Satan: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit Next edit →

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Inline

Revision as of 18:41, 24 December 2005

On {{{date}}}, Satan was linked from Slashdot, a high-traffic website. (Traffic)

All prior and subsequent edits to the article are noted in its revision history.

Gustave Dore's depiction of Satan from John Milton's *Paradise Lost*

Satan (שָׂטָן Standard Hebrew Satan, Greek and Latin Sátanas, Tiberian Hebrew Śāṭān; Aramaic שִׂטְנָא Śaṭanâ: both words mean "Adversary; accuser") is an angel, demon, or minor god in many religions. Satan plays various roles in the Hebrew Bible, the Apocrypha and the New Testament. In the Hebrew Bible, Satan is an angel that God uses to test man for various reasons usually dealing with his level of piety (i.e. the test in the Book of Job). In the Apocrypha and New Testament, Satan is portrayed as an evil, rebellious demon who is the enemy of God and mankind. These two ideals are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

In modern Abrahamic religions and other various mythology, Satan is generally viewed as a preternatural entity who is the central embodiment of evil. Satan is also commonly known as the Devil (Latin Diábolus, Diaboli, from Greek Diabolos), the "Prince of Darkness," Beelzebub (direct translation is "Lord of the Flies"), Belial, Mephistopheles, or Lucifer. In the Talmud and some works of Kabbalah Satan is sometimes called Samael; however most Jewish literature is of the opinion that Samael is a separate angel. In the fields of angelology and demonology these different names sometimes refer to a number of different angels and demons, and there is significant disagreement as to whether any of these entities is actually evil.

In Islam, Iblīs (Arabic إبليس), is the primary devil. He appears more often in the Qur'an as being the Shaitan: Iblis is mentioned 11 times, and Shaitan "al-Shaitaan" ‏‏(الشيطان) 87 times. He is chief of the spirits of evil, and his personality is similar to that of the devil in Christianity. He suffered from pride and refused to bow down to Adam at Allah's command. He subsequently rebelled against Allah, and was therefore thrown out of Heaven, and was from then on known as Shaitan. (Also known originally at the begining as Azazil)

In the Hebrew Bible

In the Hebrew Bible, Satan is to be better understood as an "accuser" or "adversary" than as an embodiment of "evil." The term is applied both to divine and human beings.

Different uses of the word "Satan" in the Tanakh

The Hebrew word "Satan" is used in the Hebrew Bible with the general connotation of "adversary," being applied to:

An enemy in war and peace (1 Kings 5:4; 11:14, 23, 25)
An accuser before the judgment-seat (Psalm 109:6)
An antagonist who puts obstacles in the way, as in Numbers 22:22, where the angel of God is described as opposing Balaam as an adversary.
As an angel who works to find fault with Man, and acts as a prosecuting attorney against mankind (the Book of Job) on behalf of God to test them. The angels used are most often not mentioned by name.

The Strong's Concordance number for the Hebrew word "Satan" is 07854. This can be used to research the Biblical usage of this word.

Biblical description of Satan

The following passage is taken by Christians to describe Satan, although in the Hebrew Bible it is said to be addressed to the King of Tyre:

Ezekiel 28:12–19 "...You were the perfection of wisdom and beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Your clothing was adorned with every precious stone – red carnelian, chrysolite, white moonstone, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald – all beautifully crafted for you and set in the finest gold. They were given to you on the day you were created. I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. You had access to the holy mountain of God and walked among the stones of fire. "You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you. Your great wealth filled you with violence, and you sinned. So I banished you from the mountain of God. I expelled you, O mighty guardian, from your place among the stones of fire. Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth and exposed you to the curious gaze of kings. You defiled your sanctuaries with your many sins and your dishonest trade. So I brought fire from within you, and it consumed you. I let it burn you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. All who knew you are appalled at your fate. You have come to a terrible end, and you are no more."

Satan as an accuser

Where Satan does appear as an angel, he is clearly a member of God's court and plays the role of the Accuser, much like a prosecuting attorney for God. Such a view is found in the prologue to the Book of Job, where Satan appears, together with other celestial beings, before God, replying to the inquiry of God as to whence he had come, with the words: "From going to and fro on the earth and from walking in it" (Job 1:7). Both question and answer, as well as the dialogue which follows, characterize Satan as that member of the divine council who watches over human activity with the purpose of searching out men's sins and appearing as their accuser. He is, therefore, the celestial prosecutor (a type of lawyer), who sees only iniquity. For example, in Job 2:3-5, after Job passes Satan's first test, Satan requests that Job be tested even further.

It is evident from the prologue in Job that Satan has no power of independent action, but requires the permission of God, which he may not transgress. Satan's role is that of opposition, as the name suggests, and as such serves solely to test the tzaddikim. This view is also retained in Zechariah 3:1-2, where Satan is described as the adversary of the high priest Joshua, and of the people of God whose representative the hierarch is; and he there opposes the "angel of the Lord," who bids him be silent in the name of God. In both of these passages Satan is a mere accuser who acts only according to the permission of the Lord.

In 1 Chronicles 21:1 Satan appears as one who is able to provoke David to number (or take a census of) Israel. The Chronicler (third century B.C.) regards Satan here as a more independent agent, a view which is at first glance striking since it would seem the source where he drew his account (2 Samuel 24:1) speaks of God Himself as the one who moved David to take the census. But after a more careful survey is taken of the situation, it is apparent that the circumstances were similar to that of Job: Satan is free to issue temptation with God's consent. Although the older conception refers all events, whether good or bad, to God alone (1 Samuel 16:14; 1 Kings 22:22; Isaiah 45:7; etc.), it is unlikely that the Chronicler, and perhaps even Zechariah, were influenced by Zoroastrianism, since Jewish monism strongly opposed Iranian dualism, especially in the case of the prophet.

In Rabbinic literature

Early rabbinic Jewish statements in the Mishnah and Talmud show that Satan played little or no role in Jewish theology. In the course of time, however, Judaism absorbed the popular concepts of Satan, most likely inherited from Zoroastrianism. The later a rabbinic work can be dated the more frequent is the mention therein of Satan and his hosts.

An example is found in Genesis: The serpent who had Eve eat the forbidden fruit. The consensus of the Biblical commentators in classical Judaism is that the serpent of the narrative in Genesis was literally a serpent. They differ regarding what it represented: The evil inclinaction (Yetzer HaRa), Satan, or the Angel of Death. According to the Midrash, before this cunning beast was cursed, it stood erect and was endowed with some faculty of communication.

The Jerusalem Talmud, completed about 450 CE, is more reticent in this regard; and this is the more noteworthy since its provenance is the same as that of the New Testament.

The Babylonian Talmud (Bava Bathra 16a) states that the Evil Inclination (Yetzer ha-Ra), the Angel of Death and Satan are identical.

In a midrash (Genesis Rabbah 19) Samael, the chief of the satans (a specific order of angel, not a reference to demons), was a mighty prince of angels in heaven. Samael came into the world with woman, that is, with Eve (Midrash Yalkut, Genesis 1:23), so that he was created and is not eternal. Like all celestial beings, he flies through the air (Genesis Rabbah 19), and can assume any form, as of a bird (Talmud, Sanhedrin 107a), a stag (ibid, 95a), a woman (ibid, 81a), a beggar, or a young man (Midrash Tanchuma, Wayera, end); he is said to skip (Talmud Pesachim 112b and Megilla. 11b), in allusion to his appearance in the form of a goat.

In some works some rabbis hold that Satan is the incarnation of all evil, and his thoughts are devoted to the destruction of man. In this view, Satan, the impulse to evil and the angel of death are one and the same personality. Satan seizes upon even a single word which may be prejudicial to man; so that "one should not open his mouth unto evil," i.e., "unto Satan" (Talmud Berachot 19a). In times of danger likewise he brings his accusations (Palestinian Talmud, Shabbat 5b). While he has power over all the works of man (Talmud Berachot 46b), he can not prevail at the same time against two individuals of different nationality; so that Samuel, a noted astronomer, physician and teacher of the Law (died at Nehardea, 247), would start on a journey only when a Gentile traveled with him (Talmud, Shabbat 32a).

Satan's knowledge is circumscribed; for when the shofar is blown on New-Year's Day he is "confounded" (Rosh Hashana 16b, Targum Yerushalmi to Numbers 10:10). On the Day of Atonement his power vanishes; for the numerical value of the letters of his name (gematria and Hebrew numerals) is only 364, one day being thus exempt from his influence (Yoma 20a).

One rabbi notes that Satan was an active agent in the fall of man (Midrash Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer 13, beginning), and was the father of Cain (ibid, 21), while he was also instrumental in the offering of Isaac (Midrash Tanchuma, Wayera, 22 [ed. Stettin, p. 39a]), in the release of the animal destined by Esau for his father (ibid, Toledot, 11), in the theophany at Sinai, in the death of Moses (Deuteronomy Rabbah 13:9), in David's sin with Bath-sheba (Sanhedrin 95a), and in the death of Queen Vashti (Megilla 11a). The decree to destroy all the Jews, which Haman obtained, was written on parchment brought by Satan (Esther Rabba 3:9). When Alexander the Great reproached the Jewish sages with their rebellion, they made the plea that Satan had been too mighty for them (Tamid 32a).

In the Hebrew Apocrypha

In Wisdom ii. 24 Satan is represented, with reference to Gen. iii., as the father of all lies, who brought death into the world; he is apparently mentioned also in Ecclus. (Sirach) xxi. 27, and the fact that his name does not occur in Daniel is doubtless due merely to chance. Allegedly, Satan was the seducer and the paramour of Eve, and was hurled from heaven together with other angels because of his iniquity (Slavonic Book of Enoch, xxix. 4 et seq.). Since that time he has been called "Satan," although previously he had been termed "Satanel" (ib. xxxi. 3 et seq.).

The doctrine of the fall of Satan, as well as of the fall of the angels, is found also in Babylonia. Satan rules over an entire host of angels (Martyrdom of Isaiah, ii. 2; Vita Adæ et Evæ, xvi.). Mastema, who induced God to test Abraham through the sacrifice of Isaac, is identical with Satan in both name and nature (Book of Jubilees, xvii. 18), and the Asmodeus of the Book of Tobit is likewise to be identified with him, especially in view of his licentiousness. As the lord of satans he not infrequently bears the special name Samael.

It is difficult to identify Satan in any other passages of the Apocrypha, since the originals in which his name occurred have been lost, and the translations employ various equivalents. An "argumentum a silentio" can not, therefore, be adduced as proof that concepts of Satan were not wide-spread; but it must rather be assumed that reference to him and his realm is often implied in the mention of evil spirits.

In the New Testament

Satan figures much more prominently in the New Testament and in Christian theology generally. In the New Testament, Satan appears as a tempter for Jesus for example (see Matt. 4:3-9). In John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost, the theme is further developed—Satan is believed to have been an archangel who turned against God before the creation of man. (Prophecies in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 are thought to be referring metaphorically to Satan, rather than to the king of Babylon. Babylon in Revelation is a symbol for an evil world, one of which Satan would be head in the Tribulational period of the end times.) According to this view, Satan waged war against God, his creator, and was banished from Heaven because of this.

The belief that Satan is in Hell has its roots in Christian literature rather than in the Bible. The Bible states that he still roams heaven and earth. Job 1:6 states that Satan appeared with other angels "before the Lord," presumably in heaven. When God asked Satan where he had been, Satan replied, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." Satan has not been and is not in Hell. 1 Peter 5:8 declares, "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

It is clear from passages such as these that Satan is not in Hell and probably spends most of his time on earth, seeking to destroy the lives of human beings and to keep them separated from God.

The creation story found in the book of Genesis reports that a serpent tempted Adam and Eve to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. In the Jewish tradition, the serpent was always taken to be literally a snake; the story tells us the origin of how the snake lost its legs. Later Christian theologies interpreted this serpent to be Satan, to the point where many Christians are unaware that the actual Hebrew text does not identify the serpent as Satan. In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Satan is one of humanity's three enemies, along with sin and death.

According to most Christian eschatology, Satan will wage a final war against Jesus, before being cast into Hell for "aeonios." (Aeonios, literally translated, means of or pertaining to an age, which is incorrectly translated as "all eternity.") The Unification Church, a sect that deviates from mainstream Christianity, teaches that Satan will be restored in the last days and become a good angel again (see Lucifer, A Criminal Against Humanity). A few early Church Fathers are known to have prayed for Satan's eventual repentance; it was not generally believed that this would happen. On the other hand, Dispensationalists teach that Jesus returns to earth before the Tribulational period to reclaim the righteous, dead and living, to meet Him in the air (known as the Rapture, see 1 Thess 4:17). Many Fundamentalists believe that immediately following this, the Tribulational period will occur as prophesied in the book of Daniel, while others (especially Seventh-Day Adventists) believe that immediately following Jesus' Second Coming, Satan will be bound on this Earth for a thousand years, after which he will be “loosed for a little season” (a short time, see Rev 20:1-3)—this is when the battle of Armageddon (the final confrontation between good and evil) will be waged—and Satan and his followers will be destroyed once and for all, the Earth will be cleansed of all evil and there will be “a new Heaven and a new Earth” where sin will reign no more (see Rev 21:1-4).

In various Gnostic sects, Satan was praised as the giver of knowledge, sometimes with references to Lucifer, “the light-bringer.” Some claimed that the being imagined as God by Christians and Jews was in fact Satan, as a world as imperfect as ours could not be created by a perfect God.

Particularly in the medieval period, Satan was often depicted as having horns and a goat's hindquarters. He has also been depicted as carrying a pitchfork, and with a forked tail. None of these images seem to be based on Biblical materials. Rather, this image is apparently based on pagan horned gods, such as Pan and Dionysus, common to many mythologies. Neo-pagans allege that this image was chosen specifically to discredit the Horned God of ancient paganism.

Christadelphians believe that there is no supernatural being of evil, and that references to Satan or the Devil in the Bible are usually to be understood as either personifications of evil or as particular individuals.

Jehovah's Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Satan is a real person. Satan was created a perfect spirit creature, but that he became "Satan the Devil" when he acted on his desire to turn Adam and Eve away from worship of Jehovah to himself. They do not regard "Lucifer" as his original name, but as a title or other descriptive term which he was given seperately.

By use of the serpent in the Garden of Eden Satan seduced Eve by implying that God's rulership was selfish and unjust. "Is it really so that God said YOU must not eat from every tree of the garden?" Eve's reply was that only one tree had been prohibited from their use on penalty of death. Satan challenged this: "YOU positively will not die. For God knows that in the very day of YOUR eating from it YOUR eyes are bound to be opened and YOU are bound to be like God, Knowing good and bad." So, Satan's approach was a dual deception: First, that God was withholding good from them and second that he was lying in the process.

Eve, having succumbed to this deception, along with Adam, who allowed himself to become complicit in the matter, rejected their Creator and chose Satan as their 'god'. The Bible shows that the majority of their offspring followed them in this course (e.g. The Flood).

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Satan is still the god of this world, citing references at 2 Cor.4:4; 1 John 5:19; Mt 4:8-11.

Satanists

There are historical records of people worshiping Satan, though their authenticity is sometimes questioned, especially considering the sources. Today, some people identify themselves as Satanists. Of these, some claim that Satan is a real being, some view him as a symbol for the animal desires of humans, and some view him as a symbol for the rebellious or independent aspects of humanity. Many that hold this latter view are members of the Church of Satan established in the 1960s by Anton LaVey.

Among polytheists

Syncreto-Paganism

In Neopagan religions that have assimilated aspects of Abrahamic mythology into their own pantheons, Satan, Lucifer, and Beelzebub are often seen as distinct and separate beings who perform necessary cosmic functions.

In Stregheria, the Lucifer/Satan connection is upheld just as in Christian mythology. The Streghe see Lucifer (the name "Satan" is never used in Stregheria) as a kind and philanthropic deity who chose to disobey the tyrant-god of the Christians by appearing in the form of the serpent to offer knowledge of good and evil to humans (presumably via the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, as this is an allusion to the Genesis myth) in order to expose the Abrahamic God for the evil being he truly was. Stregheria's classical influence is apparent here, as in Greek mythology the serpent was seen as a symbol of wisdom.

Neopaganism

Christian tradition has frequently identified pagan religions and witchcraft with the influence of Satan. In the Middle Ages, the church accused alleged witches of consorting and conspiring with Satan. Several modern conservative Christian writers, such as Jack Chick and James Dobson, have depicted today's neopagan and witchcraft religions as explicitly Satanic (as opposed to merely Satanic in inspiration, like Buddhism or Roman Catholicism in their view).

In fact few neopagan traditions recognize Satan or the Devil per se. However, many neopagan groups worship some sort of "Horned God," for example as a consort of the Great Goddess in Wicca. These god-figures usually reflect mythological figures such as Cernunnos or Pan — the same figures which may have inspired medieval Christian images of Satan as a horned, goatish character.

Many claim that Aleister Crowley influenced the religion of Wicca, and some link the Horned God with his male deity Hadit. Crowley wrote (in Magick in Theory and Practice, Chap. 21) that The Devil does not exist, and also, "The Devil" is, historically, the God of any people that one personally dislikes. However, he goes on to link Hadit with Satan, considered as a symbol of divine knowledge and liberty.

New Age movement

Participants in the New Age movement have widely varied views about Satan, the Devil, and so forth. Perhaps the most widespread tendency would be to doubt or downplay his existence altogether, focusing instead on "the light."

Many would identify positive elements of traditionally "evil" symbolism. For example, Theosophy founder Madame Blavatsky named her journal Lucifer since she intended it to be a "bringer of light" (the technical meaning of "Lucifer"). The likelihood that Christians might react negatively could not have escaped her. A more familiar means of reclaiming "evil" symbolism would be by affirming the primacy of nonduality or nonconceptuality. In this light, good and evil are one and harmonious, like yin and yang.

A third possibility would be to recognize "devils" as symbols or manifestations of one's own negative tendencies. This reflects the New Age's fondness for psychologizing interpretations, but does have a venerable history within several mainstream world religions.

On the other hand, some figures who are respected by the New Age movement do stress a spiritual war between good and evil, light and darkness. Examples would include Rudolf Steiner, Agni Yoga founders Nicholas Roerich and Helena Roerich, or Church Universal and Triumphant founders Mark L. Prophet and Elizabeth Clare Prophet. Many speak of a "dark lodge" opposing the Great White Brotherhood; some affirm the literal existence of Lucifer and/or Satan. Others deny the existance of Satan. This has led to a debate between the two camps.

Skepticism

Skeptics, influenced by thinking stemming from the Enlightenment, do not accept Satan as real. Their criticisms rest on three main themes: theodicy, naturalism, and mythology.

It is unclear how Satan, in the traditional notion, could defy or defeat an omnipotent opponent. Spinoza argued that it is unclear why an all-powerful good God allows Satan to do evil deeds and go unpunished, and then turns around and punishes humans who are victims of Satan's evil deeds to an eternity of hellfire.
The existence of supernatural beings conflicts with naturalism. It is unclear how Satan, who is said to be supernatural, would interact with the human world. It is unnecessary to explain bad events such as the black plague or more modernly, AIDS or 9/11 by appealing to Satan. Furthermore, from a humanist point of view, it is unnecessary to require a supernatural source for human behavior that arises from normal animal urges like lust, adultery, theft and lying.
Satan's origins can be explained and traced through comparative mythology.

Satan in fiction

Bibliography

Davidson, Gustav, 1994. A Dictionary of Angels: Including the Fallen Angels. Free Press. ISBN 002907052X
Bamberger, Bernard Jacob, (March 15, 2006). Fallen Angels: Soldiers of Satan's Realm, 300pp. ISBN 0827607970
Guiley, Rosemary, 1996. Encyclopedia of angels, 214pp. ISBN 0816029881

External links

Satan image gallery More than a hundred paintings and illustrations depicting Satan in a variety of guises.
Catholic Encyclopedia entry on Satan
Jewish Encyclopedia entry on Satan
A Gallery of Demons
Occultopedia entry on Satan
Monstrous.com list of Demons and Devils

@@ Line 109: / Line 109: @@
 A third possibility would be to recognize "devils" as symbols or manifestations of one's own negative tendencies. This reflects the New Age's fondness for psychologizing interpretations, but does have a venerable history within several mainstream world religions.
-On the other hand, some figures who are respected by the New Age movement do stress a spiritual war between good and evil, light and darkness. Examples would include [[Rudolf Steiner]], [[Agni Yoga]] founders [[Nicholas Roerich]] and [[Helena Roerich]], or [[Church Universal and Triumphant]] founders [[Mark L. Prophet]] and [[Elizabeth Clare Prophet]]. Many speak of a "dark lodge" opposing the [[Great White Brotherhood]]; some affirm the literal existence of Lucifer and/or Satan, etc. However, other smarter people deny the existance of anything of the sort. This has led to a raging battle vs not only the existance of Satan, but the existance of God as well, throughout the recent history of theological debate.
+On the other hand, some figures who are respected by the New Age movement do stress a spiritual war between good and evil, light and darkness. Examples would include [[Rudolf Steiner]], [[Agni Yoga]] founders [[Nicholas Roerich]] and [[Helena Roerich]], or [[Church Universal and Triumphant]] founders [[Mark L. Prophet]] and [[Elizabeth Clare Prophet]]. Many speak of a "dark lodge" opposing the [[Great White Brotherhood]]; some affirm the literal existence of Lucifer and/or Satan. Others deny the existance of Satan. This has led to a debate between the two camps.
 == Skepticism ==