The word “Satan” means “adversary” and in taking the root of the word into our culture it is obvious that the devil is our opponent. The devil has become a common sense of evil in almost all cultures. The devil is everywhere, from movies to music to T.V, the devil seems to be inescapable. Weather called the devil, lucifer, Satan; the devil almost always depicts an evil presence. Believing that the devil is real or fake; culture has made him a known figure. The global depictions of the devil range from him being pure evil, to him being worshiped as a god, to him not being an actual existence. Every person may have their own devil, their own opponent. The Seahawks definitely have adversaries of other teams, and vise versa. Satan is nothing new …show more content…
Over the years we have created many ideas of what Satan may look like or act like. The most common depiction being pointy red horns, a long tail, and a pitchfork; typical for movie or drawing ideals. (Rybar, 1998[) In Western modern religion we have the legend of the Sons and Daughters of Man versus the Sons and Daughters of God. Edgar Cayce explains that these were the self-seeking, rebellious celestial beings battling with the God-centered, cooperating celestials. Both groups began to incarnate in the Earth. Both spirits began to manifest in matter. As people learn and grow, humans try to go for control. For the directors of movies and the writers of songs all over the world, it makes life controlled if they can portray evil in a way that people are going to understand. Most people get the messy aspect, the powerful gleam in his eyes, the evil things said, the darkness; it comes easily to relate the mess to evil because good in American culture is clean, healthy, bright, and well kept. The contrast of good and evil relates powerfully to light and …show more content…
There is light and dark, day and night, but not everything can be black and white. In the Harry Potter books by J.K Rowling a character by the name of Sirius Black once said “the world is not divided into good people and Death eaters. There is both light and dark inside us, the difference is which one you act upon.” Rowling was right, the world is good and bad but the idea of good and evil are separable in each of us. There may never be a clear cut line of what makes someone a good person or a bad person which maybe is why some people believe that the devil isn’t evil. In some religious cultures the devil is someone or worship while some believe that he is good and evil. It is the gray; the totality of reality separated into arbitrary groupings. Satan may not be a real being, not a living entity, not conscious, nor a physical thing that can be connected with. Maybe Satan is a symbol or idol for, something delicate, something or someone that exists as an emotional attachment and personal dream. Just like the Buddhists do not worship Buddha, Satanists hold up Satan as an ultimate principle rather than an object of literal worship, like how Christians worship God with music or kind actions. (Lieston, 2003) So, like some other religions the ultimate point is self-help. Humanity categorizes so many areas of life so that we can feel that maybe we have a little more control than when things go astray or the going gets
In John Milton’s, The Paradise Lost, Milton’s representation of Satan makes us uncomfortable due to the recognition of his humanizing and relatable reaction to what happened to him. The reader expects Satan to be an evil, and malevolent figure who does evil acts because he loves it and there is no defense for it. While these aspects are prevalent in his character in the poem, Satan does not come across as a completely wicked person but instead, a victim. The representation of Satan has a personifying quality that any of us may have and do not want to admit. In book one, Milton’s portrayal of Satan makes us uneasy because we relate to his actions, which are ordinary human responses to similar situations. It is troubling to say that in this particular poem, Satan resembles humans. However, our human nature is to have an instant reflex to justify our actions without taking any responsibility, which resembles the way Satan justifies his mischievous acts in this poem. Most of the time, we would never think of Satan as a victim; yet, we find ourselves discovering our human nature in Satan’s rationalizations. So, what humanizes this monstrous figure? After thoroughly reading book one, there are many instances when Satan justifies what he has done to make sense of it. Satan believes that God deceived him because he did not know how much power he possessed. According to Satan, God did unjust things that justified his actions. Satan has a whole rationale that God had arbitrary power that caused Satan to become the way he is in the poem. This perception serves as Satan’s foundation on behalf of his justification, which we all can relate to because he does not take responsibility but pr...
The question of identity regarding God and the Devil has been an ongoing dilemma for religious philosophers. No true identity can be formed due to the lack of undeniable evidence surrounding the figures. In addition, it has always been difficult to relate either characters to tangible or worldly matter; seeing how both are non-perceivable and equivocal figments in our minds. A start is to relate these supernatural beings to each other. The abilities of each are in contrast; God can create but not control, whereas, the Devil can control but not create. Creation is the act of making new matter, whereas the act of controlling is forcing matter to act based on the wishes of the controller.
Satan is an allegorical representation of God the Father. Both Satan and God are seen as Father figures; God as the Father of all that is virtuous, and Satan as the Father of all that is wicked. Just as God is the King of heaven, Satan claims himself King of Hell. God is the originator of Goodness, as Satan is the originator of Evilness. All in all, Satan is a perverse representation of God.
The book, The Devil in the White City, takes place during the late nineteenth century. During that time, the total picture of the late nineteenth - century America that emerges from The Devil in the White City is very different than now.
When people think of heroes and villains they think of the characters who play these roles in cartoon movies like Batman and Spiderman, but in reality, anyone can be a hero and anyone can be a villain. Heroes are considered to be inspirational and bold because of what they do to help others. While villains are typically defined as a wicked or evil person who makes others feel helpless.
In order to consider this as such an allegory, we must define the scope of the struggle. That is to say, what is good and what is evil? In the Christian tradition, there is a fictional figure that creates all the evil in the world. Some people call this figure “Satan” however, that word derives from the Hebrew word meaning “adversary” and can refer to both physical and nonphysical entities. As such, there is no singular evil Satan figure. The name of “Lucifer” used in Isaiah is a reference to a fallen Babylonian King and it is only later, well after the writing of the Bible, that Lucifer is adapted to refer to an evil entity. The term “devil” is just as enigmatic in that it means “accuser” and can stand for any being either divine or mundane. As such, there is no singular evil entity in Christian mythology blamable for evil in the Christian tradition. It must therefore make sense that anything that is evil is that which is against or not of God.
Typically, when someone thinks of religion, they think about worship of a higher power, compassion for all living things, and a general love of the world. Satanism, while a religion, does not fit these conventions. The faith holds no belief in a higher power, is rather selfish in nature, and paints a bleak picture of the world and its workings. In addition, Satanism has controversy riddled history dating back to the seventeenth century. Due to the religion’s unconventional nature, it is often looked down upon and its principles and values are ridiculed. To better understand a faith like Satanism, it helps to look at it alongside a more familiar and commonly understood religion like Christianity.
The battle between what is right and wrong is a classic struggle that has existed from the beginning of time. The most honorable people face the crossroad of choosing either the angel’s path or the devil’s; one path leads to an honest yet difficult life while the other is an easy and selfish one. Throughout history, women have been portrayed as the reason of Man’s downfall. The male dominated world has created stereotypes to blame females for their defeats due to ignorance. Leo Tolstoy’s “The Devil” explores the dichotomy of the objectification of women as the angel and the devil.
...s Online - Harvard Theological Review - Abstract - The Social History of Satan, the "Intimate Enemy": A Preliminary Sketch. Harvard Theological Review, 1991. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.
Wicked, dishonorable, corrupt, villainous, malicious, and vicious all have one thing in common: they define evil. A person or a group of people that display these qualities are often to be defined as evil beings or creatures. Two people that have many of these characteristics developed within them are Iago from Shakespeare’s Othello and Lucifer from the Bible. Both Iago and Lucifer are developed with many “evil” qualities woven intricately into their character development. The representation of each “evil” characteristic gives them something they have in common allowing the description and portrayal of both Iago and Lucifer in literature show the audience they share common “evil” characteristics and that they lead to chaos and downfall.
Satan frequently characterizes “the tyranny of heaven” and employs negative diction in his depictions of both heaven and God (I.124). His negative portrayals of God and his kingdom highlight his utter dissatisfaction with being subservient to God and, from that, his desire for autonomy. In the exposition of the text, Satan’s emotions toward God make themselves apparent when Satan “throws his baleful eyes / That witnessed huge affliction and dismay / Mixed with obdúrate pride and steadfast hate” (I.56-58). Satan reveals himself to be furious with his continued subjugation to God as well as his inability to truly revenge himself against his subsequent punishment. According to Satan, God’s dissimulation of his power tempted Satan and others to rise
Why so serious? This phrase often triggers the memory of The Joker in one’s head. For a fictional character, The Joker has managed to effect society more than any other super villain. The Jokers appearance is so bold and chilling that the president and publisher of DC comics said, “I keep coming back to the way he (the joker) incarnates madness” (Camp et al, 2010). The president of DC comics is not the only one that keeps coming back to The Joker. Audiences around the world are captivated by his character. Unlike any other super hero movie, the villain gets just as much attention as Batman. The Joker is such a complex and intricate character that his victims and audiences are easily influenced by his actions but even more manipulated by his
In addition, Satan contains advanced skills with persuasion and misleading claims. This is easily seen in modern government elections with candidat...
of evil, and Hell’s Satan as a creature seemingly capable of good. At every moment, good
Ask anyone to draw Satan and you 'll get a red snake-like figure with horns and a pitchfork. Satan, as introduced in the Hebrew bible is an unworthy adversary of God. His longing to be like God is quickly recognized and dealt with. God banishes him from Heaven and sends him to Hell. That 's the last we see of him until he talks with God about his faithful servant Job. In each interaction we see Satan in, we get only a glimpse of who he really is. Satan 's motive is not developed and we assume he does evil simply because he is evil