Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!mit-eddie!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: wagner@karazm.math.uh.edu (David Wagner) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Satan falling like lightning (was Re: archangels) Message-ID: Date: 14 Dec 90 08:36:38 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of Houston -- Department of Mathematics Lines: 27 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu >lums@wheat-chex.ai.mit.edu (Andy Lumsdaine) writes: > >>I think alot of the ideas about Lucifer / Satan in our culture are >>primarily due to Milton and _Paradise_Lost_. For instance, it is very >>common to say the Serpent in the Garden was Satan -- but this is not >>in the Genesis text at all. I believe this idea is originally due to >>Milton, but it is so pervasive in our culture (or, I should say, in >>the churches which I attend), that most people talk about the Serpent >>and Satan interchangeably. Just for the record: Rev. 12:9 "The great dragon was hurled down--**that ancient serpent** called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray." Rev. 20:2 "He seized the dragon, **that ancient serpent**, who is the devil, or Satan,.." I hope this makes it clear that Milton did not originate the idea that the serpent in the garden was Satan. David H. Wagner a confessional Lutheran. My opinions and beliefs on this matter are disclaimed by The University of Houston.