So, now you fancy me a Satanist?
"The Roman god, Lucifer, was the bearer of
light, the spirit of the air, the personification
of enlightenment. In Chrisitan [Catholic, actually] mythology he
became synonymous with evil..."
-"The Satanic Bible," Pg. 39 |
"Satan, the chief devil of the western world,
was originally an angel whose duty it was to
report human delinquencies to God. It was not
until the 14th century that he began to be
depicted as an evil deity who was part man and
part animal, with goat-like horns and hooves.
Before Christianity gave him the name Satan,
Lucifer, ect., the carnal side of man's nature
was governed by the god which was then called
Dionysius, or Pan, depicted as a satyr or faun,
by the Greeks. Pan was originally the 'good guy,'
and symbolized fertility and fecundity."
-"The Satanic Bible," Pg 55-56 |
"Satan, the accuser, is given the power to
afflict but is kept on a leash. In all his evli
among men or in nature, Satan is under God's
power."
-"The NIV Study Bible, 10th Ann. Ed," Pg 726, footnote for verse 1:12 |
"During the intertestamental period, Jewish
literature showed interest in demons and in organized
powers of evil opposed to God. These
ideas influenced the New Testmament portrayal of
Satan, even so, Satan retains much of his old
character in the Tempatations. In Revelation,
Satan develops into God's absolute enemy The
Christian idea of a Satan who is 'prince of evil,'
a powerful enemy of God who rules the region of
Hell and a host of demons, is really a post-
biblical synthesis of characters and concepts.
Rabbinic Judaism connected Satan
principally with the human temptation to sin, identifying him
with the 'crafty' serpent of Genesis 3. In
Revelation 20:1-0, Satan is the serpent, but a
more malevolent figure."
-"The Complete Bible Handbook," Pg 175 |
"The devil is a necessary counterpart to such an
'all-powerful and excellent' God. The devil carries out
God's judgement, tormenting sinners for all eternity. He
is, as King James I called him, 'God's Hangman.'"
-"The Dark Side Of Christian History," Pg. 113 |
"Nature was instead seen as the realm of the devil. The
Church chose the image of Pan, the Greek God of nature, to
portray the devil. The horned, hoofed, and goat-legged man had
been associated with a number of fertility figures and had
preciously been deemed essential to rural well-being. With
Pan's guidance, all the mythical creatures of Earth were thought
to work in harmony: fairies, elves, and devas. Pan's skill on the
pan-pipes was believed to fill the woods and pastures with enchanted
music. His name, 'Pan,' meant 'all' and 'bread.' But, particularly
after the turn of the millennium when the Church authorized specific
portryals of The Devil, the vilified Pan came to evoke terror or 'panic'
as the image of Satan."
-"The Dark Side Of Christian History," Pg. 140 |
"To the orthodox [Christians], neither nature nor physical pleasure
were imbued with God's presence; both were of The Devil."
-"The Dark Side Of Christian History," Pg. 152 |