57% of Americans Don't Believe in Devil

An interesting article made it's way onto page A11 of the Wall Street Journal today....an article about C.S. Lewis and his belief in the devil as a living entity.

What may surprise many readers today is that C.S. Lewis was ridiculed by Time Magazine as early as 1941 for being an intellectual and at the same time believing in the articles of Christian faith and the existence of the devil.

While a Gallup poll earlier this summer showed that nine in 10 Americans still believe in God, a survey by the Barna Group released last week found that only 43% of Americans believe the devil to be a "living entity," as opposed to a symbol of evil.

As Lewis explained, "There is no uncreated being except God. God has no opposite. . . . The proper question is whether I believe in devils. I do. That is to say, I believe in angels, and I believe that some of these, by the abuse of their free will, have become enemies to God. . . . Satan, the leader or dictator of devils, is the opposite, not of God, but of Michael."

Lewis noted the failures born from mankind's fallen nature. But he believed in the power of Jesus Christ to overcome sin, death and Satan, and the optimism of faith and hope.

"The Screwtape Letters" concludes by echoing the words of the First Epistle of John, as the patient dies in a bombing raid and goes to heaven—seeing not only angels but Christ himself. For as St. John declared, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. . . . The one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him."

See it here;  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903454504576486441729097076.html

Pretty amazing that these words about "mankind's fallen nature", and the verse from John that says Jesus Christ can save you from the evil one....IS IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL!

It is God's will that none should perish...and the words of eternal life are even making it into the WSJ!

However we have free will and our adversary, the devil, prowls around like a hungry lion waiting to devour....how pleased must our adversary be that 57% of Americans are letting him roam around the country doing whatever he pleases wherever he pleases...because they don't believe a lion even exists...so why watch for one?  Why pray to God to save you from the evil one when 57% of Americans don't believe they need saving?

A sad commentary on the spiritual condition of this country.