Does not the Bible say that the devil goes about like a
roaring lion seeking whom he may devour? Nevertheless Bjoernson has the
hardihood to assert that there is no such person. And yet Bjoernson is a
man who can talk most beautifully, and who knows as much as any parson.
It is extremely puzzling.
The fact was, Bjoernson's abolition of the devil, and his declaration of
a war against the orthodox miracle faith, were, as far as the Norwegian
people were concerned, somewhat premature. The peasant needs the old
scriptural devil, and is not yet ready to dispense with him. The devil
is a popular character in the folk-stories and legends, and I have known
some excellent people who declare that they have seen him. Creeds are
like certain ancient tumuli, which now are but graves, but were once the
habitations of living men. The dust, ashes, and bones of defunct life
which they often contain, nourish in the dark the green grass, the fair
flowers, the blooming trees, that shoot up into the light. You cannot
dig it all up and throw it out without tearing asunder the net-work of
roots which organically connects the living with the dead.
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