an evil angel, one of those celestial spirits cast down from heaven for pretending to equal himself with God. The Ethiopians paint the devil white, to be even with the Europeans who paint him black. There is no mention of the word devil in the Old Testament, but only of the word Satan and Belial: nor do we meet with it in any heathen authors, in the sense it is taken among Christians, that is, as a creature revolted from God. Their theology went no farther than to evil genii, or demons.

Some of the American idolaters have a notion of two collateral independent beings, one of whom is good, and the other evil; which last they imagine has the direction and superintendence of this earth, for which reason they chiefly worship him: whence those that give us an account of the religion of these savages give out, with some impropriety, that they worship the devil. The Chaldeans, in like manner, believed both a good principle and an evil one, which last they imagined was an enemy to mankind.

Isaiah, speaking, according to some commentators, of the fall of the devil, calls him Lucifer, from his former elevation and state of glory; but others explain this passage of Isaiah in reference to the king of Babylon, who had been precipitated from his throne and glory. The Arabians call Lucifer, Eblis, which some think is only a diminutive or corruption of the word Diabolus.