Did you know that the Devil is not mentioned anywhere in the Old Testament? Sure, there's a fellow called "Satan" in the book of Job, but he's far from being the Prince of Darkness and arch-Enemy of Jehovah. Instead, the "Satan" in that story is just a heavenly prosecutor who tests Job's faith, at Jehovah's command. No, the idea of the Devil doesn't show up in the Bible until the New Testament.
But did you know that there is not a SINGLE verse in the entire New Testament which refers to the Devil as an angel? It says that He "masquerades as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14), but that's quite different from actually BEING an angel of light. It also indicates, in passages like Matthew 25:41, that He has angels in His service. But nowhere in the entire book does it actually say that HE is an angel!
The New Testament uses a number of titles to describe the Devil - perhaps the most prominent being "the prince of this world" (John 12:31) - but the only part where it actually describes what the Devil IS, in and of Himself, is Revelation 12:9:
"The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray."
That's right, folks. The Biblical Devil is not an angel or a satyr, but a DRAGON. And the writers of the Bible were not the first ones in history to talk about a "great dragon," either.
2007-07-21 20:12:48 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Hail Satan
Hail Azazel
2007-07-21 20:13:08 · update #1
From:
His Infernal Majesty's Government
Embassy to St. Peter's Basilica
Office of Lazarus Murphy, Rasul ash-Shaitan, Ambassador to the Vatican, Fourth Space Lord of Kolob Persei XII
To: Dave B.
Re: The draconic lineage of HIM Lucifer Mephisto VI
Dearest brother:
We ask that you refrain in the future from giving an accurate depiction of the prince of this world. Believing with Master Kung that the one who knows his enemy has a better chance of defeating his enemy, the Office for Transplanar Affairs has dictated a policy of misdirection when it comes to descriptions of the "Satanic nature" of our dynastic line. Such information is to be considered as classified.
We encourage the dual notion of angelic origin/Pan-like deformation. Both seem innocuous and lure the enemy into a false sense of security. Any notion that the Magisters of the Black Flame are independently existent and eternal is to be downplayed and dismissed as obvious heresy. Surprise is of the essence.
Hail Satan, Hail Belial. Long live the Empire of the Beast, Long live the Liberty of the Free.
Manifest Destiny,
Lazarus Murphy
2007-07-21 20:27:37 · answer #1 · answered by The Man Comes Around 5 · 3⤊ 1⤋
The Christians gave their Satan the image of having horns and a goat's lower body to give a bad reputation to the Pagans' already existing god Pan who had the image of a satyr.
2007-07-22 01:40:21 · answer #2 · answered by BlueManticore 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Actually, the reason that Satan is shown as a "goat" is because when the Church got to the Celtic lands, they found people who revered a horned God. To prove this God wrong and evil, they equated him with Satan. It was merely an attempt to show that believers in the old religion were evil. Just like many are now doing with Islam, we always make demons out of those we are in contention with.
2007-07-21 20:31:06 · answer #3 · answered by Deirdre H 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Satan was one of God's favorite angles before he fell. Pride is what caused His fall. He wanted to be like God. Satan is still in the business a deceiving people and leading them to their destruction. Satan can appear in many forms including Human. Praise the Lord the He sent His Son to deliver us from Satan and those who follow Him.
2007-07-21 20:28:18 · answer #4 · answered by Curtis 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think the best answer (aside from the hilarious response by His Infernal Majesty s Government) was to point out that pagan religions had a god named Pan that was god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, nature of mountain wilds and rustic music, and companion of the nymphs. He was half man half beast. Sound familiar?
2016-08-04 19:25:57 · answer #5 · answered by B'Rock 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Paganism used a goat to represent fertility, and when Christianity took over Paganism one of their techniques to discredit the religion was to destroy the various gods.
2007-07-22 02:41:09 · answer #6 · answered by Cerebus_shun 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You contradict yourself in every paragraph. Are you aware of the metaphoric nature of the Hebrew scriptures which you reference and in which there are often many names given to reference the same things?
You have also left out some of the most common references in Isaiah, Ezekiel and Genesis.
2007-07-21 21:51:51 · answer #7 · answered by TheNewCreationist 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Good Question no idea he is not a man or angel........he is made from fire...........so he is not a goat.....but can possess one.....he is not a man but he can possess one, he is not an angel he never could be he made a choice Angles don't have choices.
2007-07-21 20:18:50 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Ha-Satan, as he is termed in Job and Zechariah, means "the accuser", or "the hostile one", "the enemy".
Diabolos, which is the Greek word from which we derive the name "Devil", means "the accuser", or "the slanderer", "the attacker" (i.e. the enemy).
So, disregarding whatever else you're trying to advertise here, the terminology is essentially identical between the Testaments- we're just working from different languages.
Additionally, it's amusing to see you argue that the most metaphorical of all the Biblical books provides the most literal description of Satan. I believe you're thinking small, here.
2007-07-21 20:27:51 · answer #9 · answered by monsieurbabyturtle 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
He,like God is made up in the mind of man.
The werewolf ,dracula,frankenstien and godzilla are modern day evil images .
There is nothing to be afraid of because he ,like those I mentioned before hand ,ARE NOT REAL!!!!
2007-07-22 02:40:35 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋