The Devil
Ask Me Anything
Week 9: The Devil
Is the devil a theoretical concept of human temptation to stray from God rather than a spiritual being?
Like with so many things we have discussed, the way we view the Devil has evolved over time. There are a lot of historical, cultural, and spiritual factors that influence the way that Satan has been viewed over time. The idea of a red, scaley, pitch-forked devil with horns comes mostly from art and fictional literature. Scripture does not go into great detail about the devil, but what we can glean is that on a base level satan was a fallen angel and ruler of demons that is an enemy to God. However, Christians, like with so many topics we have previously discussed, have diverse beliefs. Evangelicals tend to believe in a more literal Satan, which walks the earth and tempts people. It's important to note that Methodism is an evangelical tradition. However, even according to Wikipedia, it is "broadly evangelical." Pentecostals view Satan as real, active, and deeply involved in spiritual warfare. Even within the walls of a single church, there is likely a wide range of beliefs, which is healthy (it is a red flag if everyone believes the exact same thing). There hasn't been a lot of research on belief in the devil, however, a Barna survey from 2009 found that 40% of US adults believed that the devil was metaphorical instead of literal.
Largely, Satan has been used as a way to explain and pinpoint evil. It is deeply rooted in an idea of justice and injustice. Satan is a very dualistic concept seen in opposition to a wholly good God. But interestingly, before 2nd Temple Judaism, Hebrews believed that God was the source of good and evil. We see God carrying out really horrific, unjust actions. This was pretty common in the ancient world to view a single deity as a complex, complicated character. Most mentions of satan are actually in reference to humans (1 Sam 29:4), and when it was in reference to a celestial being (Job, Num. 22:22) they were under God's authority and seemingly a part of God's court. The satan was seen as an accuser of humans, working with God. This is crucial to keep in mind when we jump from a mention of the satan in Job to a mention of Satan in Luke.
So, how did the Judean people move from believing that God was the source of good and evil, to believe in an evil dichotomous celestial being? Just like with all history, there is no way to pinpoint an exact turning point, or conversation, however, many scholars agree that it was an evolution of their belief that took place due to a variety of factors: oppression, exile, and mixing of other cultural beliefs. In 586 BCE, the Babylonian empire ransacked Jerusalem and took all of the Israelite elites to Babylon. Before and during this time, the Israelites were experiencing a lot of injustice, and one way of making sense of this could be through trying to make sense of how evil entered the world. They began to really wrestle with the problem of evil: how could a good omnipresent, omnibenevolent, omniscient God allow evil to continue to exist? It is pretty soon after the exile that Judeans start theologizing about a cosmic struggle between good and bad. In Babylon, the Judeans would've come into contact with Zoroastrianism, and it is very likely that the idea of a celestial Satan came from the intermingling of these beliefs. In Zoroastrianism, there is the belief of a cosmic struggle involving Ahura Mazda the divinely good god, and Angra Mainyu, an evil, malevolent god. There is still a lot of room for discovery in the relationship between Judaism and Zoroastrianism because even though many scholars believe they impacted each other, there are not many experts in both ancient Judaism and Zoroastrianism.
It is under 2nd Temple Judaism that there is an emergence of apocalypticism. Apocalypticism has come up a lot in the past few weeks. It is heavily involved in our conversations around heaven, hell, and demonology. It also is the main factor leading up to Jesus, and the entire apocalypticism movement focuses on God calling for a Messiah and sending someone to right the battle between good and evil. Apocalypticism is a way to explain evil. These apocalyptic teachers believe that we are living in an evil age full of evil powers and that there is a battle between good and evil. They believe that God has a plan to finish the battle, but in the meantime as humans, we have a role to play. We are either on the side of good or evil, light or dark. Many apocalyptics believed that God would reveal secret things to special people and that God would send a Messiah to bring about the end of the cosmic battle. It is tied to this yearning for justice, redemption, and resurrection. Which largely, we are still struggling with and yearning for. We desire to follow a God who is as good and merciful as we've been taught while grappling with all of the horrors we see around us. We are seeking justice in the divine.
One major group of apocalyptic believers, the Essenes, abandoned Jerusalem to leave in the dead sea wilderness. They believed the temple wasn't being run properly. They believed that not only were the Romans evil but so were other Judeans. We start to see that believing in Satan as personified evil isn't just a theoretical construct, it has social implications. One major function is demonizing other communities, both outside of, and within their own community. Every year, the Essenes had a community renewal ceremony, where everyone essentially re-voiced their commitment to being a part of this group and the fight between good and evil. The ceremony heavily revolved around Belial, which was a devil figure. Interestingly in that ceremony, they weren't really condemning Belial, but more so condemning followers of Belial (or really who they claimed to be followers of Belial). These followers consisted of foreign governments as well as other Jewish groups.
So, what exactly does scripture, both canonical and non-canonical, have to say about Satan? Let's start with the Hebrew Bible. 1st Enoch, which we discussed last week, is a Jewish apocalyptic text. The author of Enoch was trying to make sense of how evil came into the world and why God had to send the flood. Enoch tells the story of rebellious angles, The Watchers, who were led by a leader, Samyaza. The Watchers procreated with human women who gave birth to the Leviathan, giant human-angel hybrids. Another fallen angel, Azazel, taught humans godlessness (apparently they introduced humans to makeup). Both of these fallen angels influenced belief in Satan. Samyaza was ultimately slain by Gabriel, and Azazel was imprisoned in a pit of darkness by Raphael, another archangel. From this story, we get the idea that fallen angels inspire evil actions. Samyaza paints the picture of an entity that rules over other fallen beings, similar to the Devil over demons. Azazel paints the picture of a tempter that is cast into a pit for eternity, similar to the idea of Satan ruling over hell.
Interestingly, 1st Enoch, which inspired many other apocalyptic texts, states evil as entering the world right before the flood. It is only later, that theologians teach evil as entering the world with Adam and Eve, or even at creation itself. Though there is little mention of Satan as a celestial being in the Hebrew Bible, many Christians retroactively interpret the Devil in the Hebrew bible. There was a book that wasn't canonized called the Apocalypse of Moses or the Life of Adam and Eve. In the text, Adam and Eve are telling the story of the garden to their decedents. In this story, the author says that satan inspired the snake to tempt Adam and Eve, and that the Devil poisoned the fruit with lust. After Adam asks God for the tree of life, God refuses and says that if Adam can avoid evil, that they can be resurrected in the end days. This is interesting because this text is reinterpreting Genesis through the lens of Apocalypticism and an understanding of the Devil as personified evil. So, it isn't until this story that we start interpreting Satan as being in the Garden of Eden.
This now brings us to Christian belief, which varies drastically from the Jewish belief. One major shift is that Satan is viewed with significantly more power than in Hebrew tradition and is no longer seen as working with God. Satan is translated to the Greek word, diabolos (slanderer). Devil is mentioned 36 times in the protestant New Testament. Thirty-three of these references are to a non-human, celestial being, which is a significant shift from the Hebrew bible. Satan is believed to have the power to cause sickness and disease and as the ruler of demons. With scripture, context is always crucial. For example, Mark, the first recorded gospel doesn’t mention Satan. Part of this could be that it was written earlier, and the theology around Satan was less common or developed. It was also written for a Jewish audience that didn't really believe in a celestial embodied Satan. Whereas Luke, which was written for a non-Jewish audience, speaks heavily about the Devil. The audience for Luke would've been much more comfortable and familiar with the idea of evil or nefarious celestial beings.
One popular story is the temptation of Jesus (Luke 4:1-13). Interestingly, like we mentioned last week, the wilderness was seen as a place where you could meet with evil, and the devil would come to tempt you. Demons were believed to inhabit wastelands and deserts, which are places that commonly lead to auditory and visual hallucinations. Early Christian monks would go into the desert in an effort to help fight against evil and temptation. So, I think that context is important in understanding this story. According to the gospels, Jesus was led to the desert by the Holy Spirit and went without food or drink for 40 days. After 40 days, Satan came to tempt Jesus in three different ways. Each time, Jesus refused and rebuked the devil. Even though this story paints Satan as a real being, Jesus frequently taught in allegory, and it is not far off to look at stories where Jesus speaks of, or interacts with Satan, as a metaphor.
There are countless places in scripture where the Devil is seen as an allegory for other figures. For example, Revelation, which heavily influences the beliefs of Satan, is really critiquing Roman emperors. The Beast is a symbol of the Roman emperors, specifically Nero, who caused great tyranny. The author of Revelation provides pretty blatant imagery associating the rule of Rome to that of the Persian empire (which destroyed the first temple). This book is deeply rooted in the understandings and grief of its community, who were again trying to make sense of oppression and the loss of their cultural identity through the destruction of the Temple. It’s important to note that Revelation was the only Christian apocalyptic book to make it into the canon, and it was highly debated for 1500 years. John Calving and Martin Luther didn't like Revelation, and Luther briefly removed it from the canon. It was a book about hope and redemption during a very tumultuous time, and it is full of anti-empire metaphors. So, the Satan from Revelation really shouldn't be taken literally.
If we are purely looking at scripture, there really isn't enough evidence to suggest a literal Satan. The belief in Satan rose out of an oppressed community seeking answers and understandings for the oppression they were experiencing. Jo Luehman, who is a writer that seeks to decolonize theology, talks about how the Devil can be understood as a community processing its trauma. In some ways, satan was a coping mechanism, and a way to understand things that were deemed evil. Today I think there can be a lot of harm done by believing in a physical devil. People often blame and give the Devil credit for things that are purely just terrible actions perpetrated by humans. The concept of the devil can be used to avoid taking responsibility for actions and demonize groups of people.
In Methodism, we say very little about the Devil, because Methodism is a broad tradition where people from various beliefs can all practice under the same roof. It commands a specific uniform theology. Methodism focuses a lot on grace instead of fear, and therefore, in the same way, we don't talk a lot about Hell, we talk even less about the Devil. Personally, I don’t believe in a physical devil. But there was a time when I did. Believing in the devil was a way for me to make sense of evil in the world. To me, it seems that the Devil is a metaphor used to make sense of evil. I think it is worthwhile to think about to what degree we believe evil is cosmic or related to humans. So many faith conversations revolve around how God can allow evil, there are no simple answers to this question. This is part of the tension of faith, is wrestling with the joys and tragedies of life within the context of whatever it is we believe.
Discussion Questions:
How do you think the Devil has been used to cause harm?
What were you taught about the Devil growing up? How does that influence what you believe now?
Do you believe that evil stems from humans, God, other? How does this impact your beliefs?
Resources
Jo Luehmann’s IG (Check out the Highlight on Heaven/Hell)
The Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonology - Rosemary Ellen Guiley
Encyclopedia of Demons in World Religions and Cultures - Theresa Bane
The Origin of Satan - Elaine H. Pagels
Isaiah: Interpreted by Early Christian and Medieval Commentators - Robert Wilken
Zoroastrianism: An Introduction to Ancient Faith - Peter Clark