Satan: Evil Personified or God's Test to the Faith

Satan
Prosecutor of Heaven
Tester of Faith of GOD
Accuser of Mankind
Lord of Hell 

Satan is rather misunderstood in part because of the varying views of Satan, Lucifer and the Christian Devil. Satan is the Hebrew translation of the Egyptian God Set, making Satan a God. But there is academic disagreement about this connection between the Hebrew Satan and the Egyptian Set. Many people turn to the LeVey Satanists and take their cue from their definition of Satan as a God. At the same time, Satan is also confused with Lucifer, the Light Bringer. And then there's the Christian view that Satan is the adversary of God and the accuser of Mankind.
Not often thought of an Archangel, it's important to remember that Satan was an Archangel long before he was associated as the Ruler of Hell and Evil, and nemesis of Mankind.
Hebrew Satan
Literally his name translates as "adversary" or "accuser"
In the Book of Job, ha-satan ("the adversary") is a prosecuting attorney against mankind in the heavenly court of God. He is known as the accuser and is the angel which questions mankind's loyalty to God. He argues that man is only loyal because God gives them prosperity. He is often sent by God to test Mankind's faith and loyalty. Because of these assignments, he is given the label of Angel of Evil. It would be more accurate to view Satan as playing the role of opposition to the rest of God's hosts of angels. Questioning their loyalty as well as that of Mankind. In many ways, it was a thankless job, but one assigned to Satan by God.
It is unclear when Lucifer, Satan and The Devil folded into the single character of the Devil, ruler of the Underworld. Depending on your perspective, Satan is a God and Archangel, Lucifer is an Archangel, and the Devil is a combination of many pagan variations of the God force in the form of the Celtic Green Man the lord of vegetation and the woodlands, Cernunnos the Celtic Horned God, Pan the Greek god of the woodlands, Osiris, the Egyptian Lord of the underworld and many other versions of a pagan God with horns, or a half body of human, goat or stag.
The Devil in Christian lore, was once the ruler or head of Seraphim. He rebelled against God and was tossed out of heaven, becoming the ruler of Hades or Hell. As the enemy of goodness, the Devil rules over the evil spirits to cause havoc and chaos for the human race. Floods, storms, diseases and death are said to be created by these forces. Temptations of sinful ways and other evil desires are also associated with the influences of these forces. The Devil has many names, some of which are misconceptions, but include:

  • Beelzebub
  • Deliar,
  • Duma
  • Mastema
  • Gadreel
  • Sammael

At the end of the day, Satan's job is to tempt humanity from being loyal to God. He test to see who is really worthy of God's blessing and mercy.





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

History of Homosexual: Ancient Greece

Daily life of Roman life: Slavery

History of GLBT in the World