A. Rationale and Preliminary Research I investigated Satan in the Catholic church; who he is and how he is described. I have a previous knowledge of the Catholic faith because I used to attend mass as a child, and because most of my family is catholic and practicing. Satan is a very popular symbol talked about in society, yet what is said does not seem very educated, so I wanted to learn more about who Catholicism states Satan is, from the people who follow the faith.
Firstly, I researched the Catholic church broadly. I found a very dependable source from the official Vatican Church, The Holy See website, which had the Catechism of the Catholic Church using scriptures. The source contained verses from the bible descripting Satan. This
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Finally, the final article is an online website of easy to find bible verses, called Bible Tools. I searched for Satan a Murderer to find bible verses concerning that, and it also contains explanations of those verses coming from the Church of the Great God.
B. Plan for Study
This investigation will seek to examine how Satan is perceived in the adherents of the Catholic faith. The scope of this investigation will include how Satan is described in Catholicism, by his different names. The plan will be to use different online sources that explain Satan. The Catholic faith has specific names for Satan that will be researched and examined. The names tell how Catholics see Satan and how they view his actions. Many of the online sources will be written by well-known adherents of the Catholic faith (two of Christian faith, but correspond to that of Catholic teachings.) The sources researched and analyzed will explain how Satan is viewed in Catholicism, answering my research question.
C. Summary of Significant Findings In the beginning, Satan was created good by God and to be an angel, known as Lucifer. Satan led other angels to turn against God to have more power over his kingdom. But, “the power of God will always triumph over that of Satan,” (Saunders, Rev. William, 2003). So, God cast the demons and Satan to hell; also found that they were cast back to earth. “The reason the Son of God appeared was to
In Christianity, the Devil is represented as the founder of an empire “on fire”, an empire that struggles against and counteracts the kingdom of God. The Devil is described as an entity who is filled with evil power, but not enough power to overcome Christ if they were to duel. Though the Devil is not as powerful as Christ, he’s unfettered, given the designation of being the ultimate source of evil power. Since the inception of Christianity, portrayals of the Devil have been fundamental in instilling fear within the Christian population. The Devil’s abilities and appearance has become feared by approximately 31.5% of the world’s population. As historians have had access to the past that they haven’t had before, it’s been discovered that the iconography of the Devil isn’t necessarily original, but rather, inspired from religions with an age older than Christianity. While there’s an infinite amount of possible sources available to attribute the iconography of the Christian Devil to, the Greek god Pan provides source materials that show imagery and behavior similarities to the Christian Devil. By analyzing texts by ancient authors such as Hesiod and Ovid, as well as paintings and sculptures spanning multiple centuries, I will argue that the Greek god Pan’s iconography and behavior was used as inspiration for the Christian Devil.
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.
However, craving independence from God ferociously backfires on Satan when he finds out that even after leaving hell, he cannot escape it, “which way [he] [flies] is Hell, [he] [himself] is Hell,” (IV, 75). Satan finds his way to revolt against and separate from God to overrule Heaven and become king, instead however, he takes on the role of the representation of all evil which is evidently seen in his interactions with Eve.
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.
There are many verses in the Bible that show how how Satan came to be. Some of them are not straight ford but some give a good description. Most of the verses that describe where Satan comes from are in the book of Revelation.
The character Satan in Mark Twain's story “The Mysterious Stranger” is portrayed as a dreadful part of society. An outcast, and a loner, Satan represents the dark parts of the world-- the side of misery and suffering. He is the creator of the world and he makes people endure pain. Satan shows disrespect to the clay people, comparing them to flies. “We were secretly ashamed, for his manner showed that to him they and their doings were of paltry poor consequence; often you would think that he was talking about flies” (Twain 81). The lack of care and respect for the people he created shows
Satan is proven to be a tricky and clever character in most stories that he is talked about in. Even in the movie “Devil’s Advocate. The movie was good with a great amount of suspense, and kind of gives a real outlook of the Satan and how he works. The movie is about Satan and sin. The point of the movie and the poem was not to glorify sin but exposes it and all the devious things the devil would do or has done. But it also shows the consequences of sin. Just like “Paradise Lost” The “Devil’s Advocate” shows Satan is filled with vanity, greed, and lust who is a great deceiver and knows how to twists words and meanings. The movie is a modern re-interpretation of the poem, I also think it is pretty cool that the Devil in the film is name John Milton.
Know the bible in my case describes him to be a beat who is huge and in all ways evil looking like with two wings that are huge bat like wings and feet that are like horses or bull like he has one head with the color of red eyes that have flames burning inside of eat like an empty black hole and on his head a crown made of gold with his head having horns his teal like a snake with scales and a pointy like teal almost like an arrow is the tip of the tail his mouth with big fangs like a hog would have them. That is what the bible has him looking like or more like what I take him to be. The weird part about Dante inferno is the position he has Satan in which is weird because his head and body is upside down while his legs are right side up. It wired because the way for them to turn back to the right side up is to latterly turn in a way where it's like they are climbing down instead of
First, to prove that Satan must be something more than a mere “favored” angel, some kind of divine being, let us consider Adam’s longing for a companion (as I think the concept here holds basis): he reasons with God as to why it is appropriate for him to have an equality alongside, and of course, God, “not displeased,” grants Adam’s request, that is to become, Eve. Now imagine God in the shoes of Adam, that is
When a person hears Satan, a streak of fear, and the thought of evil arises. People fear Satan, and think of him as evil, but in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, he displays a thought of the Father being the evil being, and Satan a tragic hero. In Paradise Lost, Book 1 and 2, the minor areas where God is shown, He is displayed as hypocritical. He contradicts himself by creating the humans to be of free will, but when Satan displays free will, he is shunned. Satan could be described in many terms, and by many people, but all can be disputed. According to my sources, Satan is displayed as the hero, while God is the evil deity, and Milton was wrong for writing Him as so. In this essay, I will show my thoughts on the subject of Satan as an evil
One of the struggles that the Church has faced since its inception is its disintegration. Satan has tried since the origin of mankind to destroy what God has done. The first couple, falling under these attempts, gave the origin of the first human disobedience to God in Eden. After that, Satan’s intention is to discourage, and even kill, through its human agents to every leader chosen and called by God to serve Him. These provoked the terrible persecution and death of many God’s Judges, Prophets, and Kings, trying to destroy the people of Israel. However, God transformed the evil sought against his people in blessings, growth, and maturity.
Satan introspects in the first soliloquy (lines 32-113), searching for the motivation and reasoning behind his fall. He
Satan’s definitions include the advocate of God, a personification of evil, the fallen angel, a spirit created by God, and also the accuser. People see Satan differently, some know of his existence, others think of him as just a myth, and there are those that just ignore him. John Milton's Paradise Lost tells of Satan's banishment from Heaven and his gain of earth. He and his brigade have plotted war against God and are now doomed to billow in the fiery pits of hell. Satan is a complex character with many different qualities. God is a character who we, as Christians, know about but do not completely understand. We also do not completely understand Satan. Some may think they know Satan but when asked “Is Satan divine?”
Following the standards of classic tragic heroes, Satan is a determined leader with an extreme amount of hubris. He knows that God is the most powerful being and yet he still
Satan comes to man with his temptations as an angel of light, as he came to Christ. He has been working to bring man into a condition of physical and moral weakness, that he may overcome him with his temptations, and then triumph over his ruin. ...He well knows that it is impossible for man to discharge his obligations to God and to his fellow-men, while he impairs the faculties God has given him. The brain is the capital of the body... pg. 236