Article June 15, 1899 Issue

Texas Column

The Universalist Herald

The Devil! Leave off the first letter, D, and this mythical personality becomes (and correctly) The Evil. This as a principle, a condition, a habit, is accepted by all liberal Christians who have outgrown the childish superstitions of an ignorant past.

This mythological personage has been the recipient of altogether too much attention, too often sharing honor (?) with the Deity in the minds of honest ignorance, and has been brought to the front in sermons, essays, and exhortations. Probably no more amusing instance of the latter ever occurred than that recorded of a young rural school teacher of the past. The Bible being read every day in school, when the name of God occurred in the lesson, each pupil was taught to bow in reverence. A bright child, who had evidently imbibed a belief in the supremacy of his majesty over a portion of humanity, innocently asked. "Shall we bow when we come to the devil?" The girl teacher hesitated a few seconds—then, as if a somewhat puzzling question was satisfactorily solved—she replied, "Yes; it is safest."

The world in which we live is a good world ! It is God's world ! It is a beautiful world ! And all for the use and benefit of humanity.

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