Deavonreye

I recently did a word search on an online bible site and . . . . really didn't find anything all that horrible this character did. As far as evil goes, the biblical god seems to have satan beat. FAR more deaths of innocent people either by his hand, or as a result of his demands.

Why is it that christianity sees satan as 100% evil. . . . .other than the weird need to have polar dichotomies like a 100% good god vs. 100% evil devil.

Davka

Well, the devil is opposed to god, and god is good, so . . . :huh:

damned if i know!

shadowfox

Isn't Lucifer Latin for light bringer?

Huon

Yes, lux is the noun for light, fero, ferre is the verb to bring. To offer is a derivative of this verb.

James Brown

Every Batman needs a Joker.

Simplyme

Because Christianity is stupid!

Toto

Briefly, of the top of my head -

Satan is completely absent from the early stages of the Jewish religion. YHWH in the Hebrew scriptures is like a force of nature, and creates both good and evil.
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The character of Satan shows up in the Book of Job, but he is not really Satan at that point - he is the adversary, Saitan, and still part of God's court.

There isn't really a conception of Satan as the Prince of Evil until later, when the Jews came under Babylonian influence and identified YHWH with good, so they then needed a force for evil to explain why there is evil in the world. So Satan was drafted for the role.

Most of what you think you know about Satan does not come from the Bible. It comes from Milton's Paradise Lost, which turned Satan into a romantic rebel, or popular culture.

If you want more details, google "history of satan." For example his link (avoid web pages that take the mark of the beast seriously.)

There is a book by Elaine Pagels called The Origin of Satan: How Christians Demonized Jews, Pagans, and Heretics (or via: amazon.co.uk) that I have not read, but which looks interesting.

Deavonreye

Good post, Toto. I'll take a look.

dockeen

Some also comes from the Koran.

It is fascinating to watch older church goers talk about details, like how Lucifer was
the leader of god's choir (why does a tri-omni god have lesser beings around to sing
his praises anyway), and how he got "too big for his britches". They love this
story, and adding their own little color to it.

dockeen

The best analogy for satan in job I have heard came from here, with satan being
compared to Slugworth to god's Willy Wonka.

ETA

Followup on Slugworth

http://www.beingjewish.com/basics/satan.html