The Devil

After some conversation with a friend regarding the Christian notion of hell (though of course not a notion limited to Christianity), I've decided to write about that arch-demon in charge of the place, that slithering seducer, that "accuser": Satan.

What a colourful figure this Satan has been made out to be! For some a serpent, for others a wart-covered travesty, still others an angel of light.. the portrayals are "legion".

Let's begin at the beginning (we'll follow the monotheistic tradition). First, Satan, the devil, was not the serpent in the garden of Eden. This is quite clear from the narrative of Genesis 3. Here we are introduced to what the scripture calls a "crafty serpent". Oddly, though we have just been told that everything the Lord God had made was "good" here we encounter a creature that is manifestly not good. Where did he slither from (or rather walk, since his curse was to slither, indicating that this serpent actually moved about some other way)? Of course his existence is assumed in the narrative, as in so many other mythic accounts of astonishing creatures. It's beside the point for the purposes of the story. Regardless, this crafty fellow in no way resembles that fallen angel Jesus would later speak of. He's a punk animal who is either jealous of these two dimwits (though to be sure the woman, who does the speaking, is the intelligent one here), or is a legitimate emancipatory figure (more about this another time perhaps).

It won't be until much later, until the time of the Persian conquest, that we start to hear about Satan, the naughty angel and accuser of humanity. Before the Jews were immersed in Persian culture and adopted their notion of a Good and Evil principle, there was only God as principle. The prophet Amos makes this clear for example: "Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?" (Amos 3:6- evil: ra‛/râ‛âh). For the ancient Jews it was taken for granted that a sovereign and all-powerful God could alone be responsible for both good and evil. Apparently some were uncomfortable with this idea though, and once the idea of an evil principle, a fall-guy, was introduced from a brand of Zoroastrianism the Jews encountered during the captivity (Zervanism), Satan was quickly introduced into the oral and scriptural tradition. There are some pretty clear examples of this:

2 Samuel 24:1 (Pre-Persian Conquest): Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”

and the exact same story told during/after the Persian conquest in Chronicles:

1 Chronicles 21:1: Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.

In the post-conquest interpretation, it was Satan who incited David, obviously glossing the now distasteful idea that God would incite his anointed in such a manner and then punish him for it! Satan takes the fall..

Every single Hebrew Scripture (OT) reference to Satan takes place after the Persian conquest (see also Zechariah) with the possible exception of one book: Job. The debate still goes on whether this is an ancient story or a more recent one. Perhaps it is a combination of the two.. though I disagree that the Satan story is a later addition. It seems obvious to me that this is an integral part of the tale (if you're curious ask).

By the time we get to the Christian Scriptures a lot has happened. We won't trace the origin and evolution of the notion of hell. There is, however, one interesting reference to "Tartarus" in 2 Peter 2:4: "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell (NIV footnotes the Greek "ταρταρωσας" -Tartarus-), putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment..." Tartarus, as any classicist knows, is a Greek conception of the underworld, more hellish, it seems, than Hades (though of course even the conception of Tartarus evolved over time). It was said that if a bronze anvil falls into the earth, it would take 9 days to reach there. Interesting how Greek mythology and Christianity would bump into one another.. though not that surprising as it is obvious from recent conversations I've had that culture continues to inform a Christian reading of hell.

It should be obvious what I'm suggesting here: Satan, the devil, is not.. never was. He was a necessary evil, literally. He had explanatory power, made sense, was handy. I've heard people say, "but that's exactly what he wants you to think, that he doesn't exist!" A rather odd argument wouldn't you say?