Mortal Remains
The Devil's Brigade
by S. M. Hutchens
I write this in honor of my old friend Kenneth McMillan, M.D., a great lion of God of whom you have never heard.
While I believe this essay to be a mirror of truth, I have disguised enough factual material to make identification of the protagonist unlikely for all but a very few. It deals with an episode in a certain man's spiritual autobiography that he showed little evidence of understanding, but which readers of this journal can both understand and find instructive.
The author of that account, who claimed to have become a Christian when he wrote it, was before his conversion a rather low-grade "ceremonial occultist" (Lewis), complete with black masses and various nasty heebie-jeebies. Although much of his book is likely cut from whole cloth, a few of the experiences of which he writes have the ring of truth for the very reason that he did not have the ability to understand them or analyze them perceptively.
The Experience
One of these has to do with his invitation to a meet-and-greet party in the Big City that came when his name was beginning to be recognized in Satanist circles. He believed, no doubt rightly, that he was being put under observation by the higher-ups to ascertain his place and potential, if any, in the Organization.
He found it a very disappointing experience, for it became evident that the people he was meeting were making up a collective mind about him that was not interested in pursuing his acquaintance. He did not understand this, thinking his credentials and experience as a diabolist were outstanding.
Some reading between the lines is necessary at this point, but it is not difficult to ascertain the probable reason for their disdain: he was not of their caste, but was merely a kind of provincial juju-man who was not qualified to handle the powers in which they dealt. They were not, as he was, of the village witch-doctor class, but were cultured people at home in society's highest echelons—educated and wealthy, polite and sanitary, with important jobs and exalted connections, while his own appearance, vocabulary, and discourse made it clear to them that he needed to keep to his place, far away from them. Perhaps also they were able to see a weakness in his simplicity that made him susceptible to faith in God, whereas they were all as fully baptized into Evil as human beings in this life can be.
The Lesson
There are many lessons in this Screwtapian episode, but I shall emphasize only one: that the devil is interested, and successful, in recruiting only the best and brightest—just as he considers himself to be—to represent the spirit of his company; whereas God, while willing to take them, is otherwise completely lacking in discrimination.
S. M. Hutchens is a senior editor and longtime writer for Touchstone.
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