Better the Devil you know. Devil may care. Go to the Devil. The Devil is in the detail. The Devil finds work for idle hands. Give the Devil his due. What the Devil …? The Devil may be being written out of the Church of England’s christening service, but he still enjoys a busy life in our phrases and idioms.The Anglicans’ christening ceremony has, until recently, required parents and godparents to be asked whether they “reject the Devil and all rebellion against God”. The new text, apparently on trial in 1,000 churches, now asks them instead to “reject evil, and all its many forms, and all its empty promises”. The Devil is “theologically problematic”, according to the Anglican Bishop of Wakefield, who chairs the Church of England&rsquo
19 March 2015, The Tablet
Get thee behind us
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