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HERESIES  OF  WESTCOTT  AND  HORT


by  D.A. Waite



Heresies in Satanology


In this general division of demonology or Satanology, there is usually taken up the teachings on Satan and his demons, and so on [cf. Chafer, Systematic Theology, Vol. II]. In this area, I noted the following items, in various degrees of heresy and/or error.

Westcott Failed to Affirm the Personality of the Devil, Calling Him Only a "Power"

(1 John3:8) From the very beginning we see a power in action hostile to God. Between these two, as between light and darkness, there can be no middle term.

—Westcott—1-3 John, op. cit., p. 106

Westcott was commenting on the "devil" and called him a mere "power." This is a sad heresy.

Hort Likewise Refused to Affirm the Personality of Satan, Calling Him Merely "the Power of Evil"

(Revelation 2:13) ("the throne of Satan") ... but the visible supremacy of the power of evil, inspiring to evil.

—Hort—Revelation, op. cit, p. 27

Satan and the Devil is more than a mere "power" as Westcott and Hort both heretically refer to him. The Lord Jesus Christ, in the context of John 8:44, clearly spoke of the Devil and Satan as a person, and so did Paul and the rest of the New Testament writers.


JUST  BECAUSE  IN  TWO  INSTANCES  WESCOTT  AND  HORT  DID  NOT  SAY  "THE  PERSON  OF"  REGARDING  THE  DEVIL,  DOES  NOT  AUTOMATICALLY  PROVE  THEY  DID  NOT  BELIEVE  SATAN  WAS  AN  INDIVIDUAL  BEING.  I  MAY  MYSELF  USE  "POWER"  AT  TIMES,  INSTEAD  OF  "PERSON"  -  IT  IS  ALL  PART  OF  VARIETY  IN  WRITING.  TO  FIND  THE  HERESY  OF  NOT  BELIEVING  SATAN  IS  A  PERSONAL  BEING,  YOU  WOULD  NEED  TO  FIND  SOMEONE  WRITING  SOMETHING  LIKE  "THE  IDEA  OF  SATAN  BEING  A  PERSONAL  BEING  IS  WRONG."  OR  "I  DO  NOT  BELIEVE  THE  DEVIL  IS  A  PERSONAL  BEING"  OR  "I  DO  NOT  BELIEVE  THE  DEVIL  WAS  ONCE  AN  ANGEL  WHO  SINNED  AND  SO  BECAME  SATAN  THE  DEVIL."


WAITE'S  REPLY  DOES  NOT  BRING  FORTH  ANY  SUCH  QUOTATIONS  FROM  WESCOTT  AND  HORT;  HENCE  WAITE  IS  JUMPING  TO  CONCLUSIONS  AND  READING  INTO  TWO  SENTENCES  FROM  WESTCOTT  AND  HORT  TO  PROVE  THEY  WERE  HERETICS  ON  THIS  TOPIC.  THE  TWO  SENTENCES  QUOTED  PROVE  NO  SUCH  THING,  OTHER  CLEARER  SENTENCES  WOULD  NEED  TO  BE  FOUND.


Keith Hunt