Where did the image of Satan with horns on his head come from?

R

rikitikitavi

New member
I just read someones question regarding "How Beautiful Satan Was" and in the Bible it did state that Lucifer was Gods favorite Angel because of his beauty and strength.

So where did the horns come from?
 
Pan, the satyr god. He was basically the king of Pagan gods (not in that he ruled them, but that he was a god of nature, of beauty, of pleasure). Christians thought this was extremely evil, so he must be the devil.
 
In Christianity, faithful people are associated with sheep and the unfaithful with goats. Goats have horns and use them offensively and aggressively. Satan and satanism are therefore replete with symbols regarding goats.

Mat 25:31 ¶ When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:


Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth [his] sheep from the goats:


Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.


Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:


Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
 
The "satan" that is with a small 's' is not a Christian idea but is Jewish in origin. This satan is not the same as the Christian satan. The Hebrew satan or the satan of the Old Testament is more like a quality control guy...someone that sort of screws with the common man. For a clear idea of this look at Job and the version of satan in that story. Christianity "demonized" the Hebrew version of Satan. For more information a very good source is Russel's "Satan: The Early Christian Tradition."
 
The Roman/Greek God Pan. Many of the male Old Gods like Cernonous are represented as having horns so the Church in trying to convince people to quit worshipping these deities gave Satan horns so to convince the people that their Old Gods were Satanic.
 
It was designed by the early Christians to try to turn Pagans, and everyone else, against the god Pan and other pre christian deities such as the Celtic god (whose name I can't remember right now but if you google 'celtic/Irish Gods you'll find it)
 
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