In Anglican tradition "Satan" (from
the Hebrew for "Adversary") is the supreme embodiment of personal evil. In the
Bible "Satan" is used of an angelic being hostile to God; he (she?) is also
known as the "devil" (from the Greek diabolos, "slanderer," "accuser").
Early church fathers connected "Lucifer" (from the Latin for "shining one") to
Satan, because of Jesus' words "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven"
(Luke 10:18) and an unrelated passage in Isaiah (14:12-15). In his A
Theological Word Book Of The Bible (pp. 17f.), Canon Alan Richardson of
Durham wrote, "The theological question which arises in our day is how far the
biblical language about the Devil, demons, etc., is to be taken literally or
how far it is to be regarded as 'picture-thinking', i.e., as a mythological
attempt to express the reality and extent of evil in the universe, existing
outside and apart from (though not without influence upon) the human sphere."
In Christianity Satan is never understood as a rival God.
In the Episcopal Prayer Book's
Catechism the only relevant reference is the response to "What is required of
us at Baptism?" (p. 358): "It is required that we renounce Satan, repent of our
sins, and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior." Our renunciation of Satan -
whether a literal or figurative being - is an essential component of the
Christian life; it is our vow to renounce evil not only in personal matters,
but also in the workplace, political arena, church life, and everywhere else
where God's Will may be thwarted via our God-given freedom to make choices