BETTER TO REIGN IN HELL, THAN SERVE IN HEAVEN IBD

Sinopsis

In this monograph, I argue that Satan was not perceived as a universal malevolent deity, the embodiment of evil, or the &ldquo,ruler of Pandaemonium&rdquo, within first century Christian literature or even within second and third century Christian discourses as some scholars have insisted. Instead, for early &ldquo,Christian&rdquo, authors, Satan represented a pejorative term used to describe terrestrial, tangible, and concrete social realities, perceived of as adversaries. To reach this conclusion, I explore the narrative character of Satan selectively within the Hebrew Bible, intertestamental literature, Mark, Matthew, Luke, Q, the Book of Revelation, the Nag Hammadi texts, and the Ante-Nicene fathers.I argue that certain scholars&rsquo, such as Jeffrey Burton Russell, Miguel A. De La Torre, Albert Hernandez, Peter Stanford, Paul Carus, and Gerd Theissen, homogenized reconstructions of the &ldquo,New Testament Satan&rdquo, as the universalized incarnation of evil and that God&rsquo,s absolute cosmic enemy is absent from early Christian orthodox literature, such as Mark, Matthew, Luke, Q, the Book of Revelation, and certain writings from the Ante-Nicene Fathers. Using Jonathan Z. Smith&rsquo,s essay Here, There, and Anywhere, I suggest that the cosmic dualist approach to Satan as God&rsquo,s absolute cosmic enemy resulted from the changing social topography of the early fourth century where Christian &ldquo,insider&rdquo, and &ldquo,outsider&rdquo, adversaries were diminishing. With these threats fading, early Christians universalized a perceived chaotic cosmic enemy, namely Satan, being influenced by the Gnostic demiurge, who disrupts God&rsquo,s terrestrial and cosmic order. Therefore, Satan transitioned from a &ldquo,here,&rdquo, &ldquo,insider,&rdquo, and &ldquo,there,&rdquo, &ldquo,outsider,&rdquo, threat to a universal &ldquo,anywhere&rdquo, threat. This study could be employed as a characterization study, New Testament theory and application for classroom references or research purposes.