"Lucifer" means "giver of light." It became the name of Satan.
Prometheus was the Greek god who gave fire to mankind. For this the gods condemned him to eternal punsihment.
I wonder if there is a common root. Or did "Lucifer" come from Prometheus among the Greek Jews who became Christians.
Actually, I think most believe that Lucifer and Satan are two different characters. Lucifer, the fallen most glorious of the archangels, is the ruler of Hell. Satan, or the Devil (a Greek word), means something like "liar" or "challenger".
I wish I hadn't thrown away my "Encyclopedia of Hell".
This is the first comment that had to go through my approval orocess. Since I read comments often, it doesn't delay things much.
RE: "Lucifer and Satan are two different characters."
So that's where the two-party system came from.
Bob,
John Crowe Ransome in his book <i>God Without Thunder</i> makes almost the same point, that Lucifer and Prometheus represent science (he wrote in the 30's), and tried to take over God's throne, whereas Christ also represents science (as the "Logos") but deferred to God the Father instead of trying to take over His place.
He credited Milton with this understanding. But he also bemoaned the loss of the Old Testament understanding of God, with His inscrutable ways, which leads to humility on the part of men. He saw the East as too focused on the inscrutability, and the West as too willing to throw out whatever science and reason couldn't explain. Christ brought together the right balance of the two.
Another translation of "Lucifer" is the Morning Star.
I used to live in a rural part of Texas. For some odd reason, there was a summer camp for Jews on Hwy. 36 that ran thru where I lived. It's name was something like Morning Star Summer Camp. I chuckled every time I past it.
Skip,
I don't miss one single thing about the East. Throwing out crap is hallmark of the West.
There is no compromise with truth.
Old guys philosophizing while children die of starvation has no charm for me.
At all.
Please note I did not say there is no compromise with Truth. I said truth, no capital. The East declares Truth.
If you like the East try to drive your car into town with your eyes closed and depending on The Force.
Until you do that,you shouldn't praise the East. That's the way they run their world.
Hey Skip, something else you might want to try is getting in an airplane that is built and piloted partly by Western science and partly by Oriental Wisdom.
If you run a society that way why not run an airplane that way?
Skip discussed Milton. Milton wrote endlessly about religion but he never went to church.
A Milton biography is worth reading.
Bob,
I agree that the East is a basket case. My guess is it went nuts at about the same rate that it went non-white.
Ransome's point was in reference to the over-dependence on materialistic rationalism, which he saw as the driving force behind Yankee industrialism and regimentation, as opposed to the more laid back Southern attitude. Richard Weaver referred to the Southern view as one of piety, not pietism, but piety, with respect to knowing our place in the world and that we can't control everything.
The West is clearly going nuts now as well. Why else do we work ourselves to death and flagellate ourselves for not giving more of everything we have to non-whites? We've lost the Christian concept of stewarding creation, of performing our God given duties to create order and prosperity, and to see our selves as part of a long chain of people much greater than ourselves.