LUCIFER
It is believed that Lucifer was the name of Satan when he was still an angel in heaven, before being cast out by God. The word “lucifer” in Latin means “light-bringer”. Doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Well Lucifer is also the name given to the “Morning Star” or Venus. Because Venus is an inferior planet — meaning that it’s closer to the Sun than the Earth is — its orbit prevents it from being seen high in the sky above Earth like the superior planets such as Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and so on, and is usually only visible in the morning and evening shortly before and after the Sun rises and sets. So the reason for the connection between the name given to Satan and the name given to Venus is that the inability of Venus to reach the grand heights of the night’s sky reflects the way Satan was cast out of Heaven.
Oh, and that whole cast-out-of-Heaven business could totally be a wacky misunderstanding. You see, when God made the angels, he told them to never worship anyone but God. But then God made Man, and told the angels to bow down to Man. Lucifer’s refusal to bow to Man could be interpreted in two ways: 1) Lucifer was so egotistical that he refused to bow down to what he considered to be a lesser being or 2) His love for God was so great that he couldn’t bring himself to bow to Man the same way he bowed to God, even if God told him to. Wasn’t that an episode of Three’s Company?
Either way, Lucifer’s refusal to obey God led to this huge war in Heaven with a third of the angels siding with Lucifer, and the other two thirds siding with God. Lucifer lost — of course — and he was cast out of Heaven with his fellow rebellious angels. All of this happened before the Fall of Man, which was when that bitch Eve totally forced Adam to eat the apple from the Tree of Knowledge, and Man ceased being perfect beings (well, most of us ceased being perfect beings) and were cast out of Paradise. You just know Lucifer was shaking his fist up to Heaven being all like “I told you so!” Oh, and by the way, “malus” in Latin as a noun means “apple” and as an adjective means “evil”, which is a possible explanation for why — even though the Bible makes no mention of apples — an apple is typically used in illustrations of the Fall of Man.
NOW TELL ME SOMETHING I DON’T KNOW.
Oooo. We get to talk about religion on Puntabulous? Awesome.
Actually, there should be no misunderstanding at all as to why Lucifer/Satan was cast down. Isaiah 14 makes it pretty damn clear that he wanted to take over God’s throne (um, yeah…a created being trying to overcome his creator? I kinda think that wasn’t going to work out so well).
And on a sidenote: The name Lucifer has a double meaning. He was a true light-bringer before his rebellion and now he “masquerades as an angel of light” (as Paul says in 2 Corinthians).
And that apple/malus thing is awesome! I didn’t know that.
And now for something you might not know (and keeping with a religious theme):
The word ‘sin’ comes from the greek word ‘hamartia’, which doesn’t mean “my icky black evil goo” but rather is an archery term that simply means “missing the mark.”
Wow. Is the ministry calling you?
Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise. It is also the only planet named after a female.
Some theologists actually believe that the forbidden fruit is a fig since Adam and Eve hide their nudity with fig leaves right after partaking from the fruit.
So…you’ve been reading the Philip Pullman books, I take it?
Dave S: I don’t think the misunderstanding theory discredits the idea of Lucifer trying to take over God’s throne. In fact, I think they compliment each other. The two theories I gave would lead into the Isaiah 14 business of trying to take over the throne beause he was unhappy with God’s rules.
HRH: Not quite. But archetypes have always fascinated me, and Lucfer is a prime example.
john: I knew about the clockwise rotation but didn’t realize the female name. That’s interesting!
Alex: Cool. I’m sure I’ll tackle the story of Adam and Eve in more detail in aother TMST down the line.
BeRightBack: I am LOVING The Golden Compass!
Wow! We actually got a FEW things taught to us on this Tuesday, all very interesting.
I knew the middle part, but not the first part about Venus and all. Very cool.
I’ll have to educate my family now, since they call my nephew Lucifer.
Alex: I agree with Craig — the fig thing is cool.
john: Of course Venus both rotates clockwise and is named after a female:
Clockwise rotation is left-handed rotation (look down at your left thumb and see which way the fingers bend).
From the Latin for left-handedness we get the word sinister.
To quote my friend Tiffany, girls are evil.
Therefore, it is fitting that the only left-handed planet is named after a female :p.
According to gnostics, the bigger picture is that God is actually a being cast off from a larger, female God (who in turn was part of an even larger GOD). But God (our God) became so full of himself that he forgets where he comes from and thinks he is at the top of the ladder, when actually, he’s not. He’s just some little egomaniac who thinks he’s the stuff. I like religions that think outside the box.
Judaism has no concept of a power of evil along the lines of the Devil. He is a Christian construct. However, the word Satan comes from the Hebrew word, which is pronounced {sah-TAHN] and refers to the “evil inclination” within each individual.
There are commentaries by rabbis that refer to a power, or powers, of evil, such as the Evil Eye and a figure termed “The Accuser,” and other creatures exist in Jewish superstitions, but there is no mention in the Torah (the five books of Moses) or the prophets of any singular figure who controls all evil.
We also don’t have any concept of Hell.
Of course, none of the ancient rabbis ever rode in a packed, un-air-conditioned subway car with a homeless person.
David: I know this sounds snarky but it is not intended to be. I have heard that the Jewish religion does not have Hell. So… where did Hitler go? No snark, really! No disrespect! I’ve just always wondered.
I always found angel lore/mythology fun. What I found disappointing in researching it though, was that as Craig points out, “Lucifer” is not a reference at all to Satan. That’s just a big misunderstanding! Lucifer *only* refers to the “Day Star”, Venus.
Isaiah 14:12 says, “How you are Fallen from heaven, O Day Star (Lucifer), son of Dawn. How you are cut down to the ground who laid the nations low!” This “Day Star” is not referring to Satan or any rebellious angel, but it refers to Nebuchadnezzer, the king of Babylon, who had declared that he would ascend to the heavens and place himself on equal footing with God; instead, he was doomed, according to Isaiah, to fall and be laid low.
Later church fathers and other biblical readers took the Isaiah 14:12 out of context and decided that they’d apply it to Satan’s fall, and voila! The devil’s “angelic name” Lucifer is born entirely out of miscontextualized Bible reading.
Which is disappointing, because I like the idea of Satan’s name once having meant “light-bearer.” Oh, well….
Man, there are some really interestings up there!
First off, Nicky, I’m proud that you’re being so positive today!
Ray Ray: Cool. I didn’t realize there was a gnostic. I had only heard of agnostic.
David: My dad gives the best Evil Eye.
Ryan R: Love the correlation between clockwise and women. Fascinating!
Andrew J: I like the idea of Satan’s angelic name being “light-bearer” also. Reminds me of the name Skywalker, and we all know how that turned out.
Not only are you super smart, you can also now be reffered to as a holy man for all your knowledge in religion. Amen
If Venus looks like it is rotating clockwise from Earth’s Northern Hemisphere, then from the Southern Hemisphere it will appear to be rotating counterclockwise.
Either way, it rotates contrary to the rotation of the other planets.
Craig: I just finished Golden Compass and loved it. Mrs. Coulter and that golden monkey are *creepy*.
gnostic comes from the Greek word gnosis, or knowledge. So when someone calls themselves an agnostic, they are saying they are lacking in knowledge. Kinda funny how they are insulting themselves.
Yay, religious trivia! Here’s something you might not know about an important moment for atheists in America.
On June 17, 1963, the Supreme Court of the United States of America decided 8-1 in Abington Township School District v. Schempp (consolidated with Murray v. Curlett) that public schools could no longer compel students to read the Bible or pray. The decision was, of course, controversial. Madalyn Murray O’Hair, mother of one of the plaintiffs in the case and founder of American Atheists, was called “the most hated woman in America” by Time and became something of an internet boogeyman in the early days of annoying chain letter email (but after her 1995 murder) as messages went around making claims like “Madalyn Murray O’Hair wants to cancel Touched by an Angel!”
Since the SCOTUS decision, over 150 resolutions to overturn the decision by amending the Constitution have been proposed. 45 years later, and calls to amend the Constitution continue today, mostly fueled by the incorrect belief that Abbington v. Schempp prohibits students from praying in school or reading the Bible. In reality, the case (along with others) stops the government from interfering either to promote or prohibit such activity. However, according to case law, while a student may pray or read their Bible to themselves, they may not pray or read their Bible aloud since this might amount to state-sponsored religion.
This has been an excellent TMST, Craig! Loving it.
Bon Don: I’m not so sure about being super smart. But I have excellent research skills!
TwoPi: Good point.
Mark: Funny!
Jere: I’m glad you contributed today! I was afraid people might feel excluded.
Thanks Dave S! But I’d have to credit the excellence of today’s post to the comments. Everyone has been awesome today!
And who said TMST was boring?
Did you know that the Bible is considered by most leading secular historians as one of the most historically accurate ancient documents?
For instance, for hundreds of years it was believed that the book of Matthew was in error when it stated that Pontius Pilate was a governor in the region of Jerusalem during the year 33 A.D. since other historical documents stated otherwise. It wasn’t until the middle of the past century that archealogical digs proved the accuracy of Matthew’s historicity when an ancient building plaque was discovered bearing not only Pilate’s title, but the years of his governorship which coincided with Matthew’s account.
Can you tell I’m completely fascinated by the topic of religion and spiritual worldviews? I apologize for my excitability… :-p
The SCOTUS Decision is echoed clearly in Newdow VS. Elk Grove Unified School District where the constitutionality of the words ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance was the question. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that the phrase was unconstitutional.
The U.S. Supreme Court later overturned the Ninth Circuit’s decision, but before that there was a great upcry that the phrase ‘under God’ had been banned from the pledge. Like SCOTUS, the decision was misinterpreted. ‘Under God’ was not banned at all; the government was ‘banned’ from forcing students in a public school to use the phrase. If a student chose to say it while reciting the pledge, there was nothing wrong with that choice, as well as if a child chose not to say it.
People fail to understand the inherent importance of the separation of church and state. Like FDot points out, it doesn’t mean that religion can’t be practiced, it simply means the government (rightly so) can’t promote any specific religion — “under God” inherently is a religious promotion.
(I’m having the crappiest day ever, and reading these comments have been a much-needed blast of fun!)
I’m going to teach you something random, because thirteen years of Catholic school taught me little about religion and a lot about why everyone in the secular world is going to join Lucifer in the fiery pits of hell.
At any rate, a beaver’s teeth never stop growing. So not only does he gnaw down trees to build his dam because he needs shelter, but also because if he weren’t frequently chewing on something, those teeth would grow dangerously long.
Spinning off of FDot, I learned recently that the original hand motion for the Pledge of Allegiance involved stretching the arm out towards the flag. This was dropped after WWII because it was too much like the Nazi salute.
And we consider the ancient Greeks & Romans silly because they had multiple gods? This whole thing sounds like something straight out of Greek mythology.
firstly, once again, this was blocked at my work because it was “Non-Mainstream”. WTF???
Secondly, in the AWESOME comic book series Sandman, there’s a story arc where Lucifer is tired of being in charge of Hell and opens the gates and let’s anyone go that wants to, and then gives the keys to Morpheus (Sandman) so he can be in charge.
Sandman…what an outstanding series.
HUGS…
The original Bible in the classroom controversy was between Catholics and Protestants over which version to use. Being the minority, Catholics built their own schools to use their own version.
Sue: I don’t care where Hitler ended up, as long as he stays dead.
Andrew J: Thank you for stepping in on the Isaiah translation. Like another famous passage in Isaiah that we Jews believe is misquoted, I knew that there couldn’t be any reference to Lucifer in this book, since it is part of the Jewish Bible and we don’t believe in any of that.
FDot – true story time. When I was a senior in high school, there was a week toward the end of the school year when the entire student body government went on retreat. Somehow, I got asked to fill in for the school officers in reading the morning announcements (I’ve been told I have a lovely voice for radio).
Anyway, I agreed to do it without giving any particular thought to what I had agreed to. So on Monday when I showed up in Principal West’s office and he began running through the approved announcements with me, it suddenly struck home that I had to lead the school in the Pledge of Allegiance. Apparently, it was not optional as I was the only one reading the announcements that morning.
So, moments after the bell rang, I clicked on the intercom and asked the students to please rise. I began reciting the Pledge, but when in came to the “under God” part, I just kinda paused for a three beats, then continued. I thought that most home rooms were like mine – there was enough chatter that no one would actually notice or care. I was wrong.
Long story short – I had to apologize the next morning and after that I was never allowed on the intercom system again. Wish I’d been better versed in separation of church and state law back then instead of feeling like I’d done something wrong.
Dont forget that matches were also called LUCIFERs