It is Lucifer,
The son of mystery;
And since God suffers him to be,
He, too, is God’s minister,
And labors for some good
By us not understood. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Christus
Lucifer is the divine and terrestrial light, the holy ghost and Satan at one and the same time. Madame Helena P Blavatsky
The Adversary or Satan is none other than Lucifer, the light bearer, the bright morning star. He is the initiator, awakening the divine faculties of intellect in Man. N Sri Ram
Faustus: Stay, Mephistopheles, and tell me, what good will my soul do thy lord?
Mephistopheles: Enlarge his kingdom.
Faustus: Is that the reason he tempts us thus?
Mephistopheles: It is a comfort to the wretched to have companions in misery. Christopher Marlowe, Dr Faustus
He provides an important excuse for evil. And that’s much worse. Rabbi Professor Jonathan Magonet
What kind of pact have you got with Simon Cowell? Andy Hamilton’s Search for Satan, Andy to Satan, BBC 2011
Helen of Troy is not on the table. ibid. Satan to Andy
Just how did the fantastically powerful and ambiguous character get inside our heads? And who put him there? ibid. Andy’s commentary
He is still a big part of your life ... He permeates every corner of our culture. ibid.
He haunts our art and literature. Satan has become a global superstar. ibid.
He has evolved over thousands of years. ibid.
The Devil being given shape in scripture ... He is barely in it ... What kind of villain is that? ibid.
The New Testament ... He is constantly referred to, lurking and plotting off stage. ibid.
We first meet Satan ... in the Book of Job. ibid.
No-one ever mentions the civilian deaths and collateral damage. ibid.
Why would he imagine he can dupe the Son of God? ibid.
It’s only a problem in the characterisation of the Devil. ibid.
The letters of St Paul ... he starts to emerge as the ever-present enemy. ibid.
He is still a very one-dimensional character. ibid.
He is described through allegory and symbolism. ibid.
Three monks sketch: I’m still getting a lot of grief from believers about that question, you know, if there is only one God and he’s a loving God why did he let my crops fail? Why did he set my barn on fire? Why does he let the Romans crucify all my relatives? ibid.
Monks: Who is this Devil? And who made him? ... Why did God make him? And why did God make him such an evil git? ibid.
A huge philosophical question that confronted the early Church. ibid.
Why didn’t God just destroy him? ibid. Monk’s question
Can the Devil be redeemed? ibid. commentary
Could he not see the errors of his ways? ibid.
At least Satan had been given his own kingdom to rule. ibid.
Islam places him lower down the pecking order. ibid.
The devil’s army of demons loomed large in the popular stories of medieval Christendom. ibid.
Paradoxes which have troubled religious believers for centuries. ibid.
The major Christian churches seemed to have marginalized him almost as if he is an uncomfortable relic. ibid.
In the Bible Jesus performs many exorcisms. ibid.
The devil is one of the heroes of our civilisation ... Without him we’d have missed out on a lot of great literature and great art. And without the devil, we wouldn’t have had an alibi. ibid.
We find in pretty much every religion. Martin Palmer, historian
In Zoroastrianism the belief is that God is wounded. God has actually lost the battle. And that this physical world is now in the power of a higher mind, the evil one, the force of evil. Martin Palmer
Milton’s Satan is really a hero. Professor Ronald Hutton
The devil is the equivalent of a debauched aristocrat ... He is the devil of today: he is the devil of bedazzled. Professor Ronald Hutton
The angel was Lucifer: the light bearer. Satan: Prince of Darkness, 1998
Satan is believed to roam the Earth. ibid.
In his most demonic role Satan has been the keeper of the darkness. ibid.
Strangely, Satan did not lose his angelic powers. ibid.
Although God fought back, He left much of the struggle to man. ibid.
They are practising Satanists. In American 76% of people identify themselves as members of a Christian faith ... So-called devil worshippers have existed for centuries. American Outsiders: Secret Passions, 2016
There’s no reference in Genesis to the snake being Satan the Devil. So what exactly is it doing in the story? Dr Francesca Stavrakopoulou, Bible’s Buried Secrets 3/3: The Real Garden of Eden, BBC 2011
There is no devil, so stop blaming your screw-ups on him. Bill Maher, interview Sex, Drugs & Religion, 2010
Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering. Job 26:7
Hell and destruction are before the Lord: how much more then the hearts of the children of men? Proverbs 15:11
Through envy of the devil came death into the world. Wisdom of Solomon 2:24
Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. Matthew 4:1-11
Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Luke 4:2-8