Devil (from the Greek word διάβολος; diábolos) means:
The physical meaning describes the many bad things which happen by chance: accidents, miscommunications, losing things, etc. The meaning in literature emphasizes the wrongdoing more: false accusations as forbidden by the Ten Commandments. The Bible mentions "devil" 106 times,[1] only 4 of which are in the Old Testament. As explained in the Gospel of John, Jesus said to the Pharisees:
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.[2]
"Devil" is the name given to the unseen personification of evil. By causing chaos, the devil leads people away from God, their Creator, and sometimes even to curse God. According to Wilhelm Busch, a pastor who was persecuted by Nazis in Germany, it is totally impossible to understand the present state of the world if we have not accepted the fact that behind the scenes are the Devil and the powers of darkness.[3] Acknowledging that the Evil is an active power and educating new generations in this respect helps humans to distinguish between good and evil and live a life in harmony with Natural Law.[4]
During the Three Temptations of Christ, the devil explains how the world is his dominion. This amounts to Biblical scientific foreknowledge, as the world is fundamentally uncertain and chaotic according to quantum mechanics.
The term "devil" is often used synonymously with the term Lucifer or Satan, although Satan has the connotation of a personal evil while the devil is a common name for demons or evil spirits.
Two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington attributed the angry face-slap by Will Smith of Chris Rock on-stage at the 2022 Academy Awards to the devil.
"Devil" literally means "to throw across." The connotation "to slander" is one inferred meaning in a linguistic sense, but the more obvious physical meaning is to create chaos. Linguists often prefer purely linguistic connotations rather than physical or scientific ones even where, as in the case of "devil", there is no real basis for preferring a linguistic rather than a physical meaning.
Though the meaning "to create chaos" may be more obvious in a physical sense, there is no evidence that any Greek speaker ever used it this way. In fact, in the Greek literature it is never used to indicate "creating chaos".
The concept underlying "devil" is traced by some to the early Hebrews during the Exodus from Egypt.[5]
The fundamental uncertainty discovered in quantum mechanics can be understood not as an unmasking of God, but an unmasking of the Devil. The Second Law of Thermodynamics, in describing the inexorable decline into chaos, is consistent with the view of the Devil as creating chaos, frustration, accidents, lost items, and miscommunications.
In His parable, Jesus equates Devil to the thief who comes only to steal, kill and destroy,[6] i.e. to disrupt the natural order of the World. Bible also records that first followers of Christ claimed to struggle not against flesh and blood, i.e. against created mankind, which mislead by Devil, often contributes to this disruption, but against these powers of darkness.[7] Bible further claims that a person can be delivered from the dominion of darkness, i.e. from life marked by disordered state, through faith in Christ causing an orderly life to be renewed again, referred to also as a life worthy of the Lord[8] in the kingdom of the Son.[9] Empirically, such experiences are reported by individuals including, for example, Michael Glatze or Jozef Demjan.
Bush asserts that the powers of darkness work with a very precise goal in view. They keep us running - and that is why we never have time. Every imaginable device is used by the Devil to hinder us from finding time to think - for if we did we would discover that we can be delivered from his hold.[3]
See also: Atheism and Satanism
Bush further muses that the Devil himself "believes in God" and certainly is no atheist: "The Devil is perfectly aware of the existence of God. Yet, for all that, he is not at peace with God."[3] Humanists in Slovakia, who present themselves as being atheists and often show their Anti-Christian sentiment, surprisingly asked Jaroslav A. Polák, a self-described satanist and rationalist who worships pagan gods, to write an essay on the book The God Delusion by professor Dawkins.[10] In 2006, under the pretext of analysing "believing strange things", Michael Shermer, the founder of The Skeptics Society, presented on the so-called 'TED event' the "hidden messages" that are supposedly there in reverse play of one musical record: "Oh, Here’s to my sweet satan, the one who’s little path would make me sad, whose power is satan". However, no information on discoverer of the alleged text was given.[11]
See also: Atheism and satanic deception
Pew Research reports:
“ | When asked who comes to mind when they think about atheism, though, Americans are much less likely to name a well-known figure. While 6% say Satan, 4% say Richard Dawkins and 4% say Madalyn Murray O’Hair, one-in-ten respondents just name themselves or another personal acquaintance such as a relative, friend or roommate. And roughly half (51%) say “no one” or “don’t know” or do not answer the question.[12] | ” |
See also: Atheism Quotes
Charles Baudelaire expressed a common belief concerning atheism and satanic deception in his short story The Generous Gambler written in 1864:
“ | He complained in no way of the evil reputation under which he lived, indeed, all over the world, and he assured me that he himself was of all living beings the most interested in the destruction of Superstition, and he avowed to me that he had been afraid, relatively as to his proper power, once only, and that was on the day when he had heard a preacher, more subtle than the rest of the human herd, cry in his pulpit: "My dear brethren, do not ever forget, when you hear the progress of lights praised, that the loveliest trick of the Devil is to persuade you that he does not exist! | ” |
In his The Screwtape Letters (1942), C.S. Lewis quotes Thomas More who claimed that “The Devil, the proud spirit, cannot endure to be mocked…”[13] Martin Luther wrote in his Tischreden (Table Talk) that “The best way to drive out the devil ... is to jeer and flout him ...”[14]
There are many pseudonyms used for the Devil, sometimes to clarify his nature and other times with the effect of obscuring his evil:
Categories: [Abrahamic Religions]