The Devil?
“There is no such supernatural being.”
I was a devout believer not always a great follower but I totally believed until learning facts in college especially on the devil. The Bible is clear teaching is that the wages of sin is death.
“He that commit sin is of the devil; for the devil sinned from the beginning…” 1 John 3:8
It is impossible therefore to have an immortal being who can sin. If we attempted to suggest that the Devil was a mortal monster then how is it that he has supposedly lived for thousands of years and possesses the powers of disease, deception, death, pain, and torment and is permitted by an almighty god to challenge his authority. The devil is not satan. It is interesting to note that in the detailed record of god’s dealings with Israel in the Old Testament, nowhere is there given an indication of a personal devil who goes around tempting people. The Hebrew equivalent of the word devil is only used 4 times and is in connection with false worship and idols of wood and stone – not an immortal being.
It is impossible for a rebellion to happen in Heaven? Scary Beasts In Heaven?
Hell, Heaven and the Power of Imagination.
Jesus himself proclaims that god’s will is done in heaven when he teaches his followers to pray for god’s coming Kingdom to be on earth in what has become known as “the Lord’s prayer”:
“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10
If god’s will is done in heaven then how is it that a rebellion was supposed to of taken place by the angels, one of which became the so called monster the Devil. So, if the bible teaches that man is responsible for his own sin and that this sin comes from within him, who or what is “the devil” or “Satan” which is spoken about in the bible scriptures? In essence, the Devil and Satan is simply a “personification” of sinful desires of man’s rebellious lusts. There is nothing unusual about the scriptures using personification. For example:
Riches are personified (Matt 6:24)
Sin is personified (Romans 5:21, 6:16)
Death is personified (Revelation 6:8)
Nation of Israel personified (Jeremiah 31:4, 18)
Believers in Christ are personified (Ephesians 4:13, 1 Corinthians 12:27)
The Holy Spirit is personified (John 16:13)
Thus, we shall see that the original words for “devil” and “satan” are descriptive and not titles and these words are simply used or personified to express this idea of sin in different forms. For more on this read: link
And you should also need to know the serpent, Lucifer, and satan are not the same person.
“The serpent was craftier than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made.” Genesis 3:1
Did you get that “wild animal” not supernatural being? And to one of the most popular misconceptions among bible believers which is that Satan also is designated as “Lucifer” also known as “the morning star” within the pages of the Bible. No… The name “Lucifer” is referring to the king of Babylon as “the morning star” not supernatural being and not the Devil or Satan. To read more on how “Lucifer” is not Satan: link
So, get this if I did not make it clear enough, even within the bible the serpent, devil, Satan, Lucifer, or whatever, as there is no supernatural being at all. lol
The 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. It is difficult to specify a particular definition of any complexity that will cover all of the traditions, beyond that it is a manifestation of evil. It is meaningful to consider the devil through the lens of each of the cultures and religions that have the devil as part of their mythos.” ref
“The history of this concept intertwines with theology, mythology, psychiatry, art, and literature, maintaining a validity, and developing independently within each of the traditions. It occurs historically in many contexts and cultures, and is given many different names—Satan, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Mephistopheles, 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. The idea of the devil has been taken seriously often, but not always, for example when devil figures are used in advertising and on candy wrappers.” ref
The etymology of the word devil
“The Modern English word devil derives from the Middle English devel, from the Old English dēofol, that in turn represents an early Germanic borrowing of the Latin diabolus. This, in turn, was borrowed from the Greek: διάβολος diábolos, “slanderer”, from διαβάλλειν diabállein, “to slander” from διά diá, “across, through” and βάλλειν bállein, “to hurl”, probably akin to the Sanskrit gurate, “he lifts up.” ref
Definitions of the word devil
“In his book The Devil: Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity, Jeffrey Burton Russell 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 found in a variety of cultures”, as opposed to the word Satan, which he reserves specifically for the figure in the Abrahamic religions.” ref
“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.” ref
“The Oxford English Dictionary 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.” ref
“In some traditions, divinities can become demons. The Teutonic gods demonized the Giants. 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. According to Mandaean mythology, Ruha Qadishta fell apart from the “world of light” and gave birth to the devil, called “Lord of Darkness” (malka dhshuka) or Ur. According to one tradition, Ur is an androgyne lion-headed dragon with the wings of an eagle. ” ref
“The earliest Hindu texts do not offer further explanations for evil, regarding evil as something natural. However, later texts offer various explanations for evil. According to an explanation given by the Brahmins, both demons and gods spoke truth and untruth, but the demons relinquished the truth and the gods relinquished the untruth. But both spirits are regarded as different aspects of one supreme god. Even some fierce deities like Kali are not thought of as devils but just as darker aspects of god and may even manifest benevolence.” ref
“Among the Tengristic myths of central Asia, Erlik refers to a devil-like figure as the ruler of Hell, who is 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.” ref
“Yahweh, the god in pre-exilic Judaism, created both good and evil, as stated in Isaiah 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 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 rejected the Enochian books (written during the Second Temple period under Persian influence), which depicted the devil as an independent force of evil besides God. After the apocalyptic period, references to Satan in the Tanakh are thought to be allegorical.” ref
“According to Yazidism 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.” ref
“Zoroastrianism probably introduced the first idea of the conceptual devil; a principle of evil independently existing apart from God. In Zoroastrianism, good and evil derive from two ultimately opposed forces. The force of good is called Ahura Mazda and the “destructive spirit” in Avestan-language called Angra Mainyu. The Middle Persian equivalent is Ahriman. 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.” ref
“These are titles that almost always refer to devil-figures:
- Al-Shaitan, another Arabic term referring to the devil
- Angra Mainyu, Ahriman: “malign spirit”, “unholy spirit”
- Der Leibhaftige [Teufel] (German): “[the devil] 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 / the Morning Star (Greek and Roman): the bringer of light, illuminator; the planet Venus, often portrayed as Satan’s name in Christianity
- Kölski (Iceland)
- Mephistopheles
- Old Scratch, 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“
- Prince of darkness, the devil in Manichaeism
- Ruprecht (German form of Robert), 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
- Voland (a fictional character in Goethe’s Faust)” ref
While hallucinogens are associated with shamanism, it is alcohol that is associated with paganism.
The Atheist-Humanist-Leftist Revolutionaries Shows in the prehistory series:
Show two: Pre-animism 300,000 years old and animism 100,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”
Show tree: Totemism 50,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”
Show four: Shamanism 30,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”
Show five: Paganism 12,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”
Show six: Emergence of hierarchy, sexism, slavery, and the new male god dominance: Paganism 7,000-5,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Capitalism) (World War 0) Elite and their slaves!
Prehistory: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” the division of labor, power, rights, and recourses: VIDEO
Pre-animism 300,000 years old and animism 100,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”: VIDEO
Totemism 50,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”: VIDEO
Shamanism 30,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”: VIDEO
Paganism 12,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Pre-Capitalism): VIDEO
Paganism 7,000-5,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Capitalism) (World War 0) Elite and their slaves: VIEDO
Paganism 5,000 years old: progressed organized religion and the state: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Kings and the Rise of the State): VIEDO
Paganism 4,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (First Moralistic gods, then the Origin time of Monotheism): VIEDO
I do not hate simply because I challenge and expose myths or lies any more than others being thought of as loving simply because of the protection and hiding from challenge their favored myths or lies.
The truth is best championed in the sunlight of challenge.
An archaeologist once said to me “Damien religion and culture are very different”
My response, So are you saying that was always that way, such as would you say Native Americans’ cultures are separate from their religions? And do you think it always was the way you believe?
I had said that religion was a cultural product. That is still how I see it and there are other archaeologists that think close to me as well. Gods too are the myths of cultures that did not understand science or the world around them, seeing magic/supernatural everywhere.
I personally think there is a goddess and not enough evidence to support a male god at Çatalhöyük but if there was both a male and female god and goddess then I know the kind of gods they were like Proto-Indo-European mythology.
*Next is our series idea that was addressed in, Anarchist Teaching as Free Public Education or Free Education in the Public: VIDEO
Our future video series: Organized Oppression: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of power (9,000-4,000 years ago) adapted from: The Complete and Concise History of the Sumerians and Early Bronze Age Mesopotamia (7000-2000 BC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szFjxmY7jQA
Show #1: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Samarra, Halaf, Ubaid)
Show #2: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Eridu “Tell Abu Shahrain”)
Show #3: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Uruk and the First Cities)
Show #4: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (First Kings)
Show #5: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Early Dynastic Period)
Show #6: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (King/Ruler Lugalzagesi)
Show #7: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Sargon and Akkadian Rule)
Show #9: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Gudea of Lagash and Utu-hegal)
Show #12: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Aftermath and Legacy of Sumer)
The “Atheist-Humanist-Leftist Revolutionaries”
Cory Johnston ☭ Ⓐ Atheist Leftist @Skepticallefty & I (Damien Marie AtHope) @AthopeMarie (my YouTube & related blog) are working jointly in atheist, antitheist, antireligionist, antifascist, anarchist, socialist, and humanist endeavors in our videos together, generally, every other Saturday.
Why Does Power Bring Responsibility?
Think, how often is it the powerless that start wars, oppress others, or commit genocide? So, I guess the question is to us all, to ask, how can power not carry responsibility in a humanity concept? I know I see the deep ethical responsibility that if there is power their must be a humanistic responsibility of ethical and empathic stewardship of that power. Will I be brave enough to be kind? Will I possess enough courage to be compassionate? Will my valor reached its height of empathy? I as everyone earns our justified respect by our actions, that are good, ethical, just, protecting, and kind. Do I have enough self-respect to put my love for humanity’s flushing, over being brought down by some of its bad actors? May we all be the ones doing good actions in the world, to help human flourishing.
I create the world I want to live in, striving for flourishing. Which is not a place but a positive potential involvement and promotion; a life of humanist goal precision. To master oneself, also means mastering positive prosocial behaviors needed for human flourishing. I may have lost a god myth as an atheist but I am happy to tell you my friend, it is exactly because of that, leaving the mental terrorizer, god belief that I truly regained my connected ethical as well as kind humanity.
Cory and I will talk about prehistory and theism, addressing the relevance to atheism, anarchism, and socialism.
At the same time of the rise of the male god 7,000 years ago was also the very time there was the rise of violence war, and clans to kingdoms, then empires, then states. It is all connected back to 7,000 years ago and it mover across the world.
Cory Johnston: https://damienmarieathope.com/2021/04/cory-johnston-mind-of-a-skeptical-leftist/?v=32aec8db952d
The Mind of a Skeptical Leftist (YouTube)
Cory Johnston: Mind of a Skeptical Leftist @Skepticalcory
The Mind of a Skeptical Leftist By Cory Johnston: “Promoting critical thinking, social justice, and left-wing politics by covering current events and talking to a variety of people. Cory Johnston has been thoughtfully talking to people and attempting to promote critical thinking, social justice, and left-wing politics.”
Cory Johnston ☭ Ⓐ @Skepticallefty Evidence-based atheist leftist (he/him) Producer, host, and co-host of 4 podcasts @skeptarchy @skpoliticspod and @AthopeMarie
http://anchor.fm/skepticalleft
He needs our support. We rise by helping each other.
Damien Marie AtHope (“At Hope”) Axiological Atheist, Anti-theist, Anti-religionist, Secular Humanist. Rationalist, Writer, Artist, Poet, Philosopher, Advocate, Activist, Psychology, and Armchair Archaeology/Anthropology/Historian.
Damien is interested in: Freedom, Liberty, Justice, Equality, Ethics, Humanism, Science, Atheism, Antiteism, Antireligionism, Ignosticism, Left-Libertarianism, Anarchism, Socialism, Mutualism, Axiology, Metaphysics, LGBTQI, Philosophy, Advocacy, Activism, Mental Health, Psychology, Archaeology, Social Work, Sexual Rights, Marriage Rights, Woman’s Rights, Gender Rights, Child Rights, Secular Rights, Race Equality, Ageism/Disability Equality, Etc. And a far-leftist, “Anarcho-Humanist.”
Art by Damien Marie AtHope
Damien Marie AtHope (Said as “At” “Hope”)/(Autodidact Polymath but not good at math):
Axiological Atheist, Anti-theist, Anti-religionist, Secular Humanist, Rationalist, Writer, Artist, Jeweler, Poet, “autodidact” Philosopher, schooled in Psychology, and “autodidact” Armchair Archaeology/Anthropology/Pre-Historian (Knowledgeable in the range of: 1 million to 5,000/4,000 years ago). I am an anarchist socialist politically. Reasons for or Types of Atheism
My Website, My Blog, My (free accesses) Patreon, My (free accesses) Patreon Blog & Short-writing or Quotes My YouTube, Twitter: @AthopeMarie, and My Email: damien.marie.athope@gmail.com
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