Satan (Hebrew: הַשָּׂטָן ha-Satan, "the opposer",) is the leader of fallen angels and adversary to God, particularly in Abrahamic religions. In Theistic Satanism, Satan is considered a positive force and deity who is either woshipped or revered. In LaVeyan Satanism, Satan is regarded as holding virtuous characteristics.
It is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible. In Christianity, the title became a personal name, and "Satan" changed from an accuser appointed by God to test men's faith to the chief of the rebellious fallen angels ("the devil" in Christianity, "Shaitan" in Arabic, the term used by Arab Christians and Muslims). In Islam, a shayṭān is any evil creature, whether human, animal or spirit. With the definite article, the Shayṭān is Iblis, the Devil.
Read more about Satan: Hebrew Bible, Apocrypha
Famous quotes containing the word satan:
“Thus Satan talking to his neerest Mate
With Head up-lift above the wave, and Eyes
That sparkling blaz’d, his other Parts besides
Prone on the Flood, extended long and large
Lay floating many a rood, in bulk as huge
As whom the Fables name of monstrous size,
Titanian, or Earth-born, that warr’d on Jove,
Briarios or Typhon, whom the Den
By ancient Tarsus held, or that Sea-beast
Leviathan,”
—John Milton (1608–1674)
“I always seem to have a vague feeling that he is a Satan among musicians, a fallen angel in the darkness who is perpetually seeking to fight his way back to happiness.”
—Havelock Ellis (1859–1939)
“None can re-enter there—
No thief so politic,
No Satan with a royal trick
Steal in by window, chink, or hole,
To bind or unbind, add what lacked,
Insert a leaf, or forge a name,
New-face or finish what is packed,
Alter or mend eternal fact.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)