Difference between revisions of "Satan"

Revision as of 19:10, June 26, 2009

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God

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-[[Image:GustaveDoreParadiseLostSatanProfile.jpg|right|thumb|Gustave Doré's depiction of Satan from John Milton's Paradise Lost.]]
+#REDIRECT [[God]]
-'''Satan''' (from the Hebrew "ha-satan", meaning the "accuser", "tempter", "persecutor", "calumniator" or "adversary") was a member of the [[divine council]] of God referenced in the [[Old Testament]] in [[Job]].  He is referenced 11 times in Job and 4 other times in the Old Testament.  The [[New Testament]] mentions Satan 34 times in all starting with the first book [[Matthew]] and ending with the last [[Revelation]].  In the Christian tradition he rebelled against [[God]] and is now the enemy of God and man alike.  He is the father of lies and no good is found in him.  He leads a host of fallen angels (or [[demon]]s) who know their days are numbered before they will be cast in the [[lake of fire]] and they seek to take as many humans as possible with them.  Those who worship Satan are called [[satanism | Satanists]].
-The three classic defenses against Satan are:
-* mockery, which Satan cannot withstand due to his pride
-* sunlight or exposure, from which Satan hides
-* the [[Holy Spirit]], meaning "The Advocate" (i.e., defense lawyer), or the [[Armor of God]]<ref>Ephesians 6:1-17</ref>.
-Note that Satan lacks self-restraint, which often leads him to failure.  In addition, Satan delights in [[deceit]], even to the point of causing his downfall.
-== History and Goals ==
-In [[Christianity]] Satan's goal is to lead people away from the love of God, by tempting or tricking them. The only sources of supernatural power in the world are from either God (good) or Satan (evil).  In the book of [[Genesis]], Satan takes the form of a snake and tempts Eve with fruit from a tree.  This causes sin to come into the world.  Satan, in the Book of Job, listens to God speak highly of Job and accuses Job to God before the host of angels that Job praises God only because he is blessed and would curse God if he was forced to suffer.  God allows Satan to do what he will except to spare his life, and Satan causes Job to suffer immensely.  (Job remained true to God through his hardships; Satan accused him further and punished him further, but could not get Job to break).
-[[Jesus]] makes references to demonic possession on multiple occasions that He then casts out.  Some believe that Satan is able to possess and control living humans on Earth even today.  The Catholic church believes that priests (and sometimes only bishops) are able to [[exorcise]] this possession through Jesus.
-In the [[New Testament]], Satan tries to tempt [[Jesus]] in the desert, and fails.  Jesus warns extensively to beware of Satan as does [[Paul]].
-Satan, is also called by several different names (the Devil, deceiver, Bealzebub, Beelzebul, Lucifer, Dis, [[Asmodeus]], Abaddon, "Old Scratch," the Crooked One, etc).
-The notion of Satan, or an evil force, is noted in many if not all of the major world religions.
-== Lucifer ==
-'''Lucifer''' is a name literally meaning "Son of the Morning" (or "Light-Bearer"), and is mentioned in the [[Bible]] only in the [[book of Isaiah]] (Isaiah 14:12). Though in Christian tradition Lucifer is equated with Satan, the immediate context of the passage is Isaiah's prophecy against the king of Babylon, and the name "Lucifer" was not present at all in the original manuscripts (in the Latin Vulgate, the phrase "Son of the Morning" was transliterated as a proper name).
-Whomever Lucifer may be, the Isaiah makes strong prophecy against him, condemning him for 5 pronouncements:
-* I will ascend into [[heaven]]
-* I will exalt my throne above the stars of God
-* I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north
-* I will ascend above the heights of the clouds
-* I will be like the most High
-Those who take this passage to be a reference to Satan believe that it gives more history of what caused his downfall, that he was created by God as one of His most powerful angels (possibly a Seraphim), but that he fell from grace after he in his pride rebelled against his Creator. Some, however, believe that there is no grounding to interpret the passage as a history of Satan, citing that the passage uses highly figurative and poetic language that was meant as a prophecy against Babylon and nothing more.
-[[Image:Paradise Lost 12.jpg|right|thumb|''The fall of Lucifer'' by Gustave Doré.]]
-== Jewish Views ==
-In the Jewish tradition, Satan is an angel who faithfully serves God as a prosecuting attorney - one who accuses men of wickedness and impiety.  At the direction of God, Satan may be permitted to test these accusations, such as in Job.  In this view, Satan's goal is not to lead men away from their faithfulness to God, but merely to reveal the true depths of their devotion, although in [[I Chronicles]] 21:1 Satan provoked [[David]] to take a [[census]] of the people of Israel against the will of God and 70,000 men are slain because of it.
-== Notes ==
-<references/>
-[[category:Abrahamic Religions]]
-{{DivineComedy}}

Difference between revisions of "Satan"

Revision as of 19:10, June 26, 2009

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