Satan

Satan seen by Gustave Dore.

"Satan" ( Hebrew : Aramaic : Arabic : meaning the 'accuser' but the enemy) is a term whose origins date back to the Abrahamic faiths , traditionally applied to a deity named by the qualifier Messenger in Greek and " angel "in French), a demon , or a minor deity in many belief systems.

Satan figure Chaldean borrowed by Jewish slaves in Babylon who have assimilated the word that defines a judicial function (the accuser), does not name a god , but has a god who assists another in the trial of Job mythological. In the Bible , the passage of Job with a Lord and an accuser is a scene of realistic assessment.

The term is used in Hebrew means adversary and, as a prosecutor or a prosecutor in a court Hebrew. The Hebrew does not know what that term as common noun, denoting a function, not be a definite.

However, following the vocative used by Jesus , Vade retro, Satana! (Mark VIII.31-33), Satan has become the proper name "evil" of the devil. Improperly a name of an angel has been assigned, that of Samael , as reported by many post-biblical traditions and out of the Bible. The name of the Jewish deities as Samael , Raphael , Michael , Gabriel and the others are also Chaldeans and their deities are equipped with a natural spirit, invisible in the heights of heaven from earth, the land on which they are walking by will of Elohim.

The term Arab refers to Satan who is ayn (). It is not a proper name, but designates a certain category of creatures temptresses. In the Qur'an , the tempter was appointed principal Iblis , created of fire, who refuses to bow to Adam. The devil has several other names in Islam.

Judeo-Christian Traditions

Satan in the Bible

Illustration by Gustave Dore Satan as seen by Dante Alighieri in his book The Divine Comedy.

The Hebrew scriptures mention the satan repeatedly and called in three books: the Book of Job , the first book of Chronicles and the Book of Zechariah. However, unlike Christians, Jews do not associate Nachash to satan while the latter, having fomented a rebellion against Yahweh in Eden , could be considered his opponent.

The struggle between Yahweh and his followers on the one hand, and the Chaldean satan and his followers on the other is at the heart of the Gospels, perhaps ending up in the manuscripts of Qumran as the battle between the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness. This hypothesis would suggest in excluding oral tradition and assuming a link between the Gospels and the writings of Qumran, the satan is the representation of the charge made by this function to the grouping chosen authors called the New Testament.

It is also known by the term Latin : Vade retro Satanas ("behind me, Satan!") taken from Matthew, IV.10 (Vulgate of Jerome). It is also described, trying to seek Jesus Christ during his stay in the desert and in the Gospel of Luke: "Immediately the Spirit drove him into the desert. And he remained in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan" ( Mark 1.12)

"Jesus said to them: I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven" (Luke 10:18)

Judaism

Because of monotheism strict, as taught by the Torah of Israel , the divine authority does not agree and in this sense the "devil" does not exist: there is a body called the "Satan" with the definite article and an "s" tiny because it is not a proper name but a function whose purpose is to experience any success to authenticate (see for example the beginning of the book of Job where the Satan is involved in the assembly of angels).

Satan appears as an allegorical figure in the third chapter of Zechariah. In this view Satan fight with the angel of the Lord for the soul of the High Priest Yoshoua deceased. This vision is usually understood as a political allegory that symbolizes the struggle between Nehemiah (the angel) and the Sanballat Horonite (the devil) for influence on the priesthood of the little son of Yoshoua, Eliashib .

After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70, and the revolt of Bar Kochba in 132, rabbinic Judaism has become a strictly monotheistic view of the Hebrew Bible. For example, Trypho the Jew criticizing the ideas of Justin Martyr on the Nephilim of Genesis ch.6 as blasphemous , but in fact Justin's beliefs are rooted in Jewish myths, such as the Book of Enoch .

In rabbinic Judaism Satan is in turn the tempter, the accuser and executioner, but in everything, that is the will of the One and Only Lord (according to the will of a cult, not a single one god) is concerned and who ultimately takes place .

Christianity majority

Satan is traditionally associated with Beelzebub or Baal-Zebub (the god Baal said, "Lord of the Flies") by the Pharisees in the Gospels , the Roman god Lucifer (from the Latin translation of the book of Isaiah but which Voltaire noted Isaiah is addressed to the king of Babylon and it is not, despite the common name "light bearer", the Roman god of the same name), and Mephistopheles in the Middle Ages.

According to Voltaire, Satan would not have the ability to change appearance, seduce and terrify ^{Jehovah's Witnesses}

According to Jehovah's Witnesses , Satan the devil is a spiritual being real. It was a perfect angel created by Jehovah , but wanting to dominate humans in its place, Satan rebelled against him by lying to Eve in the Garden of Eden, so that sins against God. (Gospel of John 8:44) Satan is currently dominating the world (2 Corinthians 4:4, I John 5:19) and who is the leader of demons.

Mormons / Latter-day Saints

The Latter-day Saints believe that Satan is a spiritual son of God who rebelled against him, while Jesus Christ is the spiritual son eldest and the only begotten Son in the flesh .

Christadelphians

The Christadelphians are almost the only group among Christians to state as an article of faith that Satan does not exist , the religious movement rejects the idea of fallen angels ^, and believes that Satan simply refers to any opponent, he would refer figuratively to sin and temptation human . They believe that the temptation of Christ in the desert is simply an allegory for a period of preparation, and that the three temptations is in the Gospel of John as well.

Satanism

There are two kinds of Satanism. One, theist, that could be regarded as "Catholicism reversed. The second, modern, is a philosophy.

The traditional Satanist believes in Satan, he sees as Lucifer , the Lightbringer. It honors Satan as a force of nature and not as a deity. Rituals are performed for the purpose of uplifting and advancing the kingdom of Satan.

The LaVeyen Satanism is a philosophy that differs from the worship of Satan (see Luciferianism or Satanism ) since it is not the worship of a divine or demonic entity but a "belief" of the ego and the individualism, that is to say that the primary purpose of this Satanic philosophy is to believe in yourself.

This philosophy was developed by Anton Szandor LaVey , who advocated the complete freedom of men not to follow religious dogma, nor to worship any deity and to be their own god. LaVey was the founder of the Church of Satan and author of the Satanic Bible.

References

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