Many people and researchers of demonology have a question: what is the difference between Satan and such entities as the Devil and Lucifer? Confusion in the consciousness and the difference between these names is formed due to inaccurate translations and their further misuse. Often times, all three names are used synonymously to describe the same being - as are all names for Lucifer. Such an approach takes place, however, it is also important to know the initial characteristics of each.
What is the difference between Satan and the Devil?
Devil and Satan - in many sources this is the same name in two different languages. In Wikipedia, you can find a translation from the Hebrew of the name of the latter: "adversary." It is used to refer to several creatures in the Old Testament, although in some cases it refers to an individual character. It is he who tempts Job (this moment is very interesting for theologians, since the temptation occurs with the permission of God) in the book of the same name.
"Devil" is an Englishization of the Greek diablos, which also means enemy. In the New Testament, this name denotes a special character who, by and large, has the same role as Satan: he is entrusted with tempting the followers of God and leading them away from doing his will. A striking example of his fulfillment of this commission: the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.
The desire to describe with the name of Satan all the evil creatures of the earth comes from the Zoroastrian creation and syncretization of the words: Ahura Mazda Ahriman / Angra Mainyu = Shaitan / Saitana. This is more related to the stories in the Sumerian, Akkadian and Babylonian ancient stories.
Satan and Lucifer are different demons
Lucifer, on the other hand, is the "morning star." This is one of the ancient names for the planet Venus. Venus first appears in Isaiah (denoted as Heylel in Hebrew), where it is an allegorical name for the human king. The difference between Lucifer and Satan is that the former also appears in the New Testament, but does not intersect with the latter.
The devil differs from Lucifer in the semantic reference of the second to the king, whose power has decreased. It is a Greek word for Hillel, a shining star, morning and evening star.
The difference between the Devil and Satan
The name Satan began to mix with the devil much later. So, in early Christianity, this character did not have such a pronounced negative connotation - he was sometimes used as a name for Jesus in early prayers and hymns.
The devil comes from the word Devi, which has the same root as the devil and deity. This is an ancient dichotomous tradition: the Zoroastrians called their good gods asuras, and their evil creatures virgins. In the Vedas, the Ashura were the gods of demons in the east (Jealous Gods), and their gods (of the west) were Davis. Thus, in the ancient languages there are personal similarities, different ancient peoples looked at other gods by their names as evil, and perceived their own as good.
How Satan, Devil, and Lucifer are Different in the Bible
There is not a single verse or passage in the Bible that explicitly says “Lucifer is Satan,” but a study of several passages shows that these are two names of the same spirit. The fall of Lucifer at Isaiah 14:12 is probably the same as Jesus mentioned at Luke 10:18: "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven." A similar fall is depicted in Ezekiel 28.
Isaiah 14: 12-18 describes the fall from heaven of a man named "Lucifer" in the King James version and the "morning star, son of the dawn" in NIV. Other versions of the Bible call it "Day Star", "Shining Star" and "Bright Morning Star". These differences are due to disagreements over the translation of the Hebrew word-gel. Regardless, the description of the person in question shows that it may be none other than Satan. It is known from Jesus' own words in the Gospel of Luke that he fell from heaven. Thus, when Isaiah says that Lucifer or Helel was cast down to earth (Isaiah 14:12), it is about Satan. The reason for his fall is found in verses 13 and 14:
It is this eternal desire to be God, and this is the temptation he used in the Garden of Eden to make Eve disobey God: “You will be like God” (Genesis 3: 5).
Ezekiel 28 is another passage that refers to Lucifer. Although it starts with God telling Ezekiel to “raise a complaint against the king of Tire” (v. 12), the evil idol worshiping king, it soon becomes clear that this passage also speaks of the power behind this king. This power is Satan. Verse 13 says he was "in Eden, in the garden of God." Obviously, the king of Tire has never been to Eden. Verse 14 says, "You were anointed with the guardian cherub because I ordained you." Lucifer appears to have had the position of a guardian angel in heaven “among stones of fire,” considered to be shining gems that can be seen in other descriptions of heaven (Exodus 24:10; Revelation 21: 18-21).
Summing up the differences between the Devil, Satan and Lucifer, we can conclude that most researchers are inclined to believe that Lucifer and Satan in the Bible are the same name for a single being. In other sources and cultures, these are 3 different entities. Which version to lean towards is a personal choice of everyone, depending on beliefs and religion.
People have been interested in the classification of representatives of the other world for a long time. Back in the 6th century, a kind of division was developed that assigned its place to each angel, demon, spirit, devil and elemental. Found a "haven" in these descriptions and the aforementioned characters.
Who is Lucifer
Lucifer is essentially an archangel who is not inferior in power to God. Once Lucifer came to the aid of people, for which he was punished, expelled from heaven and, in addition, turned into a serpent. Other images of the entity are a child or a beautiful green-eyed youth with long, slightly curly hair. He is often compared to the ancient Greek Prometheus, who secretly brought fire to the earth from the Olympians and then was chained to a rock for many years. But the role of Lucifer is more important, because he gave people knowledge, which means the right to choose and the ability to disobey the divine will.
From the point of view of the canonical church, such an act is undoubtedly evil. So Lucifer became an instigator and tempter who leads good people astray. Lucifer, like God, is also a creator, but in his power is not cosmic matters, but the earthly world. He took many angels down with him, who naturally became demons in human consciousness. While Lucifer's power over the forces of evil is undeniable, it is not absolute. He has many deputies, including Astaroth and Mephistopheles.
Lucifer's sin is pride.
Who is Satan
Under the name of Satan, or the evil one, the prince of the human world is hidden. He carries deception and is one of the main enemies of God. Satan easily changes his guises, assuming any form. The evil one is often personified with Lucifer. But if the latter is a "luminiferous", "a day girl", once a beloved angel of God, then Satan is a "slanderer", "conspirator", "enemy".
There is an opinion that after the fall, Lucifer was reborn into an entity lower in status and consciousness. According to the classification of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, Satan is a subordinate; its ruler is Lucifer. Although the wicked one has a whole host of devils under his command, who are considered the attendants of hell. We can draw a conclusion about the down-to-earth function of Satan, who acts as a kind of "caretaker" in the world of evil. It is not in his power to create, but he quite copes with the task of maintaining a given order. By the way, it is with Satan that Michael the Archangel will someday have to fight in the main battle against evil. According to the biblical version, the evil one will be defeated, which will put an end to all the unkind in the world.
Satan's sin is anger.
Who is Beelzebub
Beelzebub rules the world of insects and went to hell not from the Christian sky, like Lucifer, but migrated from the beliefs of the Middle East. The name of the entity is traditionally translated as "lord of the flies." Beelzebub is portrayed as a large ugly insect; an ugly goat, calf or cow; winged woman. The demon is able to overthrow the powerful, bringing foreign tyrants to their lands. It arouses good people, especially priests and believers, to lawlessness, destruction, envy, murder, sodomy.
It is believed that Beelzebub's ultimate goal is to destroy the world. The demon is often identified with Satan, although most authors call him the first helper of the evil one. According to another widespread version - Beelzebub serves directly to Lucifer. Although they try to put on the crown of the Christian Prince of Darkness on the "lord of the flies," but rather rarely: according to the classical versions, the essence plays the role of a powerful "assistant".
In the name of Beelzebub, along with Satan and Lucifer, black magicians summon lower demons, thereby emphasizing not only its importance, but also a separate existence. Sometimes Beelzebub is portrayed as a kind of "cook" at a hellish feast: he roasts the soul of a sinner and sends a "delicacy" to the table of his master.
Beelzebub's sin is gluttony.
Demons have one thing in common - serving evil. Each entity on the way of its literary development has overgrown with many conjectures, ranging from appearance and ending with the position "in society". Lucifer, Satan and Beelzebub are different personalities, but together they represent the collective image of the devil as the source of all evil in the world.
Inspired by the post I read from VERB. Moreover, I did not agree with the post. Then I tried to find him - it didn’t work. Somewhere in the quotation book was as I remember now.
"Satan", "Lucifer", "Devil", "Demon", "Damn" are important concepts that are widely used in religion, theology and philosophy. Unfortunately, in the scientific world, and not only at the level of everyday consciousness, incorrect identifications are allowed. In everyday life, very often these words are perceived as synonyms, and it often happens that they are even considered as individuals differentiated by sex.
So, we read, remember and do not get confused.
"Satan" - an Hebrew word often found in the Bible. According to the context, in all passages of the Holy Scripture it means "enemy". By the way, the main meaning of the word does not depend on the qualitative assessment of "good" or "bad". The "enemy" is simply there. As it is warm, cold or hot.
Semantic analysis of the term "Satan" allows us to conclude that this is not a simple, but a complex word. It contains two important roots: sat (sat) + an with the ending a.
The first - "sat" - has two main meanings: 1) powerful, tough; 2) truth, truth. The second - an - is big, great. Hence the "giant" - "great among the great." Taking into account the second meaning of the root sat, it is not difficult to determine that "Satan" means "great truth" or "great truth." It can be powerful and tough.
It is no coincidence that in the book of Job God himself appeared in the guise of Satan, and this idea is conveyed in a peculiar language of display. He brings trials into our lives if we have embarked on the path of a false course of action. The concept of a certain unified reality, truth - sat, where both the object and the subject are dissolved, can be found in Zen Buddhism.
The root sat is ancient, and the above interpretation corresponds to the Sanskrit or Proto-Slavic linguistic structure. It is quite possible that there was something similar in the Hebrew language. It is no coincidence that Job said about God: “You have become hard on me; with a strong hand you are at enmity against me. ”- Job 30:21. In this verse, the idea of great power, rigidity is traced. In addition, it acts as a truth and truth, which a person cannot comprehend.
Word "Devil" in the Holy Scriptures it refers not to some super-being opposed to God, but to an ordinary person. The Greek word "diabolis", which is reproduced as "devil", means "false accuser, liar" with a connotation of "enemy." The devil acts as a symbol of the personification of the slanderer, in the form of a person who distorts the truth. Our second hypostasis is devilish. Any sinful deeds of a person are devilish, but not in the sense that they are imposed on him by some powerful entity opposing God, but in the fact that a person acts according to his own will.
In this sense, difficult verses can be interpreted: “He who commits sin is of the devil” (1 John 3: 8) or “... in order to deprive him of his power by death, who has the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. 2:14). An excellent comparison of a sinful man with the devil is given in the sixth verse of Psalm 108: "Set the wicked over him, and let the devil stand at his right hand." The basic idea is that “our sins” and “the work of the devil” are essentially the same thing. In Acts (5: 3) the Apostle Peter says to Ananias: "Why did you allow Satan to put in your heart the thought of lying to the Holy Spirit." Placing a sinful plan in our thoughts, we launch a program for its implementation.
Lucifer -"Morning star" or "light bearer""Son of the dawn", as the Bible also calls him,the most beautiful of the angels.Lucifer was the first among the overshadowing cherubim and constantly contemplated the enduring rays of God's glory. How did he turn into the devil?
There are several versions here:
1. The most famous - Lucifer , who considered himself the most perfect creature, went against God out of jealousy, because he loved Adam and Eve more than more perfect angels. Lucifer declared himself equal to God and rebelled. As a result, he and the angels who followed him (about a third) were thrown into hell.
2. The second version is set forth in the Book of Enoch. It says that the angels descended from heaven themselves, desiring mortal women. Their descendants were giants - nephelims. The famous Goliath is believed to be nephelim. Modern theologians believe that both events described took place, but at different times.
3. In the third version, being overly proud of himself, enjoying being close to God, Lucifer did not want to have any masters over himself, even God. This beautiful and wise angel desired the glory and reverence that belongs only to God. He longed for power and wanted to rule the Universe himself instead of the Creator. "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on a mountain in the host of the gods, at the edge of the north; I will ascend to the cloudy heights, I will be like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:13, 14). Lucifer sowed confusion among other celestials. Lucifer recruited an army of similar disgruntled angels and led them to war against the Lord. And when a third of the angels rebelled against God, the Lord considered it necessary to deprive them of their right to be present in the perfect world. The armies of God were commanded by the Archangel Michael. “And there was a war in heaven and the great dragon was cast down” (Apocalypse).
In general, one way or another, Lucifer was expelled from heaven. Since then, his name has become Satan - the adversary. But even in this image, he is, rather, the leader of earthly affairs, moreover, the leader appointed by God. E His main job is to test human beings and accuse them of their atrocities. True, he is cynical and overly diligent in the performance of his duties.
"Daemon" means full of wisdom. The word demon comes from the Greek term Diamon, that is, "divine power", "rock", "God". Daimons mediated between gods and humans. A person was considered lucky if he had a demon nearby to help him.
With the development of Christian demonology, demons began to be associated exclusively with evil, already by their origin they were confidants of the devil. According to the Bible, demons are fallen angels who followed Lucifer when he was cast out of heaven by God. Towards the end of the early Christian period, all demons began to be identified with the fallen angels. Satan was their supreme ruler. The only purpose of demons was to incite people to immoral acts and to stand between people and God.
In the Middle Ages and during the Renaissance, demons, as agents of the devil, became associated with witches and sorcerers.
"Heck" according to the generally accepted definition - a demon, in religious and superstitious ideas - an evil spirit, "unclean force", a supernatural being. However, the demon and the devil should not be confused. In rank, the devil is well below the demon. And if a demon is"Full of wisdom" fallen angel, then the devil is just a petty demon, not even possessing the proper intelligence and capable only of minor mischief. Over time, if he is very lucky, the devil can grow up and become a real devil. But it rarely comes to this, since during the growth of the devil, as a rule, some kind fellow appears and destroys him.
“Six qualities have devils: in three they are like people, and in three they are like angels: like people, they eat and drink; as humans, they multiply, and as humans, they die; like angels, they have wings; like angels, they know the future, like angels, they walk from one end of the world to the other. Some say they take on any form and can become seers, but invisible.(Avot de Rabi Natan 37) "
That's it ... There will be more to come, and it is also very interesting.
Lucifer-Satan
If the Creator of all things almighty Yahweh is the source of goodness, goodness and light, then where did evil come from in the world? At first, the ancient Israelites did not ponder this question. Only gradually did they come to the conclusion that there is a certain evil demon who deliberately tries to distort all the good deeds of God. They began to call him Samael(that is, "The malevolent god"), or Satan(that is, "Enemy", "Opposing"). Where it came from is not exactly known, and we will in vain look for the answer to this question in the Bible. Satan rarely appears on its pages at all, and in the Pentateuch (Torah) it is not mentioned even once. This is understandable - after all, then the editors of the Holy Scriptures would have to explain why the Lord tolerates his presence. However, this does not mean that there was no corresponding legend in the folk legends. The best evidence of this is verses 12-15 in Isaiah 14 and verses 11-19 in Ezekiel 28. True, the adversary of Yahweh is here spoken of in a half-hint and not directly. But this only testifies to the fact that the story was well known and did not need to be re-told in full. If you combine it with the story of creation from the Book of Genesis and some other later testimonies, you get the following picture.
First of all, God created heaven and earth: heaven (empiric)- the spiritual world, invisible, and the earth - the visible, material world. The land, shrouded in deep darkness, was unsettled and hidden in the abyss of the original waters. And there was nothing on it, only the Spirit of God was hovering over the water. And God said: "Let there be light." And the light arose (after all, any utterance of the Lord immediately becomes a reality!) - God saw that the light was good, and separated the light from the darkness. He called the light day, and the darkness - night.
Unlike the desert land, which God adorned and improved for several more days, the upper sky (empirium) from its very inception was full of splendor and inhabited by myriads of God's servants - angels(the word "angel" is Greek and means "messenger" in Russian). The wisest and most powerful of them are the six-winged seraphim were in the closest union with God and were involved in His hidden secrets. They were served by impetuous cherubim whose task was to uphold and guard the throne of God. They were followed by other angelic orders: thrones, dominions, powers, powers and start... And at the far reaches of the empiric were archangels and the angels themselves. They became messengers of the Lord and conductors of His will on earth.
Although Almighty God created angels as His servants, He gave them complete free will. Each of them could make a choice - to remain with the Lord in the future or to live at their own discretion. It seemed that they could find seductive things in a desert world, away from the ways prepared by the All-Wise God? But, nevertheless, among the angels there were a considerable number of backsliding. And the cherubim were the first to set an example of rebelliousness Lucifer... Shaded with great glory, shining with beauty and light, he was created the closest of the Lord's servants, but did not want to be subordinate to his Creator. No, Lucifer himself wanted to become like the Creator and to erect his throne like the throne of the Most High. (Some Jewish writers believed that he was plotting to create another world.) Lucifer's proud dreams, however, were not destined to come true. After all, every angel who turns away from God becomes an unclean spirit, a bearer of evil. Refusing to participate in the Eternal Light, Lucifer and his henchmen were cast down from the empirium and consumed by hellish darkness. From now on, the dark abyss of the underworld became their habitat - sheol(or Abaddon) - the kingdom of eternal incinerating fire and unbearable cold. Here Lucifer acquired a new name - Satan. A rebellious subject of God, he was never able to create anything new. Hidden in the backyards of the world, Satan tries to turn the power received from Him against the Almighty. But is it possible for anyone to shake the beauty of the universe created by God? Performing its tricks, the spirit of evil, unwittingly, continues to serve God and contributes to the fulfillment of His secret plan. (Some apocrypha argue that Satan was not God's creation at all; in these books, he acts as the original embodiment of darkness, which supposedly existed long before creation and not just as the absence of Light, but as a kind of essence.)
I must say that the attitude of the Jews to Satan changed over time. Initially, in their eyes, he was not at all the notorious villain and ruthless monster that he later became. Rather, he acted as an earpiece and provocateur, abusing the patience of the wise and all-knowing Yahweh. For the first time, Satan appears in the Book of Job, where he is presented in the form of a malicious angel, in everything dependent on God and doing his tricks only with His permission. However, in the following centuries, the image of Satan acquired larger, cosmic features. He turns into the eternal enemy and tempter of man. The biblical Book of the Wisdom of Solomon directly says that “God created man to be incorruptible and made him the image of His eternal existence; but death entered the world through the envy of the devil, and those belonging to his inheritance test it ”(Wis. Sol. 2: 23-24). All the moral evil in the world is being raised to Satan. He is presented as the ruler of a host of spirits hostile to God and man. Evil ceases to be considered only a flaw; it reveals its terrible activity directed against the Creator and His will. In the era of Jesus Christ, speaking of the devil, they no longer had in mind the tempting angel of the Book of Job, but the cosmic enemy of all creation.
Jesus repeatedly mentions in His sermons that the evil spirit is the true prince of this world, but this position remains unexplained by Him. The Apostle Paul, developing it, linked the power of Satan over man with original sin. It was then that man, created in the image and likeness of God, was enslaved by the prince of darkness. It took an unheard-of sacrifice to save him from final destruction - the Son of God had to become human, descend into the world and accept a martyr's death on the cross. After that, like all dead people, He ended up in hell, but since He had no sin in Himself, Satan could not keep Him. Leaving the underworld, Christ took with Him the souls of the Old Testament righteous. (The Gospels say nothing about the descent of Christ into hell, but there are separate indications of this in other New Testament books: 1 Peter 3: 18–20; Acts 2: 23–28; Rom. 10: 7; Eph. 4: 8 -ten.)
Christ returned to the descendants of Adam the mercies of God, so that they would become his children and heirs of His Kingdom. Since then, God does not allow Satan to rule over the souls of His faithful (in the Epistle to the Ephesians, Paul says: “And you, dead because of your crimes and sins, in which you once lived, according to the custom of this world, according to the will of the prince who rules in the air, the spirit , acting now in the sons of opposition, between whom we all once lived according to our fleshly lusts, God, according to His great love, quickened with Christ "), but leaves him evil and unbelievers. Although the prince of darkness was defeated by Christ, the struggle for human hearts is still far from over. Paul keenly felt the spiritual battle going on in the world, and wrote to his followers: “Put on the whole armor of God, so that we can stand against the wiles of the devil, because our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spirits of wickedness. celestial ".
This text is an introductory fragment.Lucifer is one of the most controversial and mysterious figures in both religion and mythology. In some sources - he is the embodiment of evil, in others - a bearer of light energy, an epic hero.
According to the Bible, Lucifer, like all angels, did not have a mother. The Lord God created them.
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Who is Lucifer in the Bible
Other Legends of Lucifer
Lucifer's mother
In the Middle Ages, some theologians believed that angels did not come from emptiness, but were created from the energy emitted by the stars. This energy was called Lucida. Therefore, in many religious texts it is Lucida who is identified with the mother of Lucifer. However, such a vision is interpreted by the church as heretical.
Later, during the Renaissance, there was a tendency to view Lucifer not as the devil, but as a follower of his mother, who is the source of goodness and light. That is, Lucifer was credited with the mission of the Renaissance of mankind.
Devil, Satan and Lucifer in the Old Testament
In the Old Testament, the forces of evil were described in different aspects.
Lucifer in the New Testament
In the New Testament Lucifer also appears in different forms, but everywhere is the personification of evil forces.
Some interpretations
In the Jewish tradition
According to Jewish beliefs, Satan, as in Christianity, is not equal in strength to God. He serves Him like an accusing angel, and has no will of his own. The Creator allows Satan to be present in the human world in order to be able to choose between good and evil.
Sometimes among the Jews, Satan appears as an impersonal evil, and sometimes in a more prominent role. He is often referred to as Samael or Sataniel. He is associated with the angel of death and with the bad qualities of people. But sometimes he is endowed with his own personality.
In Christianity
Christian teaching considers all conversion to Satan in fortune telling and in witchcraft, as a great sin and madness. It considers all the insolence of demons to be weak, that is, powerless against faith, backed up by prayers. In both Orthodoxy and Catholicism, the renunciation of Satan occurs during a ceremony. A small number of Christians believe that the parable of Lucifer is nothing more than just an allegory. These include, for example, Hobbes and Newton.
In islam
In Islam, Satan is called Iblis. In this religion, the story of Iblis is very similar to the story of Lucifer in Christianity. He was a very clever genie, and the Almighty raised him to the rank of an angel and joined this circle. At first Iblis was a believer, but then he stopped obeying the orders of God and was cursed by him.
In satanism
Among the adherents of Satanism, there are the following opinions. Satan is the personification of the dark sides of man, his worst qualities. He "sits" in each of us... People are faced with the task of recognizing him and “pulling him out” into the light. The satanic essence is the main one for a person, it carries power and strength. You should be proud of him, not ashamed of him. You need to cultivate evil in yourself, worshiping it in satanic temples, casting magic spells and making sacrifices. For most Satanists, the Devil is a symbol that personifies natural strength opposed to God.
Who is Lucifer: videos, icons, literature
Icons
In the Middle Ages, the image of Satan was written out in great detail. It was huge in size, combined the features of man and animal. His mouth was associated with the gates of hell. Entering hell meant being eaten by Satan. Among the plots of icon painting, there is an image called "The Fall of the Stallion". Based on a chapter from the book of the prophet Isaiah... Angels turn into demons, and among them is Lucifer himself. He is the box, in this case identified with Satan.
Literature
Video
Many films and TV series are shot about Lucifer. Almost all of them can be watched on video on the Internet. But in them he is usually viewed not from a religious point of view, but as a hero of funny adventures. For example, in the American television series Lucifer, the protagonist is the Demon King, who is bored on the throne. He decides to go down to earth and ends up in Los Angeles. There he gets a job as director of a nightclub and begins to lead a riotous lifestyle, and later is engaged in solving intricate crimes, using his supernatural powers.
Almost all films about Lucifer are by no means religious or philosophical, but rather entertaining, which does not contribute to the spiritual development of young people.
