APPEXDIX A. PART II. 687 



biinn; a practical, if not a tlieoretical, dualism, in -wliicli the unclean spirit is at 

 the least as powerful as the righteous being with whom ho is at war. This absolute 

 partition of the universe between two contending principles was the vciy ground- 

 work of Iranian belief; but the idea was one which could not fail to striko root in 

 any congenial soil. To a certain extent it found such a soil in the mind of the 

 Jewish people, who had become familiar, by whatever means, with the notion of 

 a being whoso office it was to tempt or try the children of men. The Satan who 

 discharges this duty is, however, one of the sons of Ood ; and in the Eook of Job 

 there is no indication of any essential antagonism between them. The position of 

 Satan in this narrative is, indeed, in strict accordance with the Hebrew philosophy 

 which regarded God as the author both of good and evil, as the being who hardened 

 Pharaoh's heart and authorized the lying spirit to go forth and prevail among the 

 prophets of Abab. But when a portion of the Jewish people was brought into 

 contact with the fully developed system of Persian dualism, the victoiy of the 

 Iranian mythology seemed complete. Henceforth the notion of two hierarchies, 

 the one heaveidy, the other diabolical, took possession of their minds; and the 

 Satan who ruled over the powers of darkness and exercised a wide dominion as 

 prince of the air, was confined to a level lower than that of Ahriman, only because 

 he had once stood among the most brilliant angels in the courts of heaven. At tliis 

 level he remained a fallen creature, ruling over hosts of malignant demons, who 

 did his will among mankind, plaguing them with sorrow, disease, and madness, 

 until the convictions of the first Christian societies magnified him into proportions 

 if possible more overpowering than those of the Iranian enemy of Ormuzd. The Jew, 

 chiefly, if not wholly, from the conviction which led him to regard God as the 

 author both of good "and evil, drew no shai-p distinction between mind and matter 

 as existing in irreconcilcable antagonism ; and since as a nation they can scarcely 

 be said to the last to have attained to any definite ideas either of the fact or the 

 conditions of a life continued after death, Satan could with them obviously have 

 no definite dominion beyond the bounds of our present existence. He could torture 

 the bodies, afflict the souls, or darken the minds of men; but of his everlasting 

 reign over countless multitudes, ruined by his subtle wiles, we find no very defijiito 

 notion. 



" But Christianity, while it rested on a distinct assurance of personal im- 

 mortality, altogether stronger than any to which tlie most fervent of the Hebrew 

 prophets had ever attained, took root among nations who had filled all the world 

 with gods or demons, each with his own special sphere and office. These deities 

 the Christian teachers dethroned ; but far from attempting to destroy them, they 

 were careful to insist that they had always been, and must for ever continue to be, 

 malignant devils;' but uidess their horrible fellowship was speedily to come to an 

 end, tbey must bo under the rule of some king, and this they found in the Semitic 



Satan Hence grew u]), by a process which cannot much excite our wonder, 



that severe theology which, known especially as that of Augustine, represented the 

 Christian Church as an ark floating on a raging sea, open only to those who received 

 the sacrament of baptism, and shut both here and hereafter to infants dying before 

 it could be administered. It was incritable tliat under such conditions the image 

 of Satan should more and more fill the theological horizon for the Jew, whoso 

 enthusiasm and convictions were sincere. But tliesc conditions were changed with 

 the conversion of tribes, in whom the thought of one malignant spirit marring and 

 undoing the work of God had never been awakened ; and although henceforth the 

 teaching of the priesthood might continue to be as severe as that of Augustine or 

 Pulgentius, it was met by the passive resistance of men whose superstitions were 

 less harsh and oppressive. ' Tlie Aryan nations,' says Professor Max .M idler, 'had 

 no devil. Pluto, though of a sombre character, was a very respectable personage: 



' Tlio Cliristiaii missionaries were furtlier conscious that their own thaumaturgy might be called 

 into question if tliat of the okl cried were treated as mere imposture or illusion. " Die neue Lchre 

 konnte leichter keinieu und wurzeln weun sie die alte als gehiissi;; und siindlieh, nieht als ahsolut riichtig 

 scliilderte : die Wander des Christen ei-schcinen dadureli glauhhafter, dass auch dem althergcbrachteu 

 Heidenthmn etwas iibirnaturliihcs ffelassen wurde."— Ci'imw. 



