DAMON. 
MRK. 27, 
i . 21. 
.22, Xvi, 15. 1 Sam. : 
Job, xiii. 4 sib, li. See alfo Levit. xix. 4. 
x Chron. xvi. : ; XxX. 13, and compare 1 Kings, 
xvii. 27. If. $.)s “The apottles of = ufe the fame | 
language eaeenie es with that of the ancient prophets. 
1 Cor, viit. The ended nace — 
_ prophecies, ad prodigies to their demons; 
or evil ftate of men’s ies was 
cage: to ee ee this perfuafion was the ground of 
their worfhip. e it appears, that the proper point in 
difpute between ee and the prophets of the true God 
as, whether that aaa was # fapporte by facts. 
their favour the good 
q 
of their divinity by a difplay of knowledge, by fo 
exertion of power, fuch as was either aril or beneficial 
i mankind ; and even admit that, by fuch a difplay of 
heir power or knowledge, the heathen ee would have 
ehtablithed their claim to divinity, and their title to the 
omage of mankind. aS ee Haiah, xli. 21, 24.) Their 
r impote o be the only reafon of the S Scrip- 
s remonftrating ccaun paying them homage. efe 
circumftances are frequently repeated and juftified by fads. 
(See Jerem. x. 3, 5, 15. If. xliii. 8. xliv. 7. xlv, 16, 
i uit tit I Kile 2s 
Ki Kings, XVill.) 
oufly maintai 
ct 
» 
wo 
o 
fay 
ao 
s 
SOs. 
aS 
>t 
et 
a 
= 
ee a an 
ight of birds, guided the lots, 
d the oracles, and exerted ae ves to the utmoft in 
promoting idolatry, in order to involve men in the guilt of 
draw all adoration to themfelee es, to fecure proper 
and blood of the 
victims which were offered to them, and ay to trength- 
en themfelves for the enjoyment of their luftful pleafures 
with boys and women. ‘Thefe wicked fpirits, it has been 
afferted, were; properly fpeaking, the gods of the heathens, 
med to 
ort 
€ made to es writings of the father 
the authoricy of ae 3 and it mu it be allowed oa eX 
travagant opinions of this kird are clearly contained in the 
writings of the fathers. (Juft. Mart. aApol. p. 113. € 
Vhirlbit. Tertullian de ‘Anima, c. lvii. Minucius Felix, 
c. xxvii, Cyprian. de Idolor. Van. p. 2c6. Arnob. cont. 
Gent. li. 26. La&ant. de Orig. Error. 1. it. c. 16. de 
vera ae 1. viii. c. 16. Evfcb. Prep. E 1M @ 
4. e Civ. Dei. } . 16. See alfo Middle- 
ton’s Free Enquiry, p. 66, 7, and Mede’s Works, 
680, 681.) The ean oe though they fome- 
ae taoght or allowed, that pagan idolatry was fupported 
by oracles and miracles, do neverthelefs on other occafions 
confefs, or clearly intimate, that paganifm had no other 
fupport than human craft end ie age Baas en cont. 
Celfum. Eufeb. Prep. lem. 
: he e Fon- 
. of Oracles, c. i one Clerici Tig. ae 
m.) We have already faen fted the Ras gheetaud 
that the Scriptures fhould affert or allow that idola atry was 
Supported by the cbcculeus interpofition any wicked 
1 Kings, xvi. Pile 2 Jerem. vill. 19, x. 8. 
f. xxxi. 6. xevi 
{pirits ; whether they did or did not counterfeit the fouls of 
men deceafed: and the fubjet, as it is peculiarly intereit- 
ing to the biblical critic, will be again refumed for far- 
ther difcuffion. 
fed, in a general fenfe, as equivalent to 
is accordingly oe to fate or fortune, or 
was regarded a S 
whatever elfe was od; yet thofe demons, 
who w he ae objects of divine worfhip 
among the heathens, as Mr. er maintains, and as we 
have a ie fiated his fentiments and reafoning, were hue 
man {pirits 
The word catia is ufed indi ifferently in a good and i ina 
bad fenfe. In the former fenfe it was very commonly ufed 
among ft the ancient ee hens, “ We mutt not,” fays Me- 
nander, * think any demon to be evil, hurtful to good life, 
but every god to be good.” a Scie ee fom: I.p. 398. 
ed. Serrani) commends Hefiod 
affirmed, that whenever any aoe 
2 1 
a oe ellewhere (de Republ tom. i. v 
p- 468.) {peaks to the fame purpole. “ All thofe who 
die vainly in war are . efiod’s aie generation, and 
ecome demons 3 and ught for e orfhi ip aud 
a shee Euiches as noe canes of eanat 
a 3 the fame concerning all who were judged excellently 
fenfe, unlefs when xaxos, or 
with it, is owing, 
firft to the deified as of eee men ; 
mons were all good, as Dr. Sykes allie, is becaufe the 
firft men (whofe fale they were), the men of the golden 
age, were all good: becaufe the heathens thought that the 
tiered {pirits of good and bad men became refpeCtively 
ood and bad demons. Neverthelefs, ao are certainly 
miftaken who affirm, that demon never fignifies an evi 
eing till after the times of Chrilt. 
mons who fent difeafes to men and cattle { 
Vit. Pythagor. p. 514. ed Amftel.) 
io to his laws (apud Stobeum. Serm. 42.) fuppofes that 
evil demon might be prefent with a man, “ to influence 
him to injultice.” The demons of ae -docles were evil 
arch Tf ileps te un oeiy 
o 
BesesZeeGa. ) 
*e It was t 
a.09 
re 
de oe Feels of of good men became good demons, fo the 
departed fouls of bad men became evil demons. See Chal- 
cid. in Platon. Tim. cap. 135. p, 339. 
Accordingly da:yovos frequently occurs in ancient writers 
as a term of 1 a ae eae as es as of ewe whatever may bs: 
regard 
zmons. It hee ecn an Renera ily fuppoted, that demons, 
and particularly the bad demons 
origin; and this speiaron of the te SY occurs 
both among the heathens and in the feriptures; and more 
ef{pecially in the writings of the Chriftion fathers. When 
no bad quality is afcribed to the demon, or demons that are 
mentioned, and nothing is affirmed concerning them whic 
implies it, the acceptation of the term in Pagan writers is 
generally favourable. ‘The Jews, ay as fome fay, the 
cred writers, and alfo the Cheifian fathers, pes a a ufed 
the term in a bad eee ut Mr. Farmer maintains, that, 
gh . term dem ufed in a good or bad fenfe, 
o fufficient an ie for reftriQing it to [pirits of a 
cae aes than mankind. As the fowls of many good 
MED, 
