Home
Preface
5 Planes of Existence
Introduction
Five Planes of Manifestation
A to Z
Related Information
|
DEVIL, THE ADVERSARY
A symbol of the illusory principle of evil. The
tempting Not-Self which is opposed to the True Self. The desire-mind
which is the adversary of the Divine Spirit within—the one DEVILS
tending downward to matter, the other tending upward to God.
Kamamanas is the inverted reflection of buddhi-manas, on the astral
plane. "Demon est Deus inversus."
"Sin and the devil are one and the same." - SWEDENBORG, Apocalypse
Revealed, n. 578.
"The true devil, against whom we have to be sober and vigilant, is
within man; is carried about within the human heart. He is the
animal part of human nature, the devilish within; the power in
ourselves that makes for unrighteousness; the lower affections,
thoughts and appetites, by resisting which we can alone become moral
beings." - B. WILBERFORCE, Problems, p. 99.
"Evil is a negative, not a positive term. It denotes the absence
rather than the presence of something. It is the perceived privation
of good, the shadow where the light ought to be. 'The devil is a
vacuum.' Evil is not an intruder in an otherwise perfect universe;
finiteness presumes it. A thing is only seen to be evil when the
capacity for good is present and unsatisfied. Evil is not a
principle at war with good. Good is being, and evil is not-being.
When consciousness of being seeks further expression, and finds
itself hindered by its limitations, it becomes aware of evil." - R.
J. CAMPBELL, The New Theology pp. 42, 44.
|
See Also
|