Many faces of the devil- many faces or many souls?

[Anonymous1990]

Hi all.

I was just reading St Luke’s gospel as part of my pennance, and I came upon the section 11:15 where Jesus mentions “Beezlebub” or a name similar to that. I’ve actually seen this name mentioned before, and (having no real other reference to look up a hellish figure) a wikipedia search shows this creature a somewhat of an insect (definately contraversial to our view of the devil). Curiosity and a desire to know more about the devil who tempts us (know thy enemy sort of thing) led me to look into this a little bit more. There are really a whole bunch of names; Satan, Lucifer, Beezlebub, Leviathan, etc. Wikipedia mentions the “seven princes of hell” and I’ve heard of the “seven deadly sins” before.

Basically what I’m getting at is, are there actually seven demonic figures in hell (possibly one for each deadly sin, or??) or are these all different names for the same enemy?

In Luke 11:15 Jesus mentions Beezlebub, and in 11:18 he mentions Satan and Beezlebub seperately, implying that they are actually seperate entities.

If there are actually seven demonic figures who rule the kingdom of hell, where did they all come from? Rather, where did any of them come from? Any references?

Thanks heaps every1

 

[Verbum]

Hi Anon,

The fact that Jesus uses Satan to refer to the same entity as Beelzebub tells you that they are one and the same. All the names you mention refer to the same entity. They could however refer to a “chief” of fallen angels or to the totality of them, in other words to God’s enemy in the spirit world or even to God’s enemies in general.

Verbum

 

[ryanoneil]

The name Beelzebul is linked to a Philistine god worshiped at Ekron (2 Kings 1:2-16). It translates something like “Prince Baal”, a well know god of the Canaanites. The Jews mockingly changed it’s meaning to “lord of the flies” or “lord of dung”. In the Gospels, it is a derogatory reference to Satan, “the prince of demons”.