A spirit —in the sense in which the word is used in folklore and ethnography — is an "immaterial being", a "supernatural agent", the " soul of a deceased person", an "invisible entity" or the "soul of a seriously suffering person". Often spirits have an intermediate status between gods and humans, sharing some properties with gods (immateriality, greater powers) and some with humans (finite, not omniscient).
176-588: An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly , or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings . In Western belief-systems the term is often used to distinguish benevolent and malevolent intermediary beings. It is often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent ) and humanity (the profane ) in various traditions like the Abrahamic religions . Other roles include protectors and guides for humans, such as guardian angels and servants of God. Emphasizing
352-567: A comic relief figure in mystery plays . During the early modern period , Satan's significance greatly increased as beliefs such as demonic possession and witchcraft became more prevalent. During the Age of Enlightenment , belief in the existence of Satan was harshly criticized by thinkers such as Voltaire . Nonetheless, belief in Satan has persisted, particularly in the Americas . Although Satan
528-462: A prototypical form of the ransom theory, but Origen was the first to propose it in its fully developed form. The theory was later expanded by theologians such as Gregory of Nyssa and Rufinus of Aquileia . In the eleventh century, Anselm of Canterbury criticized the ransom theory, along with the associated Christus Victor theory, resulting in the theory's decline in western Europe. The theory has nonetheless retained some of its popularity in
704-581: A "disgusting fantasy" and declared that belief in Hell and Satan were among the many lies propagated by the Catholic Church to keep humanity enslaved. By the eighteenth century, trials for witchcraft had ceased in most western countries, with the notable exceptions of Poland and Hungary , where they continued. Belief in the power of Satan, however, remained strong among traditional Christians. Mormonism developed its own views on Satan. According to
880-418: A 'physical' entity is strengthened by numerous other rabbinical anecdotes: one tale describes two separate incidents where Satan appeared as a woman in order to tempt Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Akiva into sin, while another describes Satan taking the form of an ill-mannered, diseased beggar in order to tempt the sage Peleimu into breaking the mitzvah of hospitality. Another passage relates that Satan once kissed
1056-775: A 2013 poll conducted by YouGov , fifty-seven percent of people in the United States believe in a literal Devil, compared to eighteen percent of people in Britain. Fifty-one percent of Americans believe that Satan has the power to possess people. W. Scott Poole, author of Satan in America: The Devil We Know , has opined that "In the United States over the last forty to fifty years, a composite image of Satan has emerged that borrows from both popular culture and theological sources" and that most American Christians do not "separate what they know [about Satan] from
1232-443: A census without his approval. 1 Chronicles 21:1 repeats this story, but replaces the "Angel of Yahweh" with an entity referred to as "a satan". Some passages clearly refer to the satan, without using the word itself. 1 Samuel 2:12 describes the sons of Eli as "sons of Belial "; the later usage of this word makes it clearly a synonym for "satan". In 1 Samuel 16:14–2, Yahweh sends a "troubling spirit" to torment King Saul as
1408-721: A child despite his old age, thus proclaiming the birth of John the Baptist . In Luke 1:26, Gabriel visits Mary in the Annunciation to foretell the birth of Jesus . Angels proclaim the birth of Jesus in the Adoration of the shepherds in Luke 2:10. According to Matthew 4:11, after Jesus spent 40 days in the desert, "...the Devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him." In Luke 22:43 an angel comforts Jesus during
1584-552: A concession to human's imperfection, in contrast to the angels. Thus, they occasionally appear in Midrashim as competition with humans. The angels as heavenly beings, strictly following the laws of God, become jealous of God's affection for man. Humans, by following the Torah, in prayer, by resisting evil instincts ( yetzer hara ) and by teshuva , are preferred to the flawless angels. As a result, they are also inferior to humans in
1760-509: A derivative of the Greek word diabolos . Muslims do not regard Satan as the cause of evil, but as a tempter, who takes advantage of humans' inclinations toward self-centeredness. Seven chapters in the Quran describe how God ordered all the angels and Iblis to bow before the newly created human, Adam . All the angels bowed, but Iblis refused, claiming to be superior to Adam because he
1936-570: A dream-vision from God. [...] As Daniel watches, the Ancient of Days takes his seat on the throne of heaven and sits in judgement in the midst of the heavenly court [...] an [angel] like a son of man approaches the Ancient One in the clouds of heaven and is given everlasting kingship. Jeffrey Burton Russel writes that "the more the banim and the mal'ak were seen as distinct from the God, the more it
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#17327653205792112-478: A group of 200 angels known as the " Watchers ", who are assigned to supervise the earth, but instead abandon their duties and have sexual intercourse with human women. The leader of the Watchers is Semjâzâ and another member of the group, known as Azazel , spreads sin and corruption among humankind. The Watchers are ultimately sequestered in isolated caves across the earth and are condemned to face judgement at
2288-402: A group of evil jinn. According to a hadith from Ibn Abbas , Iblis was actually an angel whom God created out of fire. Ibn Abbas asserts that the word jinn could be applied to earthly jinn, but also to "fiery angels" like Satan. Hasan of Basra , an eminent Muslim theologian who lived in the seventh century AD, was quoted as saying: "Iblis was not an angel even for the time of an eye wink. He
2464-544: A little proud in appearance, but docile indeed: great lovers of the sciences, subtle, officious to the wise, and enemies of the foolish and ignorant. Their wives and daughters are male beauties, such as the Amazons are depicted... Know that the seas and rivers are inhabited as well as the air; the ancient Sages named Ondins or Nymphs this species of people... The earth is filled almost to the center with Gnomes, people of small stature, guardians of treasures, mines, and gems. As for
2640-522: A mechanism to ingratiate David with the king. In 1 Kings 22:19–25, the prophet Micaiah describes to King Ahab a vision of Yahweh sitting on his throne surrounded by the Host of Heaven . Yahweh asks the Host which of them will lead Ahab astray. A "spirit", whose name is not specified, but who is analogous to the satan, volunteers to be "a Lying Spirit in the mouth of all his Prophets". The satan appears in
2816-471: A narration, the sound of the shofar , which is primarily intended to remind Jews of the importance of teshuva , is also intended symbolically to "confuse the accuser" (Satan) and prevent him from rendering any litigation to God against the Jews. Kabbalah presents Satan as an agent of God whose function is to tempt humans into sinning so that he may accuse them in the heavenly court. The Hasidic Jews of
2992-470: A perishable material envelope, the destruction of which, by death, restores them to liberty. Among the different species of corporeal beings, God has chosen the human species for the incarnation of spirits arrived at a certain degree of development; it is which gives it a moral and intellectual superiority to all the others. The soul is an incarnated spirit, whose body is only its envelope. There are in man three things: 1. The body, or material being, analogous to
3168-561: A safeguard against temptation, since the Devil "cannot endure gaiety ". John Calvin repeated a maxim from Saint Augustine that "Man is like a horse, with either God or the devil as rider." In the late fifteenth century, a series of witchcraft panics erupted in France and Germany. The German Inquisitors Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger argued in their book Malleus Maleficarum , published in 1487, that all maleficia ("sorcery")
3344-448: A spirit would have a form of existing and thinking ; it would exist without being generally visible; often popular traditions endow it with miraculous powers and more or less occult influences on the physical world. It is not uncommon for a "living" person to feel the presence of a spirit shortly after a loved one dies, under conditions of grief and emotion related to the death. This presence sometimes manifests itself several years after
3520-594: A supernatural messenger are the " Malak YHWH ", who is either a messenger from God, an aspect of God (such as the logos ), or God himself as the messenger (the " theophanic angel.") In the early writings of the Hebrew Bible, both Hebrew : בְנֵי־הָאֱלֹהִים , romanized : Bənē hāʾĔlōhīm , lit. 'Sons of Gods' as well as the Hebrew : מַלְאָךְ , romanized : mal’āḵ , lit. 'messenger' are aspects of God. In
3696-615: A tail, often naked and holding a pitchfork. These are an amalgam of traits derived from various pagan deities, including Pan , Poseidon , and Bes . Satan appears frequently in Christian literature , most notably in Dante Alighieri 's Inferno , all variants of the classic Faust story, John Milton 's Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained , and the poems of William Blake . He continues to appear in film, television, and music. The Hebrew term śāṭān ( Hebrew : שָׂטָן )
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#17327653205793872-530: A test and can be punished. Accordingly, Satan became a devil ( shaiṭān ) or jinn after he refused to obey. The Tarikh Khamis narrates that Satan was a jinn who was admitted into Paradise as a reward for his righteousness and, unlike the angels, was given the choice to obey or disobey God. When he was expelled from Paradise, Satan blamed humanity for his punishment. Concerning the fiery origin of Iblis, Zakariya al-Qazwini and Muhammad ibn Ahmad Ibshihi state that all supernatural creatures originated from fire but
4048-472: A throne high and exalted According to Kabbalah , there are four worlds and our world is the last world: the world of action (Assiyah). Angels exist in the worlds above as a 'task' of God. They are an extension of God to produce effects in this world. After an angel has completed its task, it ceases to exist. The angel is in effect the task. This is derived from the book of Genesis when Abraham meets with three angels and Lot meets with two. The task of one of
4224-563: A vision of a Great Red Dragon with seven heads, ten horns, seven crowns, and a massive tail, an image which is likely inspired by the vision of the four beasts from the sea in the Book of Daniel and the Leviathan described in various Old Testament passages. The Great Red Dragon knocks "a third of the sun... a third of the moon, and a third of the stars" out the sky and pursues the Woman of
4400-572: A voice booms down from Heaven heralding the defeat of "the Accuser" ( ho Kantegor ), identifying the Satan of Revelation with the satan of the Old Testament. In Revelation 20:1–3 , Satan is bound with a chain and hurled into the Abyss , where he is imprisoned for one thousand years . In Revelation 20:7–10 , he is set free and gathers his armies along with Gog and Magog to wage war against
4576-410: A whole collection of immaterial entities, generally possessing a certain number of the attributes of the human person, but not all, and, first of all, no concrete bodily envelope... First of all, the 'spirits of the dead'... Another widespread category is that of ' bush spirits ', frequent personifications of the forces of nature... Sahara, the fried (dangerous). 'Genies' are a category that often combines
4752-451: A woman's womb and there forms an embryo, he would think this a miracle and accept it as a mark of the majesty and power of the Deity, despite the fact that he believes an angel to be a body of fire one third the size of the entire world. All this, he thinks, is possible for God. But if you tell him that God placed in the sperm the power of forming and demarcating these organs, and that this is
4928-407: A world inhabited by spirits, satyrs, etc: The places inaccessible to men are populated by a crowd of Longaevi who inhabit the forests, woods and sylvan sanctuaries, lakes, springs and rivers. In his Commentary on Timaeus (439), Proclus admits nine levels of reality: One, being, life, mind, reason, animals, plants, animate beings, and prime matter. He posits a hierarchy of gods in nine degrees: 1)
5104-596: A young fowl". Cotton Mather wrote that devils swarmed around Puritan settlements "like the frogs of Egypt ". The Puritans believed that the Native Americans were worshippers of Satan and described them as "children of the Devil". Some settlers claimed to have seen Satan himself appear in the flesh at native ceremonies. During the First Great Awakening , the " new light " preachers portrayed their "old light" critics as ministers of Satan. By
5280-541: Is " devil ", which descends from Middle English devel , from Old English dēofol, that in turn represents an early Germanic borrowing of Latin diabolus (also the source of "diabolical"). This in turn was borrowed from Greek diabolos " slanderer ", from diaballein "to slander": dia- "across, through" + ballein "to hurl". In the New Testament, the words Satan and diabolos are used interchangeably as synonyms. Beelzebub , meaning "Lord of Flies",
5456-438: Is a species which a unique individual belongs to; angels differ one from another by way of their unique and irrepetible form. In other words, form - and not matter - is their principle of individuation . Belief in angels is fundamental to Islam. The Quranic word for angel ( Arabic : ملاك Malāk ) derives either from Malaka , meaning "he controlled", due to their power to govern different affairs assigned to them, or from
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5632-409: Is a generic noun meaning "accuser" or "adversary", and is derived from a verb meaning primarily "to obstruct, oppose". In the earlier biblical books, e.g. 1 Samuel 29:4, it refers to human adversaries, but in the later books, especially Job 1–2 and Zechariah 3, to a supernatural entity. When used without the definite article (simply satan ), it can refer to any accuser, but when it is used with
5808-525: Is also used in other books of the Hebrew Bible . In the early stages of Hebrew writings, the term refers to human messengers, not to supernatural entities. A human messenger might be a prophet or priest, such as Malachi , "my messenger"; the Greek superscription in the Septuagint translation states the Book of Malachi was written "by the hand of his messenger" ἀγγέλου ( angélu ). Examples of
5984-415: Is best understood in contrast to demons and is often thought to be "influenced by the ancient Persian religious tradition of Zoroastrianism , which viewed the world as a battleground between forces of good and forces of evil, between light and darkness." One of these is hāššāṭān , a figure depicted in (among other places) the Book of Job . Rabbinic Judaism has been an orthodox form of Judaism since
6160-576: Is blasphemy... to say that the greatest God... has an adversary who constrains his capacity to do good" and said that Christians "impiously divide the kingdom of God, creating a rebellion in it, as if there were opposing factions within the divine, including one that is hostile to God". The name Heylel , meaning "morning star" (or, in Latin, Lucifer ), was a name for Attar , the god of the planet Venus in Canaanite mythology , who attempted to scale
6336-513: Is conceived as God's instrument. Four classes of ministering angels minister and utter praise before the Holy One, blessed be He: the first camp (led by) Michael on His right, the second camp (led by) Gabriel on His left, the third camp (led by) Uriel before Him, and the fourth camp (led by) Raphael behind Him; and the Shekhinah of the Holy One, blessed be He, is in the centre. He is sitting on
6512-577: Is destined to be overthrown through Jesus's death and resurrection. John 16:7–8 promises that the Holy Spirit will "accuse the World concerning sin, justice, and judgement", a role resembling that of the Satan in the Old Testament. Jude 9 refers to a dispute between Michael the Archangel and the Devil over the body of Moses . Some interpreters understand this reference to be an allusion to
6688-655: Is evident from the Qumram writings . In the Angelic Liturgy , the Hebrew term elim (deities, heavenly powers) is used for angelic beings and not for God. The War Scroll speaks about angels of light fighting against demonic beings of darkness. In Zoroastrianism there are different angel-like figures. For example, each person has one guardian angel , called Fravashi . They patronize human beings and other creatures, and also manifest God's energy. The Amesha Spentas have often been regarded as angels, although there
6864-470: Is generally viewed as evil, some groups have very different beliefs. In theistic Satanism , Satan is considered a deity who is either worshipped or revered. In LaVeyan Satanism , Satan is a symbol of virtuous characteristics and liberty. Satan's appearance is never described in the Bible, but, since the ninth century, he has often been shown in Christian art with horns, cloven hooves, unusually hairy legs, and
7040-585: Is intellectual and not through senses (LIV. 5). Differently from humans, their knowledge is not acquired from the exterior world (having acquired all knowledge they would ever receive in the moment of their creation); moreover they attain to the truth of a thing at a single glance without need of reasoning (LV. a; LVIII. 3,4). They know all that passes in the external world (LV. 2) and the totality of creatures, but they don't know human secret thoughts that depends on human free will and thereby are not necessarily linked up with external events (LVII. 4). They don't know also
7216-591: Is left untranslated but transliterated in the Greek as satan , a neologism in Greek. The idea of Satan as an opponent of God and a purely evil figure seems to have taken root in Jewish pseudepigrapha during the Second Temple Period, particularly in the apocalypses . The Book of Enoch , which the Dead Sea Scrolls have revealed to have been nearly as popular as the Torah, describes
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7392-512: Is mentioned explicitly in some daily prayers, including during Shacharit and certain post-meal benedictions, as described in the Talmud and the Jewish Code of Law . In Reform Judaism , Satan is generally seen in his Talmudic role as a metaphor for the yetzer hara and the symbolic representation of innate human qualities such as selfishness. The most common English synonym for "Satan"
7568-406: Is moved by the motion of the sphere; the sphere is moved by means of a disembodied intellect, these intellects being the 'angels which are near to Him', through whose mediation the spheres move ... thus totally disembodied minds exist which emanate from God and are the intermediaries between God and all the bodies [objects] here in this world. Maimonides had a neo-Aristotelian interpretation of
7744-653: Is no direct reference to them conveying messages, but are rather emanations of Ahura Mazda ("Wise Lord", God); they initially appeared in an abstract fashion and then later became personalized, associated with various aspects of creation. In Judaism, angels ( Hebrew : מַלְאָךְ mal’āḵ ; "messenger"), are understood through interpretation of the Tanakh and in a long tradition as supernatural beings who stand by God in heaven, but are strictly to be distinguished from God (YHWH) and are subordinate to him. Occasionally, they can show selected people God's will and instructions. In
7920-459: Is only in the late books that the terms "come to mean the benevolent semi-divine beings familiar from later mythology and art." Daniel is the biblical book to refer to individual angels by name, mentioning Gabriel in Daniel 9:21 and Michael in Daniel 10:13. These angels are part of Daniel's apocalyptic visions and are an important part of apocalyptic literature . In Daniel 7 , Daniel receives
8096-650: Is the Septuagint's default translation of the Biblical Hebrew term malʼākh , denoting simply "messenger" without connoting its nature. In the Latin Vulgate , this meaning becomes bifurcated: when malʼākh or ángelos is supposed to denote a human messenger, words like nuntius or legatus are applied. If the word refers to some supernatural being, the word angelus appears. Such differentiation has been taken over by later vernacular translations of
8272-507: Is the contemptuous name given in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament to a Philistine god whose original name has been reconstructed as most probably "Ba'al Zabul", meaning " Baal the Prince". The Synoptic Gospels identify Satan and Beelzebub as the same. The name Abaddon (meaning "place of destruction") is used six times in the Old Testament, mainly as a name for one of the regions of Sheol . Revelation 9:11 describes Abaddon, whose name
8448-455: Is the origin of Jinn as Adam is of Mankind." The medieval Persian scholar Abu al-Zamakhshari states that the words angels and jinn are synonyms. Another Persian scholar, al-Baydawi , instead argues that Satan hoped to be an angel, but that his actions made him a jinn. Abu Mansur al-Maturidi who is reverred as the founder of Maturidiyyah Sunni orthodoxy ( kalam ) argued that since angels can be blessed by God, they are also put to
8624-414: Is translated into Greek as Apollyon , meaning "the destroyer", as an angel who rules the Abyss . In modern usage, Abaddon is sometimes equated with Satan. The three Synoptic Gospels all describe the temptation of Christ by Satan in the desert ( Matthew 4:1–11 , Mark 1:12–13 , and Luke 4:1–13 ). Satan first shows Jesus a stone and tells him to turn it into bread. He also takes him to the pinnacle of
8800-521: Is used in ten instances, of which two are translated diabolos in the Septuagint. It is generally translated in English Bibles as 'an accuser' (1x) or 'an adversary' (9x as in Book of Numbers , 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 Kings ). In some cases, it is translated as 'Satan': The word does not occur in the Book of Genesis , which mentions only a talking serpent and does not identify the serpent with any supernatural entity. The first occurrence of
8976-521: Is usually seen as a fallen angel or jinn who has rebelled against God , who nevertheless allows him temporary power over the fallen world and a host of demons . In the Quran , Iblis is an evil entity ( shaitan ) made of fire who was cast out of Heaven because he refused to bow before the newly created Adam and incites humans to sin by infecting their minds with waswās ('evil suggestions'). A figure known as ha-satan ("the satan") first appears in
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#17327653205799152-563: The Encyclopædia Britannica , liberal Christianity tends to view Satan "as a [figurative] mythological attempt to express the reality and extent of evil in the universe, existing outside and apart from humanity but profoundly influencing the human sphere". Bernard McGinn describes multiple traditions detailing the relationship between the Antichrist and Satan. In the dualist approach, Satan will become incarnate in
9328-773: The Agony in the Garden . In Matthew 28:5 an angel speaks at the empty tomb, following the Resurrection of Jesus and the rolling back of the stone by angels. In 1851 Pope Pius IX approved the Chaplet of Saint Michael based on the 1751 reported private revelation from archangel Michael to the Carmelite nun Antonia d'Astonac. In a biography of Gemma Galgani written by Germanus Ruoppolo, Galgani stated that she had spoken with her guardian angel . Pope John Paul II emphasized
9504-497: The Bible , early Christian and Jewish exegetes and eventually modern scholars. The concept of angels is historically best to be understood from different ideas of the concept of God throughout history . In polytheistic and animistic worldviews , supernatural powers (i.e. deities, spirits , daemons, etc.) were assigned to different natural phenomena . Within a monotheistic framework, these powers were reconsidered to be servants of
9680-591: The Book of Daniel ( Daniel 8:15–17 ) and briefly in the Talmud, as well as in many Merkabah mystical texts . There is no evidence in Judaism for the worship of angels , but there is evidence for the invocation and sometimes even conjuration of angels. Philo of Alexandria identifies the angel with the Logos inasmuch as the angel is the immaterial voice of God. The angel is something different from God himself, but
9856-466: The Book of Job , a poetic dialogue set within a prose framework, which may have been written around the time of the Babylonian captivity . In the text, Job is a righteous man favored by Yahweh. Job 1:6–8 describes the " sons of God " ( bənê hāʼĕlōhîm ) presenting themselves before Yahweh. Yahweh asks one of them, "the satan", where he has been, to which he replies that he has been roaming around
10032-461: The Book of Moses , the Devil offered to be the redeemer of mankind for the sake of his own glory. Conversely, Jesus offered to be the redeemer of mankind so that his father's will would be done. After his offer was rejected, Satan became rebellious and was subsequently cast out of heaven. In the Book of Moses, Cain is said to have "loved Satan more than God" and conspired with Satan to kill Abel . It
10208-399: The Devil (or devils) are identified with such angels. Angels in art are often identified with bird wings , halos , and divine light . They are usually shaped like humans of extraordinary beauty, though this is not always the case—sometimes, they can be portrayed in a frightening, inhuman manner. The word angel arrives in modern English from Old English engel (with a hard g ) and
10384-570: The Eastern Orthodox Church . Most early Christians firmly believed that Satan and his demons had the power to possess humans, and exorcisms were widely practiced by Jews, Christians, and pagans alike. Belief in demonic possession continued through the Middle Ages into the early modern period . Exorcisms were seen as a display of God's power over Satan. The vast majority of people who thought they were possessed by
10560-661: The Epistle to the Hebrews describes the Devil as "him who holds the power of death" ( Hebrews 2:14 ). The author of Luke-Acts attributes more power to Satan than either Matthew and Mark. In Luke 22:31 , Jesus grants Satan the authority to test Peter and the other apostles . Luke 22:3–6 states that Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus because "Satan entered" him and, in Acts 5:3 , Peter describes Satan as "filling" Ananias 's heart and causing him to sin. The Gospel of John only uses
10736-460: The Hebrew Bible as a heavenly prosecutor , subordinate to Yahweh (God), who prosecutes the nation of Judah in the heavenly court and tests the loyalty of Yahweh's followers. During the intertestamental period , possibly due to influence from the Zoroastrian figure of Angra Mainyu , the satan developed into a malevolent entity with abhorrent qualities in dualistic opposition to God. In
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#173276532057910912-577: The New Testament , the existence of angels, just like that of demons, is taken for granted. They can intervene and intercede on behalf of humans. Angels protect the righteous ( Matthew 4:6 , Luke 4:11 ). They dwell in the heavens ( Matthew 28:2 , John 1:51 ), act as God's warriors ( Matthew 26:53 ) and worship God ( Luke 2:13 ). In the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus , angels behave as psychopomps . The Resurrection of Jesus features angels, telling
11088-524: The Nuer ), "auxiliary spirits" ("found in drums, gourds, baskets, etc."), and certain civilizing heroes. In Haiti ( voodoo ): Satan Satan , also known as the Devil ( cf. a devil ), is an entity in Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism , Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God , typically regarded as a metaphor for the yetzer hara , or 'evil inclination'. In Christianity and Islam , he
11264-596: The Old French angele . Both of these derive from Late Latin angelus , which in turn was borrowed from Late Greek ἄγγελος angelos (literally "messenger"). Τhe word's earliest form is Mycenaean a-ke-ro , attested in Linear B syllabic script. According to the Dutch linguist R. S. P. Beekes , ángelos itself may be "an Oriental loan, like ἄγγαρος ( ángaros , 'Persian mounted courier')." The rendering of ángelos
11440-612: The Temple in Jerusalem and commands Jesus to throw himself down so that the angels will catch him. Satan takes Jesus to the top of a tall mountain as well; there, he shows him the kingdoms of the earth and promises to give them all to him if he will bow down and worship him. Each time Jesus rebukes Satan and, after the third temptation, he is administered by the angels. Satan's promise in Matthew 4:8–9 and Luke 4:6–7 to give Jesus all
11616-651: The Trinity . The resolution of this Trinitarian dispute included the development of doctrine about angels. According to Augustine of Hippo , the term 'angel' refers to "the name of their office, not [...] their nature", as they are pure spirits who act as messengers, clarifying: "If you seek the name of their nature, it is 'spirit'; if you seek the name of their office, it is 'angel': from what they are, 'spirit', from what they do, 'angel'." Gregory of Nazianzus thought that angels were made as "spirits" and "flames of fire", following Hebrews 1, and that they can be identified with
11792-468: The apocryphal Book of Jubilees , Yahweh grants the satan (referred to as Mastema ) authority over a group of fallen angels , or their offspring , to tempt humans to sin and punish them. Although the Book of Genesis does not mention him, Christians often identify the serpent in the Garden of Eden as Satan. In the Synoptic Gospels , Satan tempts Jesus in the desert and is identified as
11968-525: The heavenly host , no systematic hierarchy ever developed. Metatron is considered one of the highest of the angels in Merkabah and Kabbalah mysticism and often serves as a scribe; he is briefly mentioned in the Talmud and figures prominently in Merkabah mystical texts. Michael, who serves as a warrior and advocate for Israel ( Daniel 10:13 ), is looked upon particularly fondly. Gabriel is mentioned in
12144-443: The ransom theory of atonement , which was popular among early Christian theologians, Satan gained power over humanity through Adam and Eve 's sin and Christ's death on the cross was a ransom to Satan in exchange for humanity's liberation. This theory holds that Satan was tricked by God because Christ was not only free of sin, but also the incarnate Deity, whom Satan lacked the ability to enslave. Irenaeus of Lyons described
12320-527: The supreme deity , turning autonomous supernatural beings into "angels". By that, supernatural powers controlling or influencing humanity's perception of the world, including natural phenomena and humans, are ultimately under control of a supreme God. Prominent angels, such as Michael and Gabriel, reflect a connection to the Chief Semitic deity El . Even "bad" angels such as Satan , Samael , Iblis etc., can be understood as an operating force within
12496-552: The " Dogmatic constitution on the Catholic faith ". In the Middle Ages, theologians had to address Augustine's ideas of "angelic knowledge", as set out in De Genesi ad litteram , which he divided into "morning" knowledge, knowledge of Creation before it is created derived from direct access to the Word of God, and "evening" knowledge, knowledge of Creation derived from perceiving it after it has been created. Thomas Aquinas (13th century) related angels to Aristotle 's metaphysics in his Summa contra Gentiles , Summa Theologica ,
12672-541: The "thrones, dominions, rulers and authorities" of Colossians 1. Forty Gospel Homilies by Pope Gregory I (c. 540 – 12 March 604) noted angels and archangels. The Fourth Lateran Council 's (1215) Firmiter credimus decree (issued against the Albigenses ) declared that the angels were created beings and that men were created after them. The First Vatican Council (1869) repeated this declaration in Dei Filius ,
12848-741: The 1430s, the Catholic Church began to regard witchcraft as part of a vast conspiracy led by Satan himself. During the Early Modern Period , Christians gradually began to regard Satan as increasingly powerful and the fear of Satan's power became a dominant aspect of the worldview of Christians across Europe. During the Protestant Reformation , Martin Luther taught that, rather than trying to argue with Satan, Christians should avoid temptation altogether by seeking out pleasant company; Luther especially recommended music as
13024-621: The 1620s and continued until the end of the 1600s. Brian Levack estimates that around 60,000 people were executed for witchcraft during the entire span of the witchcraft hysteria. The early English settlers of North America, especially the Puritans of New England , believed that Satan "visibly and palpably" reigned in the New World . John Winthrop claimed that the Devil made rebellious Puritan women give birth to stillborn monsters with claws, sharp horns, and "on each foot three claws, like
13200-505: The 6th century CE , after the codification of the Babylonian Talmud . In post-Biblical Judaism , certain angels took on particular significance and developed unique personalities and roles. According to Rabbinic Judaism, the angels have no bodies, but are eternally living creatures created out of fire. The Babylonian Talmud reads as "The Torah was not given to ministering angels." (לא נתנה תורה למלאכי השרת) usually understood as
13376-602: The 8th question of Quaestiones Disputatae de Veritate , and in De substantiis separatis , a treatise on angelology. Aquinas varied significantly from the Augustinian view in two major respects: angels were not created in an initial state of bliss, and only beatified angels have "morning" knowledge. In other words: angels have an angelic nature, but in their natural states have no access to Divine "morning" knowledge of Creation, which they only gain with supernatural assistance. This
13552-563: The Anglican bishop John Bancroft , had begun to criticize the belief that demons still had the power to possess people. This skepticism was bolstered by the belief that miracles only occurred during the Apostolic Age , which had long since ended. Later, Enlightenment thinkers, such as David Hume , Denis Diderot , and Voltaire , attacked the notion of Satan's existence altogether. Voltaire labelled John Milton 's Paradise Lost
13728-586: The Antichrist, just as God became incarnate in Jesus . However, in Orthodox Christian thought, this view is problematic because it is too similar to Christ's incarnation. Instead, the "indwelling" view has become more accepted, which stipulates that the Antichrist is a human figure inhabited by Satan, since the latter's power is not to be seen as equivalent to God's. The Arabic equivalent of
13904-673: The Apocalypse . Revelation 12:7–9 declares: " And war broke out in Heaven . Michael and his angels fought against the Dragon. The Dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in Heaven. Dragon the Great was thrown down, that ancient serpent who is called Devil and Satan, the one deceiving the whole inhabited World – he was thrown down to earth, and his angels were thrown down with him." Then
14080-615: The Bible in both old and new testaments - ( Hebrews 1:14 ) calls them "ministering [or serving] spirits", sent by God to aid the "heirs of salvation". Later came identification of individual angelic messengers: Gabriel , Michael , Raphael , and Uriel . Then, in the space of slightly over two centuries (from the 3rd to the 5th) the image of angels took on definite characteristics both in theology and in art. Ellen Muehlberger has argued that in Late Antiquity , angels were conceived of as one type of being among many, whose primary purpose
14256-408: The Bible. Maimonides writes that to the wise man, one sees that what the Bible and Talmud refer to as "angels" are actually allusions to the various laws of nature; they are the principles by which the physical universe operates. For all forces are angels! How blind, how perniciously blind are the naive?! If you told someone who purports to be a sage of Israel that the Deity sends an angel who enters
14432-440: The Devil ( Apologies , I, 5, 25-27). Numerous theologians would follow him, including Tertullian ( De spectaculis ) and Lactantius (4th century). The Neoplatonist Porphyry of Tyre (c. 260) carefully asks how to distinguish high-ranking divine beings (gods, archangels, angels , demons, heroes, archons of the cosmos or matter) from mere souls, not to mention malignant spirits ( antitheoi ): Thou inquirest concerning what reveals
14608-447: The Devil did not suffer from hallucinations or other "spectacular symptoms", but "complained of anxiety, religious fears, and evil thoughts". Satan had minimal role in medieval Christian theology , but he frequently appeared as a recurring comedic stock character in late medieval mystery plays , in which he was portrayed as a comic relief figure who "frolicked, fell, and farted in the background". Jeffrey Burton Russell describes
14784-480: The Elements, the giants and dwarfs, and the dwarfs on Earth. He believes in the genies of the four Elements. Earth, by spontaneous generation, produces dwarves guarding the treasures beneath the mountain; water produces undines; fire, salamanders; air, elves. Then there are the giants and dwarves who come from the air but live on the earth. The book is called A Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and Salamanders, and on
14960-528: The Hades (bronze race), heroes without posthumous promotion, and humans of the past (iron race). Hesiod was the first to set forth clearly and distinctly four classes of rational beings: gods, demigods, heroes, in this order, and, last of all, men; and as a sequence to this he postulates his transmutation, the golden race passing selectively into many good divinities, and the demigods into heroes. Pythagoras sees souls or spirits everywhere, as detached particles of
15136-607: The Islamic concept of angels. Some of them, such as Gabriel and Michael , are mentioned by name in the Quran, others are only referred to by their function. Most Muslim theologians, such as al-Suyuti , based on a hadith stating that the angels have been created through the light (Nūr), depict angels as entities consisting of substance, in contrast to philosophers who argued for angels being disembodied spirits. Additionally, angels are thought to be endowed with reason and be subject to God's tests. Al-Maturidi (853–944 CE) states that
15312-635: The Jewish tradition they are also inferior to humans since they have no will of their own and are able to carry out only one divine command. The Torah uses the Hebrew terms מלאך אלהים ( mal'āk̠ 'ĕlōhîm ; "messenger of God"), מלאך יהוה ( mal'āk̠ Yahweh ; "messenger of the Lord"), בני אלהים ( bənē 'ĕlōhîm ; " sons of God ") and הקודשים ( haqqôd̠əšîm ; "the holy ones") to refer to beings traditionally interpreted as angels. Later texts use other terms, such as העליונים ( hā'elyônîm ; "the upper ones"). The term 'מלאך' ( 'mal'āk̠' )
15488-576: The Jewish tradition. In the Midrash, the plural of El ( Elohim ) used in Genesis in relation to the creation of human beings is explained by the presence of angels: God therefore consulted with the angels, but made the final decision alone. This story serves as an example, teaching that the powerful should also consult with the weak. God's own final decision highlights God's undisputable omnipotence. Although these archangels were believed to rank among
15664-583: The Law of Moses was introduced by angels rather than God, combined with his statements in Galatians , implies a negative role. In Collosians 2:18 , he criticizes the worship of angels. Forget not to show love unto strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.— Hebrews 13:2 Three separate cases of angelic interaction deal with the births of John the Baptist and Jesus . In ( Luke 1:11 ), an angel appears to Zechariah to inform him that he will have
15840-660: The Law. Reverence the Oath, and next the Heroes, full of goodness and light. Honor likewise the Terrestrial Dæmons by rendering them the worship lawfully due to them. Honour likewise thy parents, and those most nearly related to thee. A little bit similar to Hesiod, in Timaeus , Plato mentions gods, demons, inhabitants in the Hades, heroes and humans of the past. The Romans admitted gods, goddesses, masons (souls of
16016-517: The One, the first god; 2) the henads; 3) the intelligible gods; 4) the intelligible-intellective gods; 5) the intellective gods; 6) the hyper cosmic gods; 7) the encosmic gods; 8) the universal souls; 9) the angels, demons, heroes (according to Pierre Hadot). Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite , c. 490, influenced by Proclos and Saint Paul , classified the heavenly spirits into three triads, thus forming
16192-468: The Other Spirits ( Latin : Liber de Nymphis, sylphis, pygmaeis et salamandris et de caeteris spiritibus ). The word inanimatum designates six families of soulless men... These soulless men are first and foremost those of the four families who inhabit the four Elements: the nymphs, nymphae , daughters of the water; the sons of the earth, lemurs, who dwell beneath the mountains; the spirits of
16368-714: The Parable of the Sower, Satan "profoundly influences" those who fail to understand the gospel. The latter two parables say that Satan's followers will be punished on Judgement Day , with the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats stating that the Devil, his angels, and the people who follow him will be consigned to "eternal fire". When the Pharisees accused Jesus of exorcising demons through the power of Beelzebub, Jesus responds by telling
16544-490: The Parable of the Strong Man, saying: "how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house" ( Matthew 12:29 ). The strong man in this parable represents Satan. The Synoptic Gospels identify Satan and his demons as the causes of illness, including fever ( Luke 4:39 ), leprosy ( Luke 5:13 ), and arthritis ( Luke 13:11–16 ), while
16720-966: The Quran, although interpretation credits Gabriel with that. Angels are not limited to benevolent tasks, but can also carry out grim orders. Not demons, but angels are tasked to guard and punish sinners in hell. Angels play a significant role in Mi'raj literature , where Muhammad encounters several angels during his journey through the heavens. Further angels have often been featured in Islamic eschatology, Islamic theology and Islamic philosophy . Individual angels are further evoked in exorcism rites , with their names engraved in talismans or amulets to call upon their powers. Islamic theology usually distinguishes between three types of invisible creatures: angels ( malāʾikah ), djinn , and devils ( šayāṭīn ). Islamic theologian al-Ghazali (c. 1058 – 1111) divides human nature into four domains, each representing another type of creature: animals, beasts, devils and angels. Reconciling
16896-462: The Quranic retelling of the story of Job , Job knows that Satan is the one tormenting him. In the Quran, Satan is apparently an angel, while, in 18:50 , he is described as "from the jinns". This, combined with the fact that he describes himself as having been made from fire, posed a major problem for Muslim exegetes of the Quran , who disagree on whether Satan is a fallen angel or the leader of
17072-533: The Slavonic Book of Enoch, contains references to a Watcher called Satanael. It is a pseudepigraphic text of an uncertain date and unknown authorship. The text describes Satanael as being the prince of the Grigori who was cast out of heaven and an evil spirit who knew the difference between what was "righteous" and "sinful". In the Book of Wisdom , the devil is taken to be the being who brought death into
17248-485: The Tyrians", but was hurled down to Earth after he was found to be corrupt. In his apologetic treatise Contra Celsum , however, Origen interprets both Isaiah 14:12 and Ezekiel 28:12–15 as referring to Satan. According to Henry Ansgar Kelly, Origen seems to have adopted this new interpretation to refute unnamed persons who, perhaps under the influence of Zoroastrian radical dualism, believed "that Satan's original nature
17424-851: The Zoroastrian spirit of evil, darkness, and ignorance. In the Septuagint , the Hebrew ha-Satan in Job and Zechariah is translated by the Greek word diabolos (slanderer), the same word in the Greek New Testament from which the English word " devil " is derived. Where satan is used to refer to human enemies in the Hebrew Bible, such as Hadad the Edomite and Rezon the Syrian , the word
17600-470: The air, gnomi ; the genii of fire, vulcani . The other two families are made up of men who were also born without souls, but who, like us, breathe outside the Elements. These are, on the one hand, the giants and, on the other, the dwarfs who live in the shadows of the forests, umbragines... Some beings naturally remain within the same Element. The phoenix, for example, stands in the fire like the mole in your earth. Do not be disbelievers, I will prove it! As for
17776-591: The angel, or that all forms are produced by the Active Intellect ; that here is the angel, the "vice-regent of the world" constantly mentioned by the sages, then he will recoil. – Guide for the Perplexed II:4 In the formative stage, the Christian concept of an angel characterized the angel as a 'messenger' of God. The word "angel" can be drawn to the term or role of a "messenger" throughout
17952-412: The angels from its light and the jinn from its blaze, thus fire denotes a disembodiment origin of all spiritual entities. Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi argued that only the angels of mercy are created from light, but angels of punishment have been created from fire. The Muslim historian Al-Tabari , who died in around 923 AD, writes that, before Adam was created, earthly jinn made of smokeless fire roamed
18128-489: The angels was to inform Sara and Abraham of their coming child. The other two were to save Lot and to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah . Jewish philosopher Maimonides explained his view of angels in his Guide for the Perplexed II:4 and II ... This leads Aristotle in turn to the demonstrated fact that God, glory and majesty to Him, does not do things by direct contact. God burns things by means of fire; fire
18304-444: The animals, and animated by the same vital principle; 2. The soul, or immaterial being, a spirit incarnated in the body; 3. The link which unites the soul and the body, a principle intermediary between matter and spirit. Edward Tylor , one of the founders of anthropology , introduced the concept of animism in 1871 to provide, according to him, "a rudimentary definition of religion," and he posits "the minimal definition of religion as
18480-487: The archons, if by that thou meanest the masters of the world who administer the sublunary elements, they are varied, but arranged in order. Pagan angels and archangels have Persian origin. Saint Augustine equates angels with uncreated light, born of the Word; he believes that demons have celestial bodies; he considers fauns to be monstrous children between women and devils. In the 5th century, Martianus Capella described
18656-487: The belief in spiritual beings, within the framework of evolutionism:" I purpose here, under the name of Animism, to investigate the deep-lying doctrine of Spiritual Beings… Animism characterizes tribes very low in the scale of humanity, and thence ascends (...) into the midst of high modern culture. According to Pierre Alexandre, in Sub-Saharan Africa : the somewhat vague term 'spirit' is used to designate
18832-509: The cause of illness and temptation. In the Book of Revelation , Satan appears as a Great Red Dragon , who is defeated by Michael the Archangel and cast down from Heaven. He is later bound for one thousand years , but is briefly set free before being ultimately defeated and cast into the Lake of Fire . In the Middle Ages, Satan played a minimal role in Christian theology and was used as
19008-556: The content of the Epistle of Jude, but omits the specifics of the example regarding Michael and Satan, with 2 Peter 2:10–11 instead mentioning only an ambiguous dispute between "Angels" and "Glories". Throughout the New Testament, Satan is referred to as a "tempter" ( Matthew 4:3 ), "the ruler of the demons" ( Matthew 12:24 ), "the God of this Age" ( 2 Corinthians 4:4 ), "the evil one" ( 1 John 5:18 ), and "a roaring lion" ( 1 Peter 5:8 ). The Book of Revelation represents Satan as
19184-595: The dead"), elves ( alves ), trölls ("gigantic dead"), landvaettir ("tutelary deities of places"), disir , fylgja ("female figure following or accompanying each human being and embodies his destiny"), hamr ("form that everyone carries and which escapes from its support"), hamingja (form applied to the entire family), hugr ("spirit of the world"). Johann Weyer is a witchcraft specialist, with his De praestigiis daemonorum ac incantationibus (1563). He classifies demons by their elemental nature (fire, water, air, earth, and subterranean), and by their habitat (demons of
19360-537: The dead), lares (tutelary spirits protecting houses, etc.), genies (spirits presiding over the destiny of a place, a group, or an individual), lemurs (specters of the dead), etc. Theologians began thinking of angels in the 3rd century, with Origen and the Cappadocians (Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, Basil of Caesarea). Justin Martyr (2nd century) was the first to see the gods of paganism as messengers of
19536-400: The death. Spirits can be classified according to the science in charge of their study: angels and demons belong to theology , ghosts and spirits to metapsychology , fairies and gnomes to folklore , the souls of the dead to the cult of the dead , spiritualism , magic , necromancy . However, there are frequent hesitations. In the first century, for example, Justin thought that
19712-550: The definite article ( ha-satan ), it usually refers specifically to the heavenly accuser, literally, the satan. The word with the definite article Ha-Satan ( Hebrew : הַשָּׂטָן hasSāṭān ) occurs 17 times in the Masoretic Text , in two books of the Hebrew Bible: Job ch. 1–2 (14×) and Zechariah 3:1–2 (3×). It is translated in English bibles mostly as 'Satan'. The word without the definite article
19888-533: The demons mentioned in the Gospels were disembodied souls. Alternatively, a historical approach can be taken. Medieval texts are full of planetary spirits (inhabitants of the planets), angelic spirits (angels, archangels , guardian angels, etc.), nature spirits ( undines , sylphs , etc.), place spirits, etc. Spirits are often classified by the worlds they inhabit: underworld, earth, atmospheric, or heaven. They are also classified as good and bad, or as neutral:
20064-664: The distance between God and mankind, revelation-based belief-systems require angels to bridge the gap between the earthly and the transcendent realm. Angels play a lesser role in monistic belief-systems , since the gap is non-existent. However, angelic beings might be conceived as aid to achieve a proper relationship with the divine. Abrahamic religions describe angelic hierarchies , which vary by religion and sect. Some angels have specific names (such as Gabriel or Michael ) or titles (such as seraph or archangel ). Malevolent angels are often believed to have been expelled from Heaven and called fallen angels . In many such religions,
20240-557: The earliest records, the Bənē hāʾĔlōhīm are in heaven. They are depicted as the heavenly court or the pantheon of religious belief-system of their time. They reflect the transcendent aspect of the Divine, but become progressively differentiated from the good aspect of the Divine. The mal’āḵ on the other hand, expresses the Divinties' interaction with the world. As such the mal’āḵ functions as
20416-558: The earth and spread corruption. He further relates that Iblis was originally an angel named Azazil or Al-Harith , from a group of angels, created from the fires of simoom , sent by God to confront the earthly jinn. Azazil defeated the jinn in battle and drove them into the mountains, but he became convinced that he was superior to humans and all the other angels, leading to his downfall. In this account, Azazil's group of angels were called jinn because they guarded Jannah (Paradise). In another tradition recorded by Al-Tabari, Satan
20592-459: The earth. Yahweh asks, "Have you considered My servant Job?" The satan replies by urging Yahweh to let him torture Job, promising that Job will abandon his faith at the first tribulation. Yahweh consents: the satan destroys Job's servants and flocks, yet Job refuses to condemn Yahweh. The first scene repeats itself, with the satan presenting himself to Yahweh alongside the other "sons of God". Yahweh points out Job's continued faithfulness, to which
20768-524: The eighteenth century associated ha-Satan with Baal Davar . Each modern sect of Judaism has its own interpretation of Satan's identity. Conservative Judaism generally rejects the Talmudic interpretation of Satan as a metaphor for the yetzer hara , and regards him as a literal agent of God. Orthodox Judaism , on the other hand, outwardly embraces Talmudic teachings on Satan, and involves Satan in religious life far more inclusively than other sects. Satan
20944-608: The end of time. The Book of Jubilees , written in around 150 BC, retells the story of the Watchers' defeat, but, in deviation from the Book of Enoch, Mastema , the "Chief of Spirits", intervenes before all of their demon offspring are sealed away, requesting for Yahweh to let him keep some of them to become his workers. Yahweh acquiesces to this request and Mastema uses them to tempt humans into committing more sins, so that he may punish them for their wickedness. Later, Mastema induces Yahweh to test Abraham by ordering him to sacrifice Isaac . The Second Book of Enoch , also called
21120-486: The ether: The whole air is full of souls which are called genii or heroes. Pythagoras identifies four types of spiritual beings: gods, heroes, demons, and humans. While the gods are immortal souls, the humans are mortal souls. Gods inhabit the stars, glorious heroes inhabit the ether, and demons inhabit the earth. The heroes are the demigods. First worship the Immortal Gods, as they are established and ordained by
21296-476: The events described in Zechariah 3:1–2 . The classical theologian Origen attributes this reference to the non-canonical Assumption of Moses . According to James H. Charlesworth , there is no evidence the surviving book of this name ever contained any such content. Others believe it to be in the lost ending of the book. The second chapter of the pseudepigraphical Second Epistle of Peter copies much of
21472-412: The existence of spirits such as angels, demons, and disembodied souls. He argues that "angels have bodies of ether, demons of air, humans of earth". In his prose novel Merlin (7th to 8th century), Robert de Boron introduces his heroes as children of a virgin and a devil, who is therefore an incubus , a sexual demon. The novel Huon de Bordeaux (early 13th century) mixes two categories of spirits:
21648-555: The feet of Aha bar Jacob for having taught his students that his objectionable actions are done only to serve the intents of God. Rabbinical scholarship on the Book of Job generally follows the Talmud and Maimonides in identifying "the satan" from the prologue as a metaphor for the yetzer hara and not an actual entity. Satan is rarely mentioned in Tannaitic literature, but is found in Babylonian aggadah . According to
21824-552: The first beings created by God before the creation of Earth ( Psalms 148:2–5 ; Colossians 1:16 ). Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible refer to intermediary beings as angels, instead of daimons , thus giving raise to a distinction between demons and angels. In the Old Testament , both benevolent and fierce angels are mentioned, but never called demons . The symmetry lies between angels sent by God, and intermediary spirits of foreign deities, not in good and evil deeds. In
22000-529: The four cardinal points, day and night demons, wood demons, mountain demons, country demons, domestic demons). In his novel The Count of Gabalis, or Interviews on the Secret Sciences (1670), Abbé Henri de Montfaucon de Villars correlates demons and elements, simplifying Psellus and continuing Paracelsus. Sylphs are of air; undines, water; gnomes, earth; salamanders, fire. The air is full of an innumerable multitude of peoples [Sylphs] of human figure,
22176-416: The future unless God reveals it to them (LVII. 3). According to Aquinas, angels are the closest creatures to God. Therefore, like God, they are constituted by pure form without matter . While they do not have a physical composition of matter and form (called ilemorphysm ), they possess the metaphysical composition of act (the act of being ) and potency (their finite essence, yet without being). Each angel
22352-443: The giants and dwarves of the forest, they live in our world. All these soulless beings are produced from seeds that come from heaven and the Elements but without the loam of the earth... They come into the world like insects formed in the mire [by spontaneous generation]. The Germans developed an "astonishing proliferation of supernatural creatures:" primordial giants (who personified "the great supernatural forces"), dwarves (who "are
22528-429: The gruesome attributes of God and can be both benevolent and malevolent. The notion of angels as embodiment of good emerges only under influence of Zoroastrianism , in which the Devil is conceived as the principle of evil, with a hosts of demons, in battle with the holy entities ( Aməša Spəṇta ) created by Ahura Mazda (principle of good). Influence of dualistic tendencies and replacement of divine powers by angels
22704-443: The inhabitants of heaven were tested by adorenments, just as humans and jinn on earth were tested, pointing at Sūrat al-Kahf [Q. 18:7] When angels fail their tests, they might end up on earth, such as Harut and Marut . If the devils ( šayāṭīn ) have been angels once or form a separate type of creature from the beginning, is discussed in Islamic tradition. Contrary to popular belief, angels are never described as agents of revelation in
22880-512: The kingdoms of the earth implies that all those kingdoms belong to him. The fact that Jesus does not dispute Satan's promise indicates that the authors of those gospels believed this to be true. Satan plays a role in some of the parables of Jesus , namely the Parable of the Sower , the Parable of the Weeds , Parable of the Sheep and the Goats , and the Parable of the Strong Man . According to
23056-506: The late 4th century, the Church Fathers agreed that there were different categories of angels, with appropriate missions and activities assigned to them. There was, however, some disagreement regarding the nature of angels. Some argued that angels had physical bodies, while some maintained that they were entirely spiritual. Some theologians had proposed that angels were not divine but on the level of immaterial beings subordinate to
23232-555: The letter to the church of Pergamum , John warns that Satan lives among the members of the congregation and declares that "Satan's throne" is in their midst. Pergamum was the capital of the Roman Province of Asia and "Satan's throne" may be referring to the monumental Pergamon Altar in the city, which was dedicated to the Greek god Zeus , or to a temple dedicated to the Roman emperor Augustus . Revelation 12:3 describes
23408-563: The literal meaning ( Ẓāhir ) with the Avicennan cosmology of falsafa of angels, he identified angels with the " celestial intellects " or "immaterial souls". Angels, made from light ( Nūr ) and thus associated with reason (' aql ), represent the intellectual capacity of a human and the ability to bound the devilish qualities from within. By that, Ghazali does not deny the literal reality of angels, but rejects that they could be perceived directly. Spirit (supernatural entity) Thus,
23584-520: The lot of Satan remains in question, those who followed him will be thrown into the fires of Jahannam. After his banishment from Paradise, Iblis, who thereafter became known as Al-Shaitan ("the Demon"), lured Adam and Eve into eating the forbidden fruit . The primary characteristic of Satan, aside from his hubris and despair , is his ability to cast evil suggestions ( waswās ) into men and women. 15:45 states that Satan has no influence over
23760-495: The medieval conception of Satan as "more pathetic and repulsive than terrifying" and he was seen as little more than a nuisance to God's overarching plan. The Golden Legend , a collection of saints' lives compiled in around 1260 by the Dominican Friar Jacobus de Voragine , contains numerous stories about encounters between saints and Satan, in which Satan is constantly duped by the saints' cleverness and by
23936-428: The movies from what they know from various ecclesiastical and theological traditions". The Catholic Church generally played down Satan and exorcism during late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, but Pope Francis brought renewed focus on the Devil in the early 2010s, stating, among many other pronouncements, that "The devil is intelligent, he knows more theology than all the theologians together." According to
24112-467: The name Satan three times. In John 8:44 , Jesus says that his Jewish or Judean enemies are the children of the Devil rather than the children of Abraham. The same verse describes the Devil as "a man-killer from the beginning" and "a liar and the father of lying." John 13:2 describes the Devil as inspiring Judas to betray Jesus and John 12:31–32 identifies Satan as "the Archon of this Cosmos", who
24288-674: The nation of Judah and its sins, on trial with Yahweh as the judge and the satan standing as the prosecutor . Yahweh rebukes the satan and orders for Joshua to be given clean clothes, representing Yahweh's forgiveness of Judah's sins. During the Second Temple Period , when Jews were living in the Achaemenid Empire , Judaism was heavily influenced by Zoroastrianism , the religion of the Achaemenids. Jewish conceptions of Satan were impacted by Angra Mainyu ,
24464-505: The nature of humans, as responsible for selfish tendencies. The idea of angels in early Hebrew scripture as supernatural agents is absent. Instead, the Hebrew deity intervenes in human affairs, mostly by means of punishment. Only in later thought of post-exilic and prophetic writings , the Biblical deity is conceptualized as distant and more merciful, his interventions replaced by the idea of angels. However, such angels still carry out
24640-558: The nine heavenly choirs (from top to bottom): Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Lordships, Powers, Dominions, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels. Michel Psellos , a great Byzantine scholar of the 12th century, lists six categories of demons in a famous treatise used by Ronsard: Treated by energy dialogue or devil's operation (translated 1511). His categories are: igneous spirits, aerial spirits, terrestrial spirits, aquatic spirits, subterranean spirits, and tenebrous spirits. Honorius Augustodunensis (1075-1157), in his Elucidarium , admits
24816-521: The original myths to which they refer, concluded in his treatise On the First Principles , which is preserved in a Latin translation by Tyrannius Rufinus , that neither of these verses could literally refer to a human being. He concluded that Isaiah 14:12 is an allegory for Satan and that Ezekiel 28:12–15 is an allusion to "a certain Angel who had received the office of governing the nation of
24992-459: The other two: sometimes a dead person can become a genie. They are more personalized than nature spirits... Ecumenical religions have added a few new ones —angels, Djinn , Ifrit , demons — to the catalog of African spirits. For Ernst Dammann, in addition to nature spirits, which consist of "a large number of protective spirits of houses, settlements, professions, and social classes", there are "animal spirits" (e.g. spirits attached to giraffes among
25168-500: The power of God. Henry Ansgar Kelly remarks that Satan "comes across as the opposite of fearsome". The Golden Legend was the most popular book during the High and Late Middle Ages and more manuscripts of it have survived from the period than for any other book, including even the Bible itself. The Canon Episcopi , written in the eleventh century AD, condemns belief in witchcraft as heretical, but also documents that many people at
25344-433: The presence of a god, an angel, an archangel, a demon, or some archon [planetary governor] or soul. In a word, I pronounce that manifestations accord with their essences, powers, and activities… Of a single kind are the appearances of the gods; those of the demons are varied; those of the angels, simpler than those of the demons, but inferior to those of the gods; those of the archangels, closer to divine causes; as for those of
25520-711: The righteous, but is defeated with fire from Heaven, and cast into the lake of fire . Some Christians associate Satan with the number 666 , which Revelation 13:18 describes as the Number of the Beast . However, the beast mentioned in Revelation 13 is not Satan, and the use of 666 in the Book of Revelation has been interpreted as a reference to the Roman Emperor Nero , as 666 is the numeric value of his name in Hebrew. Christians have traditionally interpreted
25696-408: The righteous, but that those who fall in error are under his power. 7:156 implies that those who obey God's laws are immune to the temptations of Satan. 56:79 warns that Satan tries to keep Muslims from reading the Quran and 16:98–100 recommends reciting the Quran as an antidote against Satan. 35:6 refers to Satan as the enemy of humanity and 36:60 forbids humans from worshipping him. In
25872-834: The role of angels in Catholic teachings in his 1986 address titled "Angels Participate In History Of Salvation", in which he suggested that modern mentality should come to see the importance of angels. According to the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments , "The practice of assigning names to the Holy Angels should be discouraged, except in the cases of Gabriel, Raphael and Michael whose names are contained in Holy Scripture." By
26048-416: The root either from ʼ-l-k , l-ʼ-k or m-l-k with the broad meaning of a " messenger ", just like its counterparts in Hebrew ( malʾákh ) and Greek ( angelos ). Unlike their Hebrew counterpart, the term is exclusively used for heavenly spirits of the divine world, but not for human messengers. The Quran refers to both angelic and human messengers as "rasul" instead. The Quran is the principal source for
26224-420: The sages' teachings, he is generally identified as an entity with divine agency. For instance, the sages considered Satan to be an angel of death (later given the name " Samael "), as God prohibiting Satan from killing Job would imply he would otherwise be able to do so, yet despite this syncretization with a known heavenly body, Satan is identified as the yetzer hara in the very same passage. Satan's status as
26400-441: The salamanders, fiery inhabitants of the region of fire, they serve the philosophers. Rationalist Descartes uses the physiological term "animal spirits" to refer to corpuscles composed of the "most vivid and subtle" parts of the blood, which move the body as they circulate from brain to muscle ( Discours de la méthode , V) (1637). These are not entities, then; they are nerve impulses. In the spiritualism codified by Allan Kardec ,
26576-417: The satan insists that more testing is necessary; Yahweh once again gives him permission to test Job. In the end, Job remains faithful and righteous, and it is implied that the satan is shamed in his defeat. Zechariah 3:1–7 contains a description of a vision dated to the middle of February of 519 BC, in which an angel shows Zechariah a scene of Joshua the High Priest dressed in filthy rags, representing
26752-412: The spirits spoken of by theologians (angels, demons, etc.), and the spirits spoken of by storytellers (dwarfs, giants, ogres, evil animals, etc). In 1398, 1241, 1270 and 1277, the Paris Faculty of Theology condemned the thesis that other eternal entities existed in addition to God. Paracelsus counts seven races of soulless creatures: the human-shaped but soulless and spiritless genii ( inanimata ) of
26928-405: The spirits". In some cultures, the "spirits of nature" refers to the elementals , spirits linked to the four classical elements: gnomes for earth, undines for water, sylphs for air, salamanders for fire). In his Theogony , written in the 7th century B.C., Hesiod distinguishes five categories of powers: superior demons or gods (golden race), inferior demons (silver race), deceased from
27104-407: The supernatural ruler of the Roman Empire and the ultimate cause of all evil in the world. In Revelation 2:9–10 , as part of the letter to the church at Smyrna , John of Patmos refers to the Jews of Smyrna as "a synagogue of Satan " and warns that "the Devil is about to cast some of you into prison as a test [ peirasmos ], and for ten days you will have affliction." In Revelation 2:13–14 , in
27280-589: The third day of the Hajj , Muslim pilgrims to Mecca throw seven stones at a pillar known as the Jamrah al-’Aqabah , symbolizing the stoning of the Devil . This ritual is based on the Islamic tradition that, when God ordered Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael , Satan tempted him three times not to do it, and, each time, Abraham responded by throwing seven stones at him. The hadith teach that newborn babies cry because Satan touches them while they are being born, and that this touch causes people to have an aptitude for sin. This doctrine bears some similarities to
27456-435: The time apparently believed in it. Witches were believed to fly through the air on broomsticks , consort with demons, perform in " lurid sexual rituals " in the forests, murder human infants and eat them as part of Satanic rites, and engage in conjugal relations with demons. In 1326, Pope John XXII issued the papal bull Super illius Specula , which condemned folk divination practices as consultation with Satan. By
27632-402: The time of the Second Great Awakening , Satan's primary role in American evangelicalism was as the opponent of the evangelical movement itself, who spent most of his time trying to hinder the ministries of evangelical preachers, a role he has largely retained among present-day American fundamentalists . By the early 1600s, skeptics in Europe, including the English author Reginald Scot and
27808-404: The traditional story known as the Satanic Verses as true. According to this narrative, Muhammad was told by Satan to add words to the Quran which would allow Muslims to pray for the intercession of pagan goddesses. He mistook the words of Satan for divine inspiration . Modern Muslims almost universally reject this story as heretical, as it calls the integrity of the Quran into question. On
27984-745: The unnamed serpent in the Garden of Eden as Satan due to Revelation 12:7 , which calls Satan "that ancient serpent". This verse, however, is probably intended to identify Satan with the Leviathan , a monstrous sea-serpent whose destruction by Yahweh is prophesied in Isaiah 27:1 . The first recorded individual to identify Satan with the serpent from the Garden of Eden was the second-century AD Christian apologist Justin Martyr , in chapters 45 and 79 of his Dialogue with Trypho . Other early church fathers to mention this identification include Theophilus and Tertullian . The early Christian Church, however, encountered opposition from pagans such as Celsus , who claimed in his treatise The True Word that "it
28160-402: The voice of the Divine, the Divine spirit, or as God himself. In Exodus 3:2-4, it is both Yahweh as well as a mal’āḵ Moses is addressed by. The fusion of the Bənē hāʾĔlōhīm with the mal’āḵ is evident in the Book of Hiob. Here, Satan is both one of the Bənē hāʾĔlōhīm in the heavenly court, as well as a mal’āḵ expressing God's interaction with humanity. Michael D. Coogan notes that it
28336-415: The walls of the heavenly city, but was vanquished by the god of the sun . The name is used in Isaiah 14:12 in metaphorical reference to the king of Babylon. Ezekiel 28:12–15 uses a description of a cherub in Eden as a polemic against Ithobaal II , the king of Tyre. The Church Father Origen of Alexandria ( c. 184 – c. 253), who was only aware of the actual text of these passages and not
28512-406: The woman that Jesus is no longer in the tomb, but has risen from the dead. Angels don't marry ( Matthew 22:30 , Mark 12:25 , and Luke 20:34–46 ). Paul the Apostle acknowledges good (2 Cor 11:14; Gal 1:8; 4:14) and evil angels in his writings. According to 1 Corinthians 6:3, angels will be judged by God, implying that angels can be both good and evil. Some scholars suggest that Gal 3:19 means that
28688-410: The word Satan is Shaitan (شيطان, from the triliteral root š-ṭ-n شطن). The word itself is an adjective (meaning "astray" or "distant", sometimes translated as "devil") that can be applied to both man ("al-ins", الإنس) and al-jinn (الجن), but it is also used in reference to Satan in particular. In the Quran , Satan's name is Iblis ( Arabic pronunciation: [ˈibliːs] ), probably
28864-445: The word satan lacking the article ha- as it is used in the Tanakh as referring strictly to human adversaries. Nonetheless, the word satan has occasionally been metaphorically applied to evil influences, such as the Jewish exegesis of the yetzer hara ("evil inclination") mentioned in Genesis 6:5. The Talmudic image of Satan is contradictory. While Satan's identification with the abstract yetzer hara remains uniform over
29040-406: The word "devil" is pejorative, but the word "demon" changes the value. In 17th century Europe, spirits included angels, demons, and disembodied souls. Dom Calmet , a specialist on the subject, explained that he was writing "on the apparitions of angels, demons and souls separated from the body". The Lalande dictionary follows suit: "God, angels, demons, disembodied souls of people after death are
29216-462: The word "satan" in the Hebrew Bible in reference to a supernatural figure comes from Numbers 22:22, which describes the Angel of Yahweh confronting Balaam on his donkey: "Balaam's departure aroused the wrath of Elohim , and the Angel of Yahweh stood in the road as a satan against him." In 2 Samuel 24, Yahweh sends the "Angel of Yahweh" to inflict a plague against Israel for three days, killing 70,000 people as punishment for David having taken
29392-528: The word "spirits" denotes the souls of the deceased with whom a medium can communicate. Kardec 's first book is entitled: The Spirits Book , which contain the principles of Spiritist doctrine on the immortality of the soul, the nature of spirits and their relationship with mankind; moral laws, the present life, the future life and the future of mankind. According to the teachings given by the Higher Spirits through various mediums collected and organized by Allan Kardec (1857) , he affirms: Spirits temporarily assume
29568-500: The world, but originally the culprit was recognized as Cain. The name Samael , which is used in reference to one of the fallen angels , later became a common name for Satan in Jewish Midrash and Kabbalah . Most Jews do not believe in the existence of a supernatural omnimalevolent figure. Traditionalists and philosophers in medieval Judaism adhered to rational theology , rejecting any belief in rebel or fallen angels, and viewing evil as abstract. The rabbis usually interpreted
29744-487: Was Aquinas' most original contribution to Christian angelology. Although angels have greater knowledge than men, they are not omniscient , as Matthew 24:36 points out. According to the Summa Theologica , angels were created instantaneously by God in a state of grace in the Empyrean Heaven (LXI. 4) at the same time when he created all the contents of the corporeal world (LXI. 3). They are pure spirits whose life consists in knowledge and love. Being bodiless, their knowledge
29920-455: Was Darkness." The later Church Father Jerome ( c. 347 – 420), translator of the Latin Vulgate , accepted Origen's theory of Satan as a fallen angel and wrote about it in his commentary on the Book of Isaiah. In Christian tradition ever since, both Isaiah 14:12 and Ezekiel 28:12–15 have been understood as allegorically referring to Satan. For most Christians, Satan has been regarded as an angel who rebelled against God . According to
30096-424: Was made from fire, whereas Adam was made from clay ( 7:12 ). Consequently, God expelled him from Paradise and condemned him to Jahannam . Iblis thereafter became a kafir , "an ungrateful disbeliever", whose sole mission is to lead humanity astray. (Q 17:62 ) God allows Iblis to do this, because he knows that the righteous will be able to resist Iblis's attempts to misguide them. On Judgement Day , while
30272-429: Was one of the earthly jinn, who was taken captive by the angels and brought to Heaven as a prisoner. God appointed him as judge over the other jinn and he became known as Al-Hakam . He fulfilled his duty for a thousand years before growing negligent, but was rehabilitated again and resumed his position until his refusal to bow before Adam. During the first two centuries of Islam, Muslims almost unanimously accepted
30448-474: Was possible ti thrust upon the evil elements in the divine character that Yahweh had discarded.". Coogan explains the development of this concept of angels: "In the postexilic period, with the development of explicit monotheism, these divine beings—the 'sons of God' who were members of the Divine Council —were in effect demoted to what are now known as 'angels', understood as beings created by God, but immortal and thus superior to humans." This conception of angels
30624-476: Was rooted in the work of Satan. In the mid-sixteenth century, the panic spread to England and Switzerland. Both Protestants and Catholics alike firmly believed in witchcraft as a real phenomenon and supported its prosecution. In the late 1500s, the Dutch demonologist Johann Weyer argued in his treatise De praestigiis daemonum that witchcraft did not exist, but that Satan promoted belief in it to lead Christians astray. The panic over witchcraft intensified in
30800-426: Was through this pact that Cain became a Master Mahan . The Book of Moses also says that Moses was tempted by Satan before calling upon the name of the " Only Begotten ", which caused Satan to depart. Douglas Davies asserts that this text "reflects" the temptation of Jesus in the Bible. Belief in Satan and demonic possession remains strong among Christians in the United States and Latin America . According to
30976-519: Was to guard and to guide Christians. In systematic Christian theology, angels are imagined as incorporeal entities and in opposition to corporeal humans, as in the writings of Origen and Thomas Aquinas . Angels are represented throughout Bibles as spiritual beings which are intermediate between God and humanity: "For thou hast made him [man] a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour" ( Psalms 8:4–5 ). Christians, based on Psalms and Genesis 2:1, believe that angels were
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