Series 1 - Lesson 6 - Annotation 7
What is the meaning of "the Devil"? What other names are given to him? Is there a personal devil?
7. Devil is a generic term for all beliefs opposed to God's perfect law of life, the law of universal good. What is termed "the Devil" is the accumulated evil-thought force of the world seeking expression in humanity and deceiving all men. The statement contained in John 3:43-44 means that men (mankind) are children of the devil in that they are born under the delusion, the one great paramount lie, that the physical body with its sensations and desires, together with material existence, is the great reality. Man must come to know instead that the personal self, the outer consciousness, is the vehicle through which the individuality, or Christ self, is given expression.
The word devil means the synthetic embodiment of all man's concepts, beliefs, and notions of a personal devil: the selfishness that takes hold of man's nature through the unrighteous use of his will. "Devil" is the total of man's perverse and degrading beliefs and practices in connection with the physical life force -- all that is in opposition to God's will or perfect law of life. Other names are Satan, Belial, the Adversary, the Old Serpent, liar, and the Father of Lies, the Evil One. There is no personal devil, no personality known as "the Devil." God is the one Presence and one Power, the one Creator so He could not have created a being called "the Devil" as opposed to His own nature of Absolute Good.
________________________
Preceding Entry: What is sin?
Following Entry: Explain where the Adversary gets its power.
