Religion: Raising the Devil

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"The devil made me buy this dress," says the minister's wife in one of Comedian Flip Wilson's routines. "He sneaked up behind me and said, 'Say, Mama, look at that dress in the window . . .' " The listener chuckles at the transparent rationalization. Everybody knows that there isn't any real devil. The devil is just a myth, a relic of folklore, grist for a joke.

Or is he? After years of being dismissed or ignored by many theologians and ordinary believers, the devil is making a startling comeback. Some cults now worship Satan openly. In San Francisco there is even a First Church of Satan. On some campuses, the paperback Satanic Bible by Church of Satan Founder Anton La Vey is outselling The Holy Bible. In New Jersey last year, a young man of 20 was drowned, allegedly by his friends and at his request, because he believed that a violent end would put him in command of 40 legions of demons.

Christians are learning to fear Satan again. A group called Morris Cerullo World Evangelism Inc. in San Diego claims that at least 10 million Americans dabble in the occult arts traditionally associated with the devil —witchcraft, Black Masses, even blood-drinking orgies. The organization has dispatched an anti-occult mobile unit to tour 45 cities in an effort to turn people away from diabolism. And in Rome late last month, theologians and students at the Pontifical Gregorian University held a "Devil Day" seminar to examine the Roman Catholic Church's current teaching on Satan and other diabolical spirits. The consensus: Rosemary's Baby is very much alive.

The panelists did not evoke the medieval image of a devil with horns, forked tail and cloven hoofs. But they did uphold the orthodox Christian view that devils are personal evil spirits, angels who fell from God's grace by their own exercise of free will. God permits their evildoing among men because it is part of the natural disorder of things, a necessary consequence of their original rebellion against God. Though the panelists agreed that the existence of personal devils is a firm part of Catholic dogma, a number of other Catholics believe that Satan and his demons are simply symbols for an impersonal force of evil in the universe. That is also the view of many Protestants.

Why a resurgence of interest in devils at all? Canadian Theologian Kenneth Hamilton blames demythologized religion. "Liberal Protestantism excluded anything that couldn't be explained. But you can't have religious faith without the existence of a world transcending this one. People are starved of anything transcendent, and they have gone to the oldest and crudest superstitions." Evangelist Billy Graham says that Satanism is on the rise because belief in Jesus is growing. "The devil," asserts Graham, "is also making his pitch."