Codec

Maybe someone here can explain some of the background of the Devil and Hell.

When I read through the Bible, I was rather suprised how little it occurs. I mean, we all know that hell will be a firey pit with sulphur and brimstone buring, and that people like me will be cast into it for eternal damnation. There are other characters like Beelzebub who are apparently Satan, or Lucifers helpers. There is the idea Satan was thrown out of heaven, that he fought with St. Micheal. Then there are the horns, the tail, the amazing red catsuit etc.

However, when you go looking for the fine details, there are very few in the Bible. Is it just me, or is there a lot of interpretation and myth making going on? Apart from a couple of bits of Daniel, and some rather oblique references in Jude and who knows quite what in Revalations, I find it difficult to reconcile the popular notion of Hell and the Devil, with whats actually printed.

So where did these concepts come from, that we all know and love? Milton??

Tigers!

The red catsuit is a mediaeval representation of Satan, designed to make him look foolish. It is not biblical (unless we try to relate it to the Red horseman memeber of the 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse).
Hell is the final repose of Satan and his angels, not their current abode.
You have raised an important point. The confusion between what is actually biblical and what is commonly believed to be biblical.

mikem

Belief in one god, an opposing agent, and heaven and hell predates both Judaism and Xtianity, in the religion of ZOROASTRIANISM named for it's Persian founder, Zoroaster (630 to 550BC) Ahara Mazda, the Lord of Wisdom, aligns himself with Truth, and Ahriman, another divine being allies himself with the Lie. Humanity has to align itself with one or the other. When the individual dies, he comes to the Bridge of Discrimination, and if he has aligned himself/herself with Truth, goes to heaven, and if not to hell.

There is an end of time too, when the universe will be consumed by fire.

Judaism was not originally monotheistic, and did not have a clearly worked out eschatology, and may have been influenced by Zoroastrianism. In the Jewish scritures, Satan first appears in the book of Job, as God's adversary. He appears to be one of God's angels, albeit a rebellious one.

The idea of judgement at the end of time first appears in the book of Daniel, chapter 12, which was written just a couple of centuries prior to Jesus time, during what is called the intertestamental period during which under the influence of Hellenism, Judaism was adapting and evolving and producing a number of sects. This is also when apocalyptic type literature began to appear, stuff that does not make it into the Christian Bible, like the Books of Enoch. These are speculative and florid works that deal in large part with esoteric matters to do with the end times and life after death.

Hope this helps!

Amaleq13

The conception of Satan as the Enemy of God is not the original Jewish conception. You can see from Job that Satan worked for God (he even checks in with God in Heaven!) as the Adversary (literal meaning) of Mankind. IIRC, it is thought that the "Satan = God's Enemy" conception is the result of later Persian influences.

The snake in the Garden is clearly "just" a talking snake but Christians like to read Satan into the story under the influence of Revelation.

Tubby Lardmore

I figure the Bible would not have had a hot underworld at all had its authors not lived fairly close to the active volcanism of Italy and Sicily--close enough to have heard stories from travelers, if the authors themselves never got beyond Palestine. The Golan Heights east of the Jordan River is also volcanic, though I believe it has been dormant in historic times.

couch_sloth

As mentioned by others,
the Jewish view of Satan, at the time that the book of Job was written, appears to have been quite different than the modern (e.g. Christian) view.

The Jewish Essenes seemed to have believed in an evil Satan, e.g. who could lead people into sinfulness or trick them into believing lies, just prior to the existence of Christianity.

Codec

Thats interesting, I'd heard of a possible Zoroastrian influence, dating from the time of the exile. They were in Persia for about 50 years or so, so I guess they picked up a few cultural bits and pieces.

So do we know where the names Satan, Lucifer, Beelzebub and similar come from? Any throwbacks to Persian deities?

Is the Satan being cast out of heaven just an interpretation of Revelations - or is there more to it?

mikem

I stand (or sit) corrected! You are of course right that Satan was man's adversary, not God's as Zechariah 3:1 makes clear.

mikem

The references to hell in the New Testament, particularly the Gospels would be based more on the Valley Of Hinnom (from where the word "Gehenna" derives) to the southwest of Jerusalem (I think!). It was the city's rubbish dump where fires were kept continuously burning. I also read somewhere that the bodies of some criminals might be thrown there, but I'm not sure about that since reading somewhere else (an article by Richard Carrier I think) that there was a common grave reserved for criminals. Be that as it may, it was the valley of Hinnom that came to symbolise the judgement of God.

Tubby Lardmore

I've heard the Gehenna burning trash dump theory too, but the brimstone part of the story surely must have originated with volcanic activity. Probably the visions of the climate of Hell owe something to more than one location on earth.