Defining Diabolism Down
Some academic mediaevalist thinks he’s discovered the “correct” version of the Devil—as an overzealous bureaucrat or prosecutor:
Professor Kelly argues from Luke iv that Satan is a minister of God in charge of the world. “He’s a government heavy, whose main job is to test human beings and to accuse them of their misdeeds, but he is cynical and overzealous in performing his duties,” the professor says. “We can think of an unscrupulous and feared official investigator or prosecutor, like J. Edgar Hoover or Senator Joseph McCarthy.”
Another mediaevalist has already discovered this convention, of course, and exploited it to great effect without trivializing the problem of evil. Lewis would have had a field day with this Professor Kelly. But since Lewis is away:
Professor Kelly: “makes the case for Satan as more a “functionary of the divine court” than “an enemy of God as well as of Man, a convicted cosmic outlaw”.
1st Peter 5:8: “… your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
Good DAY, sir!
H/T to WorldMagBlog.