The subject of the Devil is a fascinating one – of an eternal rival to God. The Bible refers to the Devil as the ‘Master of Reversal’ and Satan, Lucifer, and Eve’s tempting serpent.
Pagans called the Devil ‘Pan’, from which the word ‘panic’ comes, because Pan enjoyed frightening lone travellers with his goatish appearance. Worshipped in caves, an image of fear and fascination grew up around Pan.
The early Christian church adopted this image of Pan as their Devil, and Christian paintings show him with horns and goat hooves.
Despite this early depiction of the Devil, the Greek word for Devil, ‘Diablos’, means a slanderer or an accuser. Jesus famously called Judas a ‘devil’ when he became his false accuser. The Devil is also referred to as an adversary to God. Jesus called Peter ‘Satan’, meaning adversary.
Throughout The Bible, the devil is portrayed with a lying tongue.
In Revelation, Jesus said, “the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried…”
God’s ninth commandment says: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”
Ephesians says we should put away lying, speak every man the truth to his neighbour and give no place for the diabolos or Devil, which is our sin.
Paul told the wives of deacons not to be devils. And it is said that men shall be… without natural affection, trucebreakers and devils.
And, because Eve succumbed to the serpent in the Garden of Eden, women have been seen as weak in resisting the Devil’s temptations. This is one of the reasons religious fanatics called them witches – instruments of the Devil with the characteristics of gossipers and temptresses.
Yet, in recent years, the image of the Devil has undergone some rehabilitation. Modern-day media has even sympathised with him and normalised his deceptive nature. For example, in the TV series Lucifer.
It can be so tempting to tell a lie. After all, we learn to do so at an early age. Think of the two-year-old who says they have only taken one cookie when they’ve finished the packet. Is it not our nature to deceive ourselves that our lies are for the greater good that makes us devils?
On Halloween, it is natural that thoughts turn to devils and witches.
All Hallows itself (1st November) is a Celtic feast of the dead, known as Samhain. Because the festival was celebrated on the eve rather than the day, it became known as Halloween.
The early Church described the eve as a night of magic, divinations, fortune telling, fairies and apple ducking – in bowls of water that represented the cauldron of regeneration.
So when you are out trick and treating in the dark tonight, remember that Halloween really marks the end of the harvest festival and the beginning of Winter – the dark half of the year.