Under construction...Nov. 19th, 2010
1/ On The Mythological, Religious, and Psychological Origins of 'Satan'
Let us take a few minutes here and skim briefly over a summary of the etiology of 'Satan' in The Christian and other religions...and then we will interpret this etiology and evolution, mythologically, psychologically, and philosophically...dgb
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Satan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the concept of Satan. For the concept of "devil", see Devil. For other uses, see Satan (disambiguation).
Gustave Doré, Depiction of Satan, the antagonist of John Milton's Paradise Lost c.1866.Satan (Hebrew: הַשָׂטָן ha-Satan ("the accuser");[1] Arabic: الشيطان ash-Shayṭān ("the adversary") - both from the Semitic root: Ś-Ṭ-N) is an embodiment of antagonism that originates from the Abrahamic religions, being traditionally considered a "fallen" angel in Judeo-Christian belief and a Jinn in Islamic belief. Originally, the term was used as a title for various entities (humans, accusing angels, etc.) that challenged the religious faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible.[2] Since then, the Abrahamic religions have used "Satan" as a name for the Devil.[3]
Contents [hide]
1 Judaism
1.1 Hebrew Bible
1.2 Septuagint
1.3 Hebrew Apocrypha
1.4 Talmud and other rabbinic sources
2 Christianity
3 Islam
4 Other religions
4.1 Yazidism
4.2 Bahá'í Faith
4.3 Satanism
5 See also
6 Notes
7 References
8 External links
Judaism
Hebrew Bible
The original Hebrew term, satan, is a noun from a verb meaning primarily to, “obstruct, oppose,” as it is found in Numbers 22:22, 1 Samuel 29:4, Psalms 109:6.[4] Ha-Satan is traditionally translated as “the accuser,” or “the adversary.” The definite article “ha-”, English “the”, is used to show that this is a title bestowed on a being, versus the name of a being. Thus this being would be referred to as “the Satan.”[5]
Ha-Satan with the definite article occurs three times in the Hebrew Bible:
Job ch.1-2,
1 Chronicles 21:1,
Zechariah 3:1.[6]
Job's Satan In the Book of Job, ha-Satan is a member of the divine council, “the sons of God” who are subservient to God. Ha-Satan in this capacity is many times translated as “the prosecutor,” and is charged by God to tempt humans and to report back to God all who go against God’s decrees. At the beginning of the book, Job is a good person “who feared God and turned away from evil,” (Job 1:1) and has therefore been rewarded by God. When the divine council meets, God boasts to ha-Satan about Job and how Job is blameless and upright. Between Job 1:9-10 and 2:4-5, ha-Satan merely points out that God has given Job everything that a man could want, so of course Job would be loyal to God; but if all Job has been given, even his health, were to be taken away from him then his loyalty would wane. God therefore grants ha-Satan the chance to test Job.[7] Due to this, it has been interpreted that ha-Satan is under God’s control and cannot act without God’s permission. This is further shown in the epilogue of Job in which God is speaking to Job, ha-Satan is absent from these dialogues. “For Job, for [Job’s] friends, and for the narrator, it is ultimately Yahweh himself who is responsible for Job’s suffering; as Yahweh says to the “satan”, ‘You have incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.’(Job 2:3)” [6]
Septuagint
In the Septuagint the Hebrew ha-Satan in Job and Zechariah is translated by the Greek word diabolos, slanderer, the same word in the Greek New Testament from which the English word devil is derived. Where satan is used of human enemies in the Hebrew Bible, such as of Hadad the Edomite and Rezon the Syrian, the word is left untranslated but transliterated in the Greek as satan, a neologism in Greek.[8] In Zechariah 3 this changes the vision of the conflict over Joshua the High Priest in the Septuagint into a conflict between "Jesus and the devil", identical with the Greek text of Matthew.
Hebrew Apocrypha
The Jewish apocrypha are religious writings which are not accepted as religious texts in Judaism and many modern-day Protestant denominations. These works usually bore the names of ancient Hebrew worthies in order to establish their validity among the true writers' contemporaries. To reconcile the late appearance of the texts with their claims to primitive antiquity, alleged authors are represented as "shutting up and sealing" (Dan. XII. 4:9) the works until the time of their fulfillment had arrived; as the texts were not meant for their own generations but for far-distant ages (also cited in Assumption of Moses I. 16:17). In the Book of Wisdom, the devil is represented as the being who brought death into the world.[9]
The 2nd Book of Enoch, also called the Slavonic Book of Enoch, contains references to a Watcher Grigori called Satanael.[10] It is a pseudepigraphic text of an uncertain date and unknown authorship. The text describes Satanael as being the prince of the Grigori who was cast out of heaven[11] and an evil spirit who knew the difference between what was "righteous" and "sinful".[12] A similar story is found in the book of 1 Enoch; however, in that book, the leader of the Grigori is called Semjâzâ.
In the apocryphal literature, Satan rules over a host of angels.[13] Mastema, who induced God to test Abraham through the sacrifice of Isaac, is identical with Satan in both name and nature.[14]
For the Chasidic Jews of the eighteenth century, ha-Satan was Baal Davar.[15] The Book of Enoch contains references to Satariel, thought also to be Sataniel and Satan'el (etymology dating back to Babylonian origins). The similar spellings mirror that of his angelic brethren Michael, Raphael, Uriel and Gabriel, previous to his expulsion from Heaven.
Talmud and other rabbinic sources
The Talmud mentions the Satan in many places. In all of these places, the Satan is an agent of God, and has no independent existence. Sometimes the Satan is conflated with various demons, such as Asmodai. At times there is even some sympathy for him. Commenting on the Book of Job, the rabbis express sympathy that his job was to "break the barrel but not spill any wine."
In Kabbalistic literature and its derivative, Hasidic literature, the Satan is seen as an agent of God whose job is to tempt one into sin, and then turn around and accuse the sinner on high. An additional understanding of Satan is from a parable to a prostitute who is hired by the King (God) to tempt his son (a Jew). The prostitute has to do the best she can to tempt the son; but deep down she hopes the son will pass the test. Similarly, Kabbalistic/Hasidic thought sees the Satan in the same situation. His job is to tempt us as best he can; turn around and accuse us; but deep down his wish is that we would resist his blandishments.
Christianity
Main article: Christian teaching about the Devil
See also: War in Heaven
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".[16] In the New Testament, "Satan" occurs more than 30 times in passages alongside Diabolos (Greek for "the devil"), referring to the same person or thing as Satan.[17]
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.
Satan is traditionally identified as the serpent who convinced Eve to eat the forbidden fruit; thus, Satan has often been depicted as a serpent.
The Book of Revelation twice refers to "the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan," (12:9, 20:2). The Book of Revelation also refers to "the deceiver," from which is derived the common epithet "the great deceiver."[18]
Other terms identified with Satan include "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.[19]
From the fourth Century 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.
Satan as depicted in the Ninth Circle of Hell in Dante Alighieri's Inferno, illustrated by Gustave Doré.In traditional Christian 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. 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. 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 (e.g., Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14:12-17). In mainstream Christianity he is called "the ruler of the demons" (Matt. 12:24), "the ruler of the world" and "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.
In other 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.[20]
Islam
Main article: Devil (Islam)
Shaitan (شيطان) is the equivalent of Satan in Islam. While Shaitan (شيطان, from the root šṭn شطن) is an adjective (meaning "astray" or "distant", sometimes translated as "devil") that can be applied to both man ("al-ins", الإنس) and Jinn, Iblis (Arabic pronunciation: [ˈibliːs]) is the personal name of the Devil who is mentioned in the Qur'anic account of Genesis.[21] According to the Qur'an, Iblis (the Arabic name used) disobeyed an order from Allah to bow to Adam and as a result was forced out of heaven and given respite until the day of judgment from further punishment.
When Allah commanded all of the angels to bow down before Adam (the first Human), Iblis, full of hubris and jealousy, refused to obey God's command (he could do so because, as a jinn, he had free will), seeing Adam as being inferior in creation due to his being created from clay as compared to him (created of fire).[22]
"It is We Who created you and gave you shape; then We bade the angels prostrate to Adam, and they prostrate; not so Iblis (Lucifer); He refused to be of those who prostrate."
(Allah) said: "What prevented thee from prostrating when I commanded thee?" He said: "I am better than he: Thou didst create me from fire, and him from clay."
Qur'an 7:11-12
It was after this that the title of "Shaitan" was given, which can be roughly translated as "Enemy," "Rebel," "Evil" or "Devil". Shaitan then claims that if the punishment for his act of disobedience is to be delayed until the Day of Judgment, that he will divert many of Adam's own descendants from the straight path during his period of respite.[23] God accepts the claims of Iblis and guarantees recompense to Iblis and his followers in the form of Hellfire. In order to test mankind and jinn alike, Allah allowed Iblis to roam the earth to attempt to convert others away from his path.[24] He was sent to earth along with Adam and Eve, after eventually luring them into eating the fruit from the forbidden tree.[25]
Other religions
Yazidism
An alternate name for the main deity in the tentatively Indo-European pantheon of the Yazidi, Malek Taus, is Shaitan.[26] Rather than Satanic, however, Yazidism is better understood as a remnant of a pre-Islamic Middle Eastern Indo-European religion, and/or a ghulat Sufi movement founded by Shaykh Adi. The connection with Satan, originally made by Muslim outsiders, attracted the interest of 19th-century European travelers and esoteric writers.
Bahá'í Faith
In the Bahá'í Faith, Satan is not regarded as an independent evil power as he is in some faiths, but signifies the lower nature of humans. `Abdu'l-Bahá explains: "This lower nature in man is symbolized as Satan—the evil ego within us, not an evil personality outside."[27][28] All other evil spirits described in various faith traditions such as fallen angels, demons and jinns are also metaphors for the base character traits a human being may acquire and manifest when he turns away from God.[29]
Satanism
Main article: Satanism
Satanic groups have various opinions about Satan, ranging from the conviction that he exists and ought to be worshipped (theistic Satanism), to Anton Szandor LaVey's symbolic interpretation, which emphasizes individual will and pleasure-seeking.
Much "Satanic" lore does not originate from actual Satanists, but from Christians. Best-known is the medieval folklore and theology surrounding demons and witches. A more recent example is the so-called Satanic ritual abuse scare of the 1980s — beginning with the memoir Michelle Remembers — which depicts Satanism as a vast (and unsubstantiated) conspiracy of elites with a predilection for child abuse and human sacrifice. This genre regularly describes Satan as actually appearing in person in order to receive worship.
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dgb
The main thesis that I wish to develop in this essay is that mythology, religion, psychology and philosophy are all different -- or at least differently classified -- realms of human thought that remain closely tied together.
A secondary thesis that I intend to develop is the essential under-pinning importance of the dialectic concept of 'humanistic-existentialism' in the positive and/or negative judment of any religious institution, any political and/or philosophical system, any eocnomic and/or legal system, any psychological school of thought...
a/ Projection
Man has an inherent, built-in, usually subconsious or unconscious tendency to 'project' what he thinks, feels, and wants from the 'inside of his personality' to the 'outside' of his personality (projecting these different thoughts, feelings, and wants or impulses onto 'other people', 'animals', 'things', 'objects', 'Gods', 'demons'....and so on...Projection is like using the outside world as our own personal 'canvas' on which we 'paint a picture' -- and the picture which we often 'disown' or 'deny accountability' for its contents -- 'symbolically' -- and partly overtly, partly covertly -- portrays 'us'. In other words, our 'picture', our 'projection' both hides and alludes to the hidden thoughts, feelings, and impulses within us, both good and bad.
Our own personal projections -- as well as our more collective, cultural, mythological, and religious projections -- both hide(s) and allude(s) to both 'the lighter and the darker spirit of man'.
Bottom line, call it the competion in man between 'good and evil'...
Put another way, all you have to do is to study the mythologies and the religions of man, and you have a 'symbolic, projective canvas' on which to also study the psychology, as well as the partly consistent, partly evolving religious and mythological philosophy of man.
The conflict between 'God' ('Zeus', 'Jupitor'...) and 'Satan' (God's 'fallen and evicted angel'), for example becomes a conflict within us between 'good' and 'evil' although that is not to say that 'God' should always be interpreted as being 'good', and neither should 'Satan' -- as much as we have come to associate Satan with 'evil' -- should always be interepreted as being evil...
For example, a distinction could or can be made between 'Benign Satanism' and 'Malignant, Pathological Satanism'. Benign Satanism could/can also be called 'Hedonistic Satanism' or 'Sensory Satanism' or 'Dionysianism'...Dionysus being interpreted here as possibly the 'Greek precursor God' to what evolve into 'The Christian Devil' -- or 'Satan'.
'Benign-Hedonistic-Dionysian Satanism' could/can be viewed in this regard as the Nietzschean 'anti-thesis' to The Christian directive of 'denying one's senses, denying pleasure, denying hedonism, and essentially denying the pursuit of happiness except in either a 'spiritual, religious' way and/or -- in 'the afterlife'. In this regard, Nietzsche was rebelling against the 'anti-humanistic-existential' elements in
the type of Christiantity that he had been taught that essentially preached 'accepting misery and anti-pleaure' in this lifetime in order to be 'accepted into Heaven', and thus, be 'eligible' for a 'better afterlife' than those who are 'expelled from Heaven' when they die because they spent too much time chasing 'Satanic ideas' (like 'the pursuit of sensory pleasure')...
In contrast, the 'toxic, malignant, pathological' potential side of 'Satanism' ('Toxic, Pathological Satanism') is the basic belief of being above or below 'ethical scrutiny and judgment' and practising 'evil' just for the sake of practising evil...such as any thought of 'human sacrifice' (or even 'animal sacrifice' for that matter which has been connected to the worship of God as well as Satan...) In this regard, we need to psychologically examine the 'toxic etiology' of 'Pathological Satanism' -- the worshipping and practicing of 'thinking, feeling, and doing evil things'...
b) Humanistic-Existentialism
It is here that I introduce the dialectic (integrative) bi-polar homeostatic principle of 'humanistic-existenalism'...
By 'humanism' I am referring to the 'compassionate, empathetic, sympathetic, loving, caring side of man...'
In contrast, but not mutually exclusive, I refer to 'existentialism' as the belief in being 'accountable' for all our own thoughts, feelings, impulses, and actions...and being accountable for their 'consequences'...not 'passing the buck' on self-responsibility through 'excuses' and/or 'projective blame'...
On the basis of the bi-polar, homeostatic, dialectic principle of 'humanistic-existentialism', I judge all things, entities, actions...including 'God' Him(or Her)Self...and including 'Jesus', 'Satan', 'Apollo', 'Dionysus', 'Judas', 'Pilate', etc...
I support all religions that subscribe to the bi-polar, dialectic, homeostatic, ethical principle of 'humanistic-existentialism'...and I rebel against those that don't...
If man is going to support religion, then religion needs to support man...
If man is going to support and 'worship' God, then 'the God that man supports and worships needs to show that He/She is supporting the 'humanistic-existential' activities -- and 'Spirit' -- of man...
I believe in the Spinozian principle that 'God is in everything'...all of His/Her/Nature's Creations...
Or dialectically speaking, 'God is in man, and man is in God, and the two are dialectically entwined together...through both good and evil, but ideally in 'good'...
'Satan is the repressed/suppressed disavowed dark spirit of God...and man...'
Mythologically and/or religiously speaking, God evicted Satan -- the 'Dark Spirit of Him/Her Self -- from Heaven into 'Hell' -- and 'Hell' is the Dark Spirit in both God and Man that was born partly from 'evil impulses', and then exasperated from 'excommunication', 'isolation', 'alienation', 'disavowal', 'dissociation' 'rejection', 'abandonment', 'betrayal'... a lack of productive, creative, meaninful integration between God's and mans's collective Light and Dark Spirit...and instead a 'compensatory negative, vengeful movement towards hurting others in the same vein as we have been hurt ourselves'...This is 'Hell' on Earth, and 'Hell in man'...
To be continued...
