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Dr. Elaine Pagels, a Professor of Religion at Princeton University, wrote a book called The Origins of Satan. She wrote: “In the Hebrew Bible, as in mainstream Judaism to this day, Satan never appears as Western Christendom has come to know him, as the leader of an ‘evil empire,’ an army of hostile spirits who make war on God and humankind alike.” She further writes, “In biblical sources, the Hebrew term the satan describes an adversarial role. Although Hebrew storytellers as early as the sixth century B.C.E. occasionally introduced a supernatural character whom they called the satan, what they meant was any one of the angels sent by God for the specific purpose of blocking or obstructing human activity.” We know Creator has said that a literal “Satan” does not exist, but is rather more of a literary composite figure. We know the fallen Archangel Lucifer is often thought of as “Satan,” but if indeed they are synonymous, why wouldn’t Creator just say that Satan was simply another name for Lucifer? How much of the crucifixion narrative can be directly attributed to Lucifer himself? Or is he given too much credit and we need to look beyond Lucifer for the leaders of the ‘evil empire’ as Professor Pagels characterized the real adversary in the crucifixion narrative? What can Creator tell us?287 views0 answers0 votes
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