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The Adversary is such a complicated and controversial subject. Even fundamentalist evangelical christians don't agree on what's going on. Some of them believe, for example, that the Devil was specifically created by God to be a thorn in mankind's side, (because obviously God is in charge of EVERYTHING and so no one can do anything unless it's part of His plan). They base this idea on Isaiah 54:16 - " 16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy." The Waster is sometimes translated Ravager - but it's interpreted as representing the Adversary through the lenses of the New Testament.
Like most things, the origins and roles seem to have always been a matter of perspective and definition. The idea of "evil spirits" is pretty old. The idea of an Evil Spirit that was a supreme world power in and of itself, part of a duatheistic system, originated as far as anyone knows with Zoroastrianism, (the Ahriman/Ahura-Mazda dichotomy). The Christian concept was probably influenced by this system. It seems to have been influenced by this material in many other ways!
Furthermore, even the NAME of Satan, as has already been said, seems to have originally been an office rather than an idividual. The Book of Enoch describes them.
Enoch 40:7 - "7 And I heard the fourth voice fending off the Satans and forbidding them to come before the Lord 8 of Spirits to accuse them who dwell on the earth."
Enoch 65:6 - "6 And a command has gone forth from the presence of the Lord concerning those who dwell on the earth that their ruin is accomplished because they have learnt all the secrets of the angels, and all the violence of the Satans, and all their powers -the most secret ones- and all the power of those who practice sorcery, and the power of witchcraft, and the power of those who make molten images."
So, those with the office of Satan, ("accuser"), DO appear to have the job of pointing out negative things to the Almighty, especially in relation to mankind. They are also not portrayed as having been very popular. (Interestingly, as Satan has in some traditions been seen as Jesus' twin brother, Jesus is potrayed as Makind's Interecessor, almost as if it were his job to point out the good things about mankind to God faster than Satan can bring up reasons to blast us).
Other beings/concepts have DEFINITELY been wrapped up in the current Judeo-Christian version of Old Scratch. In fact, the passage most responsible for the "Lucifer the Angel who falls from heaven after a battle" is not even considered to be relevant any longer. The Big Verse, Isaiah 14:12-17, "How you are fallen from heaven, O Luicifer, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! 13 You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.’ 15 But you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the Pit. 16 Those who see you will stare at you, and ponder over you: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, 17 who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, who did not let his prisoners go home?’" is generally now thought to have had nothing to do with a spiritual entity at all, but rather to have referred to the Babylonian Kings which had imprisoned the Israelites, only to be defeated, allowing the Israelites to go home. The name itself comes from the Latin word for the star Venus, and the story came about due to the New Testament concept that Satan appears as an Angel of light and was cast out of heaven.
Another character who has been added to the mixture is that of Nechushtan, the Seraphim. Many scholars think that the Serpent of Wisdom in the Garden of Eden was actually an echo of this Egyptian Serpent Deity, who was imported and worshipped by the Israelites. You see his cult crop up again in the story of Moses, the Bronze Serpent, and the Fiery Serpents in the Wilderness. (The word for Fiery Serpent is Seraph). Nechushtan was a deity of fire and wisdom - not a nice guy, but not a world evil either. Interstingly enough, in the Haggadah, the Serpent in the garden is actually in CHARGE of the other creatures of the garden, and walks upright, and has hands.
Ultimately it seems to me that the idea of the Adversary/Satan is merely another riff on the idea of the Agent of Change. And so, as I stated before, whoever brings wisdom and prompts change is going to be viewed in a VERY different light depending on whether or not you like the change. And so, sometimes the Devil in one religion is the God of another. The Persian Ahura-Mazda/"Ahriman the Devil" dichotomy is paralleled by the Hindu Deva(il) vs. A(s)hura struggle - with the roles reversed and the numbers greatly multiplied. The Persians even had their own group of Satan Worshippers, the Yezidin. And the Gnostics, as has been pointed out, thought that Lucifer was the friend of Mankind and that the Judeo-Christian god was the true devil.
Depends on where your priorities lie, eh? |
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