True Satan from true Satan: Mirror Christology in Revelation 13

John of the Apocalypse presents the Dragon-Beast cycle (e.g. Revelation 12-13) as the diabolical inversion of the God-Christ cycle (e.g. Revelation 4-5). God and the Dragon each orchestrate sweeping collateral action through various anointed intermediaries, in particular Christ and the Beast from the sea, respectively, in order to exert their incompatible wills upon the world. … Continue reading True Satan from true Satan: Mirror Christology in Revelation 13 →

Eden’s Serpent sans Satan: Protoevangelium as curse

In a previous series of posts I made the case that the biblical literature does not yet identify the Edenic serpent with the Satan figure of the fallen angel legend. The conflation of these myths—the fall of man (cf. Genesis 3), on the one hand, and the descent of the wicked angels (cf. Genesis 6:1-4), … Continue reading Eden’s Serpent sans Satan: Protoevangelium as curse →

No rest for the wicked: Jesus as Satan’s Sabbath-breaking son

As many scholars have maintained, the Sabbath dispute stories in the Gospels lack historical verisimilitude. Few if any 1st century Jews were so strict in their observance of the Sabbath day as to reprimand deeds of healing upon it. In fact, according to the Gospels themselves, most took no issue with Jesus' Sabbath activity at … Continue reading No rest for the wicked: Jesus as Satan’s Sabbath-breaking son →

Nazareth witch trials: the problem of the returning spirit

When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through arid regions looking for a resting place, but it finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ When it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings along … Continue reading Nazareth witch trials: the problem of the returning spirit →

Putting Satan in his historical-political place

In a comment on my post Did Christ strike the serpent's head, my friend abondarenko01 questioned my claim that the Leviathan myth could generate the link between Satan and snakes in early Christian texts like Luke 10:19, Romans 16:20, Mark 16:18, Acts 28:3-6, and 1 Corinthians 15:32. He notes that while Leviathan is an aquatic … Continue reading Putting Satan in his historical-political place →

When Cain was the Devil

ὁ Θεὸς ἔκτισε τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐπ᾿ ἀφθαρσίᾳ καὶ εἰκόνα τῆς ἰδίας ἰδιότητος ἐποίησεν αὐτόν· φθόνῳ δέ διαβόλου θάνατος εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τόν κόσμον, πειράζουσι δὲ αὐτὸν οἱ τῆς ἐκείνου μερίδος ὄντες. God created man for incorruptibility and he made him to be the image of his own being. But by the envy of the Devil death … Continue reading When Cain was the Devil →

Satan, the serpent, and the myth of the rebellious angels

Before moving on from the topic of Satan I think it is important to consider other depictions of the figure in the New Testament. While I argued last time that the Leviathan myth better explains the portrait of Satan as a many-headed dragon in the Apocalypse and various other early Christian texts having to do … Continue reading Satan, the serpent, and the myth of the rebellious angels →

Was Eve deceived by Satan?

In my last post I argued that the early Christian portrait of Satan as a serpent (cf. Revelation 12-13, Luke 10:18-19, Romans 16:20) was primarily built upon the ancient Near Eastern Leviathan myth as appropriated by the writers of the Hebrew Bible (cf. Isaiah 27:1). I conceded, however, based largely upon Wisdom 2:24 and Revelation … Continue reading Was Eve deceived by Satan? →

Did Christ strike the serpent’s head?

The Lord God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this... I will put hostility between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring; her offspring will attack your head, and you will attack her offspring's heel.' (Genesis 3:15 NET) Christians have classically identified Genesis 3:15 as the Protoevangelium, the first announcement … Continue reading Did Christ strike the serpent’s head? →

Which fell first: Satan or Babylon?

A marriage of heaven and earth When ancient peoples looked up into the heavens what they beheld was a reflection of themselves. They saw a mirror, a fantastical, otherworldly mirror, no doubt, but a mirror nonetheless. This mirror reflected the heavenly upon the earthly, the spiritual upon the physical, and the theological upon the historical. … Continue reading Which fell first: Satan or Babylon? →