THE TRUTH ABOUT THE DEVIL

As a result, for centuries those who claim to be Christian have superimposed their own ideas of a supernatural tempter on Bible verses which teach nothing of the sort.

We will firstly establish certain basic Bible principles before examining specific verses which are claimed to prove the existence of a supernatural devil and satan.

Bible teaching about sin

The Bible is very clear that the sins which we commit are not the result of a supernatural tempter, but arise from our own desires:

“Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:14, 15).

“Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matthew 15:19).

“The carnal mind is enmity against God.  It is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:7).

SATAN IN THE BIBLE

In the Bible, satan is a term applied to anyone who acts as an adversary and never to a supernatural tempter.

Satan is a Hebrew word which has been transferred to the English Bible untranslated from the original Hebrew.  It means “an adversary, an enemy, an accuser”.

Sometimes “satan” is translated in the Authorised Version as “adversary” while other times it is untranslated and left in its original state of “satan” (probably in order to support the idea of a supernatural being).

Satan in the Old Testament

Here are just a few examples (with explanations) of how satan is sometimes translated as “adversary” while at other times is left untranslated as “satan”:

Satan in the New Testament

The Hebrew word “satan” was adopted unchanged into the Greek language in which the New Testament was written.

Below are some examples with explanations:

 THE DEVIL

The Bible consistently defines the devil as SIN (in all its forms).  It is never applied to a supernatural tempter.

The word “devil” comes from the Greek word “diabolos”.  “Diabolos” originates from “dia” (through) and “ballo” (to cast).  It means “to dart or strike through” and carries the meaning of “strike or stab with an accusation or evil report”.

“Devil” (Greek – diabolos) is not a proper name, but is a term which can be used anywhere a slander, accusation or falsehood is described.

Put simply, “devil” can be defined as “an accuser or slanderer”.  Such behaviour arises from mankind’s natural inclination to sin and is shown by mankind individually and collectively, or by anything which slanders or tells a lie.

 Biblical associations of the “devil” with sin

The Bible says that Jesus’ mission was to destroy the devil (or sin in all its forms):

“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he (Jesus) also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14).

Other passages of the Bible show that Jesus destroyed sin in his death, and not a supernatural devil:

“Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3).

Jesus “put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 9:26).

“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for (or by a sacrifice for) sin, condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3).

Two forms of sin described in the Scriptures

The Bible defines sin as taking two forms:

1. Actual sins which are committed
2. Our mortal nature (described in the Bible as “sinful flesh” which leads us to commit sins)

“Sin in the flesh” is a term used throughout the Bible to describe our natural inclination to sin.  This inclination is never blamed on a personal supernatural tempter.

As an example, let us see how the apostle Paul described his own private struggle against his internal desires to sin:

“I know that in me (that is, in my flesh), dwelleth no good thing ….. For the good that I would I do not:  but the evil which I would not, that I do.  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me …… I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members” (Romans 7:18 – 23).

Sin has the “power of death” (Hebrews 2:14) and not a supernatural devil or satan

The Bible is clear that the cause of death is sin:

• “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin” (Romans 5:12)
• “By man came death” (1 Corinthians 15:21)

In the Garden of Eden, death was the punishment for the sin which Adam and Eve committed.

Personification in the Bible

1. Sin personified

Throughout the Bible, sin has been personified as the power that causes death.

The serpent in the Garden of Eden became a symbol for sin in the Bible, because it told the first lie:  “Thou shalt not surely die”.  It was therefore a “devil” or false accuser, but it was not a supernatural tempter.  It was in this sense that Jesus told the Pharisees of his day that they were “serpents” like the serpent in the Garden of Eden because they spoke against his teaching and mission when he had been sent by God (John 8:44).

2. Other examples of personification

Other examples of personification in the Scriptures are:

• Wisdom (personified as a woman – Proverbs 3:13-18)
• Riches (personified as a master – Matthew 6:24)
• The Holy Spirit (“he” – John 16:13)
• A spirit of disobedience (“prince of the power of the air” – Ephesians 2:2,3)

“Devil” applied to people who have slandered or falsely accused

In the Bible, “devil” has been used to describe people who have slandered or falsely accused.  Sometimes this word is translated and at other times it is left untranslated, and appears as “devil”:

“Devils” or demons believed to cause sickness

A different Greek word – “daimon” –  is often translated “devils” in the Bible.

The ancient Greeks believed “daimon” were beings who existed in the air and acted as mediators between the gods and man (for good or evil).  They also believed that madness, epilepsy and other sicknesses were caused by men and women being possessed by these “devils” (daimon).

In the New Testament Gospel records, illnesses are sometimes described as “devils”.  This was simply a use of the language of the day, and certainly did not mean Jesus and his disciples believed in these supernatural spirits.  In fact, in the same Bible passage, often the real sickness is defined:

• The “lunatic” son was cured when Jesus “rebuked the devil (daimon); and he departed out of him ….” (Matthew 27:15-18).
• The “blind and dumb” man possessed “with a devil” (daimon) was cured, so that he spoke and saw (Matthew 12:22).

“Devils” applied to pagan idols

Old Testament In the Old Testament, the word “devil” is used four times, each time describing the idols of the heathen (see Leviticus 17:7, Deuteronomy 32:17, 2 Chronicles 11:15, Psalm 106:37).

New Testament  The apostle Paul refers to these heathen idols when he told the Corinthian believers that the Gentiles sacrificed to “devils” and not to God, and he instructed them not to do the same (see 1 Corinthians 10:19 – 21).

Other Bible verses incorrectly used to support a belief in a supernatural devil

We will briefly give an explanation of other titles and situations mentioned in the Bible which are wrongly attributed by orthodox Christianity to a supernatural devil:

• “Lucifer” refers to the King of Babylon (Isaiah 14:4, 12 – 15)
• “Anointed cherub that covereth” is the Prince of Tyre (Ezekiel 28:11-19)
• “War in heaven”, the “Michael and his angels” fighting against the “Dragon and his angels” is not about a supernatural devil falling from heaven (Revelation 12:7). The book of Revelation was about things future to the time of the apostle John in AD 98 (Revelation 4:1).  Using figurative language, this verse foretells the rise of apostate Christianity under Constantine (“Michael”) as he fought against the pagan Romans (“the Dragon”).

An immortal, sinning angel?

Often, certain verses mentioning fallen “angels” in the New Testament are used by orthodox churches to support this idea (e.g. 2 Peter 2:4 & 9 and Jude 6).

However, the very concept of a fallen, immortal angel which sinned is against all Bible teaching.  As we will now show, these verses cannot refer to immortal, sinning angels:

Angels in the Bible

The word “angel” in the Bible means a “messenger”.  It can be used to refer to:

1. A Holy Angel from God
2. Mortal men who act as messengers

The original word in Old Testament Hebrew is “malak” and in the New Testament Greek it is “angelos”.  Both original words are translated either as “angel” or “messenger” in the Authorised Version.

We will see that sometimes the words “malak” and “angelos” are used to describe both Angels sent from God and mortal men who act as messengers:

“Wherefore Saul sent messengers (Hebrew – malak) unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son ….” (1 Samuel 16:19).

“The angel (Hebrew – malak) of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him …” (Psalm 34:7).

“…. (Jesus) sent messengers (Greek – angelos) before his face:  and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans ….” (Luke 9:52).

“But while he (Joseph) thought on these things, behold, the angel (Greek – angelos) of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream ….” (Matthew 1:20).

Misapplication of “angels” (Greek – angelos) in 2 Peter 2:4, 9 and Jude 6

These passages from 2 Peter and Jude could refer to Korah, Dathan and Abiram, men of Israel whom the earth swallowed up in punishment for their sins (Numbers 16:26-35).  To suppose that they refer to immortal angels who sinned runs counter to other Bible teaching.

Other reasons why a sinning, immortal angel devil just doesn’t make sense

1. Jesus taught that those of mankind who are given immortality at the resurrection will be like the (Holy) Angels, who cannot “die any more” (Luke 20:36).  Jesus would not have promised his followers a reward for faithfulness which could be lost in the same way as a fallen angel devil or satan.  This would make Jesus’ promise of little value if it were true.
2. The Bible also shows that those who have immortality cannot sin:

• “Thou (God) art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity …” (Habakkuk 1:13).
• “The Lord is upright: He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him” (Psalm 92:15).

3. An immortal rebel (such as a devil) is impossible because of the clear Bible teaching that God punishes sin with death:  “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

THE ORIGIN OF BELIEF IN A SUPERNATURAL SATAN OR DEVIL

The belief in a supernatural agent of evil originated in pagan legends which were based on a conflict between a good god and a bad god.

In contrast to these pagan ideas, God revealed Himself to the people of Israel in the Old Testament Scriptures as a unity against whom there was no rival evil god:  “I form the light, and create darkness:  I make peace and create evil:  I the Lord do all these things” (Isaiah 45:7).

Jews and later Christians adopt pagan concepts

While at first believing from their Old Testament Scriptures that a “devil” or “satan” was simply a reference to the inclination of all men to do evil (or sin), the Jews began to adopt the ideas of the pagan nations around them.

Centuries later, those who claimed to follow Christ also began to incorporate a belief in a supernatural agent of evil, interpreting the Biblical writings in order to accommodate this idea.

Pagan conceptions of good and evil

We will briefly review just a few examples of pagan legends about the conflict of good and evil.

The ancient people of Canaan’s gods fell largely into two groups of good and bad.  The god of evil in many of these cultures was depicted with horns.

The Persian cult of Zoroastrianism had the same conflict between good and evil gods i.e. Mazda (the good god of light) v. Ahriman (the evil god of darkness with wings).

Adapting the Babylonian idea of angels who brought calamity, the Jews began to believe there had been some rebellion in heaven against God in which sinful angels were involved.

The Greeks believed in a place of darkness under the earth for the wicked and a reward for the righteous in a kind of heaven.  Battles in heaven between good and evil gods in the Greek legends also influenced Jewish thinking so that many of them eventually believed in a personal “satan”.

Features of Greek gods were then imposed on this figure of evil, such as horns and hairy features (from Pan), wings (from Hermes) and a trident (from Poseidon).

Infiltration into Christianity

As early as the end of the first century, Christians were also being influenced by the idea that evil was not caused by the actions of men, but was the result of a personal supernatural agent.

Influential church leaders such as Ignatius, Clement of Rome, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus and Tertullian made statements indicating their belief in a supernatural being of evil.  The followers of the Greek philosopher Plato who had joined the Christians also brought their idea of demons (believed to be intermediaries between the gods and humans) into the church.  This gave rise to the teaching amongst orthodox Christians that the demons were fallen angels.

By the third and fourth centuries, leaders of the church such as Lactantius, Athanasius and Augustine were adapting passages of Scripture to accommodate a personal, fallen angel devil.

As time went by and the orthodox church spread to other parts of the world, it adopted elements of the local folklore, so that “Satan” and his demons began to have features taken from local paganism.

Any who objected to a belief in a personal supernatural devil (such as the Anabaptists) were persecuted by orthodox Christians.

In modern times, influential painters and writers such as Dante and Milton have reinforced the popular, paganised idea of a supernatural devil.

SUMMARY

The Bible is clear on certain general principles which preclude the existence of a supernatural devil or satan:

1. The “wages of sin” is death (Romans 6:23)
2. “Sin entered into the world and death by sin” (Romans 5:12)
3. Disobedience (or sin) is punished by God with death (Genesis 3:19)
4. The real enemy of mankind is “the carnal mind, which is enmity against God” (Romans 7:20, 8:7).
5. “Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. And when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin ….” (James 1:13 – 15).

The Bible teaches that man doesn’t need any help from a supernatural temper to do evil:

“From within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, coveteousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness (lictentiousness), an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:  All these evil things come from within, and defile the man” (Mark 7:21 – 23).

“The heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked ..” (Jeremiah 17:9.

The only way we can escape from the true “devil” and “satan” is to have our sinful, mortal nature changed into immortality.  This is the hope of salvation offered through Jesus Christ which is the great theme of the Bible.

“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).