RE104 Lecture 4: The Origins of Satan
Document Summary
Its relation to the creation myth in genesis: hebrew bible. Genesis adaptation of combat myth: genesis 1: god as hero, creator, genesis 2-3: serpent as chaos figure, disobedience = realize good and evil. Sacred texts: were first written in their own cultural and historical context, are interpreted by readers in their own context(s) Religion scholars: often look for the historical origins and meaning of a text, but also look at how different readers make sense of the text in their own context. In tutorial, you saw that the text of genesis does not say that the serpent is satan; this is a later interpretation of this text. In fact, when scholars look for the figure of satan in historical texts, they see that this figure developed over time (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) In modern western thought, satan is depicted as: Satan in the passion of the christ (deliberately androgynous = neither male nor female) o.
