The Pauline Satan: not a Cosmic Power

Discussion about the New Testament, apocrypha, gnostics, church fathers, Christian origins, historical Jesus or otherwise, etc.
User avatar
Irish1975
Posts: 1057
Joined: Fri Dec 15, 2017 8:01 am

The Pauline Satan: not a Cosmic Power

Post by Irish1975 »

There is almost nothing in the Pauline epistles that favors the canonical idea that Satan = “the god of this aeon” (2 Cor 4:4), or a power, principality, throne, etc., or an elemental spirit of the cosmos (Gal 4, Col 2).

There are only a handful of passages in which Paul mentions Satan.Here he is an evil spirit whose raison d’etre is to frustrate the spread of Paul’s gospel. In 1 Cor 5, the apostle instructs the Corinthians to hand over to Satan the man who was caught in fornication. Here Satan’s domain is that of unbelief and the failure of the Gospel.

I can find no suggestion in the “authentic” epistles that Satan is a cosmic power, ruler, authority, “prince of the power of the air,” or what have you. It is only non-Pauline texts that make the identification of Satan as the evil ruler of this world.

Paul’s References to Satan/Belial

It should be noted that no reference is found in Galatians.

In Romans 16:20 we read
The God of peace will shortly crush Satan under your feet. (Rom 16:20)
But in context, this belongs to an exhortation against schism and heresy.

Other references to Satan/Belial—
1 Cor 7:5
Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
2 Cor 2:10-11
But one whom you forgive anything, I also forgive; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did so for your sakes in the presence of Christ, so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.
2 Cor 6:14-16
Do not be mismatched with unbelievers; for what do righteousness and lawlessness share together, or what does light have in common with darkness? Or what harmony does Christ have with Belial, or what does a believer share with an unbeliever? Or what agreement does the temple of God have with idols?
2 Cor 11:14
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.
2 Cor 12:7
Because of the extraordinary greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself!
1 Thss 2:18
For we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, more than once—and Satan hindered us.
That’s all there is (did I miss anything?). The reference is always practical. Paul’s adversary never rises in power or greatness or authority above the apostle himself.

We are accustomed to magnify the power of Satan simply because every other major part of the NT, including those Pauline epistles that are now deemed inauthentic or forged, seeks to identify him that way. In Neil Forsythe’s magisterial history The Old Enemy: Satan & the Combat Myth, Paul is considered “circumspect” in his references to the evil one. I think that’s a misleading way to say that the classic Christian myth of Satan is essentially a post-Pauline production.

If we consider the four groupings of the NT material in the tradition

1. Gospels
2. Pauline corpus
3. Acts & General Epistles
4. Revelation

it is evident that Satan looms large, indeed he is the ruling prince of darkness and evil, in groups 1, 3, and 4. We see him doing battle with Jesus directly in the Gospels. In Luke and John, he enters into Judas and brings about Jesus' death. In Acts, at Paul's trial before Festus, we see him attributing to the risen Jesus the statement that Paul is being sent to the gentiles in order to "open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God..." (Acts 26:18). For the writer of 1 John, "the whole world lies under the power of the evil one" (5:19). Finally, in Revelation, Satan attains full cosmic power. In 2 Thessalonians, Ephesians, and the Pastorals, we also find a powerful fire-breathing Devil. But this figure is absent from those epistles that are deemed earliest in the tradition.
gryan
Posts: 1120
Joined: Fri Jun 01, 2018 4:11 am

Re: The Pauline Satan: not a Cosmic Power

Post by gryan »

Re: Satan in Paul's letters

Concerning the "thorn in the flesh, angel/messenger of Satan" -- The figure seems related to the devil in Job since the thorn, it seems, may have been "given" to Paul by God, or at least allowed by God at a time when Paul was, like Job, enviably blessed.

Concerning false apostles being like Satan, "for even Satan disguises himself as an angle of light" in 1 Cor 11.14 -- This image of Satan may be informed by the idea that the serpent who tempted Eve in the garden was Satan.

1 Cor 11:3
"I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ."

It seems to me that, for Paul, "Satan" personifies of "temptation of desire". This is obvious in 1 Cor 7:5
where Paul warns that "Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control." But I think it is implied elsewhere also.
ABuddhist
Posts: 1016
Joined: Wed Jul 21, 2021 4:36 am

Re: The Pauline Satan: not a Cosmic Power

Post by ABuddhist »

gryan wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 11:29 am Re: Satan in Paul's letters

Concerning the "thorn in the flesh, angel/messenger of Satan" -- The figure seems related to the devil in Job since the thorn, it seems, may have been "given" to Paul by God, or at least allowed by God at a time when Paul was, like Job, enviably blessed.

Concerning false apostles being like Satan, "for even Satan disguises himself as an angle of light" in 1 Cor 11.14 -- This image of Satan may be informed by the idea that the serpent who tempted Eve in the garden was Satan.
Might the idea that Satan Disguises himself as an angel of light have been derived also from Job, in which Satan is portrayed as being among the angels visIting YHWH?
robert j
Posts: 1007
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 5:01 pm

Re: The Pauline Satan: not a Cosmic Power

Post by robert j »

gryan wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 11:29 am Re: Satan in Paul's letters

Concerning false apostles being like Satan, "for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light" in 1 Cor 11.14 -- This image of Satan may be informed by the idea that the serpent who tempted Eve in the garden was Satan.
I think a likely candidate for the idea of Satan "disguising himself as an angel of light" may be this passage from Isaiah in the LXX. I'm not fond of the practice of using the Latin term (Lucifer) here, but some translators do translate the Greek term εωσφόρος as "Lucifer" rather than "the morning star" ---

O how fell from out of the heaven the morning star (εωσφόρος) -- the one by morning rising --- the one sending to all the nations was broken unto the earth. But you said in your heart, ‘Unto the heaven I shall ascend; upon the stars of the heaven I will put my throne; I shall sit on a high mountain, upon the high mountains towards the north; I will ascend upon the clouds; I will be likened to the highest’. But now into Hades (άδην) you shall go down, and into the foundations of the earth. The ones beholding you shall wonder over you, and shall say, ‘This is the man provoking the earth, the one shaking kings; the one making the inhabitable world desolate, and its cities demolished; he did not set loose the ones in enslavement’. (Isaiah 14:12-17, LXX)

User avatar
GakuseiDon
Posts: 2263
Joined: Sat Oct 12, 2013 5:10 pm

Re: The Pauline Satan: not a Cosmic Power

Post by GakuseiDon »

What a fascinating idea! I offer this, half-humorously but a little seriously: when Paul writes that he wanted to go "more than once" but "Satan hindered us", it immediately struck me that it sounded like "I wanted to go, but the ol' ball and chain didn't let me".

Could Paul have used "Satan" as a metaphorical name for... Paul's wife? Wouldn't that be great? Though perhaps James might be a better fit.
User avatar
Irish1975
Posts: 1057
Joined: Fri Dec 15, 2017 8:01 am

Re: The Pauline Satan: not a Cosmic Power

Post by Irish1975 »

If he were the god of this world, why the need to disguise himself as angel of light?
gryan
Posts: 1120
Joined: Fri Jun 01, 2018 4:11 am

Re: The Pauline Satan: not a Cosmic Power

Post by gryan »

Irish1975 wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 7:10 am If he were the god of this world, why the need to disguise himself as angel of light?
I tentatively agree that Paul is not talking about "the god of this world" when he writes the following:

1 Cor 11:12f
But what I do, I will continue doing, so that I might cut off the opportunity of those desiring an opportunity that they might be found as also we in what they are boasting.
For such are
false apostles ( ψευδαπόστολοι), deceitful workers (ἐργάται δόλιοι),
disguising (μετασχηματιζόμενοι) themselves as apostles of Christ (ἀποστόλους Χριστοῦ).
And no wonder, for
Satan himself
masquerades (μετασχηματίζεται) as an angel of light (ἄγγελον φωτός).
Therefore it is not great (οὐ μέγα) if
his servants also
masquerade (μετασχηματίζονται) as servants of righteousness (διάκονοι δικαιοσύνης),
whose end will be according to their deeds (κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν).

But, what is Paul talking about?

Notes:

On δόλιοι/dolos--"Cognate: dólios – deceitful – advertising the bait and concealing the hook!"

On metasxēmatízō -- from metá, "with, bringing about change, after-effect" and sxḗma, "outward shape") – properly, to change outward appearance after a change.

For a positive sense of metasxēmatízō:

Philippians 3:20f
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies (μετασχηματίσει τὸ σῶμα) so that they will be like his glorious body (ἡμῶν σύμμορφον τῷ σώματι τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ).


1 Corinthians 4:6)
Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied (μετεσχημάτισα) these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other.
User avatar
billd89
Posts: 1339
Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2020 6:27 pm
Location: New England, USA

Where does Satan come from?

Post by billd89 »

I don't believe there's a single definition of God for ALL the Diaspora Jews AND Gentiles across the Levant, Asia Minor, Greece abd Italy - the sprawling Eastern Mediterranean Zone. In that area, there must have been +100 subcultures 50 BC-50 AD. 'God' must have been understood many different ways.

Ditto, for Satan.

So what was the Pharisee definition (assuming Paul was) and what were the local definitions where he preached? I would not be surprised to see huge discrepancies.

I am curious 'where Satan comes from.' If he was an Angel of Light, the tractate (of Qumran) on Melchizedek describing his legions of angels prepared for battle leads me to wonder: against whom? If the content of that Egyptian tractate (for Melchizedek lore is exquisitely Judeo-Egyptian) dates c.200 BC, 'Satan'/Belial* had massive armies of demons also. I mean: the concept of Satan-Belial must have been elaborated long before evidence shows in the NT.

I dont know where the Satan mythology comes from (mostly), but I'm curious about the Egyptian angle, if any.

* assuming - if - we may conflate Satan and Belial. Who is the Prince of Wickedness/ Father of the Sons of Darkness if not Satan/Belial?

Link: note how Melchizedek has been replaced by Michael in the secondary work, probably 100-150yrs after (and fr where?). This is consistent with my thesis that a much older, richer Egyptian 'Melchizedek' veneration was basically eradicated by c.70 AD then replaced by intermediaries like the Angelic Michael, Yahoel, and Metatron by Hellenistic Jews in successive centuries.

11QMelchizedek is preserved in a single, extremely fragmentary MS whose script places it in the first century B.C.E., so the date of composition must have been sometime earlier. The overall contents imply that it is a sectarian work. ... The narrative of col. 2 describes the eschatological conflict fought by the divine being Melchizedek and his angelic allies against Belial and the evil spirits of his lot. The battle is set in “the tenth Jubilee” and is associated with the Day of Atonement.


The War Rule is a loose collection of traditions about eschatological matters which appears in the Qumran library in a number of recensions. The most complete copy, and the one containing the material discussed in this section, is the MS from Cave One, dated palaeographically to the early Herodian period, late in the first century B.C.E. Two passages in the War Rule seem to refer to the same conflict with the forces of evil, but with Michael or the prince of light as the protagonist rather than Melchizedek. In col. 17 the following text appears, set off by partial blank lines preceding and following it. It seems to be presented as part of the chief priest’s address to the troops before they go out to fight Belial and the sons of darkness (16.9-13), but it may well have had an independent existence before the editing of 1QM.

User avatar
Irish1975
Posts: 1057
Joined: Fri Dec 15, 2017 8:01 am

Re: Where does Satan come from?

Post by Irish1975 »

billd89 wrote: Wed Sep 29, 2021 8:55 am I don't believe there's a single definition of God for ALL the Diaspora Jews AND Gentiles across the Levant, Asia Minor, Greece abd Italy - the sprawling Eastern Mediterranean Zone. In that area, there must have been +100 subcultures 50 BC-50 AD. 'God' must have been understood many different ways.

Ditto, for Satan.
Of course a major point of contrast here would be that whereas Satan is a proper name, ὁ θεὸς, although used sometimes as a proper name, is really a concept or category.
I am curious 'where Satan comes from.' If he was an Angel of Light, the tractate (of Qumran) on Melchizedek describing his legions of angels prepared for battle leads me to wonder: against whom? If the content of that Egyptian tractate (for Melchizedek lore is exquisitely Judeo-Egyptian) dates c.200 BC, 'Satan'/Belial* had massive armies of demons also. I mean: the concept of Satan-Belial must have been elaborated long before evidence shows in the NT.
I already mentioned Neil Forsythe's classic study, The Old Enemy. For the broader origins of apocalyptic, I like Norman Cohn's Cosmos, Chaos, and the World to Come. If the name Satan comes to us simply from Job and Chronicles and Zechariah, i.e. the Jewish scriptures, the mythology comes from a wide and deep variety of traditions across the Levant. The adversary, the rebel angel, the fallen angel of light, the watchers, the serpent, etc.: these are originally different traditions. There is only so much that this background can tell us about who the figure of Satan really is (a) in the Pauline epistles, (b) in the NT generally. My point is that the actual Pauline usage makes Satan out to be a very modest character, with none of the "cosmic ruler" attributes given him in other scriptures.
User avatar
billd89
Posts: 1339
Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2020 6:27 pm
Location: New England, USA

Re: Thank you!

Post by billd89 »

Thank you for the Cohn recommendation,Cosmos, Chaos, and the World to Come. I read Pursuit of the Millenium about 25 years ago and remember it as a great read (then.) I especially liked his writing style.

My focus here/now is especially the Hermetica - I don't have a strong sense of 'Satan' (in whatever form) in that area. But a term I'm looking at "Boss Universal" translates as All-führer (German) or Kosmokrator.

"Kosmokrator" must have been taken by Jews as a corrupt pretense for any False 'Supreme God', Pretender, etc. before it referred to a Fallen (Jewish) Angel.

An internet blog tells me:
For example, one of the magical papyri mentions Nephotes making a recipe to the Egyptian Pharaoh Wahibre Psamtik I {c.620 BC} so that he can conjure up a god to answer his requests. {PGM IV.166} {Betz, p.40 } This god is called the "kosmokrator". It is used to describe the deities Helios,{PGM IV.166} Ra,{PGM IV.1599; 2198} and Hermes.{PGM V.400} The phrase also shows up in an inscription found in a bathhouse in Rome which reads, “One Zeus, Sarapis, Helios, Kosmokrator, Unconquerable.”[εις Ζεύς Σάραπις Ήλιος Κοσμοκράτωρ ανίκετος]

Post Reply