The Devil is NOT in the Details

 

                                    Death and the Devil Surprising Two Women Daniel Hopfer circa 1515

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil.  He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was famished.

Matthew 4:1-2 NRSVue

“I know there is a God because in Rwanda I shook hands with the devil. I have seen him, I have smelled him and I have touched him. I know the devil exists and therefore I know there is a God.”

Shake Hands With The Devil -- former Canadian General, Roméo Dallaire 

The Washington Post actually has a Religion section, which is refreshing in our increasingly secular society. A month ago they included an article about the Devil which, not surprisingly, says that the Devil/Satan/Beelzebub is no longer in the details of North American lives: 

The 21st century has been hard on God, with faith in the divine and organized religion facing unrelenting decline.

The Devil, it turns out, is not doing much better.

Losing faith in God seems to be accompanied by disbelief in the Devil, according to a new Gallup report that found more than half of Americans (58%) believe it exists, down from over two-thirds (68%) in 2001. About the same percentage (59%) said they believe in hell, down from 71% two decades ago.

If you're less inclined to believe in God, why would you bother with the Devil? I can only imagine that Canadians are even less willing to give the Devil any due. Back in 2004 there weren't many of us who were convinced of the existence of the Devil and there's probably been a hell of a drop-off since then.

The general notion is that educated people who aren't superstitious don't believe in the Devil, and that the Satanic Majesty (no, not Mick Jagger) is nothing more than a scare tactic for religious control of the masses. There is some truth in the latter. 

I do wish "progessive" Christians could have an open conversation about the personfication of evil, which we could describe as the Devil. General Dallaire was not waxing poetical when he wrote about meeting the Devil. Martin Luther was reputed to have heaved an ink well at the Devil in the night. Would anyone show up for a discussion session on the Devil 

I'm mostly an agnostic about the Evil One, yet I recognize evil in the world. I figure that the truly superstitious are those whose refuse to see it/they when they're staring it in the metaphorical face.  In one version of the United Church baptismal vows all gathered promise to "turn from the forces of evil" -- what are we professing there? Every season of Lent begins with the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness by the devil, or satan. 

The Post article sums up my ambivalence: 

The decline in belief in the Devil could have a downside, [Professor Joseph] Laycock said. He said his wife, Natasha Mikles, an assistant professor at Texas State, teaches a class about hell, and her students frequently come in thinking that hell is just a “scary story meant to control people.”

“That’s not wrong,” he said. “But it also gives people an idea of justice.”

Mark Leuchter, a religion professor at Temple University who studies ancient Judaism, said the Devil and hell still have relevance in modern culture. Leuchter, who is teaching a class on the history of the Devil, said that whether you believe in an actual satanic figure or not, the Devil serves as a symbol of all that is wrong in the world.

Leuchter also said that believing in the Devil means being aware of the potential for evil in every human heart — even among the most spiritual people.

I do like that Luther was convinced that the devil flees before the sound of music, although I've heard some rather questionable tunes in churches through the years. 

The devil, the originator of sorrowful anxieties and restless troubles, flees before the sound of music almost as much as before the Word of God....Music is a gift and grace of God, not an invention of men. Thus it drives out the devil and makes people cheerful. Then one forgets all wrath, impurity, and other devices.

Martin Luther