The Study of Satan: Demonology

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.

Initially, Satan's actions with Eve involve little effort to convince her that he is not any evil demon that Adam told her to expect on her voyage. Simply, he uses his ability to flatter Eve in order to gain her attention and trust, an essential objective if he was willing to destroy mankind (p. 248-249 lines 540-548):

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.

Satan was unwilling to back down, no matter how great God’s power. This mission stands out as an element of the epic hero. In almost all epics written the hero has to stifle past guarded boundaries in order to complete goals. Satan’s bravery in trying to learn answers concerning his existence in heaven and his damnation to Hell is noble. Determination to derive truth is an admirable quality. Though his bitterness creates negative characteristics, his core purpose is not entirely blasphemous. He considers all that is placed before him and says in book 1, “Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven” (263). He knows that Hell is a place of doom and torture, but he is committed to living there with dignity and hopes to eventually rise above the creator and gain back what he feels he is entitled to as a living being. This acceptance of his conditions and determination to overcome makes him the underdog that an audience cannot help but root for. Everyone knows what it’s like to be in dark place with no visible escape. People want to be able to relate to a character that remains hopeful. In this sense Satan seems very heroic and critics have even gone as far as interpreting God as the villain.

In (Revelation 12:3) Satan appeared as a 7 headed dragon that had a crown on every head. He became so jealous and full of pride that he threw a rebellion against God. Isaiah 14 says “ I will raise my throne above the stars of God.” (Isaiah 14 12-15 NIV). A war broke out in Heaven, Michael and his angles fought Satan (Revelation 12:7). This next verse proves that Satan is truly evil, It says “Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born.” (Revelation 12:4 NIV) That clearly shows that he wants nothing good for us and wants to destroy us. Hell was originally for Satan only, but in Genesis God gave us the choice to live in eternally in heaven or go to hell. The

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

Satan again reverses roles, portraying himself as good and God as evil. Many people fall for this lie. For example, many see Satan as noble liberator in the garden of Eden but judge God as a stingy jailer – instead of seeing God as providing an idyllic environment, while selfish man just had to have one more tree despite the abundant orchards! Man, imitating Satan, said "I will be like God" and rebelled against his benevolent Creator – a Creator Who in turn humbly took the form of a man to be crucified for the willful sins of His own creation so that a way of redemption could be open to all by simply trusting the Rescuer. To regard someone as 'evil' that dies on your behalf is the height of deception.

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

Milton, through Satan's soliloquies in Book 4, shows that Satan's idea of free will is a facade, and God carefully manipulates him to fulfill his plan of Adam and Eve's fall. While speaking, Satan inadvertently places doubts in the reader's mind that his will is free. Satan proves through his actions that God created him to act in a very narrow range, even though he himself does not realize this. The combination of pride, ambition, abhorrence of subordination, and ignorance of his own state as a puppet lead to perpetually diminishing stature and divinity.

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?”

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

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

One of the most intriguing characters in the epic Paradise Lost is Satan who rebels against God and chooses to live his life on his own terms. While Satan is commonly associated with evil, John Milton portrays him sympathetically and shows uses him as a tool to demonstrate the power of free will. In Paradise Lost, Satan can be considered to be the ultimate rebel. Not only does he defy God, but he also influences others to think for themselves and to blindly follow others.