Christian Mysteries - Unveiled
Article: SATAN – The Personification of Evil
Article: SATAN – The Personification of Evil
Since the most ancient of societies, Satan has evolved from the
superstitious notion of the human mind which saw and created a need for a
supernatural entity to bear the blame and as a curse for human failures. While on
the other hand, the good entity of a supernatural God fights for their cause,
receives their adoration and holds out a rewarding after-life. The faulting is
either attributed to God as a punishment, a lesson or declared as the evil-doings
of the Satan. This mentality or mindset
has gradually evolved into a theology for all religious belief-systems, ancient
and present.
From the Christian perspective, the Satan or Devil has taken the
blame for not only mankind’s evil and sufferings but also for imitating and
promoting Christianity in the form of ancient pagan religions centuries before
Jesus Christ.
Many
mid-second century pagan theologians like Celsus and
early Church Fathers, like Justin Martyr (145-149 A.D.)
Tertullian, (160-230 A.D.), Origen (185-254 A.D.) Clement (died 110 A.D.), and Jerome (347-420 A.D.) were fiercely debating, same time acknowledging, the many similarities reported between Christianity and other pre-Christian pagan religions.
Tertullian, (160-230 A.D.), Origen (185-254 A.D.) Clement (died 110 A.D.), and Jerome (347-420 A.D.) were fiercely debating, same time acknowledging, the many similarities reported between Christianity and other pre-Christian pagan religions.
Justin
Martyr, who said, “For when they say that Dionysus arose again
and ascended
to heaven, is it not evidence the devil has imitated the prophecy?”
In his others works such as "The Demons Imitate Christian Doctrine,"
and 1 Apology, he reiterates "And when
we say also that the Word, who is the first-born of God, was produced without
sexual union, and that He, Jesus Christ, our Teacher, was crucified. and rose
again, and ascended into heaven, we propound nothing different from what you
believe regarding those whom you esteem sons of Jupiter. ... But as we have
said above, wicked devils perpetrated these things … “
In
the Old Testament books of Numbers and Job, Satan appears as a God’s dutiful
servant or as messenger “Malek” in Hebrew, “Angelos” in Greek, In Hebrew, Angels are known as “bene ‘elohim”
which means “sons of God”, in a hierarchal rank formation - a members of God's royal court. The Hebrew
term Satan is not a character but describes an adversarial role. (I
Samuel 2 9:4, 11 Samuel, 1 9:2 2, 1 Kings S: 4, 14, 23, and 25.) Satan also
acts as a prosecutor in Psalms 109:6-9,
which says: “Give him over to
wickedness, and let Satan stand at his right hand to accuse him,” also Zechariah 3 and in Job I and 2.
The Hebrew root “stn”
means to oppose, obstruct.
To be continued...
Paul Rodricks, Author & Freelance Writer.
I invite your comments and queries. Thank you.
Paul Rodricks
Paul's WRITERS DIG 7
Contact: paulrodericks@gmail.com