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Satan frozen at the center of Cocytus, the ninth circle of Hell in Dante's Inferno.
This page is about the concept of the Devil. For the Christian devil, see Devil in Christianity, for the Islamic devil, see Iblis. See Satan for the Jewish view. For the Die Ärzte album, see Devil (album).

The Devil is a title given to the supernatural being, who, in mainstream Christianity, Islam, and other religions, is believed to be a powerful, evil entity and the tempter of humankind.

In mainstream Christianity, God and the Devil are usually portrayed as fighting over the souls of humans, with the Devil seeking to lure people away from God and into Sheol. The Devil commands a force of lesser evil spirits, commonly known as demons.

The name "Devil" derives from the Greek word diabolos, which means "slanderer" or "accuser".[1] The Devil is commonly associated with heretics, infidels, and other unbelievers. The Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament) does not assign this level of personification to a devil, but rather identifies all good and evil as originating in the will of God.[2]

This entity is commonly referred to by a variety of names, including Angra Mainyu, Satan, Asmodai, Beelzebub, Lucifer, Belial, or Iblis. Many other religions have a trickster or tempter figure that is similar to the Devil. Modern conceptions of the Devil include the concept that it symbolizes humans' own lower nature or sinfulness.

The Devil in world religions

Zoroastrianism

Main article: Angra Mainyu

In the Gathas, the oldest texts of the Zoroastrian Avesta, believed to have been composed by Zoroaster himself, the poet does not mention a manifest adversary. Ahura Mazda's Creation is "truth", asha. The "lie" (druj) is manifest only as decay or chaos, not an entity.

Later, in Zurvanism (Zurvanite Zoroastrianism), Ahura Mazda and the principle of evil, Angra Mainyu, are the "twin" offspring of Zurvan, 'Time'. No trace of Zurvanism exists after the 10th century.

Today, the Parsis of India largely accept the 19th century interpretation that Angra Mainyu is the 'Destructive Emanation' of Ahura Mazda. Instead of struggling against Mazda himself, Angra Mainyu battles Spenta Mainyu, Mazda's 'Creative Emanation.'

Judaism

Main article: Satan

In Judaism there is no concept of a devil like in mainstream Christianity or Islam. In Hebrew, the biblical word ha-satan means the adversary or the obstacle, or even "the prosecutor" (recognizing that God is viewed as the ultimate Judge).

In the book of Job (Iyov), ha-satan is the title, not the proper name, of an angel submitted to God; he is the divine court's chief prosecutor. In Judaism ha-satan does not make evil, rather points out to God the evil inclinations and actions of humankind. In essence ha-satan has no power unless humans do evil things. After God points out Job's piety, ha-satan asks for permission to test the faith of Job. The righteous man is afflicted with loss of family, property, and later, health, but he still stays faithful to God. At the conclusion of this book God appears as a whirlwind, explaining to all that divine justice is inscrutable. In the epilogue Job's possessions are restored and he has a second family to "replace" the one that died.

There is no evidence in Torah, or in the books of the Prophets and other writings, to suggest that God created one being as the source of evil. The Hebrew word used for evil is usually translated as 'calamity', 'disaster' or 'chaos'. In fact, the Book of Isaiah, Job, Ecclesiastes, and Deuteronomy all have passages in which God is credited for creating both the good and the evil of this world.

Christianity

Main article: Devil in Christianity
Saint Augustine and the Devil by Michael Pacher).

In mainstream Christianity the Devil is also known as Satan and sometimes as Lucifer, although most scholars recognize the reference in Isaiah 14:12 to Lucifer, or the Morning Star, to be a reference to the Babylonian king (see, for example, the entries in Nave's Topical Bible, the Holman Bible Dictionary and the Adam Clarke Commentary). Some consider the Devil to be an angel who rebelled against God, and has been condemned to the Lake of Fire. He is described as hating all humanity, or more accurately creation, spreading lies and deceit around the world. Other Christians (for example, Christadelphians) consider the devil in the Bible to refer figuratively to human sin and temptation and to any human system in opposition to God. In the Bible, the devil is identified with the serpent in the Garden of Eden and the dragon in the Book of Revelation (e.g. Rev. 12:9), and the tempter of the Gospels (e.g. Mat. 4:1).

Islam

Main article: Iblis

In Islam the Devil is referred to as Iblis (Arabic: Shaitan) (a word referring to evil devil-like beings). According to the Qur'an, God (called Allah in Arabic) created the Satan out of "smokeless fire", while He created man out of clay. The primary characteristic of the Devil, besides hubris, is that he has no power other than the power to cast evil suggestions into the heart of women and men. See also "Devil"/"Dajjal"

According to the verses of the Qur’an, the Devil's mission until the Qiyamah or Resurrection Day (yaum-ul-qiyama) is to deceive Adam's children (mankind). After that, he will be put into the fires of Hell along with those whom he has deceived. The Devil is also referred to as one of the jinns, as they are all created from the smokeless fires. The Qur'an does not depict Shaitan (English: Satan) as the enemy of God, for God is supreme over all his creations and Iblis is just one of his creations. All good is from God Himself and only He can save humanity from the evils of his universe and his creations. All bad deeds are done by our choice. Satan's single enemy is humanity. He intends to discourage humans from obeying God. Thus, humankind is warned to struggle (jihad) against the mischiefs of the Satan and temptations he puts them in. The ones who succeed in this are rewarded with Paradise ("jannath ul firdaus"), attainable only by righteous conduct.

According to Muslim theology, He was expelled from the grace of God when he disobeyed God by choosing not to pay homage to Adam, the father of all mankind. He claimed to be superior to Adam, on the grounds that man was created of earth unlike himself. As for the angels, they prostrated before Adam to show their homage and obedience to God. However, Iblis, adamant in his view that man is inferior, and unlike angels was given the ability to choose, made a choice of not obeying God. This caused him to be expelled by God, a fact that Iblis blamed on humanity. Initially, the Devil was successful in deceiving Adam, but once his intentions became clear, Adam and Eve repented to God and were freed from their misdeeds and forgiven. God gave them a strong warning about Iblis and the fires of Hell and asked them and their children (humankind) to stay away from the deceptions of their senses caused by the Devil.

Bahá'í Faith

In the Bahá'í Writings, "devil" or "satanic" can have a number of meanings. Sometimes it is used to refer to the Bahá'í interpretation of Satan. Other times it refers to people who are ruled by their own lower nature. In this sense, the Bahá'í consider certain evil people to be devils incarnate, not in the sense of being ruled by an external evil force, but by their own selfish desires. The Báb referred to His persecutors as "the followers of the devil".[3] Demonic possession mentioned in the Bible is considered to be another example of individuals who are ruled by their own lower natures. Shoghi Effendi wrote:

"Regarding your question relative to the condition of those people who are described in the Gospel as being possessed of devils; this should be interpreted figuratively; devil or Satan is symbolic of evil and dark forces yielding to temptation."[1]

In the context of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, the devil is interpreted as the human nature of Jesus. His human nature showed Him what He could attain with His great powers, if He were to follow the ways of the world. However, the Holy Spirit within Christ refused to submit to the lower nature, choosing to do the Will of God instead.

The Bahá'í Faith teaches that Satan is also a metaphor for the "insistent self" or "lower self" which is a self-serving inclination within each individual. This tendency is often referred to in the Bahá'í Writings as "the Evil One". Bahá'u'lláh wrote:

"Watch over yourselves, for the Evil One is lying in wait, ready to entrap you. Gird yourselves against his wicked devices, and, led by the light of the name of the All-Seeing God, make your escape from the darkness that surroundeth you."[2]

"This lower nature in man is symbolized as Satan - the evil ego within us, not an evil personality outside."[3]

Syncreto-Paganism

In Neopagan religions that have assimilated aspects of Abrahamic religions into their own pantheons, Satan, Lucifer, and Beelzebub are often seen as distinct and separate beings who perform necessary cosmic functions.[citation needed] In Stregheria, the Lucifer/Satan connection is upheld just as in mainstream Christianity. The Streghe see Lucifer (the name "Satan" is never used in Stregheria) as a kind and philanthropic deity who chose to disobey the 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 book of Genesis) 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.[citation needed]

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.

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 gods usually reflect mythological figures such as Cernunnos or Pan, and any similarity they may have to the Christian Devil seems to date back only to the 19th century, when a Christian reaction to Pan's growing importance in literature and art resulted in his image being translated to that of the Devil.[4]

New Age movement

Participants in the New Age movement have widely varied views about Satan, the Devil, and so forth. In some forms of Esoteric Christianity Satan remains as a being of evil, or at least a metaphor for sin and materialism, but the most widespread tendency is to deny his existence altogether. Lucifer, on the other hand, in the original Roman sense of "light-bringer", occasionally appears in the literature of certain groups as a metaphorical figure quite distinct from Satan, and without any implications of evil. For example, Theosophy founder Madame Blavatsky named her journal Lucifer since she intended it to be a "bringer of light". Many New Age schools of thought follow a nondualistic philosophy that does not recognise a primal force for evil. Even when a dualistic model is followed, this is more often akin to the Chinese system of yin and yang, in which good and evil are explicitly not a complementary duality. Schools of thought that do stress a spiritual war between good and evil or light and darkness include the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, Agni Yoga, and the Church Universal and Triumphant.

Devil in world folklore

In the Western Christian tradition, the Devil has entered popular folklore, particularly in his role as a trickster figure. As such, he is found as a character in a wide number of traditional folktales and legends from Ireland, Newfoundland, Italy and the United Kingdom, where he often attempts to trick or outwit other characters. In some of these tales, the Devil is portrayed as more of a folk villain than as the personification of evil. The Devil also features prominently in a number of hagiographical tales, or tales of the saints such as the popular tale of St. Dunstan, many of which may fall outside the authorized religious canon. The Devil is also a recurring feature in tales explaining the etymology of geographical names, lending his name to natural formations such as The Devil's Chimney.

Left Hand Path

Main articles: LaVeyan Satanism, Setianism, and Theistic Satanism

Similar concepts in other religions

Hinduism

In contrast to the Christian traditions and Islam, Hinduism does not recognize any central evil force or entity such as the Devil opposing God but does recognize that different beings (e.g., asuras) and entities can perform evil acts, under the temporary dominance of the guna of tamas, and cause wordly sufferings. An embodiment of this is the concept of Advaita (non-dualism) where there is no good or evil but simply different levels of realization. The asuras though always found to be in conflict with humans and gods of low priority like Indra, Vayu etc but have almost all times being found to worship the 3 supreme Gods Shiva, Vishnu and Bramha. These 3 gods are the backbone of Hindu mythology. They worshipped these 3 Gods common to human worshippers.

On the other hand in Hinduism, which provides plenty of room for counterpoint, there is also the notion of dvaita (dualism) where there is interplay between good and evil tendencies.[4] Prominent asura is Rahu whose characteristics are similar to those of the Devil. However, Hindus, and Vaishnavites in particular, believe that Vishnu incarnates to destroy evil when evil has reached its maximum. (see avatar.) Additionally, the problem of evil is mostly explained by the concept of Guna and Karma. To be more specific, Hindu philosophy defines that the only existing thing (Truth) is the Almighty God. So, all these asuric tendencies are very inferior cadre and mostly exist in the mind. Asuras are also different people in whom bad motivations and intentions (tamas) have temporarily outweighed the good ones (Sattva). Different beings like siddha, gandharva, yaksha etc. are considered beings unlike mankind, and in some ways superior to men. The main difference from other religions to Hinduism is that no devilic tendency (Tamas) has enough power to face the Truth (Sattva), personified by God. (Bhagavad-gita 7.15, 11.36, 16.18)

In Ayyavazhi, officially an offshoot of Hinduism, in Tamil Nadu (a southern state in India with Dravidian heritage), followers, unlike practically all followers of Hinduism, believes in a Satan-like figure, Kroni. Kroni, according to Ayyavazhi is the primordial manifestation of evil and manifests in various forms of evil, i.e., Ravana, Duryodhana, etc., in different ages or yugas. In response to such manifestation of evil, believers, in Ayya-Vazhi religion believe that God, as Vishnu manifests in His avatars, Rama, Krishna, to destroy evil. Eventually, the Ekam with the spirit (the spirit taken by Narayana only for incarnating in the world) of Narayana incarnates in the world as Ayya Vaikundar to destroy the final manifestaion of Kroni, Kaliyan.

Kroni, the spirit of Kali Yuga is said to be omnipresent in this age and that is one of the reasons why followers of Ayya Vazhi, like most Hindus, believe that the current yuga, Kali Yuga is so degraded.

Devil is equated to Kali Purusha in Bhavishya Purana along with Adam(Adama) and Eve(Havyavati).

Buddhism

A "devil"-like figure in Buddhism is Mara. He is a tempter, who also tempted Gautama Buddha by trying to seduce him with the vision of beautiful women who, in various legends, are often said to be Mara's daughters. Mara personifies unskillfulness, the "death" of the spiritual life. He tries to distract humans from practising the spiritual life by making the mundane alluring or the negative seem positive. Another interpretation of Mara is that he is the desires that are present in ones own mind preventing the person from seeing the truth. So in a sense Mara is not an independent being but a part of ones own being that has to be defeated.

Odu Ifá

There is no Devil in Odu Ifá. There is Esu or Elegba who is seen as a trickster. Christian missionaries attempted to equate the Devil with Esu. Odu Ifa teaches that "evil" as it were, is the result of the actions of people. Olodumare being omnipotent is capable of being good and evil. Thus in Ifa evil can be seen "relatively" to something else.

Ancient Egypt

Main articles: Set (mythology) and Apep

Given that Christianity, Judaism and Islam can find many of their philosophical roots in Ancient Egypt it is not surprising that the devil concept can also be traced back there. While the term "devil" is not used in Ancient Egypt the term Set, the name of Horus' "enemy" lends itself to the character known in the previously mentioned religions "Satan". In the Ausarian drama we find that Ausar (Greek: Osiris) is chopped into 13 pieces by Set. Auset (Isis) collects all of his pieces save his phallus. Horus, son of Ausar and Auset sets out to avenge the death and dismemberment of his father by confronting Set. Horus is victorious over Set and Ausar, being brought back from the dead becomes lord of the underworld. It is this drama that gives us the cosmic conflict between good and evil, evil being embodied by Set. This is not to say that Set was always seen as an evil character in Ancient Egyptian theology. There are many times in Ancient Egyptian history where conflicts between different "houses" lead to the depreciation of one god relative to another.

As in most polytheistic faiths, the characters involved differentiate themselves from the Western tradition of a devil in that all the gods are closely related. In this case, numerous historic texts suggest that Set is the Uncle or Brother of Horus and in the "defeat" of Set, we see another separation from the norm in the devouring/assimilation of Set into Horus with the result of Horus having depictions of both the falcon head and the (unknown animal) head of Set. This (like Buddhism) represents a dissolution of dichotomy.

Social and political uses of the Devil concept

People put the concept of the Devil to use in social and political conflicts.

Demonize enemies

People sometimes link their enemies to the Devil. Here are some examples:

  • The author of the Gospel of John portrays Jesus as calling the Jews who did not accept the Christian message "children of the devil" (John 8:44).
  • Elaine Pagels argues, in The Origin of Satan, that the early Christians used the concept of Satan to demonize their enemies: Jews and the unorthodox Christians.
  • Jacques Gruet, one of John Calvin's enemies in Geneva, anonymously attributed Calvin's influence to the devil. He was tortured into confessing and then beheaded.
  • Against the Roman Papacy, an Institution of the Devil: a pamphlet written by Martin Luther in 1545. Luther likewise was portrayed by the Roman Catholic Church as a disciple of the Devil.[5]
  • The concept of reason was referred to by Martin Luther as "The Devil's whore".
  • On 21 September 2006, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez addressed the United Nations General Assembly and referred to United States President George W. Bush, who had spoken there the day before, as "the devil". Making the sign of the cross, he continued, "And it smells of sulfur still today".[6] Chávez was widely criticized in the United States after the remark, even by some of the American president's sharpest opponents.[7]

Explain others’ beliefs

One can use the concept of the Devil to explain why others hold beliefs that one considers to be false and ungodly. Some examples of the use of this are:

Other names for the Devil

See also

References

  1. ^ "devil". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 29 June 2007 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9030155>.
  2. ^ Isaiah 45:7
  3. ^ "reference.bahai.org/en/t/tb/SWB/swb-6.html". Retrieved 2007-07-12.
  4. ^ Hutton, Ronald (1999). Triumph of the Moon. Oxford: Oxford UniverUniversity Press. pp. p. 46. ISBN. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  5. ^ "www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/2026/luther.gif". Retrieved 2007-07-12.
  6. ^ "news.yahoo.com/s/uc/20060922/cm_uc_crpbux/pat_buchanan20060922". Retrieved 2007-07-12.
  7. ^ "select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60612FB35550C778EDDA00894DE404482&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fC%2fChavez%2c%20Hugo". Retrieved 2007-07-12.
  8. ^ "The Critics vs. the Critics: The Jesus Seminar Under Attack". Retrieved 2007-07-12.
  • The Origin of Satan, by Elaine Pagels (Vintage Books, New York 1995) explores the development, the "demonization" of the character of Satan against the background of the bitter struggle between the early Church and the Synagogue to be the legitimate heir of ancient Hebrew religious tradition. She discusses how Satan becomes a figure that reflects our own hatreds and prejudices, and the struggle between our loving selves and our fearful, combative selves.
  • The Old Enemy: Satan & the Combat Myth, by Neil Forsyth (Princeton, New Jersey, 1987) seeks to show how Satan emerged from ancient mythological traditions and is best understood not as a principle of evil, but as a narrative character in the context of "the Combat Myth". Forsyth tells the Devil's story from the Epic of Gilgamesh through to the writings of St. Augustine.
  • The Devil: Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity, by Jeffrey Burton Russell (Meridian, New York 1977) is "a history of the personification of evil" which, to make things clear, he calls "the Devil". Accessible and engaging, full of photographs illustrating the text, this is the first of a four volume series on the history of the concept of the Devil. The following volumes are, Satan: The Early Christian Tradition, Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages, and Mephistopheles: The Devil in the Modern World.
  • The Devil in Legend and Literature, by Maximilian Rudwin (Open Court, La Salle, Illinois, 1931, 1959) is a compendium of "the secular and sacred adventures of Satan." Engaging, wide-ranging and good-humored (and out-of-print for thirty years), this "classic" was re-printed in 1989.
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