Western culture has taken a worldview that accepts only one God. Beside this God there are many other beings, and one in particular stands out: the devil. He tempts the people, he represents evil. He promises easy solutions, which do have the effect of pulling us into an increasing dependency in the long run, in which we will start to feel captured and unable to develop freely. As much as we dislike suffering and injustice, we still feel a certain fascination pulling us towards the devil, which we struggle to avoid. We have a gentle feeling that the devil plays an important role, that we need him, but we cannot really say why. We dislike our relationship with the devil and consider it a flaw, which we hide, deny, do not want to accept.
With the idea of the devil that we have as a result of our culture, it is difficult, if not impossible to understand what role the devil plays in our life. Our concept of the devil is very simple and has few details. We have experienced a lot that we connect with the devil, but the concept lacks structure. At this point it is helpful to look a bit closer at the stories telling us about the devil. We will notice that the devil is not just one person. We use this word as a concept summarizing anything that steps in the way and challenges the regular will of God. However, it is beneficial to look closer here and differentiate some more specific concepts within this vast concept. In a first step, what we summarize and blend with the unspecific concept of the devil, can be separated in two groups of beings, one ruled by Satan and the other by Lucifer. These beings pull us away from the christian way of living, if we give them too much control over our life. However, as they pull in opposite directions, it is our task to keep their impact on our life balanced, so their powers combine to a forward direction that supports our development. Life is not about the destruction of evil, but about keeping its effect balanced. Then it will help us to evolve.
Without Lucifer and Satan mankind would not be where it is today. It would not have the potential that it has. The idea of a human is not possible to realize without those two. To understand that, we must first gather some knowledge and create a concept about what a human is. What the idea of humanity is. All our efforts to understand the cosmos are in the end part of what it takes to understand the idea of a human. The human idea includes the cosmos, in which humans are embedded. The cosmos is necessary to make the idea of humanity a reality. We dive into it, into the physical world, into a physical body, and we are convinced that we only exist in and as a result of that body. All that are important steps in the evolution of mankind. The process of resurfacing begins with the discovery that both the world and a human cannot be fully explained with the laws of inanimate matter alone.
It is not possible for me to explain or understand the world based on the duality of God and the devil. However, the trinity of Satan, Christ and Lucifer gives us concepts that allow me to assign my experiences and difficulties with the world, providing a structure to gain a better understanding. The value of a physically intangible, spiritual or religious concept is defined by its usefulness in our effort to understand the world and the idea of humanity. We do no longer believe in revelations only because they are old. A revelation today must demonstrate its value by helping us to understand the world better. We accept a revelation when it aligns with the observed reality. Compared to a theory in natural sciences, the revelation does no longer get an advance of trust. It is either helpful in our quest to explain the world, or it is not. When we learn a new concept by studying scientific, philosophical or theological texts, then we want it to be beneficial in an honest effort to understand more of the world. If we find no use for it in an unprejudiced attempt of thinking through what we experience, then we should abandon the concept. But if a concept is of any use to us, then we can keep it and continuously improve it, even though we might not immediately be able to mathematically or experimentally “prove” it to everybody’s satisfaction.
Lucifer values beauty, he appeals to our pride and our ego. He is the master of illusion and sugarcoating, letting us float in dizzying heights disconnected from the reality of material things. Humbleness can protect us from too much influence by Lucifer. Satan values usefulness, he appeals to our rational mind and our fear of the unknown. He is the master of deception and lies, pulling us down towards matter and disconnecting us from the reality of the spirit. Courage can protect us from too much influence by Satan. Christ enables us to know truth and ourselves, so we can add our part to the world in freedom.