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temptation in the wilderness , ( ver . 1 5 , 8 , II . ) and particularly v ^ r * 1 . it is sai d , that Jesus was led thither , to be tempt led of the derif . It may be necessary to attend particularly to this instance ,
as it appears not only to support the notion of the actual existence of such an evil being , but
his agency and influence , even over the mind of Jesus . It is however to be observed that the words are " then was Jesus led up of the spirit , " which a very able writer ( Farmer ) contends , in
this connexion , invariably mean the spirit of God , or that divine impulse , by which the Jewish prophets were guided ; which he proves by comparing this with various passages of the same import in the Old and New Test . It is reasonable to suppose , that
the scene , which is here described by this evangelist , and also by Luke , passed in vision , and was intended for the instruction and admonition of Jesus . It cannot
be supposed , that the devil , if he be the author of sin , had any such benevolent intention ; nor can it be imagined , that Jesus was led by the spirit of God , to be exposed to the agency of this potent eiv- 'iny ; for that would be to admit , th . it the spirit of God ^ vas made the minister and agent
ot the devil . Without entering minutely into the object of this vision , if such it were , it evidently contain ** this general important admonition , that J ^|| i | was in no instance to wish tonnniake use of that p <» wer ,
which would accompany him , for his own personal gratification , or for any purpose not connected with th <> object of his ministry As the . scenes of this vision passed
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before his mind ; they would make the same impression , which those in real life do , and which furnish us with motives to virtue or to vice ; and afc far as they seemed to induce him to mqke an improper use of his miraculous pou er , they would appear to Jesus to be temptations to eril and wonld be described by him or by his historians as the suggestions of the devil . If the more popular interpretation of this part of the evangclical history be adopted , and it be supposed , that these
suggestions occurred to the mind of Jesus , hy ( the instigation of the devil , at ^ different times , when he was actually in the situations described by the writer , it can only be concluded from these passages , that the Jews believed in the existence and agency of the devil «
and it may be contended , that they do not actually prove the existence of such a malevolent spirit , any more than the phrase " possessed of daemons , " which occurs much more frequently in the N . T . demonstrates , that in
our Saviour ' s time , men were actually possessed by the spirits of deceased wicked men , which / in * dieted those dreadful disorders , from which they were relieved , by the benevolent interposition of Jesus . The next passage in which the word $ ia . fio \ o $ occurs is in the parable of tin ? tares and the wheat , in the . exposition of which Jesus says , Matt , xiii , 39 . "The enemy that sowed them ( the tares ) is the devil . " In this connexion it may be justly doubted , whether Jesus means positivel y to assert the-existence of the devil and bis ascendency over the human mind . It is far more probable , that h »
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On the Existence cftht Dev il * 137
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Vol .. IV . T
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1809, page 137, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1734/page/17/
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