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The popularly held beliefs that Satan was once a
prideful angel who eventually rebels against
God, however, are barely portrayed explicitly in
the Bible and are mostly based on inference.
Moreover, in mainstream Christianity he is
called "the ruler of the demons" (Matt. 12:24),
"the ruler of the world" and even "the god of
this world." (2 Cor. 4:4). The Book of
Revelation describes how Satan will be cast out
of Heaven, down to the earth, having "great
anger" and waging war against "those who obey
God's commandments and hold to the testimony of
Jesus". Ultimately, Satan is thrown into the
"lake of fire" (Revelation 20:10), not as ruler,
but as one among many, being tormented day and
night for all eternity.
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St Michael binding Satan |
In other, non-mainstream, Christian beliefs
(e.g. the beliefs of the Christadelphians) the
word "satan" in the Bible is not regarded as
referring to a supernatural, personal being but
to any 'adversary' and figuratively refers to
human sin and temptation. In mainstream
Christianity's understanding of the holy Hebrew
scriptures, the Torah, Satan is a synonym for
the Devil. For most Christians, he is believed
to be an angel who rebelled against God— and
also the one who spoke through the serpent and
seduced Eve into disobeying God's command. |
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In
Christianity, terms that are synonymous with 'Satan'
include:
* The most common English synonym for 'Satan' is
'Devil', which descends from Middle English devel, from
Old English dēofol, that in turn represents an early
Germanic borrowing of Latin diabolus (also the source of
'diabolical'). This in turn was borrowed from Greek
diabolos "slanderer," from diaballein "to slander": dia-
"across, through" + ballein "to hurl." In the New
Testament, 'Satan' occurs more than thirty times in
passages alongside Diabolos (Greek for "the devil"),
referring to the same person or thing as Satan.
* Lucifer is sometimes used in Christian theology to
refer to Satan, as a result of identifying the fallen
"son of the dawn" of Isaiah 14:12 with the "accuser" of
other passages in the Old Testament.
* Beelzebub is originally the name of a Philistine god
(more specifically a certain type of Baal, from Ba‘al
Zebûb, lit. "Lord of Flies") but is also used in the New
Testament as a synonym for Satan. A corrupted version, "Belzeboub,"
appears in The Divine Comedy.
* Satan is identified as the serpent who convinced Eve
to eat the forbidden fruit; thus, Satan has often been
depicted as a serpent. This interpretation goes back at
least as far as the time of the writing of the book of
Revelation, which specifically identifies Satan as being
the serpent (Rev. 20:2).
* "The dragon" and "the old serpent" in the Book of
Revelation 12:9, 20:2 have also been identified with
Satan, as have "the prince of this world" in the Book of
John 12:31, 14:30; "the prince of the power of the air"
also called Meririm, and "the spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience" in the Book of
Ephesians 2:2; and "the god of this world" in 2
Corinthians 4:4.
* Leviathan is described as "that crooked serpent,"
which is also used to describe Satan in Revelation 12:9.
'Sar ha Olam,' a possible name for Metatron, is
described as Satan by Michael, Jehoel and St. Paul.
His ultimate goal is to lead people away from the love of God — to lead
them to fallacies which God opposes. Satan is also
identified as the accuser of Job, the tempter in the
Gospels, the secret power of lawlessness in 2
Thessalonians 2:7, and the dragon in the Book of
Revelation. Before his insurrection, Satan was among the
highest of all angels and the "brightest in the sky."
His pride is considered a reason why he would not bow to
God as all other angels did, but sought to rule heaven
himself.
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