Devil Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == Gnostic religions == {{See also|Demiurge#Gnosticism}} [[File:Lion-faced deity.jpg|thumb|right|150px|A lion-faced deity found on a Gnostic gem in [[Bernard de Montfaucon]]'s ''L'antiquité expliquée et représentée en figures'' may be a depiction of the Demiurge.]] Gnostic and Gnostic-influenced religions postulate the idea that the material world is inherently evil. The ''One true God'' is remote, beyond the material universe, therefore this universe must be governed by an inferior imposter deity. This deity was identified with the deity of the Old Testament by some sects, such as the [[Sethianism|Sethians]] and the [[Marcionism|Marcions]]. [[Tertullian]] accuses [[Marcion of Sinope]], that he {{Blockquote| [held that] the Old Testament was a scandal to the faithful … and … accounted for it by postulating [that Jehovah was] a secondary deity, a [[Demiurge|demiurgus]], who was god, in a sense, but not the supreme God; he was just, rigidly just, he had his good qualities, but he was not the good god, who was Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ.<ref name="Marcion">{{CathEncy|wstitle=Marcionites}}</ref>}} [[John Arendzen]] (1909) in the ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' (1913) mentions that [[Eusebius]] accused [[Apelles (gnostic)|Apelles]], the 2nd-century AD Gnostic, of considering the Inspirer of Old Testament prophecies to be not a god, but an evil angel.<ref name="Apelles">{{CathEncy|wstitle=Gnosticism}}</ref> These writings commonly refer to the Creator of the material world as "a [[Demiurge|demiurgus]]"<ref name="Marcion" /> to distinguish him from the ''One true God''. Some texts, such as the [[Apocryphon of John]] and [[On the Origin of the World]], not only demonized the Creator God but also called him by the name of the devil in some Jewish writings, ''[[Samael]]''.<ref>Birger A. Pearson ''Gnosticism Judaism Egyptian'' Fortress Press {{ISBN|978-1-4514-0434-0}} p. 100</ref> === Catharism === In the 12th century in Europe the [[Catharism|Cathars]], who were rooted in [[Gnosticism]], dealt with the problem of evil, and developed ideas of dualism and demonology. The Cathars were seen as a serious potential challenge to the Catholic church of the time. The Cathars split into two camps. The first is ''absolute'' dualism, which held that evil was completely separate from the good God, and that God and the devil each had power. The second camp is ''mitigated'' dualism, which considers [[Lucifer]] to be a son of God, and a brother to Christ. To explain this they used the parable of the prodigal son, with Christ as the good son, and Lucifer as the son that strayed into evilness. The Catholic Church responded to dualism in AD 1215 in the [[Fourth Council of the Lateran|Fourth Lateran Council]], saying that God created everything from nothing, and the devil was good when he was created, but he made himself bad by his own free will.<ref>Rouner, Leroy (1983). ''The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology''. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 166. {{ISBN|978-0-664-22748-7}}.</ref><ref>Jeffrey Burton Russell, ''Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages'', Cornell University Press 1986 {{ISBN|978-0-801-49429-1}}, pp. 187–188</ref> In the ''[[Gospel of the Secret Supper]]'', Lucifer, just as in prior Gnostic systems, appears as a demiurge, who created the material world.<ref>Willis Barnstone, Marvin Meyer ''The Gnostic Bible: Revised and Expanded Edition'' Shambhala Publications 2009 {{ISBN|978-0-834-82414-0}} p. 764</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page