30 Facts About Satan

Satan, known as the Devil, and sometimes called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehood.

Satan is later bound for one thousand years, but is briefly set free before being ultimately defeated and cast into the Lake of Fire.

Satan's appearance is never described in the Bible, but, since the ninth century, he has often been shown in Christian art with horns, cloven hooves, unusually hairy legs, and a tail, often naked and holding a pitchfork.

Satan appears frequently in Christian literature, most notably in Dante Alighieri's Inferno, all variants of the classic Faust story, John Milton's Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, and the poems of William Blake.

Jewish conceptions of Satan were impacted by Angra Mainyu, the Zoroastrian god of evil, darkness, and ignorance.

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Satan is rarely mentioned in Tannaitic literature, but is found in Babylonian aggadah.

Orthodox Judaism, on the other hand, outwardly embraces Talmudic teachings on Satan, and involves Satan in religious life far more inclusively than other sects.

Satan is mentioned explicitly in some daily prayers, including during Shacharit and certain post-meal benedictions, as described in the Talmud and the Jewish Code of Law.

In Reform Judaism, Satan is generally seen in his Talmudic role as a metaphor for the yetzer hara and the symbolic representation of innate human qualities such as selfishness.

Satan takes him to the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem and commands Jesus to throw himself down so that the angels will catch him.

Satan takes Jesus to the top of a tall mountain as well; there, he shows him the kingdoms of the earth and promises to give them all to him if he will bow down and worship him.

The fact that Jesus does not dispute Satan's promise indicates that the authors of those gospels believed this to be true.

Satan plays a role in some of the parables of Jesus, namely the Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Weeds, Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, and the Parable of the Strong Man.

For most Christians, Satan has been regarded as an angel who rebelled against God.

Satan had minimal role in medieval Christian theology, but he frequently appeared as a recurring comedic stock character in late medieval mystery plays, in which he was portrayed as a comic relief figure who "frolicked, fell, and farted in the background".

Voltaire labelled John Milton's Paradise Lost a "disgusting fantasy" and declared that belief in Hell and Satan were among the many lies propagated by the Catholic Church to keep humanity enslaved.

The Book of Moses says that Moses was tempted by Satan before calling upon the name of the "Only Begotten", which caused Satan to depart.

On Judgement Day, while the lot of Satan remains in question, those who followed him will be thrown into the fires of Jahannam.

This, combined with the fact that he describes himself as having been made from fire, posed a major problem for Muslims exegetes of the Quran, who disagree on whether Satan is a fallen angel or the leader of a group of evil jinn.

Satan further relates that Iblis was originally an angel named Azazil or Al-Harith, from a group of angels, created from the fires of simoom, sent by God to confront the earthly jinn.

Satan fulfilled his duty for a thousand years before growing negligent, but was rehabilitated again and resumed his position until his refusal to bow before Adam.

Hadith teach that newborn babies cry because Satan touches them while they are being born, and that this touch causes people to have an aptitude for sin.

Muslims believe that Satan is the cause of deceptions originating from the mind and desires for evil.

Satan is regarded as a cosmic force for separation, despair and spiritual envelopment.

Satan is a symbol of Man living as his prideful, carnal nature dictates.

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The reality behind Satan is simply the dark evolutionary force of entropy that permeates all of nature and provides the drive for survival and propagation inherent in all living things.

In Dante Alighieri's Inferno, Satan appears as a giant demon, frozen mid-breast in ice at the center of the Ninth Circle of Hell.

Satan has three faces and a pair of bat-like wings affixed under each chin.

Satan appears in several stories from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, including "The Summoner's Prologue", in which a friar arrives in Hell and sees no other friars, but is told there are millions.

Satan is usually depicted naked, but his genitals are rarely shown and are often covered by animal furs.