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153-436: Contrary to the popular image of Satanism as the worship of an evil supernatural entity, LaVeyan adherents do not consider Satan to be a literal being or entity, but a positive archetype representing humanity's natural instincts of pride and carnality , and of defiance against Abrahamic religions which preach suppression of these urges. The church considers humans to be animals existing in an amoral universe, and promotes

306-577: 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 the cause of illness and temptation. In the Book of Revelation , Satan appears as a Great Red Dragon , who

459-597: A new religious movement . When used, "Rational Satanism" is often employed to distinguish the approach of the LaVeyan Satanists from the "Esoteric Satanism" or " Theistic Satanism ", embraced by groups like the Temple of Set , and Joy of Satan Ministries . A number of religious studies scholars have also described it as a form of "self-religion" or "self-spirituality", with religious studies scholar Amina Olander Lap arguing that it should be seen as being both part of

612-462: 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

765-475: A " gentleman " . In responding to threats and harm, he urged that "if a man smite thee on the one cheek, smash him on the other", reversing the Biblical Christian teaching and promoted the principle of lex talionis (an eye for an eye ) derived from Ragnar Redbeard's book Might is Right . LaVeyan Satanism places great emphasis on the role of liberty and personal freedom. LaVey believed that

918-581: 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

1071-522: A "legitimate, conventional, and nonthreatening religious entity", at least in the United States (according to researchers Taub and Nelson). As "establishment" Satanists they are hedonistic and self-centered, but are not sanctioned by the law provided they appear to be operating within the law. Mainstream modern society has lost belief in the supernatural and so "find it difficult to take seriously" those who in an earlier era might have been burned at

1224-418: 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

1377-712: 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

1530-653: A central figure was intentionally symbolic. LaVey sought to cement his belief system within the secularist world-view that derived from natural science , thus providing him with an atheistic basis with which to legitimized his religion, and criticize Christianity and other supernaturalist beliefs as irrational. He defined Satanism as "a secular philosophy of rationalism and self-preservation (natural law, animal state), giftwrapping these ideas in religious trappings to add to their appeal." In this way, LaVeyan Satanism has been described as an "antireligious religion" by Rubin van Luijk. If man insists on externalizing his true self in

1683-497: A clear-eyed appreciation of true human nature, a love of ritual and pageantry, and a flair for mockery, LaVey's Satanic Bible promulgated a gospel of self-indulgence that, he argued, anyone who dispassionately considered the facts would embrace." The "central convictions" of LaVeyan Satanism are formulated into three lists, which are regularly reproduced within the Church of Satan's written material. The Nine Satanic Statements are

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1836-476: A core ideal. These sins , published by LaVey in 1987, outline characteristics Satanists should avoid: Pentagonal Revisionism is a plan consisting of five major goals written in 1988 by LaVey: LaVeyan Satanism is "rational", without belief in a supernatural Satan, in stark contrast to the "Esoteric Satanism" or " Theistic Satanism " of groups like the Temple of Set , and Joy of Satan Ministries . Not all rational Satanists follow LaVey. The Satanic Temple (TST)

1989-568: A definition that reflects the influence of the British occultist Aleister Crowley . Although he never explained exactly how he believed that this magical process worked, LaVey stated that magicians could successfully utilise this magical force through intensely imagining their desired goal and thus directing the force of their own willpower toward it. He emphasised the idea that magical forces could be manipulated through "purely emotional" rather than intellectual acts. Challenging LaVey insistence that

2142-509: 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

2295-469: A far wider audience than they had previously had. In 1972, he published a sequel, The Satanic Rituals . The Satanic Bible has been in print since 1969 and has been translated into various languages. Lewis argued that although LaVeyan Satanists do not treat The Satanic Bible as a sacred text in the way many other religious groups treat their holy texts, it nevertheless is "treated as an authoritative document which effectively functions as scripture within

2448-497: A form of "anarchism of the Right". Randall Alfred describes LaVey's "stance" as "law-and-order, right-wing" and "patriotic". LaVey was influenced by the writings of Herbert Spencer (strongly associated with Social Darwinism and the expression "the survival of the fittest "), Friedrich Nietzsche (who opposed emphasis on mercy, charity, and helping the weak as a 'slave's morality'), and Ayn Rand (whose overarching philosophical theme

2601-402: 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

2754-528: A happier and healthier society. Discussing women, LaVey argued that they should use sex as a tool to manipulate men, in order to advance their own personal power. Conversely, non-consensual sexual relations, such as rape and child molestation , were denounced by LaVey and his Church. LaVey believed that Christianity would soon wither away and society would enter an Age of Satan, in which a generation living in accordance with LaVeyan principles would come to power. LaVey supported eugenics and expected it to become

2907-478: A key concept in lesser magic is the "command to look", which can be accomplished by utilizing elements of "sex, sentiment, and wonder", in addition to the utilization of looks, body language, scents, color, patterns, and odor. This system encourages a form of manipulative role-play, wherein the practitioner may alter several elements of their physical appearance in order to aid them in seducing or "bewitching" on object of desire. LaVey developed "The Synthesizer Clock",

3060-493: A lifestyle". LaVey and the church espoused the view that "Satanists are born, not made"; that they are outsiders by their nature, living as they see fit, who are self-realized in a religion which appeals to the would-be Satanist's nature, leading them to realize they are Satanists through finding a belief system that is in line with their own perspective and lifestyle. Religious studies scholar R. Van Luijk writes, "Genealogically speaking, every known Satanist group or organization in

3213-543: A means to bring about personal transformation and transcendence; for LaVey the goal of magic was instead material gain, personal influence, to harm enemies, and to gain success in love and sex. LaVey divided his system of magic into greater and lesser magic . Greater magic being a form of ritual practice meant as psychodramatic catharsis to focus one's emotional energy for a specific purpose. These rites are based on three major psycho-emotive themes: compassion ( love ), destruction (hate), and sex (lust). The space in which

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3366-471: 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

3519-407: A necessity in the future, when it would be used to breed an elite who reflected LaVey's "Satanic" principles. In his view, this elite would be "superior people" who displayed the "Satanic" qualities of creativity and nonconformity. He regarded these traits as capable of hereditary transmission, and made the claim that "Satanists are born, not made". He believed that the elite should be siphoned off from

3672-400: A negative force on humanity, by promoted idealism, self-sacrifice, altruism, community mindedness, self-denigration, herd behavior , and irrationality. Instead of (what it believed to be) these vices, LaVey encouraged materialism, egoism, carnality, atheism, social stratification and social Darwinism. LaVey's Satanism was particularly critical of what it understands as Christianity's emphasis on

3825-760: A philosophy based on individualism and egoism , coupled with Social Darwinism and anti-egalitarianism . LaVey valued success, not "evil for its own sake". Church doctrines are based on materialism and philosophical naturalism , rejecting the existence of the supernatural (including Satan and God), body-soul dualism , and life after death . However, LaVey also "hinted" at the possibility of paranormal forces, and believed magic could and should be used for material gain, personal influence, to harm enemies, and to gain success in love and sex. " Magic " in LaVeyan Satanism involves ritual practice meant as psychodramatic catharsis to focus one's emotional energy for

3978-540: A pinch of ritual magic." The historian of religion Mattias Gardell described LaVey's as "a rational ideology of egoistic hedonism and self-preservation", while Nevill Drury characterised LaVeyan Satanism as "a religion of self-indulgence". It has also been described as an "institutionalism of Machiavellian self-interest". The Church of Satan rejects the legitimacy of any other organizations who claim to be Satanists, dubbing them "Devil worshipers". Prominent Church leader Blanche Barton described Satanism as "an alignment,

4131-469: A result of the success of the film Rosemary's Baby and the concomitant growth of interest in Satanism, an editor at Avon Books , Peter Mayer, approached LaVey and commissioned him to write a book, which became The Satanic Bible . While part of the text was LaVey's original writing, other sections of the book consisted of direct quotations from Arthur Desmond 's right-wing tract Might Is Right and

4284-586: A ritual is performed is known as an "intellectual decompression chamber", where skepticism and disbelief are willfully suspended, thus allowing the magicians to fully express their mental and emotional needs, holding back nothing regarding their deepest feelings and desires. This magic could then be employed to ensure sexual gratification, material gain, personal success, or to curse one's enemies. LaVey also wrote of "the balance factor", insisting that any magical aims should be realistic. These rituals are often considered to be magical acts, with LaVey's Satanism encouraging

4437-561: 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")

4590-465: A scientific perspective on magic, LaVey was likely influenced by Crowley, who had also presented his approach to magic in the same way. However, in contrast to many older ceremonial magicians, LaVey denied that there was any division between black magic and white magic , attributing this dichotomy purely to the "smug hypocrisy and self-deceit" of those who called themselves "white magicians". He also differed from many older magicians who described magic as

4743-571: A set of nine assertions made by LaVey in the introductory chapters of The Satanic Bible . They are considered a touchstone of contemporary organized Satanism that constitute, in effect, brief aphorisms that capture Satanic philosophy. The first three statements touch on "indulgence", "vital existence" and "undefiled wisdom" which presents a positive view of the Satanist as a carnal, physical and pragmatic being, where enjoyment of physical existence and an undiluted view of this-worldly truth are promoted as

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4896-609: A specific purpose (called "greater magic" and very much resembling psychotherapy ); and also psychological manipulation using applied psychology and glamour (or "wile and guile" ) to bend another individual or a situation to one's will (called "lesser magic"). LaVey's followers in the Church of Satan maintain that he and the church "codified" Satanism, and while some Satanic splinter groups — such as John Dewey Allee's First Church of Satan and Karla LaVey 's First Satanic Church — follow LaVey's ideas, others do not. The Temple of Set embraces " Theist " supernatural Satanism, while

5049-516: A survey by James Lewis mentioning The Satanic Bible directly as influencing their conversion. For members of the church, the book is said to serve not only as a compendium of ideas but also to judge the authenticity of someone's claim to be a Satanist. LaVey's writings have been described as "cornerstones" within the church and its teachings, and have been supplemented with the writings of its later High Priest, Gilmore, namely his book, The Satanic Scriptures . The Satanic Bible has been described as

5202-668: 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 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

5355-530: 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

5508-513: 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

5661-624: 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

5814-596: 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

5967-541: 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",

6120-484: Is "in many ways the central text of the Satanic milieu", with Lap similarly testifying to its dominant position within the wider Satanic movement. David G. Bromley calls it " iconoclastic " and "the best-known and most influential statement of Satanic theology." Eugene V. Gallagher says that Satanists use LaVey's writings "as lenses through which they view themselves, their group, and the cosmos." He also states: "With

6273-413: 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 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

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6426-576: 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

6579-681: Is dead". LaVey viewed the human being explicitly as an animal, existing in an amoral context of survival of the fittest , with no purpose other than survival. He believed that in adopting a philosophical belief in its own superiority above that of the other animals, humankind had become "the most vicious animal of all". For LaVey, non-human animals and children represent an ideal, "the purest form of carnal existence", because they have not been indoctrinated with Christian or other religious concepts of guilt and shame. His ethical views championed placing oneself and one's family before others, minding one's own business, and – for men – behaving like

6732-661: 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 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

6885-471: Is described as the Satanist's true "self"—a projection of his or her own personality—not an external deity. In works like The Satanic Bible , LaVey often uses the terms "god" and "Satan" interchangeably, viewing both as personifications of human nature. Despite his professed atheism, and his not encouraging the worship of Satan as a deity, some passages of LaVey's writings left room for a literal interpretation of Satan, and some members of his Church understood

7038-520: 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

7191-568: 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 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

7344-512: 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"

7497-489: Is said to be built upon one's understanding of their place on the clock. Upon finding your position on the clock, you are encouraged to adapt it as seen fit, and perfect your type by harmonizing its element for better success. Dyrendal referred to LaVey's techniques as " Erving Goffman meets William Mortensen ". Drawing insights from psychology, biology, and sociology, Petersen noted that lesser magic combines occult and "rejected sciences of body analysis [and] temperaments." As

7650-568: 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

7803-506: Is the individual himself.) In the Satanic Bible, LaVey writes that the Satanist asks themselves: "'Why not really be honest and if you are going to create a god in your image, why not create that god as yourself'.... every man is a god if he chooses to recognize himself as one". LaVey was strongly influenced by Nietzsche, according to religious studies scholar Asbjørn Dyrendal and Social Scientist Gabriel Andrade. Nietzsche celebrated

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7956-455: 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

8109-463: 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 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

8262-414: 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

8415-497: Is uncertain. Upon his death, his partner and biographer, Blanche Barton, insisted that LaVey did, in fact, "believe in the devil." In a taped interview quoted by Taub and Nelson, LaVey explained that while they did not perform human blood sacrifices because the physical "destruction of a human being ... is illegal", they did perform human sacrifices of enemies "by proxy, you might say", using "curses and hexes". Joseph P. Laycock writes that LaVey described magic as "a way of life", but

8568-563: 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

8721-502: 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 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

8874-461: 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

9027-570: 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

9180-661: 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

9333-570: 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 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

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9486-759: 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 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

9639-879: 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 , 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),

9792-560: 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

9945-470: 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 the apocryphal Book of Jubilees , Yahweh grants the satan (referred to as Mastema ) authority over

10098-443: 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

10251-584: The rule of law . Although LaVey's ideas suggest a secular and scientific world-view, he also expressed a belief in magic . Rather than characterising magic as a supernatural phenomenon, LaVey portrayed it as part of the natural world but appearing magical because it had not been discovered and explained by scientists. Outlined in The Satanic Bible , LaVey defined magic as "the change in situations or events in accordance with one's will, which would, using normally accepted methods, be unchangeable",

10404-568: The "prosperity wing" of the self-spirituality New Age movement and a form of the Human Potential Movement . Similarly, the scholar of Satanism Jesper Aa. Petersen calls modern Satanism a "cousin" of the New Age and Human Potential movements. "In LaVey's way of thinking, Satanism is both a distinctly new religion, which he himself, without any false modesty, invented and the continuance of an ancient tradition of opposition to

10557-741: 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

10710-621: 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

10863-563: 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

11016-586: 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

11169-673: 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

11322-778: The Church dismissing the idea of a "Satanic Community" and the sharing of membership lists with its members (at least under High Priest Peter H. Gilmore), arguing that as "radical individualists", church members "may share very little in common beyond" beyond their Satanism. Similarly, LaVey criticized the negative and restrictive attitude to sexuality present in many religions, instead supporting any sexual acts that take place between consenting adults. His Church welcomed homosexual members from its earliest years, and he also endorsed celibacy for those who were asexual . He sought to discourage negative feelings of guilt arising from sexual acts such as masturbation and fetishes, and believed that rejecting these sexual inhibitions and guilt would result in

11475-477: 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 is usually seen as a fallen angel or jinn who has rebelled against God , who nevertheless allows him temporary power over

11628-513: The Devil as an entity that really existed. It is possible that LaVey left some ambivalence in his writings so as not to drive away those Church members who were theistic Satanists. Both LaVey's writings and the publications of the church continue to refer to Satan as if he were a real being, in doing so seeking to reinforce the Satanist's self-interest. LaVey was an atheist who rejected the existence of all gods, of any afterlife , and of Satan as an entity who literally exists. The use of Satan as

11781-447: 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

11934-714: 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

12087-490: 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

12240-462: 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

12393-462: The Satan of John Milton 's Paradise Lost as a flawed anti-hero, a rebel leader of charisma and bravery, defying God's tyranny, and not as the source of all evil, as he is thought of in traditional Christianity. The Romantic did not worship Satan but saw him as a positive symbol. LaVey embraced the iconography of Satan and the label of "Satanist" because it shocked people into thinking, and its association with social nonconformity and rebellion against

12546-522: The Satanic community". In particular, Lewis highlighted that many Satanists – both members of the Church of Satan and other groups – quote from it either to legitimize their own position or to de-legitimize the positions of others in a debate. Many other Satanist groups and individual Satanists who are not part of the Church of Satan also recognize LaVey's work as influential. Many Satanists attribute their conversions or discoveries of Satanism to The Satanic Bible , with 20 percent of respondents to

12699-663: 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 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

12852-533: 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

13005-485: 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

13158-412: 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

13311-484: The church's approach as "anarchistic hedonism". In their study of Satanism, the religious studies scholars Asbjørn Dyrendal, James R. Lewis , and Jesper Aa. Petersen suggested that LaVey viewed his religion as "an antinomian self-religion for productive misfits, with a cynically carnivalesque take on life, and no supernaturalism". The sociologist of religion James R. Lewis even described LaVeyan Satanism as "a blend of Epicureanism and Ayn Rand's philosophy, flavored with

13464-475: The church. The Church of Satan rejects the legitimacy of any other organizations who claim to be Satanists, dubbing them reverse-Christians, pseudo-Satanists or Devil worshipers, atheistic or otherwise, and maintains a purist approach to Satanism as expounded by LaVey. Among LaVey's influences were the Romantic writers (such as William Blake , Lord Byron , Percy Bysshe Shelley , and William Hazlitt ), who saw

13617-439: 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 ) 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

13770-605: 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

13923-766: The core values of Satanism, combining elements of Darwinism and Epicureanism. Statement four, five and six deal in matters of ethics, through "kindness to those who deserve it", "vengeance" and "responsibility to the responsible", painting a harsh picture of society and human relations by emphasizing justice rather than love. Statements seven, eight and nine reject the dignity of man, sin and the Christian church. Humans are characterized as "just another animal", traditional "sins" are promoted as means for gratification, and religion as mere business. The adversarial and antinomian aspect of Satan takes precedence in support of statements four through nine, with non-conformity being presented as

14076-401: The desire to 'change the world', this (it asserts) is an "emotional drive" that is a "common stage of early adult development" which adults outgrow, "typically beginning around age 16 and lasting until around age 24". On the other hand, observers have characterized LaVeyan Satanism as belonging to the political right rather than the left . Historian of Satanism Ruben van Luijk describes it as

14229-474: The dominant system. When asked about the name of his religion, he replied that "the reason it's called Satanism is because it's fun, it's accurate and it's productive". LaVey saw Satan as a symbol of the individual's own vitality, thus representing an autonomous power within, and a representation of personal liberty and individualism. Throughout The Satanic Bible , the LaVeyan Satanist's view of god

14382-558: 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

14535-482: The ego's desires. He expressed the view that self-indulgence was a desirable trait, and that hate and aggression were not wrong or undesirable emotions but that they were necessary and advantageous for survival. Accordingly, he praised the Seven Deadly Sins ( pride , greed , wrath , envy , lust , gluttony and sloth ), as virtues which were beneficial for the individual. This individualism extended to

14688-524: 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

14841-476: 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

14994-547: 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 the Hebrew Bible as a heavenly prosecutor , subordinate to Yahweh (God), who prosecutes

15147-555: 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

15300-523: The figure of Satan. According to Egil Asprem and Kennet Granholm, scholars agree that there is no reliably documented case of Satanic continuity prior to the founding of the Church of Satan. For Faxneld and Petersen, the Church represented "the first public, highly visible, and long-lasting organization which propounded a coherent satanic discourse". The church itself is dismissive of other Satanist groups as deviant or unimportant, insisting Satanism has been "codified" as "a religion and philosophy" by LaVey and

15453-450: 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 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

15606-401: The form of "God," then why fear his true self, in fearing "God,"—why praise his true self in praising "God,"—why remain externalized from "God" in order to engage in ritual and religious ceremony in his name? Man needs ritual and dogma, but no law states that an externalized god is necessary in order to engage in ritual and ceremony performed in a god's name! Could it be that when he closes

15759-401: The gap between himself and his "God" he sees the demon of pride creeping forth—that very embodiment of Lucifer appearing in his midst? LaVey, The Satanic Bible . LaVey used Christianity as a negative mirror for his new faith, rejecting the basic principles and theology of Christian belief, which he also believed would soon disappear anyway. He perceived Christianity as a lie, exerting

15912-798: 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 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

16065-617: The growth of the Temple has been explained by increasing interest among secular non-theists in "left-wing" social activism against Christian conservative power and in favor of separation of church and state, reproductive rights, and transgender rights, that has come at the expense of ignoring the LaVeyan focus on "getting what you want for yourself" selfishness and elitism. For a number of reasons LaVey's Satanism achieved "a measure of social legitimization" and established for themselves an image as

16218-399: The ideal Satanist should be individualistic and non-conformist, rejecting what he called the "colorless existence" that mainstream society sought to impose on those living within it. He rejected consumerism and what he called the "death cult" of fashion . He praised the human ego for encouraging an individual's pride, self-respect, and self-realization and accordingly believed in satisfying

16371-512: 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

16524-433: The large and active Satanic Temple , though atheist, rejects LaVey and Ayn Rand 's ideas on hierarchy and self-centeredness in favor of a "left-wing", "socially engaged" Satanism, agitating for separation of church and state, reproductive rights, and transgender rights. LaVeyan Satanism – which is also sometimes termed "Modern Satanism" and "Rational Satanism" – is classified by scholars of religious studies as

16677-416: 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 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

16830-555: 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

16983-520: 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

17136-511: The magic practiced in ceremonies in the church's "ritual chamber", was not supernatural but merely "supernormal", Lucien Greaves , spokesperson for The Satanic Temple , a rival of the Church of Satan, argues LaVey's beliefs about magic were "artfully, and probably intentionally, unclear in his writings". LaVey's own descriptions of Magical Successes, from deadly hexes to unexplained healings, were as scientifically unjustified as any supernatural claims to magical influence. Even LaVey's nontheism

17289-495: 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

17442-406: The most important document to influence contemporary Satanism. The book contains the core principles of Satanism, and is considered the foundation of its philosophy and dogma. On their website, the Church of Satan urge anyone seeking to learn about LaVeyan Satanism to read The Satanic Bible , stating that doing so is "tantamount to understanding at least the basics of Satanism". Petersen noted that it

17595-428: 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

17748-467: 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

17901-559: The occultist Aleister Crowley 's version of John Dee 's Enochian Keys . There is evidence that LaVey was inspired by the writings of the American philosopher Ayn Rand ; and while accusations that he plagiarized her work in The Satanic Bible have been denied by one author, Chris Mathews stated that "LaVey stole selectively and edited lightly" and that his "Satanism at times closely parallels Ayn Rand's Objectivist philosophy ." The book The Satanic Bible served to present LaVey's ideas to

18054-521: 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

18207-500: 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

18360-514: The practice of magic to aid one's selfish ends. Much of Satanic ritual is designed for an individual to carry out alone; this is because concentration is seen as key to performing magical acts. Lesser magic, also referred to an "everyday" or "situational" magic, is the practice of manipulation by means of applied psychology. LaVey defined it as "wile and guile obtained through various devices and contrived situations, which when utilized, can create change in accordance with one's will." LaVey wrote that

18513-449: The purpose of which is to divide humans into distinct groups of people based primarily on body shape and personality traits. The synthesizer is modeled as a clock, and based on concepts of somatotypes . The clock is intended to aid a witch in identifying themselves, subsequently aiding in utilizing the "attraction of opposites" to "spellbind" the witch's object of desire by assuming the opposite role. The successful application of lesser magic

18666-605: The rest of the human "herd", with the latter being forced into ghettoes, ideally "space ghettoes" located on other planets. The anthropologist Jean La Fontaine highlighted an article that appeared in a LaVeyan magazine, The Black Flame , in which one writer described "a true Satanic society" as one in which the population consists of "free-spirited, well-armed, fully-conscious, self-disciplined individuals, who will neither need nor tolerate any external entity 'protecting' them or telling them what they can and cannot do." This rebellious approach conflicts with LaVey's firm beliefs in observing

18819-711: 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

18972-408: 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

19125-420: 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

19278-670: 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 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

19431-433: 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 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

19584-816: The spiritual and denial of humanity's animal nature, and instead calls for the celebration of, and indulgence in, animal desires. Christianity was not the only negative force in the eyes of Laveyan Satanism. Other major religions, along with philosophies such as humanism and liberal democracy were also detrimental to human fulfillment. According to the Church's "Policy on Politics", the Church has no "'official' political position", and leaves politics to its individual members, each of whom have their own opinions of what (if any) political candidates or causes are worth supporting, usually based on "their own practical needs and desires". This may embrace one or more of all sorts of different ideologies, (it then lists every conceivable ideology including Communism and Socialism). As for

19737-644: The stake. Their members are "predominantly" between 25 and 50 years old, white, middle-class, include some professionals, and so are not that different from mainstream members of society "as might be supposed". Unlike some Satanic cults such as Process Church of the Final Judgment , Church of Satan members adhere to relatively conventional lifestyles and behavior, avoiding drugs and excessive alcohol, dressing conventionally. The church also screens membership applications to exclude "sensation seekers" and prison inmates. Satan Satan , also known as

19890-428: The status quo... For LaVey, Satanism is also the religion of the playful provocateur; anything that will shock people out of their unthinking adherence to the status quo is worth thinking about or even doing." Religious studies scholar Eugene Gallagher. The anthropologist Jean La Fontaine described LaVeyan Satanism as having "both elitist and anarchist elements", also citing one occult bookshop owner who referred to

20043-467: 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

20196-746: 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

20349-435: 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

20502-584: 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

20655-467: 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

20808-902: 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

20961-464: The values of Dionysus – the Ancient Greek god of wine and excess – who also represented (at least for Nietzsche), uninhibited rage and hedonism, an opposite of "the moral restrictions of Christianity", according to Andrade. Nietzsche was also famous for the concepts of Übermensch (the naturally superior man interested in accomplishment in this life, not in the spiritual or afterlife) and "God

21114-466: 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

21267-405: The will of the stronger or cleverer individual", or the axiom of "personal needs as absolutely reliable to determine the best course of action in any circumstance". The atheism of Objectivism is also more pure, completely rejecting "the value of a god", while Satanists hold that "the meaning of god is useful" if it is defined as "the most important person in an individual's universe", which of course

21420-410: 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

21573-605: 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

21726-425: The world today derives directly or indirectly from LaVey's 1966 Church of Satan, even if they are dismissive of LaVey or choose to emphasize other real or alleged forerunners of Satanism." The sociologist James R. Lewis noted that "LaVey was directly responsible for the genesis of Satanism as a serious religious (as opposed to a purely literary) movement", and the first organized church in modern times to be devoted to

21879-564: 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

22032-438: 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 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

22185-461: Was "ambiguous" about whether it was a "shorthand for popular psychology", or whether there was some supernatural element in it. This practice puts LaVeyan Satanism within a wider tradition of 'high magic' or ceremonial magic, and has also been compared with Christian Science and Scientology . LaVey adopted beliefs and ideas from older magicians but consciously de-Christianised and Satanised them for his own purposes. In presenting himself as applying

22338-633: Was "just Ayn Rand's philosophy with ceremony and ritual added". LaVey's "Nine Satanic Statements" (see below) are paraphrased from a speech by John Galt in Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged . (An essay on the church's website by "Nemo", a Magister in the Church of Satan, states "Satanism has far more in common" with Rand's philosophy of "Objectivism" "than with any other religion or philosophy. Objectivists endorse reason, selfishness, greed and atheism." However he finds some differences, such as Rand's hesitancy to accept either "the use of force to cause others to submit to

22491-518: 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

22644-517: Was founded in 2013 as a reaction to the " culture war " (particularly in the United States) over abortion , gun politics , separation of church and state , privacy , recreational drug use , homosexuality , censorship , and the political success of the shrinking population (in recent decades) of traditionalists and conservatives. Reportedly the "most prominent" Satanic organization "in terms of both size and public activity" (as of late 2023),

22797-424: 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

22950-429: 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

23103-528: 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

23256-583: Was that "unfettered self-interest is good and altruism is destructive"). LaVey believed in Social Darwinism , and the fundamental inequality of human beings, and that an anti-egalitarian and elitist society was only natural. Social Darwinism is particularly noticeable in The Book of Satan , where LaVey uses portions of Redbeard's Might Is Right , and refers to man's inherent strength and instinct for self-preservation. LaVey described his Satanism

23409-481: 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

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