A Satanist Reads the Bible

A few weeks before going completely insane, and even in seeming premonition of that occurrence, Friedrich Nietzsche completed the final revisions to what would be his last original book 1 , Ecce Homo , a brilliant retrospective of his life and work, completed in 1888 but not published for another ten years. He signed it, “Dionysus versus the Crucified,” thus affirming the centrality of the Dionysi...

As mentioned in the previous podcast on the Book of Genesis, there are two distinct creation narratives present at the beginning of the book, both well-known in popular culture. The second continues from the first, but immediately distinguishes itself from the first in several ways...

Part 1 of this series covered much of the background of the Book of Job, some matters of translation, and the first two chapters, which cover much of the story of the book as it is commonly told. From here we’ll proceed through the parts of the story that have remained largely untold.

When Satan came to Jesus in the wilderness, was he the Adversary or the Accuser?

The Book of Job, which relates the story of a devout and wealthy man from the land of Uz whose devotion to God is tested by profound suffering, is easily the most fascinating and enigmatic book of the Old Testament. In looking into it, I found that, once again, what is said of the text and what the text actually says are two very different things.

Much of Satanic symbolism is oriented around an archetype of Satan that I refer to as Satan the Adversary. This is Satan as the Rebel Angel, whose rebellion against God and subsequent fall from heaven is described in Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost. As compelling and inspiring as I find this archetype, my own philosophy is predicated upon another: Satan the Accuser.

I think that Samuel Huntington is right and that the West and the Islamic world are in the midst of a clash of civilizations. But I don’t think that’s what Islam really is. I don’t think that that’s what the Qur’an says that Islam is, and that’s the source I take to be most authoritative in this matter.

What I mean when I say that I am a Satanist is markedly different, I think, from most other uses of that word. And yet I find no other word quite so apt when it comes to capturing the scope and essence of my ideas and beliefs.

My partner and I recently watched the movie Behind the Curve, a documentary about modern flat Earth societies. What has remained with me most strongly was that the flat Earth hypothesis is not only what the various flat-Earthers documented in the film believe, but also a core component of their identities as persons.

Earlier this year I purchased a copy of the Christian Bible as part of a broader study of religions and their sacred texts. Unlike other Satanists, I do not consider the Bible as something wholly abhorrent, false, or misleading. To the contrary, I find it to be an interesting and compelling work of great literary merit, a useful window into history and into the beliefs of a substantial subsection...

Earlier this week, my partner found a small religious pamphlet at the laundromat and brought it to me, and it reminded me of the work that I had done and got me thinking about the role that propaganda plays in religion.