In this episode we will be looking at the shaping of Satan in the 1st century Chri$tian writings.
There is a plethora of early Chri$tian writings on our favourite subject. For now we are sticking to canonical scripture but that is not to say the non-canonical stuff isn’t relevant. It paints a picture of the mindset of the early Chri$tians.
In the King James Version of the New Testament the word Devil or Devils comes up 102 times. Satan gets mentioned 32 times. There are also other synonyms used to describe Lucifer. Despite all the mentions he doesn’t get a lot of screen time and is mostly an off-screen character, spoken of but rarely seen like Voldemort or Sauron. I won’t be covering every mention of Lord of Flies but will look at the ones where I feel who and what he is gets established for later generations to build on and create the Satan we know and love today.
The New Testament is not JUST 4 similar stories about the same events. There are also a bunch of internal church memos and other documents bundled up and paper clipped to the back of the gospels, known as the epistles.
We look at the earliest mention of Old Scratch in the New Testament in the Epistle of James all the way to the Gospel of John.
We watch the Satan character develop from a metaphorical representation of human desire to a little gremlin coercing events to megalomaniacal entity of enormous power.
We will follow Saul of Tarsus from 1st century tentmaker who got his kicks beating up early Chri$tians on the weekends to self-proclaimed apostle Paul megalomaniacal entity of enormous power.
We review the attitude of the juvenile apocalyptic cult to the antichrist and the impending end of the world with the return of their Chri$t.
There’s fornication with step mums, a ravenous reptilian hell beast, murder, Romans, Ancient Greeks, Hentai, Pagans, Zeus, Odin, Ahura Mazda, an attack force of shock preachers, an army of serpents and scorpions, gardening tips from Jesus, the rapture, a proxy war between YHWH and the Devil, Astro Boy even gets a mention!
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