The devil the bane of human existence.
The personification of evil, appearing in some from in almost every human religion and
thought.
The problem of evil is a touchstone of any religion.
From our direct confrontation with evil results suffering, and thus endless questions about
the meaning of life.
That is why all religions have to give a proper answer regarding the origin, nature and end
of evil.
The general pattern in Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism is to consider evil
as the effect of spiritual ignorance.
But in many ancient religions, pantheistic religions and Judaeo-Christian religions evil
has a face.
Anthropologists say that the story of religion starts with animism – the concept that all
people, animals, plants, water, air, the world and the heaviness are all spiritual beings.
Anthropologists state that this was a means for man to interpret and understand the meaning
of life and the world around them.
These Ancients also often believed in evil spirts, often people who could not find rest
in the afterlife spirit and that disturbing the natural order of things brought pain and
was the cause of evil and pain in the world.
This system of belief still exists in some parts of the world, notably Africa, and it
led naturally to the pantheism found in ancient societies like Greece and Rome.
And it also led naturally to the eastern spiritualist religions as well.
In eastern religions the concepts of animism lead naturally to the concept that physical
matter was bad and the spiritual was good.
In these religions pain is caused by attachment to the harsh physical world and to truly gain
power and perfection is to escape physical existence.
Meanwhile this animistic thought lead to the concept that beings were the cause for all
the pain and destruction in the world.
In many ancient religions such as the religions of the Aztecs, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans
evil was explained through the imperfections of the gods and by gods of chaos and destruction
who manifested evil.
In many of these ancient religions good and evil were at war with each other and this
led to dualistic religions such as Zoroastrianism where good (Ahura Mazda) and Evil (Angra Mainyu)
oppose each other.
Angra Mainyu – meaning evil spirit attempts to undermine god’s creation by creating
death and tempting mankind to sin.
Anthropologists often state that these religions owe Zoroastrianism for the concepts of heaven
and hell and Satan, but naturally Christians, Jews and Muslims would not accept this view.
This brings us to the Judeo- Christian religions Jews, Chrisitans and Muslims explain evil
entering the world through the creation account but all of them view the devil very differently.
Devil comes from the Greek word diabolos, “slanderer,” or “accuser” which is
a translation of the Hebrew word Satan.
Judism has an unclear view of the devil and view in judism vary from just being a metaphor
to being an opposer to God.
Some Jews even think of satan as being an agent of Gods or even someone who acts as
a courtroom prosecutor.
The word satan appears numerous times in the Hebrew bible, but often it is unclear whether
it is an evil spirit or an agent of god.
Forinstance in 2 Samuel 24:1 god tells David to have a census and 1 Chronicles 21:1 says
that god did it.
In the book of Job Satan speaks to god concerning Job and seems to be acting as ‘devils advocate’
no pun intended.
But it is clear that satan is an evil force in other passages like 1 king 22 and in the
book of samual in the from of a evil spirt harassing saul.
In Christianity satan is more clearly a fallen angel and an opposer to God.
The new testament interprets passages of the old and identifies the snake in the garden
as being the devil.
Romans (16:20) and revelation (Rev. 12:9; 20:2).
Satan acts as an antagonist to Jesus, attempting to tempt him in the wilderness and unlimitly
leading to Jesus death by insiting Judis to betray him.
But in this instance satan is acting according to Gods plan possibly without knowing it.
The Devil in the end times will attempt one last rebellion but will usimitly fail.
The devil is sometimes called Lucifer, particularly when describing him as an angel before his
fall, although the reference in Isaiah 14:12 to Lucifer, or the Son of the Morning, is
a reference to a Babylonian king.
The new testament allows for this though, as it often adds second meanings to passages
outside of their original context forinstace Psalm 22 which is originally about king David,
is interpreted to be about Jesus in the new testament.
In Islam the devil is often known as Iblis.
Iblis also likely comes from the same root as the word devil, but Muslim scholars often
link it to an Arabic word meaning ‘without hope’.
Iblis is mentioned in the Quranic narrative about the creation of humanity.
When God created Adam, he ordered the angels to prostrate themselves before him.
All did, but Iblis refused and claimed to be superior to Adam out of pride.[Quran 7:12]
Therefore, pride but also envy became a sign of "unbelief" in Islam.
Thereafter Iblis was condemned to hell, but God granted him a request to lead humanity
astray, knowing the righteous will resist Iblis' attempts to misguide them.
To summrise devils appear in many religions in the from of evil spirits or evil in general
Some religions use the devil as a metaphor for evil
Some religions believe evil is caused by the physical world and our attachment to it
Judaism has varied ideas about the devil, but usually identify him as an evil spirit
or a metaphor Christianity and Islam both believe that Satan
is a fallen angel or angelic creature who was guilty of pride.
In Christianity the angel wanted to be as great as God
In Islam the angelic Jinn wanted to be greater than man
What are your thinking
on
the topic of satan?