to confound nature, they would be able to
harrass poor weak and defenceless man out of his wits, and render him
perfectly useless, either to his Maker or himself.
But the Dragon is chain'd, the Devil's Power is limited; he has indeed a
vastly extended Empire, being Prince of the Air, having, at least, the
whole Atmosphere to range in, and how far that Atmosphere is extended,
is not yet ascertain'd by the nicest observations; _I say at least_,
because we do not yet know how far he may be allow'd to make excursions
beyond the Atmosphere of this Globe into the planetary Worlds, and what
power he may exercise in all the habitable parts of the _solar system_;
nay, of all the other _solar systems_, which, for ought we know, may
exist in the mighty extent of created space, and of which you may hear
farther in its order.
But let his power be what it will there, we are sure 'tis limited here,
and that in two particulars; first, he is limited as above, from
assuming body or bodily shapes with substance; and secondly, from
exerting seraphic Powers, and acting with that supernatural force,
which, as an Angel, he was certainly vested with before the fall, and
which we are not certain is yet taken from him; or at most, we do not
know how much it may or may not be diminish'd by his degeneracy, and by
the blow given him at his expulsion: this we are certain, that be his
Power greater or less, he is restrain'd from the exercise of it in this
World; and he, who was one equal to the Angel who kill'd 180000 men in
one night, is not able now, without a new commission, to take away the
life of one _Job_, nor to touch any thing he had.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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