Daily Reflection

This is the English translation of a Greek word (diabolos) meaning “accuser” or “slanderer,” used in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew “Satan” and in the NT as a virtual synonym for the same term.  The devil is defined as the “highest” of the evil spirits. The devil is not to be regarded as a mere mythological personification of evil in the world; the existence of the devil cannot be denied.  The devil, like the other evil spirits, cannot be regarded, as an absolute dualism, as an independent counterpart to God. He is finite creature whose evil remains comprised within the scope of the power, freedom and goodness of the holy God. The teaching of Scripture and revelation about the devil (as about evil spirits in general) appears rather to be a natural presupposition of human experience which is incorporated, critically corrected, into the doctrine of the victory of the grace of God in Christ and of the liberation of man from all “principalities and powers.” The doctrine of the devil has really a very simple content which has nothing to do with mythology in the proper sense.
The NT assumes the general Jewish teaching about evil spirits and the devil. New designations of the devil are: the evil one (Matt 13:19), the enemy (Luke 10:19), the ruler of this world (John 12:31), the god of this aeon (2Cor 4:4), murderer from the beginning and father of lies (John 8:44).
Most of what has been said by the Magisterium about the devil is to be found in connection with doctrinal pronouncements about evil spirits. Vatican II is very reserved about statements concerning the devil, but they are not avoided altogether. We are freed by the Son of God from the devil’s domination.  “The evil one” led men astray into sin but his power was broken by Christ’s death and resurrection.  Finally, the Church’s doctrine guards against exaggeration of the influence of the devil’s temptations on the sins of man. The devil is often tacitly assumed to be a sort of chief of the evil spirits.