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“But although there are personal devils, there is no personal devil. That which, mystically, is called the devil, is the negation and opposite of God. And whereas God is I AM, or positive Being, the devil is NOT. He is not positive, not personal, not formulated. God is all these; and the devil, in being the opposite of these, is none of them. God, as has been said, is Light, Truth, Order, Harmony, Reason; and God's works are illumination, knowledge, understanding, love, and sanity. The devil, therefore, is darkness, falsehood, discord, Ignorance; and his works are confusion, folly, division, hatred, and delirium. He has no individuality and no being. For he represents the Not-being. Whatever God is, that the devil is not. Wherever God is not manifest, the devil reigns.” “God alone is Life, or the principle of eternal generation. And, as Life, God comprises all things necessary to life, to its production, that is, to its perfection, and to its perpetuation. And God is Spirit, whereof the antithetical ultimate is Matter. The devil is that which gives to Matter the pre-eminence over Spirit.” “In representing, therefore, the contest between good and evil — a contest corresponding to that between light and darkness — creation represents the contest between Being and Not-being. To ‘give place to the devil,’ is thus, in its ultimate result, to renounce Being. And, as a free agent, man is able to do this. God, while giving to all the opportunity and choice, compels no one to remain in Being. God accepts only willing service; and there is no such thing as compulsory salvation. God, — that is Good, — must be loved and followed for the sake of God and Good, not through fear of possible penalties, or hope of possible rewards.” “Now the sign, above all others, whereby to distinguish the devil, is this: — God is, first and foremost, Love. The devil, therefore, is, before all else, Hate. He is to be known, then, first by the limitation, and next by the negation, of Love.”
