"How can Satan cast out Satan?" or, the logic of spiritual forces.
The spirit of Christ's answer to this malicious attack is calm, fearless, and full of light. He meets the charge with convincing and irrefutable logic.
I. THE DEFENCE. There are two elements in his argument:
1. A demonstration. It is the familiar reductio ad absurdum, such as one might use with a schoolboy. It is so simple and trenchant that it straightway becomes an attack of the most powerful kind. He treats them as children in knowledge, and convicts them at the same time of diabolical malice.
2. An inference. Here the advantage is pushed beyond the point expected. tie is not satisfied with a mere disclaimer; he comes to a further and higher deduction. If it was true that he did not cast out Satan by Satan, then it must also be true that he cast out Satan in spite of the latter; and that could only mean one thing. Satan, "the strong man," must have been bound by the Son of man, else he would not suffer himself to be so "spoiled." This is at once an assurance full of comfort to his friends and a warning to his enemies.
II. POSITIONS ASSUMED IN IT.
1. The solidarity of evil.
2. The irreconcileableness of the kingdoms of light and darkness.—M.