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Okay. So my question is...what's your opinion of Satan? I've been reading a book called Paradise Lost by John Milton, which is a retelling of the book of Genesis from Milton's perspective. He romanticizes the character of Satan and makes him appear to be the true hero of the story. This book has really stirred my curiousity, and I would love to hear what others think about Satan. Any thoughts?

(good book by the way) I'd call Satan an opposite. A force that allows all that is good to exist. There can be no good without evil, so Satan fills that role. I think that Satan is also the manifestation of all that is opposing. Hot vs. cold, fire vs. water. I think Satan is an energy force that makes the world go round.

well satan balances the world, a fallen angel, the most intelligent of all and is mostly stereotyped by people.

people blame all their failures and unlickiness to satan, and satan's job is to accept all this. lols

a truly interesting character. is satan intrinsically and irredemably evil? if so, this can only be because god wishes it so. satan was originally gods brightest angel, but fell from grace when he rebelled against god by refusing to acknowledge adam as his superior. but only man has free will - god did not bestow the gift of free will on angels. so satan could only rebel against god if god wills it so. angels are only as god made them.why would any being be evil? humans turn towards evil when they have been warped and twisted by something, but the concept of evil must exist before anyone can choose to take that path. so even if somehow satan chose to be evil, the concept of evil must have already been in existence. therefore satan must be an aspect of god - gods alter-ego so to speak. he is not gods enemy, but gods darker side.

is there such a thing as absolute evil? if so, then satan would appear to be the spiritual embodiment of that evil - but still the concept would have to have been created by god to begin with. for humans, evil is a choice, a conscious act. it is not evil to accidentally kill someone or harm them in self defense - but it is an evil act to kill or harm someone simply for the pleasure of it. a rattlesnake might bite and poison you if disturbed - but that does not make it evil - it is simply acting according to its nature. so if satan is merely acting according to his nature, and is subject to the will of god - is satan truly evil? in that sense, it could be argued that satan is the most innocent of beings in hell.

I think that he's just a creature used to place blame one for the evil things that go on in life.

very well said karnstein.. that's what i tried to said. anyway, anne rice has a best description of satan in her book the tale of the body theif. illpost it later when i got home. lols

Satan is a creation...a tool if you will...he was created by theologians and clergy to assist them in their attempted, and in many cases successful, subjugation of the masses...

"Tis better to rule in hell, than serve in heaven" I believe that is the quote, and I must agree with it.
I too think the creature was misunderstood.

i kiss his feet in my dreams. i praise the ground he walks on. i love every inch of him and he will come back and the bible ppl will be gone. GONE! GONE!

JUST THINKING, WHAT COULD SATAN BE THINKING WHEN HE READ THIS POST.. LOLS..

HAS ANYONE SEEN HIM ALREADY?

lol im sorry but satan is like anakin skywalker he brings balance to the force.

i think satan is a scape goat for releion. he was right in genisis, they were created first and they cann only serve god. not like yus and can say he don't even exist. they didn't have that choice so yeah i'd be pissed too.

Satan is Satan. Nothing more nothing less. A now fallen angel portrayed in many different views in which all might be true or false. Nothing is really certain except the uncertainty.

In my view, Satan (Lucifer, the Devil, Whatever you wish to call him by) isn't all bad. Yes, he is described as unimaginable evil and hatred, but what about good? Like someone in the above comments said, there is no good without evil. Also the hot vs. cold theory. Lucifer (I prefer) is the epicenter of all evil. He waged a war against God, his God and started a revolution, all because he thought he could fill God's shoes and he wanted to be a God himself. He got his wish, as you may see. He's the God of Evil, I guess you could say as a lack of better judgement. Satan isn't all evil. He isn't if you think about it in detail.

People speak of these demons with horns and such terrible creatures. Lucifer was an Angel of God, said to be the most beautiful angel before Gabriel came to be. Is this true? It may as well be. Lucifer is a fallen angel, therefore, he can't be all bad if he was in Heaven in one point of the eternity he's spending, right?

I don't believe hes "evil"

If there is no evil, there is no good

If there was no sadness, how would we appreciate happiness?

For some people I think hes just a scape goat

he is used as a figure head for "evil" the counter ballence the yen to the yang the light to the dark

I believe the idea of Satan to be created by the catholic church, i do not believe in him

I find it remarkably interesting that there are so many with wrong and rather immature christian views of "Satan".

Satan is a concept that embodies certain traits, just as God is a concept and just as Jesus is a concept.

There are those who view Satan as the bringer of knowledge to mankind, and truly, many of the 'dark' gods and goddesses are bringers of intelligence and are credited with giving mankind intelligence.

More than that, Satan to me represents the bringer of knowledge and more than that, embodies the freedom of choice. Choose to be with the One God, or gain knowledge and the power to decide.

The power of self decision has always been associated with Satan and the dark path. One makes their own decisions and determines their own path freely without feeling obliged to adhere to idealisms and preset notions that create the world of the One God.

While I do not entirely believe in God and Satan, I believe in the concepts they embody. God is the creator and represents a set of beliefs and a way of living that is uniform and holy. Satan represents the right to choose for the Self that which is good and evil and grants that decision to no one but the individual.

Rather than leaving the decision to the rules of the One God, the decision is made aptly by the self and the outcome of decisions are the result of free choice and free will that is granted to mankind by Satan.

And you have my apologies for the lack of cohesive writing in the previous post. *note to self: no drunk posting*

You have all made such good points! I appreciate your responses. It is helping me quell my curious mind more than I expected. While I still don't know what I truly believe anymore, your posts have given me a lot to think about.

I have to agree with Priss. If it hadn't been for Satan, the Church wouldn't have been in business for so many years.

I am a Satanist and have been for a while now. However, we don't believe in Satan as an anthropromorphic figure with horns and a tail, but more as an energy force. A way of freely expressing yourself outside the bounds of living in fear of 'The Church' and suffering the 'burning pits of Hell for all eternity' if you put one foot out of line so to speak. As Satanists we also do NOT run around churchyards sacrificing small children and animals....Satanism is more about self growth and self development as a person and worshipping yourself as your own God.

On a separate note....Satan, Lucifer and The Devil are all seperate individuals in their own right.

-Ave Satanas-

chartreusedreams - that is very insightful. you are right, satan is the bringer of knowledge. lucifer means light, so satan is the judaeo-christian interpretation of prometheus. prometheus was cast out of heaven coz he gave mankind the gift of fire. mankind was seriously disadvantaged, and prometheus thought it unfair, so he gave man the knowledge of fire to give him a better chance of survival. this angered zeus, and prometheus was punished by being chained to a mountain for eternity whilst having some buzzard eat his liver or something. the moral of the tale is "don't piss off zeus - he's a complete bastard"

ah - someone with a different point of view. yup - that still fits

interesting stabb. one mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter - that is true.

perhaps we should all watch time bandits - the creator tells kevin that he created evil as a little experiment, and it is needed to maintain free will.

satan hmm... could go on and on but simply put we have daylight and night time and satan is our night time..although i recall a chapter in the bible calling him the morning star..and often wonder does that make people that are active in the daytime followers of satan..since the sun is a star and rises in the morning...just makes you wonder......

well first of all satan is not an angel he is a firey jinn ( made of fire ), he disobeyed GOD when GOD asked all his creatures to bow down to adam by saying that he (satan ) is higher than adam who is made from clay....and he will not bow to him..
so GOD cast him down from heaven.....
satan swore to make all adam offsprings
( human ) sins and leading them to hel....he got servents of his own jinns as well, they help him in leading the human to hell..he aslo got many names but satan ( shatan ) and iblis they refers to him directly......he work in such a way to seduce the human by make them feels if they do what he tell them thier life will be better.....but its al lies he only tell lies thats why in some places they call him Beelzebub ( lord of lies )....and for the human GOD give them free will to choose the right way and how they want to live there lives.....because GOD wants can make all the human go to heaven and let them do all the good things if GOD wants....and every thing will be perfect..... but insted GOD gave the human the will to choose beteewn good and evil....thats the balance......and satan will always live and stay in hell for eternity and he don't want to live there alone he wants to drag mankind with him........

satan is as god is ,set to different perceptions by the people whom either believe in him /her or pass them off as just creations of long ago

The first time we hear of Satan is with Lucifer's Rebellion. Satan is Lucifer's first lieutenant. One of his jobs is to travel between heaven and earth to contact the planetary prince. The story got shorten and Satan became the planetary prince and whence have control of earth. This also got confused with what happen in Eden. Satan never had anything to do with us and he never had control of earth, he was a messenger.

As for the Satan in the bible, most of that is translated or metaphor of Sataan or Chaos and not the being Satan. All other stories is either BS or a concoction of mis information.

Satan may not be as bad as people think he is alot of people need someone to blame so they use satan......

karnstein,

Yes, indeed it is all according to one's point of view.

For if we cannot choose to act in a 'good' way, how can we ever become 'holy'?
(by the perspective that G*d is goodness and Satan is evil)

billy,

With respect to your understanding of the nature and History of 'Satan', I would still wish for myself, to examine other ideas based upon both their evidencial proofs and/or, their prospective likelyhoods of occurance, based within the already accepted definites of historical events and social influences.

The times of Milton saw the world in constant warfare and greatly changed by the new domination of science over religion, Shakespeare was gone and a sombre mood led to persecution of 'witches'.

Milton's work seems to be a parody of sorts, using the Christian religion (which dominated western society at the time, as it still does now), as the basis for a characterisation of the political situation.

The modern interperatations of the Bible came out of this time as well, I remember the King James version was still being read in our school. So it would seem that the concept of Satan as a figure, was born into the public imagination around then.

Many "ideas" came out of Milton's book. And out of the Church but the original stories/ history is being lost because of it. Satan is now some evil thing or/ some god as some here are saying. This is just fantasy BS. Makes for a great story for Hollywood and delusion but servers no purpose. I think the church did enough to create the devil out of him.

I never liked to continue with mis-info if I had the choice. But it does take the fun out it I guess. Granted the truth will never be known to us as we are but again it is also very helpful to understand the original concepts to truly appreciate want people created out of their own minds. I'm all for creating things. ;)

I find Urieldvxxx and Karnstein's first post to be very interesting and thought-provoking. It's true that if God wished, He could destroy Satan as well as control how everyone acted, making it so that everyone would go to Heaven. But instead He chose to grant free will to everyone.

Perhaps the reasons for this are so only the truly deserving would make it to Heaven. It could be that God has placed Satan here to test people (which could also explain His reason for granting free will to everyone).

My thought on this have been very similar to Stabbs in the past. With reflection on how Billy said that he was the rebel, I would also have to say that Jesus was a rebel to the church.

So if you take the ideas from that dogma then you view Satan as the original rebel in Bibical terms, followed thousands of years later by Jesus.

To very different ideals of how a person should live, yet each shook the society around them. This thought still is not fully formed, and is just a passing one that I though would be interesting to tear to shreds and then see what remains.

Hellacious Rose....
Hell yea!! (pardon the pun)

"Satan made me do it"
Scapegoating.

I believe Satan LIVED.. I believe HE was truly Unusual.. as was Jesus.. as was Vlad as was Elvis!!

Heck if we had MEDIA in THOSE days.. ??

Satan perhaps had some powers and incredible intelligence. In THOSE days.. you could be different and be deemed a witch or be highly feared!!
I am not sure on Levays Take on it..

I don't believe in Satan as an entity any more than i believe in God. One cannot logically exist without the other as Satan was created by the Church as a scaremongering tactic.

IMO: "God" and "Satan" were both created by man. The reason is so man had someone to blame besides themselves.

A baby dies--it was 'god's will', not the disease the baby had, or the lack of oxygen it received due to poor air-flow through its crib.
A tornado rips through a town and destroys it--it was 'god's will', not the weather or pressure systems.
A man goes nuts and shoots a ton of people--it's the 'work of the devil', not the psychosis the man suffered from or the lack of attention allowing him easy access to the materials and planning.

I think he's someone who's gonna have to move his ass on over when I die, maybe retire..preferably elsewhere.

I think...he has a job to do, and he does it well, he serves as an opposite, but his lust for power is well known and he will do anything to get more power, i think he still wants the throne nad he competes with that other guy

Personally I don't think Satan (or God, for that matter) are actually conscious beings. I think they're just large masses of energy, the one percieved as "God" being mostly positive energy and the one percieved as "Satan" mostly negative energy.

Just my opinion.

I think he is within all of us , and is a healthy balance in life.

I think of "Satan" as just another name of the darkness within everyone. I also think that if you read about the Satan presented through the Bible and think of it as an allegory, you are revealed an aspect as to the dark side of human nature.

I personally don't believe in Satan as a living being in the conventional sense, and my belief in God is also rather abstract. I find that a lot of people are more inclined to think of God and Satan as factual beings or non-existent at all, so my thoughts might be a little 'out there' to some.

Honestly, I'm not really sure if I believe in Satan or not.

I'd like to read Paradise Lost. Is it any good?
Anne Rice's 'Memnoch the Devil', portrays Lucifer ot 'Memnoch' as a good guy or at least not evil.

I think that there is no god or satan...but today I was told that there is good and Evil and The only was to describe it in an easier form is to use God and the Devil.

Humans have the freedom of will and thaught, where God and Satan can only influence us. Not make us do anything.

I agree wholeheartedly with Sevenn. Satan is a title for someone who does a specific act. Many have been referred to as Satan. Lucifer is mentioned once and is a Latin name for the planet Venus. They were referring to a King having fallen from his loftiness one might say and compared him with the morning star. Loosing the brilliance of the morning star. For some reason later down the line they put the Latin term in there and it was mistaken for a name of a fallen angel. It is from Judaism and they don't teach it that way. Lucifer as a being comes from Roman mythology and was created by the Goddess Diana. You can look up the mythology. I don't know how he got mixed in with all the other mythos but he did and that is that more or less. Satan is something else.

Who is to say weither or not satan really exicts. personally i belive that he is a christian made up thing to scare the children in there beds and to make them behave. lol. Satan may be a fallen angel or something along those lines. Who is to say thatm he is not real.

Lady Night is correct about Lucifer. Christians incorporated the old beliefs into their religion to make assimilation of yhe people to their beliefs easier.

There is also the story of Aridia where Lucifer was the Sun and Diana the Moon. These names are older than dirt, and may be even older.

Let's see what Anton LaVey and the Satanic Bible have to say, shall we? (Yes, I actually own a copy!)

"The Roman god, Lucifer, was the bearer of light, the spirit of the air, the personification of enlightenment. In Christian mythology he became synonymous with evil."

"The semantic meaning of Satan is the 'adversary' or 'opposition' or the 'accuser.' The very word 'devil' comes from the Indian devi which means 'god.' Satan represents opposition to all religions which serve to frustrate and condemn man for his natural instincts. He has been given an evil role simply because he represents the carnal, earthly, and mundane aspects of life."

Well for me Satan is the representation of darkness and evil. A necessary part of the cycle of light and the balance of all things. Just simply a image to represent the darkness.

Well I understand Satan as a fallen angel, the first Rebel... To go against your creator is maybe a bit too much, but I know how important for me is my freedom...
But I don't think hell and destroying "good" things on earth is the right thing to do... well whatever
I don't know if I even believe in this story

Satan...well I don't believe in god so also not in satan.

I believe good and evil are more like forces that excist.

Read the book "The Origin of Satan", before "Christianity" a satan was an obstacle God put before a man tu test his will. A satan was not an actual "being". Christianity made "satan" an actual "Being". The only true "evil" in the world is the "evil" we create.

Satan is just a Ying & Yang for me. To keep the balance, I dont particularly believe -in- him, it's just the good vs evil concept

Getting into thoughts on Satan is getting into a very personal area. It delves into religious beliefs and those vary person to person.

I consider myself a Theistic Satanist, although I haven't gone through any type of dedication and I don't perform any rituals.

To me, Satan is (as someone else pointed out) who has brought us enlightenment. He brings us knowledge and freedom.

To a Theistic Satanist, Satan is indeed a deity. He has a presence.

A few good websites for those not on the know regarding Theistic Satanism are:

http://www.theisticsatanism.com
http://www.churchofazazel.com

Was wondering why nobody speaks of Lucifer as the fallen angel. Seems Satan is the one getting all the attention.

In my opinion Satan is what completes the balance of good and evil. For God to exist so must an equaly opposite force.
I think that there is something to be said for the "misunderstood angel" there is a cetian romantic notion there, however I would rather deal with the God of good rather than the god of evil lol.

What gets me is...according to some legends, there hasn't always been a Satan. He was cast down from heaven...So.......before he was cast down was there really no "evil" to balance out the good?

i would have to say that how Xzavier put it is what i was thinking... although, i personally don't believe in "God" or, therefor his counterpart, but there has to be someone to balance out the whole good vs. evil

i think he is a fallen angel. that was too proud to ask forgiveness... yada yada. without evil, there is no good. without light, there is no dark. its all necessary. whether he is truly evil or not isnt really the point. he is necessary for balance.

He's only a fictional character invinted by men.

Satan is a character in my story that really defines the issue of whether evil exist or not. Unlike the bible or anything relating towards I refer to Satan as a once noble god of another time which was destroyed by his and others mistakes. In fact he ends up becoming energy that ends up creating another God. He becomes angered by it even though he helped create new life and latter become enemies. He is not a horribly evil character and even has boundaries set for himself but it is his rage that defeats him and causes him to control others. He is not an angel in my story.

Though people refer to him as Lucifer but I normally consider him a different character all together. Someone who is the opposite and not directly evil but corrupted by his on rage and anger.

Though in reality I don't believe in much of the bible. I do believe that it could happen but I doubt it.

In Ken Wilbers book No Boundaries, the theory that is brought up is that on our basic level we have to create this or that.

The contrasts.

By doing this we define who we are and what we believe. Part of the book also goes into for us to truly move forwad these boundaries that we create must be deconstructed by us. Is it totally possible?

I find it not likely based off of how most people view the world. But once we step out of this kind of thinking there are more possibilites than we considered.

There are many interesting theories, and books to research. I personally don't believe in Satan, or God for that matter. There is a bible, but I believe it is a compounded work of literature about a lot of weird, horny people. The this one begot that one gets pretty crazy if you take the time ti read all of it!

Please, any of you who are believers, PLEASE do not take offense. I am happy you have faith. Faith is a wonderful thing. I just don't believe it.

there are the good and bad of everyone and everything, so don't believe that he was all good, and all mighty, to me he is good because he makes a place for the badies of the world to go and such and he keeps the world interesting and in balaece, but remember that he is the reason for pain and suffering on earth and for all the crys of sorrrow that are heard at night

The Chinese Yin Yang is a prime example of how I believe the world works. To truly be good, one must know evil. To truly be evil, one must know good. Like I read in an earlier post, one can not truly become holy without temptation. If we simply did not know of what evil could be, if evil was not even there, we would not have our freedom of will, because there would only be one choice: good. So what would be the point in God's experiment called humanity If there was no suc h thing as evil, or the devil? God truly did make him for a reson.

I can not say for sure if their is a god or satan, but if their is a christian god than their must be satan to balance the good and bad so in some peoples eyes satan will be bad but to other he will be good because he balances everything out...

And maybe he stands for choice, not wanting to bow down and worship God. To be his slave,maybe he stands for science and an idea beyond "This is how it is, and thats all you need to know." Maybe he stands for being in control of your own life, not living in fear of being cast aside because of your differences. Maybe he stands for growth and thinking outside of the box, maybe he is the exact opposite of God in that way. That he doesn't follow the herd, he doesn't give into peer pressure and the rules you must abide by set in motion way back when. Maybe he doesn't want to be led, maybe he wants to lead.

In my belief there is no good or evil as such, and so the personification of Evil a Satan interests me.

I was told many years ago he is a visual corruption of Cernunos, the horned god (apologies for the spelling) with the Horns, the Tail and the Cloven Feet, but I am not sure if the concept of The Devil resided in Judeo Christianity prior to exposure to paganism and the desire to “demonise” the existing gods (as also reflected by the mad rush to erect Christian temples (read Churches) over each and every religions site in Europe.

As for Satan being Evil…. No, I’d say not, he is the logical “other half”, the balance deliberately missing from the monotheistic Christian faith, an attempt to find balance where it has been deliberately missed out!

Satan is my lord and master. he has shown me unimaginable freedoms. he has awakened me to so many things. my life changed forever the day i accepted satan into my life. i feel so...pure now. so true to myself. i do not rerstrict myself from anything. i am truly free, thanks to satan.

i believe he was one of god's greatest angels until he voiced his opinion against God' plans & views,... and what happends to those who have there own opinions about God in the world... they are cast out of the religios bubble, thought of as sinners, even burned at the stake!!!... so God cast him out of heaven!!! (just like his followers cast out all who don't share there opinions)

he was missunderstood

Satan or Lucifer were merely misunderstood creations, angels, people, etc. I think that any of us could have been Satan himself. A person with such different views that he was merely outcasted.

My opinion is he's a good right winger, with excellent scoring instincts, but doesn't work hard enough.

And the Islanders are paying too much for him.

just who is this god person anyway? who does he think he is?

Guess it was Gods mistake in giving use emotions and sympathy. It makes it very easy to see how he was wronged, from a literary stand point.

everything in this world has an oppostite or an enemy... its the way life balances itself... like god whats the oppposite of that satin...

Opposite of satin? Burlap? Just kidding, I know what you ment. I am all too happy to help with that balance, given my faith of choice. Just wish there was more of us here.

Known By many names he is a representation of evil to most religions. I think he represents freedom, not being a hypocrite about the things you do good or bad. the church has done so many things in the name of god that were wrong at least Levay shows us that you do what you want as long as your being honest with yourself about why.

Satan is a word describing the evil which creates a much needed balance in our world. With good, there must be evil. with light, there is dark; black/white; etc.

I believe that Satan is indeed a fallen angel

Well you can't forget that HE WAS and angel of light *Lucifer*
And that he is allowed among the council of angels, so all this other "stuff" relating to the Satan is mostly relating to "Demons" and from older philosophies especially from Sumer and Chaldea.

I believe we have to have good to balance out evil and evil to balance out good.

Satan is the evil to God's good in christianity.

I like to think of the word Satan as a frame of mind instead of an entity. The words meaning is accuser and opposer. I think that every human being has a little Satan inside. lol

I agree with that statement. It is human nature to have evil inside of us. In christian history, it is written that humans were born from Adam and Eve who were both sinners, therefore everyone was born from sinners and we are sinners. A sin of course is an evil act which balances out the good.

I agree as well. I mean if we didn't have some bad... then we wouldm't know what good is.

Exactly
We need evil to recognize good

Satan...The title actually comes from the Semetic Shaytan which is a combination of Sharitiyn, meaning "Evil in the mud", Mud refers to the "earth" as "Man being created from the "dust"/ earth.
Satan refers to the Physical manifestation of Lucifer. Remember he (Lucifer) just as any angel could, was able to mainfest in the flesh...."Walking to and fro in the earth" (Book of Job)
But Lucifer was not "evil" per say, He simply chose to question the opposition "good" as to it's relevance. He questioned why man was created and held above the angels.
Is evil really evil? Or is it simply a choice of reverse logic opposing a set division of rules that infer choice (Free Will)
There has to be a balance and a counter opposition or else Chaos would simply cease to exist, and chaos is perfect balancement in the universe.

I have done a lot of reading on this and from the bible it says that satan was the most beautiful angel ever created in the heavens. like someone else said if satan is evil it is because god made him that way. A good book to read is Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice it really gives a new spin on what satan and god are doing

he is a balance for light and dark, or mabe just a way to help explain right and wrong, or to make you fear the outcome of your choices in life....we wont know for 100% sure until we are dead

He is there to help people explain good and Evil...God-God Evil-Satan.

In my eyes I don't think hes there at all....nothing of the Devine being or beast...nor of heavan or hell....

But we use it all to aid the MANY un answerable questions.

I think satan is an angel that fell from grace to help us understand good/evil b/c without evil their cannot be good.

he is doing his part, the part that was intended for him, I think he is an spirit that lies in all of us.

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