The Devil or Lucifer is arguably one of the most famous figures in existence. He is considered the Prince of Darkness and is supposed to be the embodiment of evil. However, our perception of the Devil has changed drastically over the centuries. “Satan” can mean something very different depending on the person. Some see the Devil as their god or a hero and others seem him as a symbol of all that is wicked. Some may view the Devil as nothing, but a joke and others believe he is as real as the rest of us. The concept of “the Devil” continues to evolve. The first mention of the Devil or Satan rather dates back to the first chapters of the Hebrew Bible in the Middle East. This book is called the Old Testament. However, the character named Satan in the Old Testament is not the Satan of today. There is no opposing evil force in the Old Testament and there was no Hell. In the Old Testament Satan is an angel and God’s servant. He exists to do God’s bidding and has no real power of his own. He is the opposite of the character we come to know in the following centuries. The concept of modern day evil Satan seems to stem from Zoroastrianism. Zoroaster simplified things with his belief in one good god and one bad god. This created separation between good and evil. Zoroastrianism has influenced the Jewish scriptures and this begins the creation of a different Satan from the one in the Old Testament. The concept of the Devil was also influenced by the Greek Gods. One Greek God in
Plot is defined as, "the authors arrangement of incidents in a story it is the organizing principle that controls the controls the order of events (Meyer,64)." The element of plot is heavily relied on in the short story, "The Killings" by Andre Dubus. The plot which is completely made inside the imagination of an author (Meyer,64), gives the audience important insight to people, places, and events in the story (Meyer,64) . "The Killings" provides a somewhat conventional plot pattern, where the character is confronted with a problem and is then led into a climax, which late leads to the resolution of the story (Meyer,65). The conventional plot is easy to follow and serves as a basis for movies and other
The devil can appear in any shape or form. He has been personified throughout history in literary works such as in Joyce Carol Oates’ ‘Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?’, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘Young Goodman Brown’, and Steven King’s ‘The Man In The Black Suit’. In each he has
The Antichrist, Satan, Lucifer… he has many names, and even more roles in our everyday lives. The devil is a way for us as humans to recognize our own flaws, sins, temptations, and our hidden dark side. He is a scapegoat for the carnal nature of humans, and makes our God appear to be a less wicked creator by contrast. An extremely important figure in everything from literature and movies, the devil is necessary for helping humans differentiate from good and evil, whether or not you believe in him as a real, physical being, or as a metaphor. Humans naturally feel compelled to project our own evil onto a seperate, outside entity, as it was deemed unnatural, and the devil is the perfect candidate.
Human Services, Inc. stands by meeting the needs of the client and the community. If a client does not have insurance or no income, we still allow them to receive mental health services. They are required, being Human Services, Inc. is a county contracted organization, to fill out a liability form that ultimately determines how much is due at the end of each month for services. Most of the time, the services are covered by the county. This agency also meets the needs of the community due to accepting almost all insurances, coordinating with public transportation, in addition to coordinating with internal and external resources. This agency does not meet all the needs of the community for the reason that there is always room for
In the book of Wisdom, Satan is represented as the father of all lies, who brought death into this world. Satan was the seducer and paramour of Eve, and was hurled from Heaven, with other angels, because of this sin. Since then he has been called "Satan";
In Christianity, the Devil is represented as the founder of an empire “on fire”, an empire that struggles against and counteracts the kingdom of God. The Devil is described as an entity who is filled with evil power, but not enough power to overcome Christ if they were to duel. Though the Devil is not as powerful as Christ, he’s unfettered, given the designation of being the ultimate source of evil power. Since the inception of Christianity, portrayals of the Devil have been fundamental in instilling fear within the Christian population. The Devil’s abilities and appearance has become feared by approximately 31.5% of the world’s population. As historians have had access to the past that they haven’t had before, it’s been discovered that the iconography of the Devil isn’t necessarily original, but rather, inspired from religions with an age older than Christianity. While there’s an infinite amount of possible sources available to attribute the iconography of the Christian Devil to, the Greek god Pan provides source materials that show imagery and behavior similarities to the Christian Devil. By analyzing texts by ancient authors such as Hesiod and Ovid, as well as paintings and sculptures spanning multiple centuries, I will argue that the Greek god Pan’s iconography and behavior was used as inspiration for the Christian Devil.
Lucifer was given a remarkable power in heaven, but he rebelled against God with the attempt to over-throw the Mighty Throne. Other powerful angels fought against Lucifer and he was chased from heaven to the earth. And his name changed from Lucifer to Satan, the evil one.
Satan’s definitions include the advocate of God, a personification of evil, the fallen angel, a spirit created by God, and also the accuser. People see Satan differently, some know of his existence, others think of him as just a myth, and there are those that just ignore him. John Milton's Paradise Lost tells of Satan's banishment from Heaven and his gain of earth. He and his brigade have plotted war against God and are now doomed to billow in the fiery pits of hell. Satan is a complex character with many different qualities. God is a character who we, as Christians, know about but do not completely understand. We also do not completely understand Satan. Some may think they know Satan but when asked “Is Satan divine?”
The devil at the dawn of Christianity bore little resemblance to the ruler of hell, the antichrist and agent of evil that he is known as in present day. Satan makes few overt or implied appearances in the Old Testament. For the important role of God’s greatest adversary, early Christians had to flesh out great parts of Satan’s story in order to develop him into his present, fearsome persona. The Christian story of the Devil is heavily influenced by earlier Greek mythology, and early Christian writings about the Devil co-opted local mythology in order to gain new converts and discredit popular pagan beliefs.
Satan’s character embodies the idea of a heroic figure because he questions what he feels to be true, even though his tragic fall is that he becomes easily misguided.
There are many verses in the Bible that show how how Satan came to be. Some of them are not straight ford but some give a good description. Most of the verses that describe where Satan comes from are in the book of Revelation.
Following the standards of classic tragic heroes, Satan is a determined leader with an extreme amount of hubris. He knows that God is the most powerful being and yet he still
In “Paradise Lost” I think that Milton’s character Satan may be considered one of the most complex characters and is always changing. Of course at first he comes off as a very evil guy, who had a strong thirst for vengeance and liked to wreak havoc. Even though
According to Woodman, “Evil, as presented by Milton, may be defined as a rebellion against the hierarchy of God’s creation.”, but in my opinion, evil is being immoral and vicious. Satan could be described as evil, but because of his reasons to be evil towards God, I don’t really believe he is evil. He is a spoiled, broken child that wants to get back at the deity that wronged him. His entire existence is to seek revenge on God for throwing him and his apostles out of heaven, and shunning them into Hell. Satan just doesn’t come across as evil in Paradise Lost and Milton describes him as a hero that tried to conquer an evil tyrant. Satan has evil qualities in our stories today, but in Book 1 and 2 of Paradise Lost, he is not considered evil. When a person compares what society thinks of Satan today, and how Milton wrote Satan in Paradise Lost, he is considerably not evil.
The character of Satan in this story can also be related to other tragic heroes throughout history.