Origin and Evolution of Satan (hell, angels, etc) from all points of view

[SerenityLives]

Hello all, I guess this is a spinoff from Origin of Christian God. Thanks to awareness, I have been doing some research on this topic. Feel free to start discussing regarding this topic. Some questions to start off are- were Lucifer and the Devil the same?; who was really the serpent in Genesis? Why is Satan protrayed differently in book of Job as opposed to later medieval views to his relation to Hell and Rebellion? How can these concepts be juxtaposed with other religions view of an adversary or a main bad guy? Feel free to ask and/or answer and add to the questions as needed.

P. S Quoting and introducing any non canonical bible book or other religious sources are welcome!

[ExChurchKid]

I've been interested in the Church of Satan (sorry, if you want more discussion on the ancient origins, feel free to ignore me, but I figured the Church of Satan would be a good place to get a modern viewpoint on him). From their website:


Founded on April 30, 1966 c.e. by Anton Szandor LaVey, we are the first above-ground organization in history openly dedicated to the acceptance of Man’s true nature—that of a carnal beast, living in a cosmos that is indifferent to our existence. To us, Satan is the symbol that best suits the nature of we who are carnal by birth—people who feel no battles raging between our thoughts and feelings, we who do not embrace the concept of a soul imprisoned in a body. He represents pride, liberty, and individualism—qualities often defined as Evil by those who worship external deities, who feel there is a war between their minds and emotions.
We Satanists are thus our own “Gods,” and as beneficent “deities” we can offer love to those who deserve it and deliver our wrath (within reasonable limits) upon those who seek to cause us—or that which we cherish—harm.


Side note: honestly, this sounds better than a lot of Christian pitches I've heard. Maybe I'm a Satanist?

[SerenityLives]

Originally Posted by ExChurchKid

I've been interested in the Church of Satan (sorry, if you want more discussion on the ancient origins, feel free to ignore me, but I figured the Church of Satan would be a good place to get a modern viewpoint on him). From their website:


Founded on April 30, 1966 c.e. by Anton Szandor LaVey, we are the first above-ground organization in history openly dedicated to the acceptance of Man’s true nature—that of a carnal beast, living in a cosmos that is indifferent to our existence. To us, Satan is the symbol that best suits the nature of we who are carnal by birth—people who feel no battles raging between our thoughts and feelings, we who do not embrace the concept of a soul imprisoned in a body. He represents pride, liberty, and individualism—qualities often defined as Evil by those who worship external deities, who feel there is a war between their minds and emotions.
We Satanists are thus our own “Gods,” and as beneficent “deities” we can offer love to those who deserve it and deliver our wrath (within reasonable limits) upon those who seek to cause us—or that which we cherish—harm.


Side note: honestly, this sounds better than a lot of Christian pitches I've heard. Maybe I'm a Satanist?

Liberty and individualism? Sounds like the American Constitution 😂. But yes I agree we are like gods in our wisdom, and it basically follows the golden rule- Do unto others what you would want them to do to you. Satan was originally just another deity/angel in Jewish mythology. He was part of God’s Council. He was the one that would bring people or other beings to stand trial in God’s divine court. In the non-canonical books and agnostic books, Satan is portrayed very differently. Lucifer was a different character than Satan and was only combined into the “Devil” in the Middle Ages. It wasnt until much later that the “Serpent” in the Garden of Eden was also combined into the character of Satan/Devil. In Jewish mythology, the serpent was just an animal like any other in the garden, not an evil angel disguised. Lucifer’s name meant “Morningstar”, as did Jesus. God considered him a “lawyer” type figure by comparing viewpoints rgarding the character of Job in the Bible. BTw , Job is the oldest book in the entire bible, older than Genesis.

[awareness]

Originally Posted by SerenityLives

Hello all, I guess this is a spinoff from Origin of Christian God. Thanks to awareness, I have been doing some research on this topic. Feel free to start discussing regarding this topic. Some questions to start off are- were Lucifer and the Devil the same?; who was really the serpent in Genesis? Why is Satan protrayed differently in book of Job as opposed to later medieval views to his relation to Hell and Rebellion? How can these concepts be juxtaposed with other religions view of an adversary or a main bad guy? Feel free to ask and/or answer and add to the questions as needed.

P. S Quoting and introducing any non canonical bible book or other religious sources are welcome!

This a big subject. Seems God went thru changes with Jesus, in that, he wasn't as devilish as He was in the OT.

And Satan went thru changes in the opposite direction, from a high ranking son of God, and in his inner circle counsel, to the Satan that temps Jesus in the wilderness, and to entering into Judas to betray Jesus. Then in Revelation a dragon, old serpent, the Devil, and Satan.

That's quite a devolution.

[SerenityLives]

Originally Posted by awareness

This a big subject. Seems God went thru changes with Jesus, in that, he wasn't as devilish as He was in the OT.

And Satan went thru changes in the opposite direction, from a high ranking son of God, and in his inner circle counsel, to the Satan that temps Jesus in the wilderness, and to entering into Judas to betray Jesus. Then in Revelation a dragon, old serpent, the Devil, and Satan.

That's quite a devolution.

Yep, at least we might not have to worry about the evangelicals coming on here since they do believe Satan has an origin. But I dont want to jinx myself anymore.

And correct, I meant devolution. I guess there always has to be a nemesis in any religion, including Christianity. Thats why the fact that some on this forum think christianity has no myths is preposterous.

[zeek]

Historically, the transformation of Satan from the earlier Hebrew texts to the later ones and the New Testament ones seem to have been related to their exposure to Zoroastrianism during the Second Temple period.

During the Second Temple Period, when Jews were living in the Achaemenid Empire, Judaism was heavily influenced by Zoroastrianism, the religion of the Achaemenids.[27][8][28] Jewish conceptions of Satan were impacted by Angra Mainyu,[8][29] the Zoroastrian god of evil, darkness, and ignorance.[8] In the Septuagint, the Hebrew ha-Satan in Job and Zechariah is translated by the Greek word diabolos (slanderer), the same word in the Greek New Testament from which the English word "devil" is derived.[30] Where satan is used to refer to human enemies in the Hebrew Bible, such as Hadad the Edomite and Rezon the Syrian, the word is left untranslated but transliterated in the Greek as satan, a neologism in Greek.[30]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satan#Second_Temple_period

[SerenityLives]

i’ll post later tonight

[SerenityLives]

Originally Posted by SerenityLives

i’ll post later tonight

So I’ve been reading this book sent by awareness and its interesting that the character of Satan developed over time to accomodate the political climate between the Israelites under Roman authority. Mark wrote that Jesus’ death was due to Satan sabotaging God’s plan and I guess it became to be read that way, but in reality, Jesus’ death was due to the Romans putting him to death. The Jews didnt want to get into any trouble writing bad stuff about the Romans so they created supernatural symbolism of the conflict between God and Satan to depict Jesus’ life and death on the cross