![La tenture de lApocalypse (Angers) (2)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/La_tenture_de_lApocalypse_%28Angers%29_%282%29.jpg)
A devil is the
personification of
evil
Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...
as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force.
Jeffrey Burton Russell
Jeffrey Burton Russell (born 1934) is an American historian and religious studies scholar.
Early life
Russell received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1955 and his PhD from Emory University in 1960.
Care ...
states that the different conceptions of the devil can be summed up as 1) a principle of evil independent from God, 2) an aspect of God, 3) a created being turning evil (a ''fallen angel''), and 4) a symbol of human evil.
Each tradition, culture, and religion with a devil in its mythos offers a different lens on manifestations of evil.
[Jeffrey Burton Russell, ''The Devil: Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity'', Cornell University Press 1987 , pp. 41–75] The history of these perspectives intertwines with theology, mythology, psychiatry, art, and literature developing independently within each of the traditions. It occurs historically in many contexts and cultures, and is given many different names—
Satan,
Lucifer
Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passa ...
,
Beelzebub
Beelzebub ( ; he, ''Baʿal-zəḇūḇ'') or Beelzebul is a name derived from a Philistine god, formerly worshipped in Ekron, and later adopted by some Abrahamic religions as a major demon. The name ''Beelzebub'' is associated with the Can ...
,
Mephistopheles
Mephistopheles (, ), also known as Mephisto, is a demon featured in German folklore. He originally appeared in literature as the demon in the Faust legend, and he has since appeared in other works as a stock character (see: Mephistopheles i ...
,
Iblis—and attributes: it is portrayed as blue, black, or red; it is portrayed as having horns on its head, and without horns, and so on.
[Arp, Robert. ''The Devil and Philosophy: The Nature of His Game''. Open Court, 2014. . pp. 30–50][Jeffrey Burton Russell, ''The Devil: Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity'', Cornell University Press. 1987 . p. 66.] While depictions of the devil are usually taken seriously, there are times when it is treated less seriously; when, for example, devil figures are used in advertising and on candy wrappers.
Etymology
The Modern English word ''
devil
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...
'' derives from the
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...
''
devel'', from the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...
''
dēofol'', that in turn represents an early Germanic borrowing of the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''
diabolus
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of th ...
''. This in turn was borrowed from the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
''diábolos'', "slanderer", from ''diabállein'', "to slander" from
διά ''diá'', "across, through" and βάλλειν ''bállein'', "to hurl", probably akin to the
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
''gurate'', "he lifts up".
Definitions
In his book ''The Devil: Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity'',
Jeffrey Burton Russell
Jeffrey Burton Russell (born 1934) is an American historian and religious studies scholar.
Early life
Russell received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1955 and his PhD from Emory University in 1960.
Care ...
discusses various meanings and difficulties that are encountered when using the term ''devil''. He does not claim to define the word in a general sense, but he describes the limited use that he intends for the word in his book—limited in order to "minimize this difficulty" and "for the sake of clarity". In this book Russell uses the word ''devil'' as "the
personification of
evil
Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...
found in a variety of cultures", as opposed to the word ''
Satan'', which he reserves specifically for the figure in the
Abrahamic religions
The Abrahamic religions are a group of religions centered around worship of the God of Abraham. Abraham, a Hebrew patriarch, is extensively mentioned throughout Abrahamic religious scriptures such as the Bible and the Quran.
Jewish tradition ...
.
In the Introduction to his book ''Satan: A Biography'', Henry Ansgar Kelly discusses various considerations and meanings that he has encountered in using terms such as ''devil'' and ''Satan'', etc. While not offering a general definition, he describes that in his book "whenever ''diabolos'' is used as the proper name of Satan", he signals it by using "small caps".
The ''
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...
'' has a variety of definitions for the meaning of "devil", supported by a range of citations: "Devil" may refer to Satan, the supreme spirit of evil, or one of Satan's emissaries or demons that populate Hell, or to one of the spirits that possess a demonic person; "devil" may refer to one of the "malignant deities" feared and worshiped by "heathen people", a demon, a malignant being of superhuman powers; figuratively "devil" may be applied to a wicked person, or playfully to a rogue or rascal, or in empathy often accompanied by the word "poor" to a person—"poor devil".
Baháʼí Faith
In the
Baháʼí Faith
The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...
, a malevolent, superhuman entity such as a ''devil'' or ''satan'' is not believed to exist.
These terms do, however, appear in the Baháʼí writings, where they are used as metaphors for the lower nature of man. Human beings are seen to have
free will
Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded.
Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to ac ...
, and are thus able to turn towards God and develop spiritual qualities or turn away from God and become immersed in their self-centered desires. Individuals who follow the temptations of the self and do not develop spiritual virtues are often described in the Baháʼí writings with the word ''satanic''.
The Baháʼí writings also state that the devil is a metaphor for the "insistent self" or "lower self" which is a self-serving inclination within each individual. Those who follow their lower nature are also described as followers of "the Evil One".
Christianity
![Alexandre_Cabanel_-_Fallen_Angel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Alexandre_Cabanel_-_Fallen_Angel.jpg)
In
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
, evil is incarnate in the devil or
Satan, a fallen angel who is the primary opponent of
God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
.
Some Christians also considered the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
and
Greek deities
The following is a list of gods, goddesses, and many other divine and semi-divine figures from ancient Greek mythology and ancient Greek religion.
Immortals
The Greeks created images of their deities for many purposes. A temple would house the ...
as devils.
Christianity describes Satan as a
fallen angel
In the Abrahamic religions, fallen angels are angels who were expelled from heaven. The literal term "fallen angel" never appears in any Abrahamic religious texts, but is used to describe angels cast out of heaven"Mehdi Azaiez, Gabriel Said ...
who terrorizes the world through evil,
is the
antithesis of
truth
Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as belie ...
, and shall be condemned, together with the fallen angels who follow him, to eternal fire at the
Last Judgment.
In mainstream
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
, the devil is usually referred to as
Satan. This is because Christian beliefs in Satan are inspired directly by the dominant view of
Second Temple Judaism
Second Temple Judaism refers to the Jewish religion as it developed during the Second Temple period, which began with the construction of the Second Temple around 516 BCE and ended with the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
The Second Temple ...
(recorded in the
Enochian books), as expressed/practiced by
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...
, and with some minor variations. Some modern Christians consider the devil to be an
angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...
who, along with one-third of the angelic host (the demons), rebelled against God and has consequently been condemned to the
Lake of Fire. He is described as hating all humanity (or more accurately creation), opposing God, spreading lies and wreaking havoc on their souls.
![Backer Judgment (detail)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Backer_Judgment_%28detail%29.JPG)
Satan is traditionally identified as the
serpent
Serpent or The Serpent may refer to:
* Snake, a carnivorous reptile of the suborder Serpentes
Mythology and religion
* Sea serpent, a monstrous ocean creature
* Serpent (symbolism), the snake in religious rites and mythological contexts
* Serp ...
who convinced
Eve
Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...
to eat the
forbidden fruit
Forbidden fruit is a name given to the fruit growing in the Garden of Eden which God commands mankind not to eat. In the biblical story, Adam and Eve eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and are exiled from Eden.
As a ...
; thus, Satan has often been depicted as a serpent.
In the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...
, the devil is identified with "the dragon" and "the old serpent" seen in the Book of Revelation, as has "the prince of this world" in the
Gospel of John
The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...
; and "the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" in the
Epistle to the Ephesians; and "the god of this world" in
2 Corinthians
The Second Epistle to the Corinthians is a Pauline epistle of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author named Timothy, and is addressed to the church in Corinth and Christians in the ...
4:4. He is also identified as the dragon in the Book of Revelation and the tempter of the
Gospels.
The devil is sometimes called
Lucifer
Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passa ...
, particularly when describing him as an angel before his fall, although the use of Lucifer (Latin ''lúcifer'', "bringer of light"), the "son of the dawn", in
Isaiah
Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named.
Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...
14:12 is a reference to a Babylonian king.
Beelzebub
Beelzebub ( ; he, ''Baʿal-zəḇūḇ'') or Beelzebul is a name derived from a Philistine god, formerly worshipped in Ekron, and later adopted by some Abrahamic religions as a major demon. The name ''Beelzebub'' is associated with the Can ...
is originally the name of a
Philistine god (more specifically a certain type of
Baal
Baal (), or Baal,; phn, , baʿl; hbo, , baʿal, ). ( ''baʿal'') was a title and honorific meaning "owner", "lord" in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity. From its use among people, it came to be applied t ...
, from ''Ba‘al Zebûb'', lit. "Lord of Flies") but is also used in the New Testament as a synonym for the devil. A corrupted version, "Belzeboub", appears in ''
The Divine Comedy
The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature an ...
'' (''Inferno'' XXXIV).
In other, non-mainstream, Christian beliefs (e.g. the beliefs of the
Christadelphians
The Christadelphians () or Christadelphianism are a restorationist and millenarian Christian group who hold a view of biblical unitarianism. There are approximately 50,000 Christadelphians in around 120 countries. The movement developed in the ...
) the word "satan" in the Bible is not regarded as referring to a supernatural, personal being but to any 'adversary' and figuratively refers to human sin and temptation.
Apocrypha/Deuterocanon
In the
Book of Wisdom
The Book of Wisdom, or the Wisdom of Solomon, is a Jewish work written in Greek and most likely composed in Alexandria, Egypt. Generally dated to the mid-first century BCE, the central theme of the work is "wisdom" itself, appearing under two ...
, the devil is represented as the one who brought death into the world. The
Second Book of Enoch
The Second Book of Enoch (abbreviated as 2 Enoch and also known as Slavonic Enoch, Slavic Enoch or Secrets of Enoch) is a pseudepigraphic text in the apocalyptic genre. It describes the ascent of the patriarch Enoch, ancestor of Noah, through ten ...
contains references to a
Watcher called Satanael, describing him as the prince of the ''
Grigori Grigory, Grigori and Grigoriy are Russian masculine given names.
It may refer to watcher angels or more specifically to the egrḗgoroi or Watcher angels.
Grigory
* Grigory Baklanov (1923–2009), Russian novelist
* Grigory Barenblatt (1927201 ...
'' who was cast out of heaven and an
evil spirit
Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is generally ...
who knew the difference between what was "righteous" and "sinful".
In the
Book of Jubilees
The Book of Jubilees, sometimes called Lesser Genesis (Leptogenesis), is an ancient Jewish religious work of 50 chapters (1,341 verses), considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as well as Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews), where it is ...
, Satan rules over a host of angels.
Mastema
Mastema ( he, מַשְׂטֵמָה ''Mastēmā''; gez, መሰቴማ ''Mesetēma''), or Mansemat, is the fallen archangel who appears in the Book of Jubilees. He pleads with God to permit the demon spirits of the dead Nephilim remain on earth so ...
, who induced God to test
Abraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Je ...
through the
sacrifice of Isaac
The Binding of Isaac ( he, , ), or simply "The Binding" (, ), is a story from Genesis 22 of the Hebrew Bible. In the biblical narrative, God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on Moriah. As Abraham begins to comply, having bound Is ...
, is identical with Satan in both name and nature. The
Book of Enoch contains references to
Sathariel
Sathariel ( he, סתריאל, grc, Σαθιήλ, translit=Sathiḗl) is described in the Book of Enoch as the 17th Watcher of the 20 leaders of the 200 fallen angels. Michael Knibb believes the name to mean "Moon of God" or "Dawn of God" based ...
, thought also to be Sataniel and
Satan'el. The similar spellings mirror that of his angelic brethren
Michael
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name "Michael"
* Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...
,
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...
,
Uriel
Uriel or Auriel ( he, אוּרִיאֵל ''ʾŪrīʾēl'', " El/God is my flame"; el, Οὐριήλ ''Oúriēl''; cop, ⲟⲩⲣⲓⲏⲗ ''Ouriēl''; it, Uriele; Geʽez and Amharic: or ) is the name of one of the archangels who is menti ...
, and
Gabriel
In Abrahamic religions ( Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብ ...
, previous to his expulsion from Heaven.
Gnostic religions
![Lion-faced deity](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Lion-faced_deity.jpg)
Gnostic and Gnostic-influenced religions postulate the idea that the material world is inherently evil. The ''One true God'' is remote, beyond the material universe, therefore this universe must be governed by an inferior imposter deity. This deity was identified with the deity of the Old Testament by some sects, such as the
Sethians
The Sethians were one of the main currents of Gnosticism during the 2nd and 3rd century CE, along with Valentinianism and Basilideanism. According to John D. Turner, it originated in the 2nd century CE as a fusion of two distinct Hellenistic ...
and the
Marcions.
Tertullian
Tertullian (; la, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of L ...
accuses
Marcion of Sinope
Marcion of Sinope (; grc, Μαρκίων ; ) was an early Christian theologian in early Christianity. Marcion preached that God had sent Jesus Christ who was an entirely new, alien god, distinct from the vengeful God of Israel who had created ...
, that he
John Arendzen
John Peter Arendzen (Amsterdam, 6 January 1873–1954), was a Catholic priest who spread the Catholic faith in England. He was once named by the Daily Mail "one of the preachers of the century".
Life
John Peter Arendzen was born in Haarlem, Amste ...
(1909) in the ''
Catholic Encyclopedia
The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...
'' (1913) mentions that
Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...
accused
Apelles, the 2nd-century AD Gnostic, of considering the Inspirer of Old Testament prophecies to be not a god, but an evil angel.
These writings commonly refer to the Creator of the material world as "a
demiurgus"
to distinguish him from the ''One true God''. Some texts, such as the
Apocryphon of John
The ''Apocryphon of John'', also called the ''Secret Book of John'' or the ''Secret Revelation of John'', is a 2nd-century Sethian Gnostic Christian pseudographical text attributed to John the Apostle. It is one of the texts addressed b ...
and
On the Origin of the World
''On the Origin of the World'' is a Gnostic work dealing with creation and the end time. It was found among the texts in what is known as the Nag Hammadi library, in Codex II and Codex XIII, immediately following the '' Reality of the Rulers' ...
, not only demonized the Creator God but also called him by the name of the devil in some Jewish writings, ''
Samael
Samael ( he, סַמָּאֵל, ''Sammāʾēl'', "Venom/Poison of God"; ar, سمسمائيل, ''Samsama'il'' or ar, سمائل, label=none, ''Samail''; alternatively Smal, Smil, Samil, or Samiel) is an archangel in Talmudic and post-Talmudic ...
''.
Catharism
In the 12th century in Europe the
Cathars
Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. F ...
, who were rooted in
Gnosticism
Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...
, dealt with the problem of evil, and developed ideas of dualism and demonology. The Cathars were seen as a serious potential challenge to the Catholic church of the time. The Cathars split into two camps. The first is ''absolute'' dualism, which held that evil was completely separate from the good God, and that God and the devil each had power. The second camp is ''mitigated'' dualism, which considers
Lucifer
Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passa ...
to be a son of God, and a brother to Christ. To explain this they used the parable of the prodigal son, with Christ as the good son, and Lucifer as the son that strayed into evilness. The Catholic Church responded to dualism in AD 1215 in the
Fourth Lateran Council
The Fourth Council of the Lateran or Lateran IV was convoked by Pope Innocent III in April 1213 and opened at the Lateran Palace in Rome on 11 November 1215. Due to the great length of time between the Council's convocation and meeting, many bi ...
, saying that God created everything from nothing, and the devil was good when he was created, but he made himself bad by his own free will. In the ''
Gospel of the Secret Supper'', Lucifer, just as in prior Gnostic systems, appears as a demiurge, who created the material world.
Islam
![Adam honored](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Adam_honored.jpg)
In Islam, the principle of evil is expressed by two terms referring to the same entity:
[Jeffrey Burton Russell, ''Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages'', Cornell University Press 1986 , p. 57] ''
Shaitan'' (meaning ''astray'', ''distant'' or ''devil'') and ''
Iblis''. Iblis is the proper name of the devil representing the characteristics of evil.
[Jerald D. Gort, Henry Jansen, Hendrik M. Vroom ''Probing the Depths of Evil and Good: Multireligious Views and Case Studies'' Rodopi 2007 p. 250] Iblis is mentioned in the
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
ic narrative about the creation of humanity. When
God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
created
Adam, he ordered the angels to prostrate themselves before him. All did, but Iblis refused and claimed to be superior to Adam out of pride. Therefore, pride but also envy became a sign of "unbelief" in Islam.
Thereafter Iblis was condemned to Hell, but God granted him a request to lead humanity astray, knowing the righteous will resist Iblis' attempts to misguide them. In Islam, both good and evil are ultimately created by God. But since God's will is good, the evil in the world must be part of God's plan.
[Jerald D. Gort, Henry Jansen, Hendrik M. Vroom ''Probing the Depths of Evil and Good: Multireligious Views and Case Studies'' Rodopi 2007 p. 249] Actually, God allowed the devil to seduce humanity. Evil and suffering are regarded as a test or a chance to proof confidence in God.
Some philosophers and mystics emphasized Iblis himself as a role model of confidence in God, because God ordered the angels to prostrate themselves, Iblis was forced to choose between God's command and God's will (not to praise someone else than God). He successfully passed the test, yet his disobedience caused his punishment and therefore suffering. However, he stays patient and is rewarded in the end.
Muslims hold that the
pre-Islamic jinn
Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources)
– are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...
,
tutelary deities
A tutelary () (also tutelar) is a deity or a spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept of safety an ...
, became subject under
Islam to the judgment of God, and that those who did not submit to the law of God are
devils
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in many and various cultures and religious traditions.
Devil or Devils may also refer to:
* Satan
* Devil in Christianity
* Demon
* Folk devil
Art, entertainment, and media
Film an ...
.
Although Iblis is often compared to the devil in
Christian theology, Islam rejects the idea that
Satan is an opponent of God and the implied struggle between God and
the devil
Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehood ...
. Iblis might either be regarded as ''the most monotheistic'' or ''the greatest sinner'', but remains only a creature of God. Iblis did not become an
unbeliever
An infidel (literally "unfaithful") is a person accused of disbelief in the central tenets of one's own religion, such as members of another religion, or the irreligious.
Infidel is an ecclesiastical term in Christianity around which the Churc ...
due to his disobedience, but because of attributing injustice to God; that is, by asserting that the command to prostrate himself before
Adam was inappropriate. There is no sign of angelic revolt in the
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
and no mention of Iblis trying to take God's throne and Iblis's
sin
In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...
could be forgiven at anytime by God. According to the Quran, Iblis's disobedience was due to his disdain for
humanity, a narrative already occurring in early
New Testament apocrypha
The New Testament apocrypha (singular apocryphon) are a number of writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. Some of these writings were cite ...
.
As in Christianity, Iblis was once a pious creature of God but later cast out of Heaven due to his pride. However, to maintain God's absolute sovereignty, Islam matches the line taken by Irenaeus instead of the later Christian consensus that the devil did not rebel against God but against humanity.
[Jeffrey Burton Russell, ''The Devil: Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity'', Cornell University Press, 1987, , p. 56] Further, although Iblis is generally regarded as a real bodily entity,
[Cenap Çakmak ''Islam: A Worldwide Encyclopedia volumes' ABC-CLIO 2017 p. 1399] he plays a less significant role as the personification of evil than in Christianity. Iblis is merely a tempter, notable for inciting humans into sin by ''whispering'' into humans minds (waswās), akin to the Jewish idea of the devil as ''
yetzer hara
In Judaism, ''yetzer hara'' ( he, יֵצֶר הַרַע ''yēṣer haraʿ'') is the congenital inclination to do evil, by violating the will of God. The term is drawn from the phrase "the imagination of the heart of man sevil" (, ''yetzer lev-ha ...
''.
[Fereshteh Ahmadi, Nader Ahmadi ''Iranian Islam: The Concept of the Individual'' Springer 1998 p. 79]
On the other hand, ''Shaitan'' refers unilaterally to forces of evil, including the devil Iblis, then he causes mischief. Shaitan is also linked to humans psychological nature, appearing in dreams, causing anger or interrupting the mental preparation for prayer.
Furthermore, the term ''Shaitan'' also refers to beings, who follow the evil suggestions of Iblis. Furthermore, the principle of ''Shaitan'' is in many ways a symbol of spiritual impurity, representing humans' own deficits, in contrast to a "
true Muslim", who is free from anger, lust and other devilish desires.
In Sufism and mysticism
In contrast to Occidental philosophy, the Sufi idea of seeing "Many as One", and considering the creation in its essence as the Absolute, leads to the idea of the dissolution of any dualism between the ego substance and the "external" substantial objects. The rebellion against God, mentioned in the Quran, takes place on the level of the
psyche
Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" (ψυχή).
Psyche may also refer to:
Psychology
* Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious
* ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unconscious by Car ...
, that must be trained and disciplined for its union with the
spirit
Spirit or spirits may refer to:
Liquor and other volatile liquids
* Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks
* Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol
* Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...
that is pure. Since psyche drives the body, ''flesh'' is not the obstacle to humans but rather an unawareness that allows the impulsive forces to cause rebellion against God on the level of the psyche. Yet it is not a dualism between body, psyche and spirit, since the spirit embraces both psyche and corporeal aspects of humanity. Since the world is held to be the mirror in which God's attributes are reflected, participation in worldly affairs is not necessarily seen as opposed to God.
The devil activates the selfish desires of the psyche, leading the human astray from the Divine. Thus it is the ''
I'' that is regarded as evil, and both Iblis and
''Pharao'' are present as symbols for uttering "I" in ones own behavior. Therefore it is recommended to use the term ''I'' as little as possible. It is only God who has the right to say "I", since it is only God who is self-subsistent. Uttering "I" is therefore a way to compare oneself to God, regarded as ''
shirk''.
In Salafism
Salafi strands of Islam commonly emphasize a
dualistic worldview between the believers and the unbelievers, with the devil as the enemy of God's path. Even though the devil will be finally defeated by God, he is a serious and dangerous opponent of humans. While in classical
hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...
s, the demons (''Shayateen'') and the
jinn
Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources)
– are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...
are responsible for impurity and possibly endanger people, in Salafi thought, it is the devil himself, who lurks on the believers, always striving to lead them astray from God. The devil is regarded as an omnipresent entity, permanently inciting humans into sin, but can be ''pushed away'' by remembering the name God. The devil is regarded as an external entity, threatening the everyday life of the believer, even in social aspects of life. Thus for example, it is the devil who is responsible for
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
emancipation
Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranch ...
.
Judaism
Yahweh
Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he poss ...
, the god in pre-exilic
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...
, created both good and evil, as stated in
Isaiah
Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named.
Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...
45:7: "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things." The devil does not exist in Jewish scriptures. However, the influence of
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...
during the
Achaemenid Empire introduced evil as a separate principle into the Jewish belief system, which gradually externalized the opposition until the Hebrew term ''satan'' developed into a specific type of supernatural entity, changing the monistic view of Judaism into a dualistic one. Later,
Rabbinic Judaism
Rabbinic Judaism ( he, יהדות רבנית, Yahadut Rabanit), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, or Judaism espoused by the Rabbanites, has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonia ...
rejected the
Enochian books (written during the
Second Temple period under
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
influence), which depicted the devil as an independent force of evil besides God. After the
apocalyptic period, references to
Satan in the
Tanakh
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
'' allegorical
As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory t ...
.
Mandaeism
In
Mandaean mythology
Mandaean cosmology is the Gnostic conception of the universe in the religion of Mandaeism.
Mandaean cosmology is strongly influenced by Jewish, Babylonian, Persian, Egyptian, Greek, Manichaean and other Near Eastern religions and philosophies.
...
,
Ruha
In Mandaeism, Rūha ( myz, ࡓࡅࡄࡀ, lit=spirit/breath; also known as Namrūs or Hiwat (Ewath; myz, ࡏࡅࡀࡕ)) is the queen of the World of Darkness (''alma ḏ-hšuka'') or underworld. She rules the underworld together with her son U ...
fell apart from the
World of Light
In Mandaeism, the World of Light or Lightworld ( myz, ࡀࡋࡌࡀ ࡖࡍࡄࡅࡓࡀ, translit=alma ḏ-nhūra) is the primeval, transcendental world from which Tibil and the World of Darkness emerged.
Description
*The Great Life (''Hayyi Rab ...
and became the queen of the
World of Darkness
''World of Darkness'' is a series of tabletop role-playing games, originally created by Mark Rein-Hagen for White Wolf Publishing. It began as an annual line of five games in 1991–1995, with '' Vampire: The Masquerade'', '' Werewolf: The Apoca ...
, also referred to as
Sheol
Sheol ( ; he, ''Šəʾōl'', Tiberian: ''Šŏʾōl'') in the Hebrew Bible is a place of still darkness which lies after death. Although not well defined in the Tanakh, Sheol in this view was a subterranean underworld where the souls of the ...
.
She is considered evil and a liar, sorcerer and seductress.
[Deutsch, Nathniel (2003). Mandaean Literature. In ]She gives birth to
Ur, also referred to as
Leviathan
Leviathan (; he, לִוְיָתָן, ) is a sea serpent noted in theology and mythology. It is referenced in several books of the Hebrew Bible, including Psalms, the Book of Job, the Book of Isaiah, the Book of Amos, and, according to some ...
. He is portrayed as a large, ferocious dragon or snake and is considered the king of the World of Darkness.
Together they rule the
underworld
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwor ...
and create the
seven planets
7 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
7 or seven may also refer to:
* AD 7, the seventh year of the AD era
* 7 BC, the seventh year before the AD era
* The month of
July
Music Artists
* Seven (Swiss singer) (born 1978), a Swiss recording artist
* ...
and
twelve zodiac constellations.
Also found in the underworld is
Krun
Krun (; myz, ࡊࡓࡅࡍ) or Akrun () is a Mandaean lord of the underworld. According to Mandaean cosmology, he dwells in the lowest depths of creation, supporting the entirety of the physical world.
In mythology
Krun is the greatest of the f ...
, the greatest of the five Mandaean Lords of the underworld. He dwells in the lowest depths of creation and his epithet is the 'mountain of flesh'.
Prominent infernal beings found in the World of Darkness include ''
lilith
Lilith ( ; he, לִילִית, Līlīṯ) is a female figure in Mesopotamian and Judaic mythology, alternatively the first wife of Adam and supposedly the primordial she-demon. Lilith is cited as having been "banished" from the Garden of Ed ...
'', ''nalai'' (
vampire
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deat ...
), ''niuli'' (
hobgoblin
A hobgoblin is a household spirit, typically appearing in folklore, once considered helpful, but which since the spread of Christianity has often been considered mischievous. Shakespeare identifies the character of Puck in his ''A Midsummer Nig ...
), ''latabi'' (devil), ''gadalta'' (
ghost), ''satani'' (
Satan) and various other demons and evil spirits.
Manichaeism
In
Manichaeism
Manichaeism (;
in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian Empire, Parthian ...
, God and the devil are two unrelated principles. God created ''good'' and inhabits the realm of light, while the devil (also called the ''prince of darkness''
) created evil and inhabits the kingdom of darkness. The contemporary world came into existence, when the kingdom of darkness assaulted the kingdom of light and mingled with the spiritual world. At the end, the devil and his followers will be sealed forever and the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness will continue to co-exist eternally, never to commingle again.
Hegemonius
Hegemonius or Pseudo-Hegemonius was a 4th-century Christian who is known only from his presumed authorship of the ''Acta Archelai'', a work on Manichaeism preserved only in Latin.
"Traditionally attributed to Hegemonius, the Acta Archelai is th ...
(4th century CE) accuses that the Persian prophet
Mani
Mani may refer to:
Geography
* Maní, Casanare, a town and municipality in Casanare Department, Colombia
* Mani, Chad, a town and sub-prefecture in Chad
* Mani, Evros, a village in northeastern Greece
* Mani, Karnataka, a village in Dakshi ...
, founder of the Manichaean sect in the 3rd century CE, identified Jehovah as "the devil god which created the world"
[''Manichaeism''](_blank)
by Alan G. Hefner in ''The Mystica'', undated and said that "he who spoke with Moses, the Jews, and the priests … is the
rinceof Darkness, … not the god of truth."
[''Acta Archelai'' of Hegemonius, Chapter XII, c. AD 350, quoted i]
''Translated Texts''
of Manicheism, compiled by Prods Oktor Skjærvø, p. 68.[History of the ''Acta Archelai'' explained in th]
''Introduction''
p. 11
Tengrism
Among the
Tengristic myths of central Asia, ''
Erlik
Erlik, Erlig, Erlik Khan, Erleg or Yerleg (Hungarian mythology equivalent to ''Ördög'') is the god of death and the underworld, sometimes referred to as ''Tamag'' (hell) in Turkic mythology. ''Er'' (or ''yer'') means ''Earth'', in the depth ...
'' refers to a devil-like figure as the ruler of
Tamag Tam (also ''tam'', ''tamuk'', ''tam'' or ''tamu'') is the name of hell in Tengrism. It is the place where the criminals go to be punished after they die. There are several depictions of Tamag, but the common point in almost all views is about fire. ...
(Hell), who was also the first human. According to one narrative, Erlik and God swam together over the primordial waters. When God was about to create the Earth, he send Erlik to dive into the waters and collect some mud. Erlik hid some inside his mouth to later create his own world. But when God commanded the Earth to expand, Erlik got troubled by the mud in his mouth. God aided Erlik to spit it out. The mud carried by Erlik gave place to the unpleasant areas of the world. Because of his sin, he was assigned to evil. In another variant, the creator-god is identified with
Ulgen. Again, Erlik appears to be the first human. He desired to create a human just as Ulgen did, thereupon Ulgen reacted by punishing Erlik, casting him into the Underworld where he becomes its ruler.
According to Tengrism, there is no death, meaning that, when life comes to an end, it is merely a transition into the invisible world. As the ruler of Hell, Erlik enslaves the souls, who are damned to Hell. Further, he lurks on the souls of those humans living on Earth by causing death, disease and illnesses. At the time of birth, Erlik sends a
Kormos to seize the soul of the newborn, following him for the rest of his life in an attempt to seize his soul by hampering, misguiding, and injuring him. When Erlik succeeds in destroying a human's body, the Kormos sent by Erlik will try take him down into the Underworld. However a good soul will be brought to Paradise by a ''Yayutshi'' sent by Ulgen. Some shamans also made sacrifices to Erlik, for gaining a higher rank in the Underworld, if they should be damned to Hell.
Yazidism
According to
Yazidism
Yazidism , alternatively Sharfadin is a monotheistic ethnic religion that has roots in a western Iranic pre-Zoroastrian religion directly derived from the Indo-Iranian tradition. It is followed by the mainly Kurmanji-speaking Yazidis and i ...
there is no entity that represents evil in opposition to God; such
dualism is rejected by Yazidis, and evil is regarded as nonexistent. Yazidis adhere to strict monism and are prohibited from uttering the word "devil" and from speaking of anything related to
Hell.
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...
probably introduced the first idea of the devil; a principle of evil independently existing apart from God.
[Jeffrey Burton Russell, ''The Devil: Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity'', Cornell University Press 1987 , p. 99] In Zoroastrianism, good and evil derive from two ultimately opposed forces. The force of good is called
Ahura Mazda and the "destructive spirit" in the
Avestan language
Avestan (), or historically Zend, is an umbrella term for two Old Iranian languages: Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd millennium BCE) and Younger Avestan (spoken in the 1st millennium BCE). They are known only from their conjoined use as the scrip ...
is called
Angra Mainyu
Angra Mainyu (; Avestan: 𐬀𐬢𐬭𐬀⸱𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬎 ''Aŋra Mainiiu'') is the Avestan-language name of Zoroastrianism's hypostasis of the "destructive/evil spirit" and the main adversary in Zoroastrianism either of th ...
. The
Middle Persian
Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle ...
equivalent is
Ahriman
Angra Mainyu (; Avestan: 𐬀𐬢𐬭𐬀⸱𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬎 ''Aŋra Mainiiu'') is the Avestan-language name of Zoroastrianism's hypostasis of the "destructive/evil spirit" and the main adversary in Zoroastrianism either of the ...
. They are in eternal struggle and neither is all-powerful, especially Angra Mainyu is limited to space and time: in the end of time, he will be finally defeated. While Ahura Mazda creates what is good, Angra Mainyu is responsible for every evil and suffering in the world, such as toads and scorpions.
Iranian Zoroastrians also considered the
Daeva
A daeva (Avestan: 𐬛𐬀𐬉𐬎𐬎𐬀 ''daēuua'') is a Zoroastrian supernatural entity with disagreeable characteristics. In the Gathas, the oldest texts of the Zoroastrian canon, the ''daeva''s are "gods that are (to be) rejected". This ...
as devil creature, because of this in the
Shahnameh
The ''Shahnameh'' or ''Shahnama'' ( fa, شاهنامه, Šāhnāme, lit=The Book of Kings, ) is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50 ...
, it is mentioned as both Ahriman
Div
Div or DIV may refer to:
Science and technology
* Division (mathematics), the mathematical operation that is the inverse of multiplication
* Span and div, HTML tags that implement generic elements
* div, a C mathematical function
* Divergence, ...
( fa, اهریمن دیو, Ahriman Div) as a devil.
Devil in moral philosophy
Spinoza
A non-published manuscript of
Spinoza
Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, ...
's ''
Ethics
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...
'' contained a chapter (Chapter XXI) on the devil, where Spinoza examined whether the devil may exist or not. He defines the devil as an entity which is contrary to God.
[, B. d., Spinoza, B. (1985). ''The Collected Works of Spinoza, Volume I.'' Vereinigtes Königreich: Princeton University Press.][Jarrett, C. (2007). Spinoza: A Guide for the Perplexed. Vereinigtes Königreich: Bloomsbury Publishing.] However, if the devil is the opposite of God, the devil would consist of Nothingness, which does not exist.
On a paper called ''On Devils'' he writes that we can a priori find out that such a thing cannot exist. Because the duration of a thing results in its degree of perfection, and the more essence a thing possess the more lasting it is, and since the devil has no perfection at all, it is impossible for the devil to be an existing thing. Evil or immoral behaviour in humans, such as anger, hate, envy, and all things for which the devil is blamed for could be explained without the proposal of a devil.
Thus, the devil doesn't have any
explanatory power
Explanatory power is the ability of a hypothesis or theory to explain the subject matter effectively to which it pertains. Its opposite is ''explanatory impotence''.
In the past, various criteria or measures for explanatory power have been prop ...
and should be dismissed (
Occam's razor). In Spinoza's philosophical worldview,
moral evil
Moral evil is any morally negative event caused by the intentional action or inaction of an agent, such as a person. An example of a moral evil might be murder, war or any other evil event for which someone can be held responsible or culpable."The ...
doesn't exist. By following a strict
determinism, individuals are not depicted as
moral agents, making
evil choices, but as beings affected by emotions. Such emotions are rather comparable to a weakness or illness than evil.
Kant
![Immanuel Kant 3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Immanuel_Kant_3.jpg)
In ''
Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone
''Religion within the Bounds of Bare Reason'' (german: Die Religion innerhalb der Grenzen der bloßen Vernunft) is a 1793 book by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant. Although its purpose and original intent has become a matter of some dispute, ...
'',
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and ...
uses the devil as the personification of maximum moral reprehensibility. Deviating from the common Christian idea, Kant does not locate the morally reprehensible in sensual urges. Since evil has to be
intelligible, only when the sensual is consciously placed above the moral obligation something can be regarded as morally evil. Thus, to be evil, the devil must be able to comprehend moral but consciously reject it, and, as a ''spiritual being'' (
Geistwesen), having no relation to any form of sensual pleasure. It is necessarily required for the devil to be a spiritual being, because if the devil were also a sensual, it would be possible that the devil does evil to satisfy lower sensual desires, and doesn't act from the mind alone. The devil acts against morals, not to satisfy a sensual lust, but solely for the sake of evil. As such, the devil is unselfish, for he does not benefit from his evil deeds. However, Kant denies that a human being could ever be completely devilish. Kant admits that there are devilish vices (ingratitude, envy, and malicious joy), i.e., vices that do not bring any personal advantage, but a person can never be completely a devil. In his ''Lecture on Moral Philosophy'' (1774/75) Kant gives an example of a tulip seller who was in possession of a rare tulip, but when he learned that another seller had the same tulip, he bought it from him and then destroyed it instead to keeping it for himself. If he had acted according to his sensual in according to his urges, the seller would have kept the tulip for himself to make profit, but not have destroyed it. Nevertheless, the destruction of the tulip cannot be completely absolved from sensual impulses, since a sensual joy or relief still accompanies the destruction of the tulip and therefore cannot be thought of solely as a violation of morality.
Titles
Honorifics or styles of address used to indicate devil-figures.
* Al-
Shaitan, another Arabic term referring to the devil
*
Angra Mainyu
Angra Mainyu (; Avestan: 𐬀𐬢𐬭𐬀⸱𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬎 ''Aŋra Mainiiu'') is the Avestan-language name of Zoroastrianism's hypostasis of the "destructive/evil spirit" and the main adversary in Zoroastrianism either of th ...
, Ahriman: "malign spirit", "unholy spirit"
*
Dark lord
In fiction and mythology, a dark lord (sometimes capitalized as Dark Lord or referred to as an Evil Overlord, Evil Emperor etc. depending on the work) is an antagonistic archetype, acting as the pinnacle of villainy and evil within a typicall ...
* ''Der Leibhaftige
eufel' (German): "
he devil
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
in the flesh, corporeal"
* ''Diabolus, Diabolos'' (Greek: Διάβολος)
* The Evil One
* The Father of Lies (John 8:44), in contrast to Jesus ("I am the truth").
*
Iblis, name of the devil in Islam
* The
Lord of the Underworld / Lord of
Hell / Lord of this world
*
Lucifer
Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passa ...
/ the Morning Star (Greek and Roman): the bringer of light, illuminator; the planet
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...
, often portrayed as Satan's name in Christianity
* Kölski (Iceland)
*
Mephistopheles
Mephistopheles (, ), also known as Mephisto, is a demon featured in German folklore. He originally appeared in literature as the demon in the Faust legend, and he has since appeared in other works as a stock character (see: Mephistopheles i ...
*
Old Scratch
Old Scratch or Mr. Scratch is a nickname or pseudonym for the Devil. The name likely comes from Middle English ''scrat'', the name of a demon or goblin, derived from Old Norse ''skratte''.
Mentions
Examples of usage of the name "Old Scratch" are ...
, the Stranger,
Old Nick: a colloquialism for the devil, as indicated by the name of the character in the short story "
The Devil and Tom Walker
"The Devil and Tom Walker" is a short story by Washington Irving that first appeared in his 1824 collection '' Tales of a Traveller'', in "The Money-Diggers" part of volume II. The story is very similar to the German legend of Faust.
Stephen Vi ...
"
*
Prince of darkness, the devil in Manichaeism
* Ruprecht (German form of
Robert
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
), a common name for the Devil in Germany (see
Knecht Ruprecht (Knight Robert))
*
Satan / the Adversary, Accuser, Prosecutor; in Christianity, the devil
* (The ancient/old/crooked/coiling)
Serpent
Serpent or The Serpent may refer to:
* Snake, a carnivorous reptile of the suborder Serpentes
Mythology and religion
* Sea serpent, a monstrous ocean creature
* Serpent (symbolism), the snake in religious rites and mythological contexts
* Serp ...
*
Voland (fictional character in ''
The Master and Margarita
''The Master and Margarita'' (russian: Мастер и Маргарита) is a novel by Soviet writer Mikhail Bulgakov, written in the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1940 during Stalin's regime. A censored version, with several chapters cut by ...
'')
See also
*
Deal with the Devil
A deal with the Devil (also called a Faustian bargain or Mephistophelian bargain) is a cultural motif exemplified by the legend of Faust and the figure of Mephistopheles, as well as being elemental to many Christian traditions. According to ...
*
Devil in popular culture
The Devil, (Satan, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Mephistopheles) appears frequently as a character in literature and various other media. In Abrahamic religions, the figure of the Devil, Satan personifies evil.Kurtz, Lester R., 2007, ''Gods in the Global Vi ...
*
Hades,
Underworld
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwor ...
*
Krampus
Krampus is a horned, anthropomorphic figure in the Central and Eastern Alpine folklore of Europe who, during the Advent season, scares children who have misbehaved. Assisting Saint Nicholas, or Santa Claus, the pair visit children on the nigh ...
, in the Tyrolean area also ''Tuifl''.
Ein schiacher Krampen hat immer Saison
in Der Standard
''Der Standard'' is an Austrian daily newspaper published in Vienna.
History and profile
''Der Standard'' was founded by Oscar Bronner as a financial newspaper and published its first edition on 19 October 1988. German media company Axel Sprin ...
from 5 December 2017
* Non-physical entity
In ontology and the philosophy of mind, a non-physical entity is an object that exists outside physical reality. The philosophical schools of idealism and dualism assert that such entities exist, while physicalism asserts that they do not. Posit ...
* Theistic Satanism
Theistic Satanism, otherwise referred to as religious Satanism, spiritual Satanism, or traditional Satanism, is an umbrella term for religious groups that consider Satan, the Devil, or Lucifer to objectively exist as a deity, supernatural entit ...
References
External links
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*
Entry
from the Catholic Encyclopedia
The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...
Can you sell your soul to the Devil?
A Jewish view on the Devil
{{Authority control
Book of Jubilees
Fallen angels
Religious philosophical concepts