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Origins of the Devil.

Feb 13, 2022

Image: Eyes of the devil - depositphotos.com

# 238894568
Date: Feb 13, 2022
 

The Devil first appeared in early Christian iconography as a blue angel assisting Jesus on judgment day separating the goats from the sheep, as described the gospel according to Matthew (25, 31-33):

“When the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory; And before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.”

A 6th century mosaic of the last judgment in Ravenna, in the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Italy, clearly shows Jesus flanked on the right by an angel of light, in red; and on the left by an angel of dark, in blue. This is the Devil, who was seen in early medieval times as little more than a low-ranking bureaucrat, who was working for God.

Gradually, as the Catholic/Christian religion extended its power, the Devil began to take on a more sinister form. The blue angel sprouted horns, and slightly resembled a dragon. Interestingly, Hell at this time was not yet the fiery furnace it is depicted as today, the river of flames would be first painted with the last judgment mural at Torcello Cathedral in Venice, produced during the 11th century

The Devil slowly changed color to red, and took on elements from other mythical gods and creatures: firstly Hades, the Greek god of the underworld, and then another Greek god Pan, who was originally the god of shepherds. (His name meant “to pasture.”) It was Pan who gave the Devil his goat’s legs and cloven hooves. Our vision of the Christian Devil owes more to artists than it does to any descriptive verse in the Bible.

By the 1600s, this horned red Devil was used as a means to oppress and enforce the rule of the Catholic/Christian church. Anyone who spoke out against the church was a heretic and in league with the Devil. For if the church was God on earth, then those against the church were on the Devil’s side. This led to the brutal and horrific slaughter of thousands of innocent people.

Today, the Devil is still used to oppress and inspire fear. Most recently, the American government, under President George W. Bush, declared war on an “Axis of Evil,” while at the head of the US military were men who literally believed they were waging war on the Devil.

Lucifer and Satan probably aren't the same being. The name Lucifer derives from a passage in Isaiah 14, which is probably referring to a Babylonian myth about Attar (a Canaanite deity, also called the Morningstar, probably associated with Venus), who tried to claim the throne of Ba'al Hadad, failed, and was cast into the underworld. It's actually not an uncommon mythic idea to see repeated elsewhere, amusingly enough.

Meanwhile, ha-Satan means "The Accuser", and the contexts this is used in always refer to an angel, who exists amongst other angels, and is in regular contact with God. Jewish mythology says that the guy was basically there to test the faithful, and see who was truly virtuous and who was not by putting their virtue to hard tests. Hence why the guy can't actually do anything without God's permission in the Book of Job.

Satan is, indeed, described many times in the Old Testament, but the idea of the guy as an actively malevolent enemy of God is a more recent idea. Satan in Jewish myth was basically God's prosecuting attorney, who tested the faithful and, on the Day of Judgment, would recite a litany of every soul's crimes.

You see this time and again; whenever Satan appears, he's always amidst angels and speaking with God, acting as a tester and occasionally inflicting woe to get people to either sin or rise above temptation. Even his name, ha-Satan, means "The Accuser".

It's basically Revelations where this depiction changes wholesale, and the idea of actively malevolent supernatural beings become a major component of Christian religion.

In the context for the article, I think the "For the first time" bit is meant in the sense of artistic depiction.

The Devil keeps things in balance.

Joseph Campbell pointed out Jesus' 'command' to his disciples: "One of you WILL betray me."

So much worry about backwards Satanic messaging in rock music, but what about Black Sabbath FORWARDS: "My name is Lucifer, please take me hand!"

Satan’s name in Hebrew is ‘adversary’ and Devil means ‘slanderer or accuser.’

Whenever a “Beast” is mentioned in the bible it is describing a POLITICAL regime. Satan is already called the Devil, the Dragoon,

Lucifer, etc. Why add another name in the last chapter of the Bible? The number 666 is “a man’s number”. Man = imperfection, so 666 is imperfection in the extreme. 666 does not = Satan. The beast and 666 are one and the same, a political regime that is so imperfect that it merits the extreme number representation of 666. That said- Satan is the power or hidden force behind the political system, and acts on his behalf.

Angels (including the fallen ones) DO NOT have wings! Not once in the bible does it mention an angel with wings (this is a pagan addition from the early 2nd or 3rd century). Cherubs have 4 wings and Seraphs have 6 wings, and these two heavenly beings have FOUR faces and are always in attendance on God, either when he sits on his throne or moves/travels to other places.

This embodiment was first addressed as Lucifer in app 800-1000 years before Jesus, where god's judgment on the dominating king Tyre, as he gives resemblanse to the spiritual entity that strengthens him - Lucifer the real king hiding in the shadow, Lucifer once held in high regard and position with god.

Source:  Ezekiel 28:11-19 and Isaiah 14:12-15

There was a pagan god of light named Lucifer, before monotheism invaded and the devil appropriated the attributes of whatever god the church was demonizing that week. The idea of the devil as serious competitor with god is pretty new. At least in Christianity, 'twas old hat for Zoroastrians.

There's definitely a proto-devil in Job too, and that may predate Ezekiel or Isaiah.

Yes, The Accuser. But he very distinctly works under the direct jurisdiction of Ywhw, as a member of his court. He doesn't take on a separate existence as a figure of 'pure evil' until several centuries into the Christian era.

"Shaitan", his original name in Old Persian or Avestan, entered Judaism from Zoroastrian Iran during the Babylonian captivity, along with many other religious ideas.

The one mentioned in Isaiah is probably referring to a Canaanite legend and is not the same being as the one referred to as Satan...



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