“How you fell from the sky, day, son of the dawn! He who trampled on the nations was broken to the ground. And he said in his heart: I will ascend to heaven, I will exalt the throne above the stars of God and sit on the mountain in the host of the gods … I will be like the Most High. But you are not complete in hell, in the depths of the underworld. “(Isaiah 14-12: 14).
DEVIL, Satan, Lucifer, Dennitsa - The lord of hell has many names, but they all personify evil and deeds are not pure. He is the sworn enemy of all peasants on earth.
The devil comes from the Greek word "diabolos", which originally means either "accuser" or "liar", "slanderer". It is often argued that the Latin word "diabolo" is a complex word and consists of two parts: "dia" (two) and "bolo" (pills), because, at the same time, swallows the soul and body, the devil makes one whole from two parts, one pill.
FALLEN ANGELS
If its name is used in the plural - "devils", it becomes synonymous with demons, or evil beings, evil spirits endowed with superhuman strength. Thus, the Devil, in the Gospel - Beelzebub, becomes "the prince of demons".
When translating the Old Testament into Greek, the Egyptian Jews in lll century. Before Christ, for the concept of "devil" they used the Greek word "satan", which at that time meant an angelic being, whose main function was to test the faithfulness of God's people.
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In the New Testament, the word "Satan" already meant something completely different - the antagonist and main enemy of God. Throughout the New Testament, the word "Satan" means the Devil. Here is how he is described in the Revelation of St. John: "And the overthrow was the great dragon, the ancient serpent, called the Devil and Satan, generalizing the entire universe, overthrowing to earth, and his angels were brought down with him."
DEVIL IN TWO TESTAMENTS
Devil: In the Christian religion, the Devil is considered a fallen angel who raised a "rebellion", in his pride tried to take the place of God, which belongs only to Him.
In Christian theology, his main task is to tempt all people, to force them to abandon their chosen righteous way of life and instead accept another - death, destruction and destruction. His main enemy in the Christian view is the Archangel Michael, the chief commander of the "heavenly host" of God.
The Christian Devil is a complex image with very ancient roots. Its immediate primary sources were, apparently, various deities of darkness and darkness in ancient Eastern religions, the spirits of evil, the gods of the underworld. The dominion over the underworld of sinful souls - hell - has become one of the most important functions of the Devil. If in earthly life he is the main inspirer of sorcerers and witches, then in the afterlife he is the lord of hell where the souls of sinners are studied.
Man always creates his deities, both good and evil, in his own image. The result, of course, depends on the degree of development of the person himself, his mind, the level of culture, personal experience and the time in which he lives. The original concept of the Christian Devil was developed by the so-called hermit fathers, these hermits who lived in the hot Egyptian deserts in the 3rd - 4th centuries. As a result of their constant hallucinations, remembering the pagan gods, they painted the Devil as a grotesquely large creature in human form.
SATAN - LEGAL STATUS
The devil received his rightful, legalized status at the Telescope of the Ecumenical Council in 497.
In the Old Testament "Satan" is a common noun, used in all negative senses. He is both "evil" and "enemy", and with special hatred refers to the sacred power over the "chosen people" - whether it be King David or the high priest Jehoshua. He constantly tempts them, strives to lead them into sin, puts various obstacles in their way, prepares them in chains. Satan is, if I may put it that way, a provocateur, abetting and seducing. His image merges with the image of the serpent - the redeemer in the story of the fall in the story of Adam and Eve. In a number of legends about Satan, a flat connection with Eve is attributed. Genesis tells about the sinfulness of conception by fulfilling from intercourse "the daughters of men" with the "sons of Elohim."
Eve's name in Aramaic and Phoenician is "hvt", meaning "snake" (possibly "snake-like goddess"). That is, on the face of an attempt to present her as an accomplice and friend of Satan.
All "black deeds" in the history of the "chosen people" are attributed to the suggestions of the Devil. For example, the worship of the Jews to the "golden calf", David's adultery with Bathsheba.
WHAT THE DEVIL WANTS FROM HUMAN
The main thing for the Devil is to achieve the moral fall of man. And he resorts to any tricks during the execution: to put a person above God. For this, he turns into the main character in the world theater of magic, absurdity, superstition, fetishism, sorcerers, witches, witches, healers and clairvoyants. Fear and deception are the main effective weapons of this "liar and father of lies". “The Devil is in great rage toward you,” John warns in his Revelation. There is a struggle with the mighty enemy of Christ - the Antichrist.
The Antichrist is Satan's messenger who acts at his instigation. The kingdom of Antichrist is the kingdom of moral evil. If Christ in "earthly life" voluntarily renounced his divine dignity, rightfully belonging to him, then Antichrist impudently appropriates this dignity. "In the temple of God he will sit down like God, posing as God."
A fierce battle is expected between the army of Satan and the "beast" (Antichrist) and the heavenly army led by the Messiah. This terrible battle will take place in Armageddon. More broadly, this will be the last decisive battle between the forces of good and evil.
The Beast of the Apocalypse, personifying all evil on earth, will be defeated by the messenger of God, the Messiah, and thrown into the underworld. After this begins the millennial reign of resurrected saints and martyrs.
After this period, the last battle of heaven with the forces of evil will take place, which will end with the victory of Christ.
DEVIL'S TRICKS
In order to justify the title "enemy of the human race", people attributed to the Devil many insidious treacherous tricks.
The devil, as you know, was especially sophisticated about the human greed of greed. It was well known to everyone that the money received in payment or as a reward from the Devil was counterfeit and that he showed such generosity only to divert his eyes. It often happened that a person who received a whole bag of gold from the Devil, who pulled his hands off, when he came home, found a heap of coal or manure in it …
Devastating fires have been attributed to the devil more than once, and he himself, of course, was seen at the crime scene. He was present there and even showered people with threats.
According to legend, this is how the city of Schiltach burned down to the ground in 1533 in Germany. The devil did not hide his intention, and to the two patrons who arrived at the scene, he directly confessed that he had decided to burn their city. When they began to shame and conjure him, he shouted to them:
- Yes, I'm not a bit afraid of you! I know perfectly well that both of you are thieves, and one of you is also a libertine to boot!
FEAR OF THE DEVIL'S GOATS
In ancient times, people experienced a special fear of the Devil and his wiles. In the XIII century, one prior was so afraid of becoming a prey of Satan that he ordered his two men, armed to the teeth, to guard him day and night.
The nuns are horrified by the insistence of the Devil. There is no way to get rid of his harassment - not by prayers, not by penance, not by pilgrimage, not even by mysterious altars.
Confessing with a wafer in their mouths, many of them confessed that at that moment they felt the claims of a hellish lover, who did not lag behind them, plunging them into fear and temptation.
The Dominicans, in order to help the believers, advise resorting to the Diva's intercession, to the constant repetition of "Ave Maria".
But such a means of salvation is already too ephemeral. After all, a cunningly clever Devil can take possession of a person's body in that short moment when he utters one "Ave Maria" after another.
Then the rosary was invented, allowing you to continuously read prayers.
DEFO AND THE DEVIL
English writer Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) is well known to everyone. He wrote an amazing book about the extraordinary journey of a Scottish sailor named Selkirk, who lived on a desert island for 30 years. This book - "Robinson Crusoe" - M. Gorky called "the greatest book in the world."
But the English writer was also a passionate publicist - he has about 250 works on the topic of the day. These bright, daring, political portraits, economic "experiments", satire, scourging the existing system in England, documentary prose, propaganda works, including "The Hymn to the Pillory".
The publication of his unusual book "The Story of the Devil" produced the effect of an exploding bomb, but the churchmen tried in every possible way to belittle its significance, pretending as if nothing special had happened. However, everyone read his book with great interest, which, in fact, passed a harsh sentence to all Catholicism. The writer's image of the Devil came out so funny and cheerful that everyone made fun of him from the heart. Translations have appeared in almost all European countries, and in America it has withstood as many as 6 editions in a short time.
DEVIL AT THE CARNIVAL
In many countries of the world, annual carnivals are still held. Historically, it is a festival of farewell to winter, and its origins date back to the ancient mysteries of Marduk and Dionysus. With the advent of Christianity, it began to be celebrated on the eve of Great Lent, 40 days before Easter. Some scholars identify the name of the carnival with meat, flesh (Latin - "caro", Italian - "carne").
"Carnevale" - "carne-vale!" can be translated as "Long live the flesh!". But Satan and his retinue interpreted everything differently, in the way he needed in order to involve as many people as possible in carnal sin and turn this cheerful holiday into a kind of Sabbath, which he sometimes succeeded in doing.
Thanks to the efforts of him and his henchmen, under the influence of drunk strong drinks, he turned into a general riot. Satan always appeared on such holidays in his unchanged "stage" costume.
On the subject: "The Devil has many names."