202. CONCERNING THE EXTREME MALICE OF THE DEVIL I have pondered with myself whether the malice [of the devil] could be so great that he could tempt the inmosts of the Messiah. But I heard from heaven that because he was created into a state of perfection, and fell therefrom, such malice as there was in him can never be perceived. And because Adam was infected with that malice he was expelled from Paradise and the way to the Tree of Life was guarded, for he can pervert every man, except the Messiah alone. Now, however, he is held in bonds; only his crew are let out, who are thus meant by the devil as he is called.* 1747, Sept. 23, o.s. * This paragraph is thus entered in the Index (s.v. Diabolus):