The Bible and How Satan Came to Be

Satan’s character embodies the idea of a heroic figure because he questions what he feels to be true, even though his tragic fall is that he becomes easily misguided.

The devil at the dawn of Christianity bore little resemblance to the ruler of hell, the antichrist and agent of evil that he is known as in present day. Satan makes few overt or implied appearances in the Old Testament. For the important role of God’s greatest adversary, early Christians had to flesh out great parts of Satan’s story in order to develop him into his present, fearsome persona. The Christian story of the Devil is heavily influenced by earlier Greek mythology, and early Christian writings about the Devil co-opted local mythology in order to gain new converts and discredit popular pagan beliefs.

The Bible does not give any details on the war in Heaven, only that it occurred and led to the dismissal of Satan and his followers from the Heavenly court.  In Paradise Lost, Milton gives a detailed account of the battle that was fought in Heaven, Satan’s reason for initiating it, and how his army was defeated and removed from Heaven.  One of the reasons for Satan’s rebellion given by Milton was that  “Lucifer refuses to be subordinate to God or his divine Son (Christ)” (Moss).  Satan says in Book V of Paradise Lost to his followers that “our being ordained to govern, not to serve!”  This line shows the reader that Satan, also known as Lucifer, believes that he feels he was created to rule instead of serve God. Another reason for Satan’s rebellion against God is that he doesn’t fully believe that God created him and the rest of the Heavenly host.  “ ‘That we were formed, then, say’st thou?... Who saw/ When this creation was? Remember’st thou/ Thy making, while the Maker gave thee being?/ We know no time when we were not as now; Know none before us self-begot, self-raised/ By our own quickening power when fatal course/ Had circled his full orb, the birth mature/ Of this our native Heaven, Ethereal Sons’” (5. 853- 863).  Satan’s disbelief shown in this passage helps lead himself and his followers against God.  Along with his disbelief, Satan’s jealousy got the better of him.  He was jealous and outraged that God had created a Son to inherit the Almighty’s throne.   He believed that he was being cheated out of his rightful place as the “inheritor” of God’s

In Paradis Lost, Milton wrote that Satan used to be an angel of God. The devil believed that he was equal to the Lord and he wanted to be greater than him. For this, God banished him to hell. Milton 's physical description of Satan is interesting. Since he used to be an angel, he still had wings, his eyes were blazed and he had a scaly skin. Satan was also an immense creature; the usual giant, 21 feet tall. It is noted that Satan had only one head, but Milton 's depiction of him was this basic

Satan’s fall can be easily broken up into four steps: he came to think of himself too highly, putting himself equal to God; he made a following for himself; he plotted a rebellion with his fellow rebel angels; and he attempted to carry out the rebellion. His attempt to overthrow God and obtain power was, however, futile and easily thwarted. Satan was severely demoted and he spent the rest of the plot trying to pervert every good thing as if it would be to any avail to do so. He attempted to exert his own powers over creation and tried to get a foothold so that he could gain more power. His extreme arrogance led to his fall from grace. “This is the same willfulness which lies behind his rebellious claim in heaven that he is ‘self-begot’…What Satan the general refuses to give up here…is…individual glory, which he pursues at all costs.” (Loewenstein, 56-57). Considering that Satan was an angel in the presence of God at the beginning, he had no excuse such as ignorance to claim. Satan’s rebellion began within himself with little else to prompt him. Satan had the ambition to raise a rebel force, but army or no army, he surely would have thought himself more powerful than he ought have. His pride also got in the way of him ever being restored to his former position. “As part of his task of exculpating God…Satan explains that even if he could repent and get back to heaven ‘by act of grace’, it would do

How do people imagine satan? Majority picture him as a red demon with a long tail and a red pitchfork. However, based on Dante alighieri ,Inferno, that is not how Satan, Lucifer, looks like. Lucifer is a three face fallen angel representing the holy trinity and six bat wings total. He is also frozen up to the midpoint of his chess.

This shameful sin originated when the earth was still new. God had created all things, living and nonliving, existing in perfect harmony. The wise and powerful angel, Lucifer, rebelled against God out of pride and fell from grace. Having been banished from heaven and sent down into hell, Lucifer decided to share his condemnation with others. Adam and Eve, significantly known as the first humans to ever walk the earth, were the first mortals to succumb to this potent transgression.

As a matter of fact, there is not a single, strict and definite way that Satan can be described. He is obviously known by many names; Lucifer, Beelzebub, The Devil, Prince of Darkness, Father of Lies, Evil One…these are all different titles given to Satan, yet they all don’t necessarily mean the same thing. Different groups can hence take the overall main idea of Satan and the function he fulfills in the world, and adapt him to fill that same role, but in accordance to their own beliefs. This simply comes to show just how versatile Satan really

In Milton’s Paradise Lost, surely we have come to ponder upon the makeup of Satan’s attractable character—his rebellious, seductive, almost “bad-ass” attitude—a case of admirable evil. But let us not forget his ambition, his strive to weld the image of God. We have seen many moments throughout where we get Satan’s ground for imitating the image of God: “…In imitation of that Mount whereon / Messiah was declar’d…” (V 764-65). But why does Satan do this? What is it in Satan that causes him to “look up” to God? Is God a tyrant yet a role model to Satan? I propose that Satan’s drive is something more than just an act of pretending; maybe, it is rather a means of trying to grasp what he has been taken away from him. Or, we can say that Satan was more. Perhaps he came to existence not in the mold of angel, but as a divine tool. There must be a reason as to: why Satan was considered God’s “first and favorite angel”? This seems to suggest that Satan is, originally, at some level of divinity; an experiment of God’s that was put to the test (or is a test)—a divine prototype.

Outside of this view of Revelation twelve, the only references to Satan’s origins refer to his deceitful nature and his arrogance (Jn. 8:44; 1 Tim. 3:7). Much is said concerning his nature, however. First, his name simply means “adversary” or “enemy” (Arndt 916). The succeeding context of the passages under consideration demonstrate his adversarial nature, showing that he is the archenemy of God (Rev. 12:10; Ryken 759). Second, Satan does have power and influence over all creation, but he must act within God’s parameters (Job 1:12; 2:6; Martin 1078).

Before he tried to overthrow God, Satan was an angel. All angels were treated equally and loved unconditionally until, one day, Satan’s pride and greed cause him to be cast out of Heaven. “Satan; who revolting from God, and drawing to his side many legions of angels, was by the command of God driven out of Heaven” (Book 1, p. 1945). This is an example of hubris where arrogance caused Satan and his demonic minions to be kicked out of

Satan has played an important role in many religions however the role Lucifer plays in Christianity is particularly significant. Since the beginning of time, beginning in Genesis, Satan has been out trying to deceive people and turn them away from God. To believe that the devil was an angel of God and now is a fallen angel creates speculation of what did he do to become a fallen angel. We do not know of course the exact day or year Satan became a fallen angel but we do know he made his first appearance in the Bible, in the Garden of Eden. With Satan comes demons.

In modern times he is sometimes referred to as The Demon, The Devil, or The Ruler of Hell. These are titles given to him to show his purpose in most of the modern world. Today he is portrayed as the evil ruler of Hell who seeks the destruction of Mankind. This belief began in early Christianity, and was reinforced by Lutherans, Protestants, and Catholics alike. Before the second century ages it was thought that Satan and his demons could possess your body and cause physical ailments such as blindness, impotency, and madness. This change had a great deal to do with Herma’s The Shepherd where everyone is depicted as having an angel and a Demon guiding them at all time. The angel responsible for all the good, and the demon for the bad. This led

When hearing the word “Satan”, people often think of a red man with horns, a pitchfork, and a tail; he is often visualized in the pits of the underworld surrounded by flames. Why does society picture him this way? Some may say “Because he is evil” or “Because he fell from heaven”, but people mostly believe this because this is what they were taught. Satan is a figure appearing in many texts of religion as someone who brings evil and temptation. He is known as the deceiver who leads humanity astray, like he deceived Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. Some religious groups teach that he originated as an angel, or something like an angel, who used to possess great piety and beauty, but fell because of pride. He seduced humanity into the

When the name Satan comes to mind it is an insulting description of a person or an evil temptation, and Milton writes in Satan as the hero of his essay; giving more background to him than the traditionally holy. Satan was the first angel created by God to have a sinful thought and fall from heaven. Being the first to fall from heaven to hell, it makes Satan figuratively the ruler or king and he uses this at his advantage when speaking to his people, “Satan in three separate roles- an archangel, before and during the war in heaven; a Prince of Devils in the council in hell; a serpent-tempter in the garden,”(Carey 162). To play these different roles Satan uses his manipulative and powerful