In a sermon to the Catholic faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis referred to the Devil (il Demonio). Despite their redemption by Christ, Christians are still haunted by Satan!

“The Christian mythology,” wrote Thomas Paine in The Age of Reason, “did Satan wondrous honour; it assumed that he could compel the Almighty to send His Son down to Judea to be crucified and to recover for Him at least a part of the planet obviously in love with Satan. Despite the crucifixion, the Devil still retained all non-Christian realms, and had millions of servitors in Christendom itself.”

Like Milton, Paine was fascinated by Satan, the first of all rebels. “Here was an angel who, for trying to depose a monarch, had been plunged into Hell, there to suffer time without end. Nevertheless, Satan must have escaped those inextinguishable fires now and then, for he had found his way into the Garden of Eden, and could tempt most sinuously. He could promise knowledge to Eve and half the world to Christ” (Will Durant, The Age of Napoleon).

John Guillaumier 

ST JULIAN’S