Biblical and dogmatic foundations of teachings about Satan and the contemporary criteria of its evaluation

Piotr Jaskóła

Uniwersytet Opolski

Abstract

In the ancient East one used to assign personal character to thousands of mysterious powers, whose presence one used to link to every kind of evil haunting man. The Bible does not only mention good spiritual beings – the angels – as described, but ones that also harm people, bring illness and cause temptation towards evilness are also spoken about. These spirits were called demons, and their commander was called Satan or the devil. The article depicts four points taken from biblical teachings about demons and Satan. The main development trends of this teaching in the history of Christian thought and the criteria applied in contemporary hermeneutics are looked at and linked to biblical texts about demons and Satan.

Keywords:

Bible, dogma, demon, demythologization, Satan, personalization