…the Devil made me do it
As we enter a new year, 2022, many individuals cannot keep from speculating what position the Devil will be playing in it. However, a closer inspection of the news media and the Internet services reveals almost no mention of him. One can find more information about Donald Trump, the January 6 insurrection riot in Washington DC, Covid-19, Omicron, local city councils denying the housing crisis, and the New York Yankees and LA Dodgers than on the Devil.
How humiliating for one whose name was once enough to make the hair of kings and queens stand up in horror, of which Saint Augustine said, “The human race is the Devil’s fruit tree, his own property, from which he may pick his fruit.”
Appreciating his demise, we must put ourselves someplace in Western Europe in the year
999, as the second millennium was about to begin. During that time the Devil was everywhere. He hid behind church doors and frolicked through castles and cottages. In addition, his pranks and tempting of humans were articulated in sermons, on theatre stages, on canvas, books and in everyday conversation. In addition, no part of daily life eluded him. The Devil prowled outside every oral cavity of the human body, anticipating an opportunity to enter the human soul inside, that is why to this day we say “God bless you” when we hear someone sneeze.
Whatever he did, he was on everyone’s tongue, and he went by many names: Satan, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Belial, Mastema, the Prince of Darkness, and the Lord of Lies. In addition, the Scripture refers to him as the Accuser, the Evil One, and the Prince of this World.
Today the average person with no theological background envisions the Devil as a sleek, dark-complexioned male figure, with black chin-whiskers, little horns, and cloven hooves, conceivably with a foxy glint in his eye and a trace of a foreign accent, but overall handsome.
The Old Testament composed between the tenth and third centuries B.C., has little trace of the Devil with a capital D, and in earlier books, none. The serpent who tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden was later identified by Jewish rabbis and Christian church fathers with the Devil, the principal Evil; but in the third chapter of Genesis as written, he is only a snake. Ancient Hebrew had a noun; Satan, meaning “obstructor” or “accuser,” and several Satans appear in the Old Testament being sent by God on different errands.
When the Old Testament was translated into Greek beginning in the third century B.C., Satan was rendered diabolos, “adversary,” from which came the Latin diabolus, French diable, German Teufel, English “devil.” The first time the word appears with a capital S, to define a particular person, is in the Book of Job.
The Devil has had to adjust his ways in modern times. In addition, America, like the modern world in general, has lost its sense of evil. Perhaps, he is not dead after all; he may only be in hiding. It is the policy of the Devil to persuade us that there is no Devil. The Devil, after all, if he is anything, is the personification of evil, and no one can deny that there is plenty of evil around even in today’s comparative peace and prosperity.
In contemplation, there were no devils running Auschwitz, only human beings. Pledges have been taken that these atrocities will not occur again. That the insurrection-riot at DC is an once occurrence. However, our common sense tells us that we will go on performing wicked deeds of one sort or another until the end of the world.
So, if a sleek individual approaches you, and you take his advice, you will probably be making a bad decision. Despite everything, if caught performing a wicked deed, we can always say…. the
The devil made me do it.
The power of a movement lies in the fact that it can indeed change the habits of people. This change is not the result of FORCE but of dedication, of moral persuasion, Ethical Behavior, and Political Respect and Equity.
Dr. Paul A. Rodriguez
