A: In Christian tradition, Satan is the primary adversary (along with sin and death) of both God and humanity. The word Satan essentially means “accuser” or “adversary”. He is referred to by many names (Lucifer, Beelzebub, the Father of Lies, etc) but is most commonly called Satan or “The Devil”, the latter of which essentially means “slanderer”. While there exists a spectrum of belief regarding Satan, even in historic orthodox Christianity, he is most commonly considered to be the leader of all that is opposed to God and is associated with both the introduction of Sin into the human race and the ongoing temptation and accusation of humanity.

See also: Job 1:6-12, 2:1-5, 3:8, 41:1; Psalms 74:14, 104:26; Isaiah 14:12-15, 27:1; Zechariah 3:1-2; Mark 3:22-26; Luke 10:18, 22:31; John 12:31, 16:11; 1 Corinthians 5:5,13; 2 Corinthians 11:14; 1 Peter 5:9; Revelation 12:1-17

A: Emphatically no!!! Jesus is the eternal Son, begotten from, but not created by, God the Father. He has existed eternally and now continues to exist as both God and exalted man. Satan is a created being who is not and never has been on the same level as the uncreated God revealed in Jesus. He is neither God nor man but something else entirely.

A: Historic Christianity has traditionally held that Satan and other demons are fallen angels. The primary Biblical texts that support this conclusion are found in Isaiah 14:12-15, Ezekiel 28, and Revelation 12:1-12. Through these primary texts as well as a handful of others, the Christian Church has established a narrative wherein Satan, once the most beautiful and perhaps powerful of the angelic hosts was consumed by pride and rebelled against God, taking a third of the other angels with him. 

It is also through these texts, mainly the Isaiah text, that we get the name of Satan as Lucifer, which simply means “morning star”. This may or may not be an actual proper name for the being we now refer to as Satan or “The Devil” and in fact is more likely a mere title given to reflect beauty and kingship. Bolstering this notion is the fact that Jesus himself is referred to as “morning star” in Revelation 22.

A: The answer to this question is that these passages are and at the same time are not about Satan. The passage in Isaiah is referring to the King of Babylon and the passage in Ezekiel is referring to the King of Tyre. However, Bible scholars throughout history, including many who lived before the time of Christ, attributed dual meaning to these texts for a few reasons. 

First, Babylon (and Tyre to a lesser extent) is often used in scripture to signify all that is anti-God and anti-Christ in this world. 

Second, the lavish descriptions of these kings seems to suggest a beauty and a power that goes beyond any mortal human king, leading to the conclusion that these texts go beyond just describing those kings but also describe Satan in his pre-fall existence.

Lastly, other Biblical texts clearly describing the fall of Satan, such as Luke 10:18 and Revelation 12, greatly resemble the passages in Isaiah and Ezekiel, suggesting that both Jesus and some of his disciples (as well as their Jewish contemporaries) saw those passages as describing the fall of Satan.

A: While the Christian tradition (and the Jewish one that preceded it) has held a wide variety of beliefs about angels over the millennia, the usual consensus of belief has held that angels are spiritual beings (i.e. non-physical/material) created by God at some point in history. 

The word “angel” is simply a translation of the Hebrew word mal’ak and the Greek word angelos, which means messenger. That said, the Biblical narrative seems to suggest different categories of spiritual beings, not all of which are named as angels. Even so, Christian tradition has generally grouped all these beings into the distinction of “angel”. These different being types include Cherubim, Seraphim, Angels, Archangels, Thrones, Powers, Authorities, Dominions, Holy Ones, Watchers, etc. 

Of these categories, it is unclear which, if any, Satan would fall under. His characterization as a fallen angel is based more on the total sum of all Biblical texts referring to him, rather than any one text outlining his being in great detail.

See also: Daniel 4:13, 17,23; Colossians 1:16, Genesis 3:24, Psalms 18:10, Ezekiel 1:5-14, 10:1-22, Isaiah 6:2-7; Revelation 4:6-8

A: Yes. Satan, like all angels, is a created being. Only God himself, existing as Father, Son, and Spirit, has no origin. We don’t know when in history God created angelic beings. The Biblical narrative seems to imply, however, that their creation preceded that of humans, or at least preceded God’s involvement with humanity in response to sin.

See also: Genesis 1:1, 3:1-5, Revelation 12

A: We don’t know this either. The Biblical narrative obviously implies that the fall of Satan and his angels preceded the fall of humanity into sin. Beyond that we know less about “when” and more about “what” and “how” regarding the fall of Satan.

See also: Genesis 3:1-5, Isaiah 12:12-15, Ezekiel 28:2-10, Luke 10:18, Revelation 12:1-17

A: Humanity has long been fascinated with the spiritual realm. Not only is the concept of invisible forces very intriguing to speculate about, but the Biblical (and extra-Biblical) descriptions of both angels and demons also usually involve various forms of cosmic conflict and warfare. Combined with the fact that these spiritual beings are usually depicted as being quite powerful, it all makes for exciting stuff. 

What’s more, Satan and demons give Christians an “out”. Rather than taking ownership our own sinful desires and behaviors, it’s often more convenient to attribute our failures to the temptation and even control/influence brought on by Satan and his demonic forces.

A: What is astonishing about Satan is the fact that God not only continues to tolerate his existence by that he also seems to allow him a degree of independence and authority. While the exact extent of Satan’s power is unclear, he is referred to both as the “Prince of this World” and the “Prince of the Power of the Air” (John 12:31, 14:30, 2 Corinthians 4:4, Ephesians 2:2). We also see Satan exerting a great deal of power when he tempts Jesus (Matthew 4, Mark 1, Luke 4).

In those same verses, however, we see that Satan has no true power over Jesus and his followers, at least beyond appealing to the sinful nature already existing within humanity (but not existing in Jesus). This means that we not only have the power to resist Satan’s advances (Ephesians 6) but also lends credence to the historical Christian position that Christians cannot be possessed by demons because the Holy Spirit indwells them.

A: The bottom line when it comes to Satan is that he lost. Through his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus conquered the rebellious forces of Satan, Sin, and Death. Whether or not he realizes the extent of his defeat is unclear, but the demonic forces that encountered Jesus during his earthly ministry certainly demonstrated an awareness of this future reality when they begged him not to condemn them before the appointed time (Mark 5, Luke 8). The Biblical narrative also tells us that when Christ returns, Satan, Sin, and Death will be thrown into the lake of fire to suffer eternal judgment or (a less popular position) total annihilation. 

All that said, it’s also important for Christians to be aware of the continued power of Satan until Christ returns. The Bible tells us that he is at large and active, describing him as a roaring lion, waiting to devour (1 Peter 5:8). His primary tactics are accusation, shame, temptation, pride, and distraction, all of which can take on a variety of forms depending on one’s particular struggles and vices. But while Satan is powerful and it is important to keep our guard up, our God is more powerful and has given us the means to defend ourselves (Ephesians 6).

A: Hardly! We’ve only provided the basic outline of what the Church has historically believed about Satan along with some of the primary scriptural support. Not only are there additional resources available (see below), but there are also additional views.

For example, some scholars believe that Satan and demons, rather than being actual beings, are really just personifications of those ideas/forces in the world that are against God and anti-Christ. They see the inclusion of spiritual forces in the Bible as an appropriation of ancient beliefs and the manifestation of demonic activity in the New Testament as a misdiagnosis of what we now know are serious mental conditions.

While such a view doesn’t necessarily affect the Gospel and therefore salvation, we believe it best to stick not only with the Church’s traditional consensus on these matters, but also what we believe to be not only the best interpretation of scripture, but also the best explanation of human experience when it comes both to spiritual activity as well as our ability to understand the presence of evil and suffering in this world.

A: The Internet can be a dangerous resource. That said, a simple Google search for Biblical references towards Satan and demons could usually uncover the pertinent scriptural references.

For a more direct approach, the website gotquestions.org provides a concise summary of Christianity’s most traditional positions regarding Satan and demons.

Lastly, most systematic theology textbooks will have a section of Satan and demons. The ones used to help create this FAQ were Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem, God is Love by Gerald Bray, and Theology for the Community of God  by Stanley Grenz.