Face Of An Angel, Heart Of A Devil

"For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is not strange if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness." (2 Corinthians 11:13-15 RSV)

"Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor"

Righteous Lucifer became evil Satan for a number of reasons, but one of them was vanity - Satan was "beautiful":

"You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, carnelian, topaz, and jasper, chrysolite, beryl, and onyx, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald; and wrought in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. With an anointed guardian cherub I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and the guardian cherub drove you out from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground" (Ezekiel 28:13-17 RSV)

Most Bible translations use devil to translate the Greek word (pronounced) dee-ab-ol-os, from which also originated the English word diabolic, which literally means someone who attacks by means of slander or libel. Satan is personally called the "devil" for that reason, but Satan is not the only "devil," or the only "satan" for that matter, when it comes to the literal meaning of the word. The actual Hebrew word pronounced saw-tan, from which the name Satan is derived, means adversary, or accuser. "Devil" is not about appearance; it's about personality.

Humans who commit evil slander or libel are "devil" and humans who are adversaries or accusers of God's people are "satan" e.g.

"Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?" He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was to betray Him." (John 6:70-71 RSV)

"And the chief priests accused Him of many things" (Mark 15:3 RSV)

Note that the actual Greek word translated as "accused" in Mark 15:3 is the very same word that is used to refer to Satan e.g. "And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world - he was thrown down to the earth ... for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God." (Revelation 12:9-10 RSV)

Fact Finder: Who did Jesus Christ say has the devil as their "father"?
See Children Of The Devil

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