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'''Devil''' (from the Greek word διαβολοξ; ''diábolos''), which means
[[Image:GustaveDoreParadiseLostSatanProfile.jpg|right|thumb|Gustave Doré's depiction of [[Satan]] from [[John Milton]]'s Paradise Lost.]]
*''"one who throws things around"'' in the sense of creating the [[chaos]], or
'''Devil''' (from the Greek word διάβολος; ''diábolos'') means:
*''"slanderer"'' in the sense of name-calling or "throwing" false accusations,
*(physically) ''"one who throws things around"'' in the sense of creating the [[chaos]], or
is the name given to the unseen personification of [[evil]]. By causing chaos, the devil leads people away from [[God]], their [[Creator]], and sometimes even to curse God. According to Wilhelm Busch, pastor who was persecuted by [[Nazi]]s in [[Germany]], it is totally impossible to understand the present state of the world if we have not accepted the fact that behind the scenes are the Devil and the powers of [[darkness]].<ref name="Busch"/> Acknowledging that the [[Evil]] is an active power and educating new generations in this respect helps humans to distinguish between good and evil and live a life in harmony with [[Natural Law]].<ref name="Kuby">{{cite book
*(in literature) ''"slanderer"'' in the sense of name-calling or "throwing" false accusations.
The physical meaning describes the many bad things which happen by chance: accidents, miscommunications, losing things, etc. The meaning in literature emphasizes the wrongdoing more: false accusations as forbidden by the [[Ten Commandments]]. The [[Bible]] mentions "devil" 106 times,<ref>[[King James Version]]. In contrast, the modern [[English Standard Version]] (ESV) mentions "devil" only 33 times.</ref> only 4 of which are in the [[Old Testament]]. As explained in the [[Gospel of John]], [[Jesus]] said to the [[Pharisees]]:
<blockquote>Ye are of your father the '''devil''', and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.<ref>{{bibleref|John|8|44-45}}</ref></blockquote>
"Devil" is the name given to the unseen personification of [[evil]]. By causing chaos, the devil leads people away from [[God]], their [[Creator]], and sometimes even to curse God. According to Wilhelm Busch, a pastor who was persecuted by [[Nazi]]s in [[Germany]], it is totally impossible to understand the present state of the world if we have not accepted the fact that behind the scenes are the Devil and the powers of [[darkness]].<ref name="Busch"/> Acknowledging that the [[Evil]] is an active power and educating new generations in this respect helps humans to distinguish between good and evil and live a life in harmony with [[Natural Law]].<ref name="Kuby">{{cite book
|author=Gabriele Kuby
|author=Gabriele Kuby
|title=Globálna Sexuálna Revolúcia. Strata Slobody v mene Slobody. (Global Sexual Revolution. The loss of Freedom in the name of Freedom.)
|title=Globálna Sexuálna Revolúcia. Strata Slobody v mene Slobody. (Global Sexual Revolution. The loss of Freedom in the name of Freedom.)
The term "devil" is often used synonymously with the term [[Lucifer]] or [[Satan]], although Satan has the connotation of a personal evil while the devil is a common name for demons or evil spirits.
The term "devil" is often used synonymously with the term [[Lucifer]] or [[Satan]], although Satan has the connotation of a personal evil while the devil is a common name for demons or evil spirits.
Two-time [[Oscar]] winner [[Denzel Washington]] attributed the angry face-slap by [[Will Smith]] of [[Chris Rock]] on-stage at the 2022 [[Academy Awards]] to the devil.
==Etymology==
==Etymology==
The word has its origins with the early Hebrews during the Exodus from Egypt. The local religions they encountered when they entered into Canaan included tales of the demon spirits (''sa ir'' שעירים, "hairy ones" or "saytrs", Isaiah 13:21) of the desert, whose influence could be averted due to sacrifice. Despite being told to ''"...put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD,"'' (Joshua 24:14) many had accepted this superstition and sacrificed goats on the Canaanite and other altars. From this came the Herew word ''ha-satan'' שָׂטָן, the root word of "Satan".
[[File:Gustave Dore - Paradise Lost.png|300px|right|thumb|''The fall of [[Lucifer]]'' by Gustave Doré.]]
"Devil" literally means "to throw across." The connotation "to slander" is one inferred meaning in a linguistic sense, but the more obvious physical meaning is to create chaos. Linguists often prefer purely linguistic connotations rather than physical or scientific ones even where, as in the case of "devil", there is no real basis for preferring a linguistic rather than a physical meaning.
Though the meaning "to create chaos" may be more obvious in a physical sense, there is no evidence that any Greek speaker ever used it this way. In fact, in the Greek literature it is never used to indicate "creating chaos".
The concept underlying "devil" is traced by some to the early Hebrews during the Exodus from Egypt.<ref>The local religions they encountered when they entered into Canaan included tales of the demon spirits (''sa ir'' שעירים, "hairy ones" or "saytrs", Isaiah 13:21) of the desert, whose influence could be averted due to sacrifice. Despite being told to ''"...put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD,"'' (Joshua 24:14) many had accepted this superstition and sacrificed goats on the Canaanite and other altars. From this came the Hebrew word ''ha-satan'' שָׂטָן, the root word of "Satan".</ref>
==Devil and Modern Physics==
The fundamental uncertainty discovered in [[quantum mechanics]] can be understood not as an unmasking of [[God]], but an unmasking of the Devil. The [[Second Law of Thermodynamics]], in describing the inexorable decline into chaos, is consistent with the view of the Devil as creating chaos, frustration, accidents, lost items, and miscommunications.
==Devil and Bible==
==Devil and Bible==
==Devil and [[Atheism]]==
==Devil and [[Atheism]]==
Bush further muses that the Devil himself "believes in God" and certainly is no atheist: "The Devil is perfectly aware of the existence of God. Yet, for all that, he is not at peace with God."<ref name="Busch"/> Humanists in Slovakia, who present them self as being atheists and often show their [[Anti-Christian sentiment]], surprisingly asked Jaroslav A. Polák, a self-described [[satanist]] and rationalist who worships pagan gods, to write an essay on the book [[The God Delusion]] by professor [[Dawkins]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Odviatie vetrom - alebo ako to redakcia neustála (Taken by wind, or how the publisher changed the mind) |author= |publisher=humanisti.sk |url=http://forum.humanisti.sk/viewtopic.php?t=912 |quote=Nie tak veľmi dávno sme si o autorovi recenzie knihy Delúzia Boha mohli prečítať: Citácia: …racionalista, ktorý uspokojuje svoju potrebu iracionálna praktizovaním pohanských kultov: člen Prvého Česko-Sloveského chrámu cirkvi Satanovej a občianskeho združenia Dávny obyčaj. Po následnej diskusii: scirocco napísal(a): AntropologickaKonstanta - Tvoj osobny nazor nikoho nezaujima. Ale to ze na humanisti.sk dostava priestor aj "člen Prvého Česko-Slovenského chrámu Cirkvi Satanovej" a aj stari bolsevici povazujem za divne aj ja. Wink sme sa dozvedeli: Citácia: Redakcia si stojí za tým, že čo je tam uverejnené, a vie, že je to ich zodpovednosť. (http://forum.humanisti.sk/viewtopic.php?t=291) resp. o intelektuáloch s "s nezvládnutou traumou z totality". Jednako nie je úplne jasné kam sa podel neochvejne pevný postoj redakcie, žeby údaj o autorovi prestal byť aktuálny v dôsledku jeho možného prejdenia na inú formu uspokojovania svojej potreby iracionálna alebo že by sa táto potreba úplne vyparila? Jaroslav A. Polák v (Novopohanství a satanismus) napísal(a): Já, Jaroslav A. Polák známý též jako Kojot, vzývám pohanské bohy a současně jsem satanista. A jsem na to patřičně hrdý!
''See also:'' [[Atheism and satanic deception|Atheism and Satanism]]
Bush further muses that the Devil himself "believes in God" and certainly is no atheist: "The Devil is perfectly aware of the existence of God. Yet, for all that, he is not at peace with God."<ref name="Busch"/> Humanists in Slovakia, who present themselves as being atheists and often show their [[Anti-Christian sentiment]], surprisingly asked Jaroslav A. Polák, a self-described [[satanist]] and rationalist who worships pagan gods, to write an essay on the book [[The God Delusion]] by professor [[Dawkins]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Odviatie vetrom - alebo ako to redakcia neustála (Taken by wind, or how the publisher changed the mind) |author= |publisher=humanisti.sk |url=http://forum.humanisti.sk/viewtopic.php?t=912 |quote=Nie tak veľmi dávno sme si o autorovi recenzie knihy Delúzia Boha mohli prečítať: Citácia: …racionalista, ktorý uspokojuje svoju potrebu iracionálna praktizovaním pohanských kultov: člen Prvého Česko-Sloveského chrámu cirkvi Satanovej a občianskeho združenia Dávny obyčaj. Po následnej diskusii: scirocco napísal(a): AntropologickaKonstanta - Tvoj osobny nazor nikoho nezaujima. Ale to ze na humanisti.sk dostava priestor aj "člen Prvého Česko-Slovenského chrámu Cirkvi Satanovej" a aj stari bolsevici povazujem za divne aj ja. Wink sme sa dozvedeli: Citácia: Redakcia si stojí za tým, že čo je tam uverejnené, a vie, že je to ich zodpovednosť. (http://forum.humanisti.sk/viewtopic.php?t=291) resp. o intelektuáloch s "s nezvládnutou traumou z totality". Jednako nie je úplne jasné kam sa podel neochvejne pevný postoj redakcie, žeby údaj o autorovi prestal byť aktuálny v dôsledku jeho možného prejdenia na inú formu uspokojovania svojej potreby iracionálna alebo že by sa táto potreba úplne vyparila? Jaroslav A. Polák v (Novopohanství a satanismus) napísal(a): Já, Jaroslav A. Polák známý též jako Kojot, vzývám pohanské bohy a současně jsem satanista. A jsem na to patřičně hrdý!
|accessdate=February 1, 2015 |language=Slovak}}</ref> In 2006, under the pretext of analysing "believing strange things", [[Michael Shermer]], the founder of The Skeptics Society, presented on the so-called 'TED event' the "hidden messages" that are supposedly there in reverse play of one musical record: ''"Oh, Here’s to my sweet satan, the one who’s little path would make me sad, whose power is satan"''. However, no information on discoverer of the alleged text was given.<ref>{{cite web |author=Michael Schermer |title=Why people believe weird things |date= February 2006 |location=TED2006 |pages=ca 10min:30sec |url=http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_shermer_on_believing_strange_things#t-634757 |accessdate=February 1, 2015 }}</ref>
|accessdate=February 1, 2015 |language=Slovak}}</ref> In 2006, under the pretext of analysing "believing strange things", [[Michael Shermer]], the founder of The Skeptics Society, presented on the so-called 'TED event' the "hidden messages" that are supposedly there in reverse play of one musical record: ''"Oh, Here’s to my sweet satan, the one who’s little path would make me sad, whose power is satan"''. However, no information on discoverer of the alleged text was given.<ref>{{cite web |author=Michael Schermer |title=Why people believe weird things |date= February 2006 |location=TED2006 |pages=ca 10min:30sec |url=http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_shermer_on_believing_strange_things#t-634757 |accessdate=February 1, 2015 }}</ref>
=== Atheism and Satan ===
''See also:'' [[Atheism and satanic deception]]
Pew Research reports:
{{Cquote|When asked who comes to mind when they think about [[atheism]], though, Americans are much less likely to name a well-known figure. While 6% say Satan, 4% say [[Richard Dawkins]] and 4% say [[Madalyn Murray O'Hair|Madalyn Murray O’Hair]], one-in-ten respondents just name themselves or another personal acquaintance such as a relative, friend or roommate. And roughly half (51%) say “no one” or “don’t know” or do not answer the question.<ref>[https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/03/17/when-americans-think-about-a-specific-religion-here-are-some-of-the-first-people-who-come-to-mind/ When Americans think about a specific religion, here are some of the first people who come to mind], Pew Research</ref>}}
=== Charles Baudelaire - atheism and satanic deception ===
[[File:Charles Baudelaire3.jpg|right|thumbnail|150px|[[Charles Baudelaire]] ]]
''See also:'' [[Atheism Quotes]]
[[Charles Baudelaire]] expressed a common belief concerning atheism and satanic deception in his short story ''The Generous Gambler'' written in 1864:
{{cquote|He complained in no way of the evil reputation under which he lived, indeed, all over the world, and he assured me that he himself was of all living beings the most interested in the destruction of [[Superstition]], and he avowed to me that he had been afraid, relatively as to his proper power, once only, and that was on the day when he had heard a preacher, more subtle than the rest of the human herd, cry in his pulpit: "My dear brethren, do not ever forget, when you hear the progress of lights praised, that the loveliest trick of the Devil is to persuade you that he does not exist!}}
==Devil and Humor==
==Devil and Humor==
*[[Lucifer]]
*[[Lucifer]]
*[[Satan]]
*[[Satan]]
== See also ==
*[[Spiritual warfare]]
==References==
==References==
* [[Satan]]
* [[Satan]]
* [[Revelation, Book of (historical exegesis)]]
* [[Revelation, Book of (historical exegesis)]]
* [[Wilhelm Busch's maxims]]
[[Category:Abrahamic Religions]]
[[Category:Abrahamic Religions]]