The word “Devil” derives from Greek diabolos (adversary or slanderer) and the Greek translation of Old Testament (OT) Hebrew satan (obstructor). In the OT, the word “satan” is either a common or a proper noun meaning different things in different contexts—sometimes a great angel as in the Book of Job, sometimes simply as “something in the way.” Two key passages often cited by Christians as references to the Devil—Genesis 3 and Isaiah 14—do not mention Satan at all, though many if not most commentators have taken “the serpent” in the first and “the bright morning star” in the second to refer to him. The first clear appearance of the Devil as the powerful leader of all the forces of evil is in the intertestamental (pseudepigraphical) literature of the second century B.C. to the first century A.D.
In the New Testament (NT), the Devil and the spiritual powers of darkness at his command are at constant war against God and the good, and the victory of Christ over evil is perhaps the main theme of the whole NT. In the Gospels, Christ frequently encounters and defeats Satan and his demons.
In the Epistles, Paul warns against the Devil and other spiritual powers of darkness. A variety of names exist for the Devil in biblical literature; Satan is only the most common. The NT presents the Devil as an angel created by God who falls by rebelling against the divine will. His purpose and that of his followers—angelic and human—is to obstruct the coming of the Kingdom of God. God grants the Devil power for a time over “this world,” a common theme in John and Paul, but God never eases his control over him, so that although Satan roams the world seeking the ruin of souls, Christ’s Passion and Resurrection have shaken his power. Toward the end of time, a human ruler, the Antichrist, will rise up under Satan’s command and make one last effort to block the kingdom, but Christ will be victorious and will destroy Satan and his Antichrist forever.
This is the complete article, containing 341 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page).
