A war that took place in heaven between angels and a dragon and his fellow angels is described in the book of revelations. It is said, the archangel Michael and his angels defeated the great dragon and his fellow angels and cast them out of heaven. Some believe this dragon refers to Lucifer, the most beautiful creation made by God. He was much more beautiful and perfect in every way than the other angels and eventually he got arrogant about it
His pride made him to question his creator and everything around him and believed himself to be different from other angels. He believed that god is flawed and he is the only perfect being in the entire universe. He convinced many of the angels in heaven to accept his beliefs of God and his perfection.
God showed immense interest in humankind and even created them in a way that is similar to him. God even ordered the angels to bow before mankind, which is something Lucifer never agreed to. Lucifer considered humans to be far flawed than god, and would never bow to a creation that is lesser than him.
Some also interpret it as, now that god created mankind and favored them, Lucifer got jealous since he is no longer the favorite of God. And so he act against his greatest creation and rebelled against god. When adam and eve were cast out of the garden of eden, Lucifer convinced third of heavens’ angels to side with him. And in the war, he transformed himself into a dragon as described in the Book of Revelations
Lucifer is first referred to in the Old Testament where his name was translated from the Hebrew word “helel”, which means "the morning star, the planet Venus", or, as an adjective, "light-bringing". Lucifer is related with the planet venus. Mainly because venus is the brightest celestial object in the night sky but has an irregular orbit compared to other celestial objects which is viewed as the falling of the angel.
With his fall from grace and demonization Lucifer is depicted to be more satanic. Once the most beautiful being transformed into a demon with webbed like wings as that of a bat, his face twisted and on top of his head sat horns.
There are seven demons that are classified as “the princes of hell”. All of them associated with the seven deadly sins. Lucifer happens to be one on these princes and represents the “sin of pride”. In the “Bogomil” and “Cathar” text, “the Gospel of the secret supper”, Lucifer is a glorified angel and the older brother of Jesus, but fell from heaven to establish his own kingdom. Therefore, he created the material world and trapped souls from heaven inside matter. Jesus descended to earth to free the captured souls. In contrast to the mainstream Christianity, the cross was denounced as a symbol of lucifer and his instrument in an attempt to kill Jesus.
Lucifer is regarded within “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”, as the pre-mortal name of the devil. Mormon theology teaches that in a heavenly council, Lucifer rebelled against the plan of God and was subsequently cast out.
Even though majority of the religions view Lucifer as a fallen angel and the devil himself, there are some who see him as a savior. One such is Luciferianism, where they venerates the fundamental traits attributed to Lucifer. In Anton LaVey's, “The Satanic Bible”, Lucifer is one of the four crown princes of hell, particularly that of the East, the 'lord of the air', and is called the bringer of light, the morning star, intellectualism, and enlightenment. The title 'lord of the air' is based upon Ephesians 2, chapter 2, which uses the phrase 'prince of the power of the air' to refer to the pagan god Zeus, but that phrase later became conflated with Satan.
In the poem written by John Milton “Paradise Lost” represents Lucifer is a more heroic way. In his poem Lucifer was one of the most beautiful angels in heaven. He refused to answer to the will of god because angels not born and had no parents. He questioned why god should have authority over them. Milton depicts Lucifer as to be more charismatic and cunning. Even though Lucifer was cast out from heaven with his followers, he still was able to gain the power he desired. During the period of Milton, he viewed the king of england has a more tyrannical rule. This perspective of his, surely played a role in the way he sees Lucifer.
Lucifer is far from been a beacon of light, but if we break down his story, Lucifer’s downfall happened because of his curiosity. Because he decided to question everything around him without accepting the rules brought before him by someone else. As for the biblical scriptures it is Lucifer’s pride that led him to sin and to his downfall. However if you view the story in a less biblical way as Milton does, it’s his curiosity and not wanting to be govern by someone who he believes does not represent him or the other angels. Anyway Lucifer is an interesting figure no matter how you view him.
Comments
Post a Comment