The idea that the Devil governs hell may have come from a poem by Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy, published in the early fourteenth century. Still, the Bible doesn’t state the Devil will reign over hell, just that he’ll eventually be banished there. Perhaps the most lasting images of the Devil are associated with hell, which the Bible refers to as a place of everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. In people of almost any religion or even in those who don’t follow a religion, the Devil is almost always synonymous with fear, punishment, negativity and immorality. Much like Jesus of Christianity resisted the Devil, Buddha also resisted temptation and defeated Maara. In Buddhism, Maara is the demon that tempted Buddha away from his path of enlightenment. In Judaism, “satan” is a verb and generally refers to a difficulty or temptation to overcome instead of a literal being. In Islam, the devil is known as Shaytan and, like the Devil in Christianity, is also thought to have rebelled against God. Most other religions and cultures teach of an evil being who roams the earth wreaking havoc and fighting against the forces of good. And it was the Devil who tempted Jesus in the wilderness to “fall down and worship him” in exchange for riches and glory.
Jesus and many of his apostles warned people to stay alert for the Devil’s cunning enticements that would lead them to ruin. The Devil makes more appearances in the Bible, especially in the New Testament. As a result, some Bible translators believe the King of Tyre was a personification of the Devil. It admonishes the greedy King of Tyre but also refers to the king as a cherub who was once in the Garden of Eden. The book of Ezekiel includes another Biblical passage Christians refer to as proof of the Devil’s existence. Names for the Devil are numerous: Besides Lucifer, he may be referred to as the Prince of Darkness, Beelzebub, Mephistopheles, Baphomet, Lord of the Flies, the Antichrist, Father of Lies, Moloch or simply Satan. Some biblical scholars, however, claim Lucifer isn’t a proper name but a descriptive phrase meaning “morning star.” Still, the name stuck and the Devil is often referred to as Lucifer.
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