Editorial February 14, 1983 Issue

One God, no devil

CAROLYN B. SWAN

A newsmagazine recently reported on the disturbing revival in American culture and religion of belief in the devil. Reporters sought to learn why the upsurge of interest in what they helpfully classified as a figure of myth.

Interviews with scholars brought out steps in the history of this devil image, which emerged in pre-New Testament times, perhaps as a figure for the Jewish nation to blame for their persistent distress.

The article goes on to draw a contemporary parallel: "Despite the high promise of science, technology and the other tribal gods of the modern era, evil persists on a truly awesome scale. Under such circumstances, observes Peter Williams, a specialist in American religious history at Miami University in Ohio, belief in a menacing personal Devil 'is a way of focusing anxiety about a diffuse threat. It's something you can get hold of that explains everything.'" Kenneth L. Woodward and David Gates, "Giving the Devil His Due," Newsweek, August 30, 1982, p. 74 .

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