The Jewish Temple And The Origin Of Sat How Christians Demonized Jews, Pagans, And

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis is a book of thirty –one letters in which a retired, senior demon named Screwtape coaches his newly educated nephew, Wormwood. Wormwood is quite troubled when it comes to tempting his “patient.” Nevertheless, he need not fear because faithful uncle Screwtape has offered his services. A unique character featured in the letters is, “The Enemy.” This character refers to God, the natural enemy of Satan. Of course Satan is referred to as “Our Lord.” In the letters, and Wormwood and Screwtape try their very best to please Satan and bring him glory. Although the book is written from the demons’ perspective, Lewis naturally uses it to highlight important truths of the Christian faith.

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.

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 great debate whether Satan is the hero of Milton’s Epic Poem, Paradise Lost, has been speculated for hundreds of years. Milton, a writer devoted to theology and the appraisal of God, may not have intended for his portrayal of Satan to be marked as heroic. Yet, this argument is valid and shares just how remarkable the study of literature can be. Milton wrote his tale of the fall of man in the 1674. His masterpiece is an example of how ideas of a society change with time. This is because it wasn’t until the 1800’s during the Romantic era, that people no longer saw the hero of literary works as perfect in every way. It started to become more popular to develop the flawed character similar to the ones written in the classics. A literary

In Medieval Literature Satan was often used as a character. There was also more evidence during this period of time. They were not that obvious unlike others but they were there for sure. They were often symbolized in a certain character’s and personalities that they had throughout the Prologue. The characters were really relatable to the characteristics of Satan himself. Satan played a big role in The Canterbury Tales with the Parson, Pardoner, and Summoned.

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

The Stigma Behind Satanism: A Misconstrued Religion Natalie LaRoche Pine Ridge High School Author Note I, Natalie LaRoche, acknowledge that I have personally prepared this essay to the best of my abilities. Each and every quote has been given proper acknowledgement and citation within this essay. I hereby swear that I have not plagiarized this essay and have given credit where it is due. Abstract

Almost everyone knows the illustrious story of the tragic demise of Lucifer or now referred to as Satan. Christian congregations all over the globe tell this story in a way that discredits Satan. Although it is apparent that he was at fault in the situation, it does not entail that one cannot empathize with Satan. In Paradise Lost, it offers a new perspective of Satan in a way that has not been approached before. For example, the Bible refers to Satan as a monstrous and malicious entity that shows no sympathy.

Pagels thesis of “ The Origin of Satan” was “The New Testament gospels almost never identify Satan with the Romans [Gentiles], but they consistently associated him with Jesus’ Jewish enemies” this shows that romans were never considered related to Satan, but there relationship with Jews did. This also shows even though they were similar they didn’t like each other when they were related to something they disliked.

Throughout history, Jews have been tortured and discriminated against mainly because of their religious belief and foreign culture. According to http://www.yesnet.yk.ca/schools/projects/midd... , persecutions of the Jews took place because the Christians blamed them for many reasons such as the crucifixion of Jesus, accused them of performing Anti-Christian rituals and killing Christian children in those rituals. Jews were blamed for things they weren't involved with. Once, they were blamed for "poisoning the villages water" and were then

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.

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

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?”

In Satan’s case, it was merely his pride that led to his downfall, it was not the creation of human that he became corrupt, but it was the idea of answering to someone superior that angered his pride.