The Christian world is divided into two kingdoms: heavenly and underground. In the first, God rules and a retinue of angels obeys him. In the second, the reins of government belong to Satan, who controls demons and devils. From time immemorial, these two opposing worlds have been fighting for human souls. And if we know a lot about the Lord (from church sermons, the Bible, the stories of pious grandmothers), then we try not to remember again about his antipode. Who is he? And what is the correct name for him: the Devil, Satan, Lucifer? Let's try to lift the curtain on an incomprehensible mystery.
Who is Satan?
Researchers claim that at first he was the majestic angel Dennitsa, the crown of beauty and wisdom. Bearing the stamp of perfection, one fine day he became proud and imagined himself higher than the Lord. This greatly angered the Creator, and he overthrew the obstinate man and his followers into complete darkness.
Who is Satan? Firstly, he is the chief of all demons, demons, dark forces, the enemy of God and the main tempter of people. Secondly, he is the embodiment of darkness and chaos, whose goal is to seduce true Christians from the righteous path. To do this, he appears to people in different guises and promises untold riches, fame and success, asking in return, according to him, the smallest thing - eternal possession of the soul.
Often the devil himself does not tempt the righteous, but sends his earthly assistants, who during their lifetime became associates of dark forces: witches and black magicians. His main goal is the enslavement of all humanity, the overthrow of God from the throne and the preservation of his own life, which, according to legend, will be taken away after the Second Coming of Christ.
The Middle Ages turned the devil into a scarecrow
The Middle Ages were a time of decline and obscurantism. The religious world was no exception. The devil was turned into a scarecrow, and hell into an otherworldly prison for those people who did not share the interests of the Church.
Accordingly, the more terrible the devil was portrayed, the better. Then the legend of a deal with the devil arrived. We are well aware of Goethe's version of it, although the story itself existed before Faust.
Inquisitors tortured people until they confessed to anything. The Middle Ages were a time of obscurantism and hysteria about a deal with the devil. Photo: vokrugsveta.ru
In the 15th century, a witch hunt began and grew into real hysteria. Historical candidate Elena Brown often talks about the realities of those years in the media. Almost anyone could be accused of conspiring with the devil, witchcraft, or selling their souls.
Then they were forced to confess under torture and their property was taken away. If you confessed, you would be punished; if you didn’t confess, you could die under torture. At best, a person would face disability.
Denunciations were written by all and sundry. Any priest, deciding to take possession of someone else's property, could arrange an inspection of anyone. And signs of a deal with the devil were always “found.”
Every female prisoner had every chance of being raped, and no one would stand up for her. Even certain combinations of notes in music were prohibited - they were claimed to be of a diabolical nature.
Early mentions in Old Testament texts
First, the concept “Satanail” appeared, meaning a certain dark force. It comes from ancient myths, in which this matter is described as the main opponent of the demiurge god. Subsequently, the image was formed under the influence of Iranian mythology and Zoroastrianism. Added to this were people's ideas about evil forces and demonic darkness: as a result, we received a complete and fairly accurate idea of who Satan is and what he needs from us.
It is interesting that in the Old Testament texts his name is a common noun, denoting an enemy, an apostate, an infidel, a slanderer who opposes God and his commandments. This is exactly how it is described in the books of Job and the prophet Zechariah. Luke points to Satan as the personification of evil, who possessed the traitor Judas.
As we see, in early Christianity the devil was not considered a specific person. Most likely, it was a composite image of all human sins and earthly vices. People considered him a universal evil, capable of enslaving mere mortals and completely subordinating them to his will.
In what cases is the prayer of renunciation of Satan read?
Renunciation of Satan is included in the rite of announcement - part of the service of the Sacrament of Baptism. After prayers forbidding evil spirits, the priest turns the baptized person to the west - a symbol of darkness and dark forces. In the rite that follows this rite, the baptized person must renounce Satan - renounce previous sinful habits, renounce pride and sinful self-assertion, and, as the Apostle Paul says, put off the old way of life of the old man, which is corrupted by deceitful lusts (Eph. 4:22). The person being baptized should stand with his hands raised up, symbolizing his submission to Christ. The priest will ask him questions, and he will have to consciously answer them. The priest asks: “Do you deny Satan, and all his works, and all his angels (demons), and all his ministry, and all his pride?” The catechumen or his godfather responds: “I deny.” Questions and answers to them are repeated three times. And then the priest asks: “Have you renounced Satan?” The catechumen or godfather answers: “I have renounced.” The priest says: “Blow and spit on it.” After this, the baptized person stands under the protection of Christ, taking, according to the word of the Apostle Paul, the shield of faith... in order to be able to quench all the fiery arrows of the evil one (Eph. 6:16).
Identification in folklore and everyday life
People often identified the devil with the serpent, based on stories from the Book of Genesis. But in fact, these assumptions have no basis, since on the pages of the mentioned source the reptile is a typical trickster, a mythological archetype, endowed with negative human character traits. Despite this, later Christian literature considers the serpent to be an analogue of Satan or, in extreme cases, his messenger.
In folklore he is also often called Beelzebub. But researchers say this is a mistake. And they cite indisputable facts: in the Bible, Beelzebub is mentioned only in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark - as a “demonic prince.” As for Lucifer, he is not mentioned in either the Old or New Testament. In later literature, this name is given to a certain fallen angel - a demon of the planet.
From the point of view of orthodox Christianity, sincere prayer will be the real salvation from the bonds of the devil. Religion ascribes to Satan the power that he takes from the Almighty and turns to his harm, paradoxically being part of God’s plan. These contradictions often lead Christian philosophy to a dead end.
Why do we write “Satan” with a small, lowercase letter?
We write the word “Satan” with a small letter, guided by the deep meaning of the events of biblical history, according to which he was cast out of Heaven and lost his angelic properties, losing the name given by the Creator, instead of which, to put it simply, “one name” remained. As for the name “Dennitsa”, we can write it with both a capital and a lowercase letter: in the first case, if we are talking about him before he became proud; in the second - if we talk about him from the moment he decided that he was equal to God.
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“Why is the devil called not only an enemy, but also an adversary? He is called an enemy because he is a misanthrope, a hater of goodness and a slanderer; he is called an adversary because he tries to hinder every good deed. Does anyone want to pray: he resists and hinders him with evil memories, captivity of the mind and despondency. Does anyone want to give alms? He is hindered by love of money and stinginess. Does anyone want to stay awake? He hinders us through laziness and negligence, and this is how he resists us in every matter when we want to do good. That is why he is called not only an enemy, but also an adversary. With humility of mind all the weapons of the enemy and the adversary are crushed.”
Reverend Abba Dorotheos
Later mentions
In the New Testament, Satan appears as a deceiver and pretender who hides under the guise of good people. This is a wolf in sheep's clothing - it is stated in the Acts of the Holy Apostles and in the second letter of Paul. The image received its greatest development in the Apocalypse, where he is described as a specific person - the head of the kingdom of darkness and vices, giving birth to offspring. The son of Satan, Antichrist, is also a fully formed image here, playing a certain role: opposing Christ and enslaving people.
In subsequent mystical, as well as Christian apocryphal literature, Satan acquires specific features and a line of behavior. This is already a person who is the enemy of the human race and the main antagonist of God. Despite censure in all religions of the world, it is an integral part of the doctrine, the starting point for comparing good and evil, a certain criterion of human actions and motives. Without its existence, we would never be able to take the righteous path, since we would not be able to distinguish light from dark, day from night. This is why the existence of the devil is an important part of the supreme divine plan.
The devil is not a title or a name, but a role. Anyone can do it
The devil is not a name or even a position, but a situational role - “slanderer.” Each of us is capable of acting as a slanderer in one situation or another, but this does not make us a demonic creature.
The word "devil" was used to translate the word "Satan" in the Old Testament into Greek. The difference in loss of meaning is palpable:
- the accuser is the one who rightly points out the shortcomings;
- a slanderer is a liar interested in taxing someone unfairly.
What impression of the Old Testament angel should have formed in the ancient language field?
Another meaning of the word “devil” is “inciter.” Again, there is nothing demonic or diabolical here. That's how much translation means!
Another word from the Greek Bible that is associated with the devil is πονηρος. It is translated into Russian as “evil.” But in general, the following options are acceptable: “bad”, “evil”, “bad”.
It turns out that the parable of the sower can be understood metaphorically:
“To everyone who hears the word about the Kingdom and does not understand, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart - this is who is meant by what was sown along the way.”
(Matt. 13:19)
Those. It is not the evil devil who comes to steal the heart, but evil that takes possession of the heart. And this is a completely different emphasis: instead of blaming an external force for his shortcomings, a person should look for the root of the problems in himself. Which of these thoughts is more Christian?
In The Devil, artist Tim Hildebrandt depicts the modern concept of the devil. It is cosmically far from everything that the Bible tells us, and consists of the attributes of various pagan deities. Photo: artchive.ru
The texts of the New Testament are predominantly reduced not to the existence of some evil personified force opposed to God or man, but to abstract evil.
We see that for Christ there is no problem in the form of the devil. He, as you can see, is much more concerned about the negative impact of wealth on a person than some monster with a trident.
In any place, the image of the devil easily fits into an allegorical picture. Expressions like “prince of demons” are not used by Jesus, but by the Pharisees. “Prince of this world” is also a rather abstract expression.
Shapes of Satan
Despite undeniable points of view, disputes and judgments, the devil is called differently. In a number of teachings, his name changes depending on the image in which he appears before humanity:
- Lucifer. This is Satan who knows and brings freedom. Appears in the guise of an intellectual philosopher. Sows doubts and encourages debate.
- Belial. The beast in man. Inspires the desire to live, to be yourself, awakens primitive instincts.
- Leviathan. Keeper of secrets and psychologist. Encourages people to practice magic and worship idols.
This theory, which also deserves to exist, allows us to better understand who Satan is. According to her, this is a certain vice that a person struggles with. He can also appear before us in the female image of Astarte, pushing us into adultery. Satan is also Dagon, who promises wealth, Behemoth, who inclines to gluttony, drunkenness and idleness, Abbadon, who calls to destroy and kill, Loki is a symbol of deceit and lies. All these persons can be either the devil himself or his faithful servants.
Satan cannot control people's minds
Indeed, the Lord of Darkness does not know the thoughts of people; he cannot penetrate their consciousness and control their minds. Do not believe it when a person who has committed a grave sin says: “The Devil has misled me.” This is self-deception - Satan cannot plant evil seed in a person's mind. Every person has the right to choose and freedom of action, and therefore only he decides what to do.
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Devil's signs
The most sacred is the snake. The hood of the king cobra can be seen in many Egyptian paintings and frescoes. This is a symbol of the expansion of consciousness, and the snake assuming an attacking pose indicates the soaring of the spirit. Other symbols say the following:
- Pentagram pointing downwards. Symbolizes Satan himself.
- Simple pentagram. More used by sorcerers and witches to perform rituals.
- Emblem of Baphomest. The mark of Satan inscribed on his bible. This is an inverted pictogram in the form of a goat's head.
- Cross of Disorder. An ancient Roman symbol signifying the renunciation of Christian values of the divine essence of Christ.
- Hexagram. It is also the “Star of David” or the “Seal of Solomon”. The most powerful sign of Satan, which is used to summon evil spirits.
- Marks of the beast. Firstly, this is the number of the Antichrist - 666. Secondly, they can also include three Latin letters F - it is the sixth in the alphabet, and three intertwined rings forming sixes.
In fact, there are many symbols of Satan. They also include an inverted cross, a goat's head, a skull and crossbones, a swastika and other ancient signs.
Family
The wives of the devil are considered to be the so-called demonesses, each of which has its own sphere of influence and is irreplaceable in hell:
- Lilith. The main wife of Satan, the first wife of Adam. Appears to lonely travelers in the form of a beautiful brunette, after which she mercilessly kills them.
- Mahallat. Second wife. Leads legions of evil spirits.
- Agrat. Third in a row. Field of activity: prostitution.
- Barbelo. One of the most beautiful. Patronizes treachery and deceit.
- Elizadra. The devil's main HR advisor. Characterized by bloodthirstiness and vindictiveness.
- Nega. Demon of epidemics.
- Naama. The temptress whom all mortal men desire.
- Proserpine. Patronizes destruction, natural disasters and catastrophes,
The devil has other wives, but the demonesses listed above are the most powerful, and therefore are familiar to many peoples of the world. From which of them the son of Satan will be born is unknown. Most researchers claim that the mother of the Antichrist will be a simple earthly woman, but very sinful and vicious.
Devil's Book
The handwritten Bible of Satan was created at the turn of the 12th-13th centuries. According to sources, it was written by a monk under the dictation of the devil himself. The manuscript contains 624 pages. It is truly huge: the dimensions of the wooden covers are 50 by 90 centimeters, the weight of the Bible is 75 kilograms. The production of the manuscript took 160 skins skinned from donkeys.
The so-called bible of Satan contains the Old and New Testaments, various edifying stories for preachers, and various forms of conspiracies. On page 290 the devil himself is drawn. And if the legend about the monk is a fiction, then the “satanic image” is a fact. Several pages before this graffiti are covered in ink, the next eight have been completely removed. Who did this is unknown. The most interesting thing is that the “demonic manuscript,” although condemned by the church, was never banned. Several generations of novices even studied the texts of Holy Scripture from its pages.
From its historical homeland - Czech Prague - the manuscript was taken with them to Stockholm as a trophy in 1649. Now only employees of the local Royal Library, wearing protective gloves on their hands, have the right to leaf through the pages of the sensational manuscript.
The modern devil is a synthetic image, a product of heresy, superstition and works of art
From all this, the appearance of God’s enemy—Satan/Devil/Lucifer—was formed. The foundation of this story is not the most solid, but the resonance is enormous.
The idea of finding someone to blame for one's sins received a great response in the hearts of people. You can do evil not because you made a mistake, but because the demon led you astray. It's convenient, it's easier.
But the Christian model works perfectly well without the image of Satan. And it is even more useful for a person to exclude it from his worldview. Personal responsibility for every action is an honest position before yourself and God.
- if you believe in the devil, you will blame him for everything;
- If you don't believe it, take a closer look at yourself.
Whatever one may say, not a single evil spirit can lead a righteous person astray, so Satan, if he existed, would turn out to be an extremely useless figure.
This is how the Sabbath of witches and the devil was imagined in the Middle Ages. The unclean one necessarily looked like a goat, whose image was taken from Pan and Astara (F. Goya’s painting “The Sabbath of Witches”). Photo: artchive.ru
But we know that the Old Testament assigned completely different functions to it. The modern idea of Satan is a fiction, an invention, a delusion, but it has many ways of “supporting” it:
- Apocrypha and other heresies;
- medieval obscurantism;
- cinema;
- literature;
- occultism.
There are also various satanic sects - this is a show and a deliberate opposition to Christianity, and not a religious system with some evil god at its head. Satanism is not a religion, because it implies two things:
- connection with God;
- salvation - i.e. overcoming “hell” (both afterlife and earthly - in different religions).
Satanism is a philosophy where Satan is just a symbol. This is a protest against the Christian ideology that dominates the world. If there were no Christianity, there would be no Satanism opposed to it.
But devil worship is a rare phenomenon, meaningless and largely fictitious. Few people consciously decide to do such stupidity. Although there are crazy people everywhere.
All this only indicates that we are dealing with the personification of a person’s internal qualities. In this sense, Satan really exists.
If the devil exists, then, according to the Bible, it is something subordinate to God. This is not a specific being, but a position, role or function. He either judges or tests people. Such a devil is more like Woland from “The Master and Margarita” than a fictional monster from the Middle Ages (still from the TV series “The Master and Margarita” by V. Bortko). Photo: vladtime.ru
If we proceed from the Biblical picture of the world, then in this case Woland from “The Master and Margarita” is closest to the real Satan: he is a punishing but fair force that tests people’s strength in faith and their pious principles. However, it is in no way opposed to God and plays its role in our world.
In contrast to this idea, we have the book of Revelation of John the Theologian, but its complex symbolism does not allow us to understand the images there literally. There are a lot of “historical” transcripts of this book. Most theologians adhere to them.
As is easy to see, there are many religions where there is no devil. And this does not prevent them from raising believers, pious, kind and devoted people to God.
Church of the Devil
It was created on April 30, 1966 by the American Anton Sandor LaVey. Founded on Walpurgis Night, the Church of Satan proclaimed itself the antipode of Christianity and the bearer of evil. The Seal of Baphomet is a symbol of the community. By the way, it became the first officially registered organization that worshiped the cult of the devil and considered Satanism its ideology. LaVey was the so-called High Priest until his death. By the way, he also wrote another modern version of the Satanic Bible.
The Church of Satan accepts into its ranks everyone who has reached the age of majority. The exception is the children of active participants already involved, as they understand satanic practices and teachings from a young age. The priests hold black masses, a parody of church services, and also practice sexual orgies and sacrifice. The main holidays of the community are Halloween and Walpurgis Night. The initiation of new members into the secrets of the devilish cult is also celebrated on a grand scale.
On the contrary
Before the emergence of monotheism, the Mediterranean was dominated by cults of divine married couples, whose rites ritually reproduced the act of creation of the world through the combination of male and female principles, personified in specific deities. Among the Phoenicians it was the cult of Baal and Astarte. The priests in the temples reproduced their marital union. The rituals were orgiastic in nature (including same-sex intercourse), sometimes accompanied by self-mutilation (castration) and human sacrifices.
Jewish monotheism since the time of Abraham was formed as a sharp antithesis to such cults. Moreover, the rejection was so serious that when the ruler Moses saw that part of his people had returned to the cults of Baal (Golden Calf), many were executed for this.
Therefore, some elements of these ancient cults during the times of the Jews and then the Christians began to be associated with evil. Since ancient rituals assumed the presence of a divine married couple (the Father-Creator and the Great Mother), and monotheism excluded the feminine principle from theology and worship, some attributes of the Father-Creator and all the attributes of the Great Mother were transferred to the area of associations with evil and immorality.
Some ancient attributes of the Creator Father that were associated with evil:
- Phallus. Pagan cults inherited obvious sexual symbolism from ancient rites. Orgies and temple prostitution were condemned. Along with them, the main symbols of these rituals were also “condemned”
- Fire. The Phoenicians and other peoples of the Mediterranean sacrificed people (including children and the elderly) by setting them on fire. Therefore, fire, one of the main ancient symbols of the Father-Creator, acquired a negative connotation among monotheists and “descended” to hell, which in turn was the “brother” of the Greek kingdom of Hades, in which there was no fire, but it was dark and damp, as in normal mountain cave
- Horns. Ancient people chose animals as their “icons” of deity. For the Father-Creator they chose the largest and most powerful animals, including a cave bear, a giant deer, and a bull. The use of large horned animals cemented the attitude towards horns in general (of any animal) as an attribute of a deity. Since Baal as an idol had the appearance of a bull (or a bull-man), horns as an ancient divine attribute, through the condemnation of the cult of Baal, also migrated to the category of “evil” symbols.
The above attributes of the ancient Father-Creator and all the attributes of the Great Mother (female organs, dungeon, cave, snake, serpent, reptile, dragon, darkness, night, moon, etc.) migrated to the “evil” and “immoral” region and combined with the images "Satan" and "devil".
When in the West, under the influence of the strengthening of trade and usurious capitalism, monotheistic religions (Christianity and Judaism) began to collapse, occult heresies and various forms of neo-paganism emerged from the underground, some of which used the image of Satan the devil in their practice.
How to protect yourself from the influence of Satan and his servants
The Church gives two practical pieces of advice that will help save the soul from the devil’s wiles. First, temptations must be resisted, and prayer will help with this. It is difficult for Satan to fight the pure intentions, the sincerity that we put into the basis of turning to the Lord. There is no need to ask for anything other than strength and fortitude, while at the same time thanking for another day lived and those little things that made it unique and colorful.
Secondly, you need to get as close to God as possible. Priests advise attending Sunday and holiday services, fasting, learning to be friendly and honest towards other people, not breaking the commandments, fighting vices, and rejecting temptations. After all, every step taken towards the Lord simultaneously removes us from Satan. The ministers of the Church are confident: following their recommendations, every person is able to cope with the demons living inside, thereby preserving their soul and finding a well-deserved place in the Gardens of Eden.
It is not Satan who causes man to commit sin.
Followers of Christ are confident that the Lord of Darkness is not behind every human sin. Christians know that all of God's children are splinters that come together to form the church or body of Christ. Sin is inherent in human nature, and therefore there is not the slightest doubt that at all times people have committed and will continue to commit unsightly acts.
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