8. The Bible in the Song of Moses compares divine Providence to the eagle spreading her protecting wings over her young and bearing them aloft, or urging them to soar along.(516) The rabbis elaborate this by referring to the twofold care which the eagle thus bestows, as she watches over those who are still tender and helpless, shielding them from the arrows below by bearing them on her wings, but inspiring the maturer and stronger ones to fly by her side.(517) In the same way Providence trains both individuals and generations for their allotted task. A little child requires incessant care on the part of its mother, until it has learned how to eat, walk, speak, and to decide for itself, but the wise parent gradually withdraws his guiding hand so that the growing child may learn self-reliance and self-respect. The divine Father trains man thus through the childhood of humanity. But no sooner does the divine spirit in man awaken to self-consciousness than he is thrown on his own resources to become the master of his own destiny. The divine power which, in the earlier stages, had worked _for_ man, now works _with_ him and _within_ him. In the rabbinic phrase, he is now ready to be a "co-worker with G.o.d in the work of creation."(518) Only at those grave moments when his own powers fail him, he still feels in the humility of faith that his ancient G.o.d is still near, "a very present help in trouble," and that "the Guardian of Israel neither slumbereth nor sleepeth."(519)
Philosophy cannot tolerate the removal of the dividing line between the transcendent G.o.d and finite man. Hence the relation of man"s free will and divine foresight cannot be solved by any process of reasoning. But when religion proclaims a moral government of the world, then man, with his moral and spiritual aims, attains a place in Creation akin to the Creator.
Of course, so long as he is mentally a child and has no clear purpose, Providence acts for him as it does for the animal with its marvelous instinct. Through His chosen messengers G.o.d gives the people bread and water, freedom and victory, instruction and law. The wondrous tales describing the divine protection of Israel in its early life may strike us as out of harmony with the laws of nature, but they are true portrayals of the experience of the people. Whatever happened for their good in those days had to be the work of G.o.d; they had not yet wakened to the power hidden in their own soul. Their heroes felt themselves to be divine instruments, roused by His spirit to perform mighty deeds or to behold prophetic visions. It is G.o.d who battles through them. It is G.o.d who speaks through them. Both their moral and spiritual guidance works from without and above. At this stage of life autonomy is neither felt nor desired. When man awakens to moral self-consciousness and maturity, this inner change impresses him as an outer one; the change in him is interpreted as a change in G.o.d. He feels that G.o.d has withdrawn behind His eternal laws of nature and morality which work without direct interference, and in his new sense of independence he thinks that he can dispense with the divine protection and forethought. As if mortal man can ever dispense with that Power which has endowed him with his capacity for worthy accomplishment! Thus in times of danger and distress man turns to G.o.d for help; thus at every great turning point in the life of an individual or nation the idea of an all-wise Providence imbues him with new hope and new security. And in all these cases the great lesson of providential direction is typified in the history of Israel as related in the Bible.
10. The idea of Providence, indeed, belongs also to certain pagan philosophers, who observed the great purposes of nature which the single creature and the species are both to serve. The Stoics in particular made a study of teleology, the system of purposive ends in nature. Philo adopted much from them in his treatise on Providence. Later the popular philosophic group among the Mohammedans, the so-called "Brothers of Purity," based their doctrines of G.o.d and His relation to the world on a teleological view of nature. In fact, the Jewish philosopher and moralist Bahya ben Pakudah has embodied many of their ideas in his "Duties of the Heart."(520)
Jewish folklore-preserved in rabbinic literature-has also attempted a popular explanation of the obscure ways of Providence, in strange events of nature as well as the great enigmas of human destiny. Thus the flight of David from Saul affords the lesson of the good purpose which may be served by so insignificant a thing as a spider, or by so dreadful a state as insanity.(521) Vast numbers of the Jewish legends and fables deal with adversities which are turned into ultimate good by the working of an all-wise Providence.(522)
Chapter XXIX. G.o.d and the Existence of Evil
1. A leading objection to the belief in divine Providence is the existence in this world of physical and moral evil. All living creatures are exposed to the influence of evil, according to their physical or moral const.i.tutions and the peculiar conditions of their existence. Heathenism accounts for the powers of darkness, pain and death by a.s.suming the existence of forces hostile to the heavenly powers of light and life, or of a primitive principle of evil, the counterpart of the divine beings.
But to those who believe in an almighty and all-benign Creator and Ruler of the universe, the question remains: Why do life and the love of life encounter so many hindrances? Why does G.o.d"s world contain so much pain and bitterness, so much pa.s.sion and sin? Should not Providence have averted such things? The answer of Judaism has already been stated here, but we need further elaboration of the theme that there is no evil before G.o.d, since a good purpose is served even by that which appears bad. In the life of the human body pleasure and pain, the impetus to life and its restraint and inhibition form a necessary contrast, making for health; so, in the moral order of the universe, each being who battles with evil receives new strength for the unfolding of the good. The principle of holiness, which culminates in Israel"s holy G.o.d, transforms and enn.o.bles every evil. As the Midrash explains, referring to Deut. XI, 26: "If thou but seest that both good and evil are placed in thy hand, no evil will come to thee from above, since thou knowest how to turn it into good."(523)
2. The conception of evil pa.s.sed through a development parallel with that of the related conceptions which we have just reviewed. At first every misfortune was considered to be inflicted by divine wrath as a punishment for human misdeeds. Nations and individuals were thought to suffer for some special moral cause; through suffering they were punished for past wrong, warned against its repet.i.tion in the future, and urged to repentance and improvement of their conduct. Even death, the fate of all living creatures, was regarded as a punishment which the first pair of human beings brought upon all their descendants through their transgression of the divine command. The Talmudic sages clung to the view of the Paradise legend in the Bible, when they held that every death is due to some sin committed by the individual.(524)
This view, which was shared by paganism, was accompanied by a higher conception, gradually growing in the thinking mind. As a father does not punish his child in anger, but in order to improve his conduct, so G.o.d chastens man in order to purify his moral nature. Good fortune tends to harden the heart; adversity often softens and sweetens it. In the crucible of suffering the gold of the human soul is purified from the dross. The evil strokes of destiny come upon the righteous, not because he deserves them, but because his divine Friend is raising him to still higher tests of virtue. This standpoint, never reached even by the pious sufferer Job, is attained by rabbinic Judaism when it calls the visitations of the righteous "trials of the divine love."(525) Thus evil, both physical and spiritual, receives its true valuation in the divine economy. Evil exists only to be overcome by the good. In His paternal goodness G.o.d uses it to educate His children for a place in His kingdom.
3. According to the direct words of Scripture good and evil, light and darkness, emanate alike from the Creator. This is accentuated by the great seer of the Exile,(526) who protests against the Persian belief in a creative principle of good and a destructive principle of evil. The rabbis, however, ascribe the origin of evil to man; they take as a negation rather than a question the verse in Lam. III, 38: "Do not evil and good come out of the mouth of the Most High?" Thus they refer this to the words of Deuteronomy, "Behold, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil; choose thou life!"(527)
Such medieval thinkers as Abraham Ibn Daud and Maimonides did not ascribe to evil any reality at all.(528) Evil to them is the negation of good, just as darkness is the negation of light, or poverty of riches. As evil exists only for man, man can overcome it by himself. Before G.o.d it has no essential existence. Unfortunately, such metaphysics does not equip man with strength and courage to cope with either pain or sin. The same lack is evident in that modern form of pseudo-science which poses as a religion, Christian Science, which has made propaganda so widely among both Jews and non-Jews. Christian Science declares pain, sickness, and all evil to be merely the "error of mortal mind," which can all be dispelled by faith; such a view neither strengthens the soul for its real struggles nor convinces the mind by an appeal to facts.(529)
4. Frail mortals as we are, we need the help of the living G.o.d. Thus only can we overcome physical evil, knowing that He bears with us, feels with us, and transforms it finally into good. We need it also to overcome moral evil, in the consciousness that He has compa.s.sion upon the repentant sinner and gives him courage to follow the right path. The modern philosophers of pessimism had the correct feeling in adopting the Hindu conception, and emphasizing the pain and misery of existence, repeating Job"s ancient plaint over the hard destiny of mankind. The shallow optimism of the age would rather conceal the dark side of life and indulge in outbursts of self-sufficiency. Yet if we measure it only by a physical yardstick, life cannot be called a boon. Against shallow optimism we have the testimony of every thorn and sting, every poisonous breath and every destructive element in nature"s household, as well as all vice and evil in the world of man. The world does not appear good, unless we measure it by the ideal of divine holiness. If G.o.d is the Father watching over the welfare of every mortal, all things are good, because all serve a good purpose in His eternal plan. Every hindrance or pressure engenders new power; every sting acts as a spur to higher things. Short-sighted and short-lived as is man, he forgets too easily that in the sight of G.o.d "a thousand years are as a single day," world-epochs like "watches in the night," and that the mills of divine justice grind on, "slowly but exceeding small." But one belief illumines the darkness of destiny, and that is that G.o.d stands ever at the helm, steering through every storm and tempest toward His sublime goal. In the moral striving of man we can but realize that our every victory contributes toward the majestic work of G.o.d.(530)
Chapter x.x.x. G.o.d and the Angels
1. Judaism insists with unrelenting severity on the absolute unity and incomparability of G.o.d, so that no other being can be placed beside Him.
Consequently, every mention of divine beings (_Elohim_ or _B"ne Elohim_) in either the Bible or post-Biblical literature refers to subordinate beings only. These spirits const.i.tute the celestial court for the King of the World.(531) All the forces of the universe are His servants, fulfilling His commands. Hence both the Hebrew and Greek terms for angel, _Malak_ and _angelos_, mean "messenger." These beings derive their existence from G.o.d; some of them are merely temporary, so that without Him they dissolve into nothing. Although Scripture uses the terms, "G.o.d of G.o.ds" and "King of kings," still we cannot attribute any independent existence to subordinate divine beings. In fact, Maimonides in his sixth article of faith holds that worship of such beings is prohibited as idolatry by the second commandment.(532) Thus the unity of G.o.d lifts Him above comparison with any other divine being. This is most emphatically expressed in Deuteronomy: "Know this day, and lay it to thy heart, that the Lord He is G.o.d in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath; there is none else,"(533) and "See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no G.o.d with Me; I kill and make alive; I have wounded and I heal, and there is none that can deliver out of My hand."(534) The same att.i.tude is found in Isaiah: "I am the Lord that maketh all things, that stretched forth the heavens alone, that spread abroad the earth by Myself" "I am the Lord and there is none else; beside Me there is no G.o.d."(535) Such conceptions allow no place for angels or spirits.
2. It was certainly not easy for prophet, lawgiver, or sage to dispel the popular belief in divine beings or powers, which primitive Judaism shared with other ancient faiths. No sharp line was drawn at first between G.o.d and His accompanying angels, as we may infer from the story of the angels who appeared to Abraham, and the similar incidents of Hagar and Jacob.(536) The varying application of the term _Elohim_ to G.o.d and to the angels or G.o.ds is proof enough of the priority of polytheism, even in Judaism. The trees or springs, formerly seats of the ancient deities, spirits, or demons, were now the places for the appearance of angels, shorn of their independence, looking like fiery or shining human beings.
Popular belief, however, perpetuated mythological elements, ascribing to the angels higher wisdom and sometimes sensuality as well. Such a case is the fragment preserved in Genesis telling of the union of sons of G.o.d to the daughters of men, causing the generation of giants.(537) Obviously the old Babylonian "mountain of the G.o.ds," with its food for the G.o.ds, became in the Paradise legend the garden of Eden, the seat of G.o.d;(538) and the Psalmist still speaks of the "angels" food," which appeared as manna in the wilderness.(539) On the whole, the sacred writers were most eager to allot to the angels a very subordinate position in the divine household.
They figure usually as hosts of beings, numbered by myriads, wrapped in light or in fleeting clouds. They surround the throne or chariot of G.o.d; they comprise His heavenly court or council; they sing His praise and obey His call.
Scripture is quite silent about the creation of these angelic beings, as on most purely speculative questions. At the very beginning of the world G.o.d consults them when He is to create man after the image of the celestial beings. For this is the original meaning of _Elohim_ in Gen. I, 26 and 27 and V, 1: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness"; "And G.o.d created man in his own image, in the image of G.o.dly beings He created him." This view is echoed in Psalm VIII, verse 6: "Thou hast made him a little lower than G.o.dly beings." In Job x.x.xVIII, 7, both the morning stars and the sons of G.o.d, or angels, "shout together in joy" when the Lord laid the foundations of the earth.(540)
3. In Biblical times-which does not include the book of Daniel, a work of the Maccabean time-the angels and demons were not invested with proper names or special functions. The Biblical system does not even distinguish clearly between good and evil spirits. The goat-like demons of the field popularly worshiped were merely survivals of pagan superst.i.tions.(541)
In general the angels carry out good or evil designs according to their commands from the Lord of Hosts. They are sent forth to destroy Sodom, to save Lot, and to bring Abraham the good tidings of the birth of a son.(542) On one occasion the host of spirits protect the people of G.o.d; on another they annihilate hostile powers by pestilence and plagues.(543) At one time a mult.i.tude appear, led by a celestial chieftain; at another a single angel performs the miracle. In any case the destroying angel is not a demon, but a messenger of the divine will. Originally some of these primitive forces were dreaded or worshiped by the people, but all have been transformed into members of the celestial court and called to bear witness to the dominion of the Omnipotent.
4. The belief in angels served two functions in the development of monotheism. On the one hand, it was a stage in the concentration of the divine forces, beginning with polytheism, continuing through belief in angels, and culminating in the one and only G.o.d of heaven and earth. On the other hand, certain sensuous elements in the vision of G.o.d by the seers had to be removed in the spiritualization of G.o.d, and it was found easiest to transform these into separate beings, related to Deity himself.
Thus the fiery appearance of G.o.d to the eye or the voice which was manifested to the ear were often personified as angels of G.o.d. This very process made possible the purification of the G.o.d idea, as the sublime essence of the Deity was divested of physical and temporal elements, and G.o.d was conceived more and more as a moral and spiritual personality.
Hence in Biblical pa.s.sages the names of G.o.d and of the angel frequently alternate.(544) The latter is only a representative of the divine personality-in Scriptural terms, the presence or "face" of G.o.d. Therefore the voice of the angel is to be obeyed as that of G.o.d himself, because His name is present in His representative. A similar meaning became attached later on to the term _Shekinah_, the "majesty" of G.o.d as beheld in the cloud of fire. This was spoken of in place of G.o.d that He might not be lowered into the earthly sphere. For further discussion of this subject, see chapter x.x.xII, "G.o.d and Intermediary Powers." In fact, we note that the post-exilic prophets all received their revelations, not from G.o.d, but through a special angel.(545) They no longer believed that G.o.d might be seen or heard by human powers, and therefore their visions had to be translated into rational thoughts by a mediating angel.
5. Persian influence gave Jewish angelology and demonology a different character. The two realms of the Persian system included vast hosts of beneficent spirits under Ahura-Mazda (Ormuzd) and of demons under the dominion of Angro-mainyus (Ahriman). So in Judaism also different orders of angels arose, headed by archangels who bore special names. The number seven was adopted from the Persians, while both names and order were often changed. All of them, however, were allotted special functions in the divine household. The pagan deities and primitive spirits which still persisted in popular superst.i.tion were given a new lease of life. Each force of nature was given a guardian spirit, just as in nature-worship; angels were appointed over fire, water, each herb, each fountain, and every separate function of life. A patron angel was a.s.signed to each of the seventy nations of the world mentioned in the genealogy of Noah.(546)
Thus the celestial court grew in number and in splendor. A beginning was made with the heavenly chariot-throne of Ezekiel, borne aloft by the four holy living creatures (the _hayoth_), surrounded by the fiery _Cherubim_, the winged _Seraphim_, and the many-eyed _Ofanim_ (wheels).(547) This was elaborated by the addition of rows of surrounding angels, called "angels of service," headed by the seven archangels. Of these the chief was Michael, the patron-saint of Israel, and the next Gabriel, who is sometimes even placed first. Raphael and Uriel are regularly mentioned, the other three rarely, and not always by the same names. The _Irin_ of Daniel-known as "the Watchers," but more precisely "the ever-watchful Ones"-are another of the ten cla.s.ses of angels included. Below these are myriads of inferior angels who serve them. Their cla.s.sification by rank was a favorite theme of the secret lore of the Essenes, partly preserved for us in the apocalyptic literature and the liturgy. The Essenic saints endeavored to acquire miraculous powers through using the names of certain angels, and thus exorcising the evil spirits.
This secret lore seems to be patterned after the Zoroastrian or Mazdean system. It is noteworthy that the most prominent angelic figure is _Metatron_, the charioteer of the _Merkabah_ or chariot-throne on high, which is merely another form of _Mithras_, the Persian G.o.d of light, who acts as charioteer for Ahura Mazda.(548) Two other angels are mentioned as standing behind the heavenly throne, _Akathriel_, "the crown-bearer of G.o.d," and _Sandalphon_, "the twin brother" = Synadelphon.
6. A striking contrast exists between the simple habitation in the sky depicted in the prophetic and Mosaic books, and the splendor of the heavenly spheres according to the rabbinical writings. The Oriental courts lent all their grandeur to the majestic throne of G.o.d, on which He was exalted above all earthly things. The immense s.p.a.ce between was filled in by innumerable gradations of beings leading up to Him. There was no longer a question how far these other beings shared the nature of G.o.d; His dominion was absolute. Still a new question, not known to the Bible, arose, as to when the angelic world was created and out of what primordial element. At first a logical answer was given, that the angels emanated from the element of fire. Later the schoolmen, trying to dispose of the angels as possible peers or rivals of the eternal G.o.d, ascribed their creation to the second day, when the heaven was made as a vault over the earth, or to the fifth day, when the winged creatures arose.(549) On the whole, the rabbis denied every claim of the angels to an independent or an eternal existence. Just because they firmly believed in the existence of angels and even saw them from time to time, they felt bound to declare their secondary rank. Only the archangels were made from an eternal substance, while the others were continually being created anew out of the breath of G.o.d or from the "river of fire" which flowed around His throne.
Thus even the realm of celestial spirits was merged into the stream of universal life which comes and goes, while G.o.d was left alone in matchless sovereignty, above all the fluctuations of time.
On the other hand, the rabbis opposed the Essenic idea of a.s.signing to the angels an intermediary task between G.o.d and man, and deprecated as a pagan custom the worship or invocation of angels. "Address your prayer to the Master of life and not to His servants; He will hear you in every trouble," says R. Judan.(550) Some of the teachers even declared that any G.o.dly son of Israel excels the angels in power. It is certainly significant, as David Neumark has pointed out, that the Mishnah eliminates every reference to the angels.(551)
7. In spite of this, none of the medieval Jewish philosophers doubted the existence of angels.(552) Indeed, there was no reason for them to do so, as they had managed to insert them into their philosophic systems as intermediary beings leading up to the Supreme Intelligence. All that was necessary was to identify the angels of the Bible with the "ideas" of Plato or the "rulers of the spheres," the "separate intelligences" of Aristotle. By this one step the existence of angels as cosmic powers was proved to be a logical necessity. The ten rulers of the spheres even corresponded with the ten orders of angels in the cosmography of the Jewish, Mohammedan, and Christian schoolmen. The only difference between the Aristotelian and the rabbinical views was that the former held the cosmic powers to be eternal; the latter, that they were created.
In both Biblical and rabbinical literature the angels are usually conceived of as purely spiritual powers superior to man. Maimonides, however, following his rationalistic method, declared them to be simply products of the imagination, the hypostases of figurative expressions which were not meant to be taken literally. To him every force and element of nature is an angel or messenger of G.o.d. In this way the entire angelology of the Bible, including even Ezekiel"s vision of the heavenly chariot (the _Merkabah_), in becoming a part of the Maimonidean system turns into natural philosophy pure and simple.(553) Of course, Saadia, Jehuda ha Levi, and Gabirol do not share this rationalistic view. To them the angels are either cosmic powers of an ethereal substance, endowed with everlasting life, or living beings created by G.o.d for special purposes.(554)
The later Cabbalistic lore extended the realm of the celestial spirits still more, creating new names of angels for its mystical system and its magical practices. Yet in this magic it subordinated the angels to man. In fact, it followed Saadia largely in this, making man the center and pinnacle of the work of creation, in fact, the very mirror of the Creator.(555)
8. For our modern viewpoint the existence of angels is a question of psychology rather than of theology. The old Babylonian world has vanished, with its heaven as the dwelling place of G.o.d, its earth for man, and its nether world for the shades and demons. The world in which we live knows no above or beneath, no heaven or h.e.l.l, no host of good and evil spirits moving about to help or hurt man. It sees matter and energy working everywhere after the same immutable laws through an infinitude of s.p.a.ce and time, a universe ever evolving new orbs of light, engendering and transforming worlds without number and without end. There is no place in infinite s.p.a.ce for a heaven or for a celestial throne. A world of law and of process does not need a living ladder to lead from the earth below to G.o.d on high. Though the stars be peopled with souls superior to ours, still they cannot stand nearer to G.o.d than does man with his freedom, his moral striving, his visions of the highest and the best. Through man"s spiritual nature G.o.d, too, is recognized as a Spirit; through man"s moral consciousness G.o.d is conceived of as the Ruler of a moral world; but this same process at once does away with the need for any other spirits or divine powers beside Him. G.o.d alone has become the object of human longing. Man feels akin to His G.o.d who is ever near; he learns to know Him ever better. He can dispense with the angelic hosts. As they return to the fiery stream of poetic imagination whence they emerged, nebulous figures of a glorious world that has vanished, man rises above angel and Seraph by his own power to the dignity of a servant, nay, a child of G.o.d. Indeed, as the rabbis said, the prophets, sages, and seers are the true messengers of G.o.d, the angels who do His service.(556)
Chapter x.x.xI. Satan and the Spirits of Evil
1. The great advantage of Judaism over other religious systems lies in its unified view of life, which it regards as a continuous conflict between good and evil influences within man. As man succeeds in overcoming evil and achieving good, he a.s.serts his own moral personality. Outside of man Judaism sees no real contrast between good and evil, since both have emanated from G.o.d, the Spirit of goodness. Judaism recognizes no primal power of evil plotting against G.o.d and defying Him, such as that of the Persian dualism. Nor does Judaism espouse the dualism of spirit and matter, identifying matter with evil, from which the soul strives to free itself while confined in the prison house of the body. Such a conception is taught by Plato, probably under Oriental influence, and is shared by the Hindu and Christian ascetics who torture themselves in order to suppress bodily desire in their quest of a higher existence. The Jewish conception of the unity of G.o.d necessitates the unity of the world, which leaves no place for a cosmic principle of evil. In this Judaism dissents from modern philosophers also, such as John Stuart Mill and even Kant, who speak of a radical evil in nature. No power of evil can exist in independence of G.o.d.(557) As the Psalmist says: "His kingdom ruleth over all. Bless the Lord, ye angels of His, ye mighty in strength that fulfill His word, hearkening unto the voice of His word."(558)
This increased the difficulty of the problem of the origin of evil. The answer given by the general Jewish consciousness, expressed by both Biblical and rabbinical writers, is that evil comes from the free will of man, who is endowed with the power of rebelling against the will of G.o.d.
This idea is symbolized in the story of the fall of man. The serpent, or tempter, represents the evil inclination which arises in man with his first consciousness of freedom. So in Jewish belief Satan, the Adversary, is only an allegorical figure, representing the evil of the world, both physical and moral. He was sent by G.o.d to test man for his own good, to develop him morally. He is "the spirit that ever wills evil, but achieves the good," and therefore in the book of Job he actually comes before G.o.d"s throne as one of the angels.(559)
2. In tracing the belief in demons we must draw a sharp distinction between popular views and systematic doctrine.(560) During the Biblical era the people believed in goat-like spirits roaming the fields and woods, the deserts and ravines, whom they called _Seirim_-hairy demons, or satyrs,-and to whom they sacrificed in fear and trembling.(561) As Ibn Ezra ingeniously pointed out in his commentary, Azazel was originally a desert demon dwelling in the ravines near Jerusalem, to whom a scapegoat was offered at the opening of the year, a rite preserved in the Day of Atonement cult of the Mosaic Code.(562) In fact, in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Palestine diseases and accidents were universally ascribed to evil spirits of the wilderness or the nether world. The Bible occasionally mentions these evil spirits as punitive angels sent by G.o.d. In the more popular view, which is reflected by apocryphal and rabbinical literature, and which was influenced by both the Babylonian and Persian religions, they appear in increasing numbers and with specific names. Each disease had its peculiar demon. Desolate places, cemeteries, and the darkness of night were all peopled by superst.i.tion with hosts of demons (_Shedim_), at whose head was _Azazel_, _Samael_; _Beelzebub_, the Philistine G.o.d of flies and of illness;(563) _Belial_, king of the nether world;(564) or the Persian _Ashma Deva_ (Evil Spirit), under the Hebrew name of _Ashmodai_ or _Shemachzai_.(565) The queen of the demons was _Lilith_ or _Iggereth bath Mahlath_, "the dancer on the housetops."(566)
The Essenes seem to have made special studies of both demonology and angelology, believing that they could invoke the good spirits and conjure the evil ones, thus curing various diseases, which they ascribed to possession by demons. While these exorcisms are not so common in the Talmud as they are in the New Testament, there remain many indications that such practices were followed by Jewish saints and believed by the people. Often the rabbis seem to have considered them the work of "unclean spirits," which they endeavored to overcome with the "spirit of holiness,"
and particularly by the study of the Torah.(567)
3. This answers implicitly the question of the origin of demons. Obviously the belief in malevolent spirits is incompatible with the existence of an all-benign and all-wise Creator. Accordingly, two alternative explanations are offered in the rabbinical and apocalyptic writings. According to one, the demons are half angelic and half animal beings, sharing intelligence and flight with the angels, sensuality with beasts and with men. Their double nature is ascribed to incompleteness, because they were created last of all beings, and their creation was interrupted by the coming of the Sabbath, putting an end to all creation.(568) According to the other view they are the offspring of the "fallen angels," issuing from the union of the angels with the daughters of men as described in Gen. VI, 1 f.
These spread the virus of impurity over all the earth, causing carnal desire and every kind of lewdness. The whole world of demons is regarded as alienated from G.o.d by the rebellion of the heavenly hosts, as if the fall of man by sin had its prototype in the celestial sphere.(569) A rabbinical legend, which corresponds with a Persian myth, ascribes the origin of demons to the intercourse of Adam with Lilith, the night spirit.(570) On the other hand, the archangel Samael is said to have cast lascivious glances at the beauty of Eve, and then to have turned into Satan the Tempter.(571) The Jewish systems of both angelology and demonology, first worked out in the apocalyptic literature, were further elaborated by the Cabbalah.
Angelology found a conspicuous place in the liturgy in connection with the _Kedushah_ Benediction and likewise in the liturgy and the theology of the Church.(572)
On the other hand the belief in evil spirits and in Satan, the Evil One, remained rather a matter of popular credulity and never became a positive doctrine of the Synagogue. True, the liturgy contained morning prayers which asked G.o.d for protection against the Evil One, and formulas invoking the angels to shield one during the night from evil spirits.(573) But the arch-fiend was never invested with power over the soul, depriving man of his perfect freedom and divine sovereignty, as in the Christian Church.
4. In the formation of the idea of the arch-fiend, Satan, we can observe the interworking of several elements. The name Satan in no way indicates a demon. It denotes simply the adversary, the one who offers hindrances. The name was thus applied to the accuser at court.(574) In Zechariah and in Job(575) Satan appears at the throne of G.o.d as the prosecutor, roaming about the earth to espy the transgressions of men, seeking to lure them to their destruction. In the Books of Chronicles(576) Satan has become a proper name, meaning the Seducer.
The Serpent in the Paradise story is more completely a demon, although the legend intends rather to account for man"s morality, his distinction between good and evil. Satan was then identified with the serpent, who was called by the rabbis _Nahash ha Kadmoni_, "the primeval Serpent," after the a.n.a.logy of the serpent-like form of Ahriman. Thus Satan in the person of the serpent became the embodiment of evil, the prime cause of sin and death.(577) Possibly a part in this process was played by the Babylonian figure of _Tihamat_, the dragon of _chaos_ (_Tehom_ in the Hebrew), with whom the G.o.d Marduk wrestled for dominion over the world, and who has parallels in the Biblical Rahab and similar mythological figures.
We must not overlook such rabbinical legends as the one about how the poisonous breath of the serpent infected the whole human race, except Israel who has been saved by the law at Sinai.(578) Occasionally we hear that the Evil Spirit (_Yezer ha Ra_) will be slain by G.o.d(579) or by the Messiah.(580) These Haggadic sayings, however, were never accepted as normative for religious belief. On the contrary, they were always in dispute, and many a Talmudic teacher minimized the fiendish character of Satan, who became a stimulus to moral betterment through the trials he imposes.(581) Philo, allegorizing the legends, turns the evil angels of the Bible into wicked men.(582)
5. As to demons in general, the Talmudists never doubted their existence, but endeavored to minimize their importance. They changed the demon _Azazel_ into a geographical term by transposing the letters.(583) They explained "the sons of G.o.d who came to the daughters of men to give birth to the giants of old" as aristocratic Sethites who intermarried with low-cla.s.s families of the Cainites.(584) As to the rest, the entire belief in demons and ghosts was too deeply rooted in the folk mind to be counteracted by the rabbis. Even lucid thinkers of the Middle Ages were caught by these baneful superst.i.tions, including Jehuda ha Levi, Crescas, and Nahmanides, the mystic.(585) Only a small group fought against this offshoot of fear and superst.i.tion, among them Saadia, Maimonides and his school, Ibn Ezra, Gersonides, and Juda Ibn Balag. To Maimonides the demons mentioned in Mishnah and Talmud are only figurative expressions for physical plagues. He considers the belief in demons equivalent to a belief in pagan deities. "Many pious Israelites," he says,(586) "believe in the reality of demons and witches, thinking that they should not be made the object of worship and regard, for the reason that the Torah has prohibited it. But they fail to see that the Law commands us to banish all these things from sight, because they are but falsehood and deceit, as is the whole idolatry with which they are intrinsically connected."
6. This sound view was disseminated by the rationalistic school in its contest with the Cabbalah, and has exerted a wholesome influence upon modern Judaism. Thus Satan is rejected by Jewish doctrine, while Luther and Calvin, the Reformers of the Christian Church, still believed in him.
Milton"s "Paradise Lost" placed him in the very foreground of Christian belief, and the leaders of the Protestant Churches, up to the present, accord him a prominent place in their scheme of salvation, as the opponent and counterpart of G.o.d. In his work on Christian dogmatics, David Friedrich Strauss observes acutely: "The whole (Christian) idea of the Messiah and his kingdom must necessarily have as its counterpart a kingdom of demons with a personal ruler at its head; without this it is no more possible than the north pole of the magnet would be without a south pole.