According to the Bible, on the second day of creation, after he had already made day and night, God created the heavens. That same day, the angels appeared. One of them, who impressed by his beauty, was Lucifer. There is no consensus, but the most accepted idea is that he was a cherub. And, like every angel, he was a messenger from God.
Lucifer’s sin was that he let his beauty and his high position in the heavenly hierarchy go to his head. Proud, he decided he wanted to build his throne above God. And he convinced about a third of the angels to support him.
Tradition says that, to face the battle for paradise, Lucifer transformed himself into a terrible dragon. (The book «Apocalypse» describes another dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, which could also be Lucifer).
The side of good would have been commanded by the archangel Michael, who, in many paintings, is represented with a spear, a flaming sword or a shield with the Latin phrase “Quis ut Deus?” (“Who is like God?”). Michael would have asked this directly to Lucifer, who thought he was equal (or superior) to the Almighty.
The army of the rebels was not enough to overcome the heavenly hosts. The losers were sent to hell (hence the term “fallen angels”). There, they were to burn in fire for all eternity. Lucifer paid a greater price: he was transformed into the hideous Satan, or Satan.
Satan would have sworn revenge, promising to destroy the human race. He disguised himself as a serpent to enter the Garden of Eden. There, he convinced Eve to taste the fruit of the tree of life and share it with Adam, causing the couple to be expelled.
NOTHING FALLS
Some Bible scholars, however, suggest another protagonist in this story. They claim that the passage describing Lucifer’s fall from heaven in the book of Isaiah is a misnomer. The name «Lucifer» would have been a mistranslation of the term «son of the morning». The one who fell would have actually been King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon – the “fall” would be a reference to his death.
LIGHT AND DARKNESS
In addition to the Bible, another document also describes the battle in heaven. The Dead Sea Scrolls, found between 1946 and 1956, contain drafts of the Bible and also dedicate a section to the “war in heaven.” Michael would lead the side of good, called the Sons of Light. His opponents, the Sons of Darkness, were commanded by the demon Belial.
CONSULTANCY Volney Berkenbrock, doctor of theology from the University of Bonn, Germany, and postgraduate professor of religious science at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, and Gary E. Gilley, doctor of theology from the University of Cambridge. SOURCES Book Satan – A Biographyby Henry Ansgar Kelly, documentaries Satan, Prince of Darkness It is Gates to Hell and academic thesisSpeak of the Devil: A Brief Look at the History and Origins of Iconography of the Devil from Antiquity to the Renaissanceby Eric Williams.