第77章

From these Things，I began to instruct him in the Know ledge of the true God：I told him that the great Maker of all Things liv'd up there，pointing up towards Heaven：That he governs the World by the same Power and Providence by which he had made it：That he was omnipotent，could do every Thing for us，give every Thing to us，take every Thing from us；and thus by Degrees I open'd his Eyes. He listned with great Attention，and receiv'd with Pleasure the Notion of Jesus Christ being sent to redeem us，and of the Manner of making our Prayers to God，and his being able to hear us，even into Heaven；he told me one Day，that if our God could hear us up beyond the Sun，he must needs be a greater God than their Benamuckee，who liv'd but a little way off，and yet could not hear，till they went up to the great Mountains where he dwelt，to speak to him；I ask'd him if ever he went thither，to speak to him；he said no，they never went that were young Men；none went thither but the old Men，who he call'd their Oowocakee，that is，as I made him explain it to me，their Religious，or Clergy，and that they went to say O，（so he called saying Prayers） and then came back，and told them what Benamuckee said：By this I observ'd，That there is Priestcraft，even amongst the most blinded ignorant Pagans in the World；and the Policy of making a secret Religion，in order to preserve the Veneration of the People to the Clergy，is not only to be found in the Roman，but perhaps among all Religions in the World，even among the most brutish and barbarous Savages.

I endeavour'd to clear up this Fraud，to my Man Friday，and told him，that the Pretence of their old Men going up the Mountains，to say O to their God Benamuckee，was a Cheat，and their bringing Word from thence what he said，was much more so；that if they met with any Answer，or spake with any one there，it must be with an evil Spirit：And then I entred into a long Discourse with him about the Devil，the Original of him，his Rebellion against God，his Enmity to Man，the Reason of it，his setting himself up in the dark Parts of the World to be Worship'd instead of God，and as God；and the many Stratagems he made use of to delude Mankind to his Ruine；how he had a secret access to our Passions，and to our Affections，to adapt his Snares so to our Inclinations，as to cause us even to be our own Tempters，and to run upon our Destruction by our own Choice.

I found it was not so easie to imprint right Notions in his Mind about the Devil，as it was about the Being of a God. Nature assisted all my Arguments to Evidence to him，even the Necessity Of a great first Cause and over-ruling governing Power；a secret directing Providence，and of the Equity，and Justice，of paying Homage to him that made us，and the like. But there appeared nothing of all this in the Notion of an evil Spirit；of his Original，his Being，his Nature，and above all of his Inclination to do Evil，and to draw us in to do so too；and the poor Creature puzzl'd me once in such a manner，by a Question meerly natural and innocent，that I scarce knew what to say to him. I had been talking a great deal to him of the Power of God，his Omnipotence，his dreadful Nature to Sin，his being a consuming Fire to the Workers of Iniquity；how，as he had made us all，he could destroy us and all the World in a Moment；and he listen'd with great Seriousness to me all the while.

After this，I had been telling him how the Devil was God's Enemy in the Hearts of Men，and used all his Malice and Skill to defeat the good Designs of Providence，and to ruine the Kingdom of Christ in the World；and the like. Well，says Friday，but you say，God is so strong，so great，is he not much strong，much might as the Devil？ Yes，yes，says I，Friday，God is stronger than the Devil，God is above the Devil，and therefore we pray to God to tread him down under our Feet，and enable us to resist his Temptations and quench his fiery Darts. But，says he again，if God much strong，much might as the Devil，why God no kill the Devil，so make him no more do wicked？

I was strangely surpriz'd at his Question，and after all，tho' I was now an old Man，yet I was but a young Doctor，and ill enough quallified for a Casuist，or a Solver of Difficulties And at first I could not tell what to say，so I pre tended not to hear him，and ask'd him what he said？ But he was too earnest for an Answer to forget his Question；so that he repeated it in the very same broken Words，as above. By this time I had recovered my self a little，and I said，God will at last punish him severely；he is reserv'd for the Judgment，and is to be cast into the Bottomless-Pit，to dwell with ever lasting Fire. This did not satisfie Friday，but he returns upon me，repeating my Words，RESERVE，AT LAST，me no understand；but，Why not kill the Devil now，not kill great ago？ You may as well ask me，said I，Why God does not kill you and I，when we do wicked Things here that offend him？ We are preserv'd to repent and be pardon'd：He muses a while at this；mell，All，says he，mighty affectionately，that well；so you，I，Devil，all wicked，all preserve，repent，God pardon all. Here I was run down again by him to the last Degree，and it was a Testimony to me，how the meer Notions of Nature，though they will guide reasonable Creatures to the Know ledge of a God，and of a Worship or Homage due to the supreme Being，of God as the Consequence of our Nature；yet nothing but divine Revelation can form the Knowledge of Jesus Christ，and of a Redemption purchas'd for us，of a Mediator of the new Covenant，and of an Intercessor，at the Foot-stool of God's Throne；I say，nothing but a Revelation from Heaven，can form these in the Soul，and that therefore the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ；I mean，the Word of God，and the Spirit of God promis'd for the Guide and Sanctifier of his People，are the absolutely necessary Instructors of the Souls of Men，in the saving Knowledge of God，and the Means of Salvation.