This We Believe
Satan—His Origin Present Work and Destiny by Wallace Emerson, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology
W e liv e in a world in which there s e e m s to be an increasing amount of evil—one in which force, violence, fraud, treachery, and betrayal are becoming commonplace. It would be naive to assume that these things have not always existed in the world and that something new has come into man’s relationship with man. These things are not new—but they are so prevalent, even universal. Many years ago Niccolo Machiavelli, a Florentine civil servant, wrote a book entitled “The Prince” which, without apology, offered the thesis that while rulers must have a reputation for truth, in reality, they must not hesitate to lie; while they must have a reputation for benevolence, self-interest must be their only guide. They must appear to be loyal, but use treachery whenever necessary. In short — force, fraud, treachery, and trickery, well disguised, must be the standard of values by which any ruler must live and rule. Al though the book exposed the wicked ness of its author, it was a clear-eyed appraisal of the rules of procedure of the governments as Machiavelli ob served them around him. But few governments ever succeeded in such utter commitment. They were not only perfectly embodied in the policies and activities of the Communist world, but appear to have been adopted by the people in general. Men, today, betray men in the busi ness and professional world; they
betray their oath of office; ministers betray the doctrines that they are committed to teach. Men betray wom en and women betray men. We are approaching days that are reminiscent of the days of Noah when violence covered the earth, and the days of the judges when every man did what was right in his own eyes. Now, does man have sufficient gifts for evil to be able to accomplish these things on his own initiative? Also, is there a collective consciousness underlying this co-ordination of evil? Is man as treach erous, deceitful, as prone to evil as he seems or has he help from the outside? Within the human heart, all these things are possible but are we dealing with an impersonal and chance organi zation of forces, or are we dealing with a personal leadership—a personal and Satanic leader—the end, the destruc tion of the human race? Some will remember that things were going badly with the United States in its contest with Russian Bol shevism. Constantly, America’s plans went awry, the enemy being able to forestall our efforts to halt his aggres sion. The question arose, “Are we more stupid than the Russians, or is there some hidden enemy in our government betraying us and giving aid to Russia?” The then Senator Nixon, through the testimony of a former communist, brought to light a communist cell close to the White House and to the State Department, which had access to most 28
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