Million Book Collection - The Fishers of Men Ministries

36 THE GODS OF THE NATIONSAthenians, that he found them in all things too fear-ful of the demons, might be applied to the wholecircle of nations surrounding the midland sea.Secondly, as to the opponents of this power.Now they offer a triple witness to its existence.The first of these is in the facts mentioned in theNew Testament. The strongest, most terrible, andmost inexplicable instance of this power lies inthose diabolical possessions with which so manyof our Lord's miracles are concerned. Again, asto the reality of divining powers arising from thepresence of a demon in a human form, we havethe evil spirit in the girl at Philippi acknowledgingin S. Paul a servant of the most highGod, and, when cast out by the Apostle in thename of Christ, leaving his victim destitute ofthose powers which had brought gain to hermasters, who forthwith try to avenge themselvesfor their loss by exciting a persecution against theApostle. 36A second witness is found in the rites and of-fices of the very power set up to dethrone andabolish this other power. The Church called uponevery one who was received into her bosom tobegin by renouncing the usurpation of this greatenemy, which was thus declared to be universal.She provided forms for exorcising him. One ofher Apostles warned those to whom he wrote thatmen could not partake at once of the Christian_3f! Acts xvi. 16.