happyboy

why is it that the devil, as depicted in the new testament, doesn't really make an appearance in the old testament? in his one major appearance in the old testament, it was pretty clear was he ripping apart job's life because God let him do so. furthermore, it appears that satan is allowed into heaven at a moment's notice. in fact, it strongly suggests that satan is just another angel in God's employ.

now, assuming that the mythology of satan didn't evolve in what is it in christianity, why wouldn't God warn the ancient jews about satan and hell? in fact, God tells them about everything except an afterlife, heaven, and hell. all throughout the old testament, it flat-out states that death is the end. it strongly suggests that the ancient jews had no real afterlife beliefs to speak of. why didn't God warn them about the dangers of hell?

furthermore, the new testament makes reference to lucifer roaming about seeking people to corrupt and devour. surely he was doing this in the time period of ancient israel? and if so, why wasn't he mentioned as the enemy of God?

a very curious happyboy

Bobzammel

Most of what you mention is probably due to Persian and Greek influence. The Zoroastarians influenced beliefs in ressurection, heaven(as an abode of the afterlife, not just God's throne)hell, final judgement and so on.
Similar concepts were also further developed in Greek philosophy and mythology.
There also might be some Far Eastern influence as well.
Both cultures had significant contact with the Jewish people, and it is no real suprise there is some influence.

Sojourner553

See if this helps:


The concept of the Devil does NOT appear in the OLDEST books of the
Old Testament such as the Pentateuch--the Five Books of Moses. Instead,
the concept of the Devil only appears in those books of the Old Testament
that were written AFTER the ancient hebrews were exposed to Zorastrian
dualism from Persia in the sixth century B.C.

It is in the post-exilic book of Job, where Satan makes his first appearance
in the Old Testament. Here we are told that Satan is among the Sons of God
who "came to attend on Yahweh". God asks Satan where he has been and he replies
he has been "roaming about" the earth. God then states he must have seen
that God-fearing man--Job. Satan replies that he has, but then taunts God
that Job is only God-fearing because he has been blessed by God. Satan talks
God into testing Job's faithfulness, and God proves to him that Job is
sincere by inflicting terribly punishments on him.

Still, in the book of Job, Satan is presented as more of a teaser than the
formal arch-enemy of God, and the personification of all evil. It is when
hebrew chronicles rewrote their old testament histories in 1 and 2 Kings and
later, that Satan's character also took on its wicked personification.

The Story of the Census--Ordered by God, or by the Devil?

As shown in Section III, Chapter 1, many biblical stories appear two
or more times within the Old Testament. One of these repetitive stories
dealing with the story of why King David order a census count of the
peoples of Israel and Judah, shows the development of the concept of Satan:
In 2 Samuel 24:1, it is stated that "God" ordered a census because He was
"angry" at Israel.

In 1 Chronicles 21:1, the writer tells the SAME story, but states that
it was "Satan" who "stood up against Israel and incited David to number
Israel."

Other books (also written after the Babylonian exile, and the hebrews'
encounter with Persian dualism) also show this shift in the personification
of Satan. The prophet Zechariah speaks of "Satan" as an angel whose purpose
is to prosecute the wicked for their evil works. The gods of enemy nations
were transformed (a common practice by most ancient peoples) into demons of
evil. In this manner, Beelzebub, the Phoenician god, became another name
for Satan.

In apocryphal writings such as Enoch, Satan appears as an absolute being
of evil. The earlier portions of Enoch (written in the second and first
centuries B.C.E.) refer to fallen "sons of God" who were sent to Earth as a
punishment for a rebellion against God. There, they cohabited with women--
who passed on their evil knowledge onto subsequent generations. In the
Wisdom of Solomon (100-1 B.C.E.), Satan is identified as the one evil-being,
while in the Similitudes, there are references to a plural of satans--who
are evil angels. In THE LIFE OF ADAM AND EVE, a Jewish text dating from
the first century B.C.E., the serpent is associated with Samael, who rebels
against God when everyone is ordered to pay worship to Adam, His new
creation. Samael (which is said to mean Venom of God) bragged he would
instead build a throne above the stars where angels can worship him as
the greatest of all beings. God throws out Samael and all his supporters
out of heaven and into a deep dark dungeon.

In the Book of the Secrets of Enoch (1-50 C.E.), hosts of angels attend to
regulating the positions of the sun and stars in the sky, and monitoring the
weather. Their leader (originally called Satanial) changed his name to Satan
after revolting against God. He had become envious of Adam, and descended
down from the heavens in the attempt to rule the world.

By the time of the New Testament, Satan was already identified as the devil.
Jesus, following the common belief of the time, attributed mental diseases
to the possession of demons. There is a story in the gospels where Jesus
was said to have been tempted by the Devil, much in a similar way as the
the Buddha was tempted by the evil Mara. In Revelations 12:9, Satan is
identified with the Devil:

"The great dragon, the primeval serpent, known as the devil or Satan,
who had deceived all the world, was hurled down to the earth and his
angels were hurled down with him."

Throughout the New Testament, Satan stood in opposition to the goodness
of God. He is referred at various points as the "slanderer", the "accuser",
the "destroyer", the "evil one" and the "enemy." (Smith, op. cit., p 233)
At one point, Jesus rebukes his favorite disciple Peter with the words "get
thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savorest not
the things that be of Yahweh, but those that be of men."

The word "Satan" originally meant "accuser" in Hebrew, and only in later
was it used as the personal name for the devil. It was St. Jerome who
determined that another name for Satan was Lucifer. He read in Isaiah 14,
how Lucifer was a king of Babylon whose pride led him to believe: "I will
"ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high...
I will make myself like the Most High." And for this he was spoken of as
"fallen from Heaven." Since Luke 17:18 also spoke of Satan falling from
heaven, St. Jerome inferred that they were one and the same.

The Gnostic Christian view of Hell embodies many ancient traditions
of Egyptian, Indian, and Persian mythologies. Roman Catholics, later
drew on this material in describing Hell to their followers.

http://mac-2001.com/philo/crit/UNIVERSE.TXT

http://mac-2001.com/philo/crit/index.html

happyboy

danke

a very happy happyboy

BioBeing

Sojourner553: Interesting post! I'm new to this area, so could you clear up a question I have? Are the books you refer to ("The life of Adam and Eve" etc) considered religous (i.e. God-inspired) tomes? If so, why are they not part of the Bible? If not, why not?! Thanks.

Dominus Paradoxum

You should also see http://www.outreachjudaism.org/satan.html

Answerer

And happy, the labelling of Satan as a serpent or a seven headed dragon doesn't occur until the establishment of the new testament. And because of this, most people failed to see this and as a result, they can't see the connection between the one chapter of the bible (where the serpent was cursed to crawl on the ground for all eternity) and the last chapter (where Satan is often being portrayed as a flying seven-headed dragon with fangs and claws).