[Chameleon]

"The devil is the personification of the principle of evil. Some religions have viewed him as a being independent of the good lord, others as being created by him, either way, the devil is not a mere demon, a pretty and limited spirit but the sentient personification of the force of evil itself, willing and directing evil" pg 19 of the book THE DEVIL by Jeffrey Burton Russel



I was just wondering what you think the devil looks like.

Does whatever you think the Devil might look like infulenced by books, movies or oral stories?

As for me, when I think of the Devil I think of this ugly red thing that has horns and a tail.

Sometimes when I think of the Devil (Evil), I tend to relate or compaire him or it with some of the worst people that have ever lived in this world e.g Hitler




What do you think the Devil looks like?

[Labell]

DEVIL/EVIL IS THE FLIP SIDE OF GOOD.I TAKE IT HAS A CHOICE NOT A REALITY.

[O_D_D]

I agree with Rabell...The devil is just a personification of the wickedness in this world. What if evil is relative?? Hmmmmm...let me think again.

http://www.i-ofa.com/

This site scared the shyt outta me! Couldn't go any further than the front page....So I killed my quest for any answers.

[Dem Gal]

>I agree with Rabell...The devil is just a personification of
>the wickedness in this world. What if evil is relative??
>Hmmmmm...let me think again.
>
>http://www.i-ofa.com/
>
>This site scared the shyt outta me! Couldn't go any further
>than the front page....So I killed my quest for any answers.


I disagree with the above statement. In as much as God is real and not simply a personification of the purity and goodness in this world, the devil is real and not just a personification of the wickedness in this world. The devil is as real as God is real.

"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist"

-Roger Verbal Kint in "The Usual Suspects" (I Love that movie!)

[O_D_D]

Dem Gal...I still watch that movie anytime I get the opportunity to.

Back to the issue,
Give me something to work with here. As hard as it is to accept this ebu do some critical analysis of the bible. You'll notice that everything is personified. For example Wisdom, Riches, Sin, and even Death. Why is it that the church is referred to as a "body"? Or the spirit referred to as "he"?. You can't say that it's an individual, can you? Same way you can not mistake the devil for some kind of an ugly, bizarre monster.

[Chameleon]

I will simplyfy this question and ask.

If you were to make a movie about the Devil or maybe God as Dem gal has pointed out, how will you want them to look like?

Would you put someone who looks like Hitler to represent the Devil or will you put someone like Mother teresa to look like God?

Is our perception and visualization of God or the Devil depend on our experiences in this world whereby when we picture Evil (devil) we think of the worst or the most scary thing that we have ever encountered?

I ask this because I have found out that at certain times in human religious history, the Devil was potrayed differently by people.

In the beggining the Devil was described by early christians as a devilish dragon with a a tail, horns and fire spewing through its noses.

It seems that they visualized the Devil like this because the Dragon was the most scary mythical thing at the time.

But then when human beings started rationalizing and dealing with things in terms of science, the picture of the Devil changed.

The people became clever, maybe braver and started describing the Devil as this confused "clown" that nobody should take seriously. (most pictues of the Devil at the time are of a clown)

But now the Devil has taken a different form in the movies and books. He seems to have become human in that anytime anybody talks of evil, then people like Hitler or Stalin have to be mentioned.



Nb

I do agree with you that there must be Good and Evil, but sometimes I wonder if good and Evil are just sides of the same powerful force.

I think that for there to be good there must be evil, therefore I think that good and evil are part of the same plan of something that is endless in this world.

[psyko_mad]

If i made a movie where i had to incorporate God and the Devil, I would use voices rather than faces;a still, soft, reasonable voice for God and a rather jumpy unsettled almost giggly voice for the devil that is laced with mischief and contempt.If I had to use faces however,i'd use a soft,composed face for God and a not so pleasant face to look at for the devil.
This becomes tricky however because I believe the most dangerous of temptations come in very attractive packages e.g sex,booze,porn etc.The devil coud easily suffice as a drop dead handsome guy.this however brings in the issue of personification and aplying gender..is the devil a man,woman or just something.On the same note...i would feel bad to give God a bad face so i would also give him a hot hot face.The problem?who's better than the other?dropdead or hot hot?
I think we are better off just THINKING.Beyond that is INSANITY!

[Dem Gal]

>This becomes tricky however because I believe the most
>dangerous of temptations come in very attractive packages e.g
>sex,booze,porn etc.The devil coud easily suffice as a drop
>dead handsome guy.this however brings in the issue of
>personification and aplying gender..is the devil a man,woman
>or just something.On the same note...i would feel bad to give
>God a bad face so i would also give him a hot hot face.The
>problem?who's better than the other?dropdead or hot hot?
>I think we are better off just THINKING.Beyond that is
>INSANITY!

It sure is difficult/insane to give 'faces' to God and the Devil. Here is why. God, Devil, Angels, Demons are all spirits. Spirits do not normally interact in the physical realms. Spirits can however inhibit the physical (people and animals) enabling them achieve a physical form. This means their physical manifestations are characterized by whom they are indwelling at that particular point in time. Jesus was God as man 'son of man'. Historically, the pictures that have been portrayed of Jesus depict a soft faced, handsome young man with engaging blue eyes, long hair etc etc. (This description is clearly not accurate and recent archeological discoveries have proved them incorrect.) We tend to see God (or God is presented to us in media) as an older version of Jesus.

I would say, as long as we understand that it is impossible and limiting to try to represent a spirit-form in the physical, and that such representations are strictly to help people (especially kids) grasp the concept of God and Devil, then we are fine. However, any spirit-being can transform to any physical form it so wishes at anytime. So if we ask, is the devil handsome? ugly? evil-looking? cute? The right answer may be; where and when? In the 'Devils Advocate', he was truly handsome. In the 'Exorcist' he was hideous. In the garden of Eden, he was a snake. In heaven as Lucifer, he was a beautiful angel. Catch my drift?

[patapata]

@ Chameleon, I realise that you were quoting Russell, but maybe you can help me out with this: What exactly is the "principle of evil"?

I have no idea what the devil looks like. But some might wonder: Does he actually exist?

[Chameleon]

The "principle of evil" refers to the head, intiator or planner of everything which is evil.