The Devil At The Dawn Of Christianity

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.

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 devil can appear in any shape or form. He has been personified throughout history in literary works such as in Joyce Carol Oates’ ‘Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?’, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘Young Goodman Brown’, and Steven King’s ‘The Man In The Black Suit’. In each he has

The Antichrist, Satan, Lucifer… he has many names, and even more roles in our everyday lives. The devil is a way for us as humans to recognize our own flaws, sins, temptations, and our hidden dark side. He is a scapegoat for the carnal nature of humans, and makes our God appear to be a less wicked creator by contrast. An extremely important figure in everything from literature and movies, the devil is necessary for helping humans differentiate from good and evil, whether or not you believe in him as a real, physical being, or as a metaphor. Humans naturally feel compelled to project our own evil onto a seperate, outside entity, as it was deemed unnatural, and the devil is the perfect candidate.

he concept of Satan as an ‘evil presence’ in our modern day definition exists as mainly a made-up superstition; however, for the ancients this evil spiritual force persisted as a tangible and intangible influence. Justifiably, due to their fear untold satanic ruins and other relics were destroyed as a means of purification; whereupon, the visible reality of Satan as an authentic supernatural presence abides extremely diluted. Feasible, the factual existence of Satan’s ancient evil surfaced more factual than a vast number of people would presume. Thus, spiritually through this visible and the invisible presence developed what some may call the ‘spirits of lust.’

Perceptibly, in view of the sexual promiscuity of the time, it became the only alternative to usher in a new way of thinking about people’s sexual beings. More than any other religious leader, Jesus Christ consistently forewarns how ‘spiritually real’ the evil of Satan/devils were and verbally addresses the issue. The authors of the Gospels intertwine Jesus’ attacks toward Satan’s spiritual presence that is magnified in His teachings. On the other hand, within most other religions, such as the Jewish Old Testament, the ‘surface position’ of Satan is significantly lacking; besides the Book of Job, the name of ‘Satan’ occurs in just a few other books. In addition, note the word ‘devils’ comes forth in only four other verses; seemingly having a direct connection with “goat devils” about whoring, sacrificing, and murdering children. On the contrary, in the King James Version of the Bible; in the New Testament, Satan occurs 37 times and devil(s) are occurs 112

The Bible says “No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”(2 Corinthians 11:14) , when Paul wrote this he compared “false apostles [and] deceitful workers”(2 Corinthians 11:13 to Satan. Satan tells lies because he knows that “the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.”(1 John 3:8) The quote means that when Jesus comes back he will destroy the devil and those who are sinful are “of the devil”, so the Lord will destroy them also. Satan uses his lies to bring as many people with him when he is annihilated so that they can also be annihilated. He started with Eve by telling her she would not die if she ate “from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”(Genesis 2:17), but that was a lie because once she ate from the tree death was introduced into the world. Loki and Satan are in different books, but they have similar

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

Many have a vague belief of God or of a higher power, but very few believe in Satan. He is often “ignored or down-played” in many liberal churches today (Willmington 410 12 Essential Doctrines). When thinking of the Devil, he is often perceived as a fugitive from a Halloween party rather than a real being (Sproul 139). God chose Lucifer to be the highest ranked angel, before he was overtaken with his own pride. Proverbs 16:18 states “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall (NKJV).” The Devil is a prime example of this verse because he let his pride overcome him which ultimately led to his destruction. Satan should not be compared to mythical creatures. He is a fallen angel with sophisticated powers to confuse, tempt, and accuse people. He is a “finite creature without divine powers and attributes” (Sproul 140). The existence of Satan is widespread throughout the Bible, and he is treated as a morally responsible person

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

The Hellenization of Christianity. The triumph of Greek philosophy over biblical theology, the reasons over revelation, the timeless truths over God’s act in history. Hellenism had significant influence during the early years of Christianity, and in some ways, Hellenism affected the Christianity such as Gnosticism, taught that the physical was seen as evil and only the spirit was good. These beliefs manifested in several ways. If the physical is evil, then Jesus cannot be fully man and fully God; He either only appears to be physical, or He cannot be the Son of God. Similarly, if the physical is evil, there is no resurrection from the dead. Instead, "salvation" is reuniting in spirit with the High God. Another thing Hellenism affect Christianity

The character of Satan in this story can also be related to other tragic heroes throughout history.

English poet John Milton’s seventeenth century epic work Paradise Lost is a retelling of the Genesis creation story from the Bible. It recounts the familiar story of the fall of man, but veers from the source material significantly. Paradise Lost features the perspectives of various characters on the events of Genesis, but if a protagonist of the tale were to be named, it would have to be Satan. This is an inversion of his role in the Bible, in which a serpentine form of the devil tempts Eve to disobey God, subsequently causing the first humans to be expelled from the blissful Garden of Eden into the suffering and toil of the real world. Satan is not so much a character in the original story so much as a living representation of of