The Devil as the Father of Lies and the Seducer

5.3 The Devil as the Seducer of Lies and Foe of Virtue

Exorcism Prayer II of the 1952 Wellers Edition of the Roman Ritual of Exorcism translates the latin: "Exi ergo transgressor.. Exi, seductor, plene omni dolo et fallacia, virtutis inimici, innocentium persecutor" as "Depart, then, transgressor. Depart, seducer, full of lies and cunning, foe of virtue, persecutor of the innocent.". Meanwhile,  Exorcism Prayer I of the Revised Rite of Exorcism contrasts God as lover of human salvation and the Devil as hostis humanae salutis (enemy of human salvation). And because he does not want anyone to come to God, Satan is deceptor humani generis (deceiver of the human race).

The seduction was very evident when the serpent tempted Eve with something that was so hard to resist: "To be like God"(Genesis 3:5). In the same manner in the temptation of Jesus in the desert, the Devil was tempting Him with something that seemed necessary for human beings --food, wealth, power. (Matthew 4:3-11).

The Devil has so mastered our frail human nature by observing us down through the millennia since that time God created man and woman. He can predict with accuracy our reactions to certain stimuli. He is almost sure that human nature finds great difficulty in resisting instant pleasure. This he surmised seeing that man is intimately connected in body and soul. He understood that nothing can get into a man's soul without passing to the mediation of the senses. Hence, the notion of the good in man is almost always connected first with what is pleasing, with what is pleasurable and sensually gratifying. If the Devil can hit the sweet spot of man by promising him and giving him pleasure of the senses to an astonishing degree, man will open the door to his soul without resistance, and the devil can get in and stay as long as it wants.

Every temptation therefore is premised that at the end is something pleasurable and gratifying. Just like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. However, the deception of the Devil is to make man believe that God does not want him to experience this pleasure, that is why He gave laws and threatened man with severe punishment like death. "For on the day that you eat of it (the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil), you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:17). And therefore the Devil with little effort is then able to convince man that he is the supreme freedom giver and not God. Consequently, to say no to God, to disobey His precepts is the supreme expression of freedom.

This is an absolute lie of course. However, man is unable to see beyond what is presented to him by the senses, and unless man holds on to the truth of God's promises, unless man truly trust God, then he becomes a toy of the devil which he would dispose off once he gets possession of the person's soul.

CASE STORY - The Demon that tramples on Man's Dignity and Mocks at God's image and likeness

There was this case of a possessed woman who in ordinary conditions would appear very normal. She dresses well, talks with intelligence, and has a decent means of livelihood. In all external appearance and under normal conditions there is nothing wrong about her. However, when the demon attacks her and she enters into a trance, she does things that are not human.

During an exorcism session, she was screaming to no end. Those inside the prayer room hear a woman screaming, but according to those who heard it outside the room thought that it was some animal being caught or butchered or tortured. Others said it sounded like a pig. When the possessed was not shrieking, she would continuously stick her tongue like that of a serpent, or cry unabashedly. The demon would make the afflicted slither like a snake several times. Had it not been for the lay volunteers controlling her tight, she would probably slither all over the room. The demon would also accuse her of her sins and use cuss and curse words. There is no sign of a rational being in there but that of a brute. These would happen every time the words in the supplication and exorcism prayers would refer to man as made in the image and likeness of God and that Christ has chosen to dwell in man.

It is clear therefore, how the demons see man --filth and brute-like, inferior to them. By making the possessed act like vicious animals they despise man as if telling God how filthy the creature He made in His image and likeness really is. By making them act like animals there is no hint that this creature called man has any dignity at all. At the same time the demons tell man how unworthy they are of the gifts God gave them, because man  just squanders them with their sins. The demons are able to hit two birds with one stone --hurt God by hurting man, and man hurting God by making man sin against His Creator.

How terrible indeed to fall into the hands of the Devil --the accuser of mankind, the enemy of the human race?

 

The Devil as Enemy of the Human Race

5.2 The Devil as Enemy of the Human Race

 

In the Exorcism Prayer of the Roman Ritual, the Devil is called "Hostis generis humani" translated in Wellers 1952 edition as "Foe of the Human Race" and in the proposed english version of the Revised Rite of Exorcisms, it is translated as "Enemy of the Human Race". The title speaks eloquently the very nature of the relationship between the human race and the legion of darkness, and it is never sweet no matter what satanists would want us to believe.

The Lord Jesus calls the Devil a murderer from the very beginning.

"He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies." (John 8:4)

The muderous nature of  the devil and his legions is born out of their envy towards the human race. (CCC 391; Exorcism Prayer --A Supplication and Exorcism which may be used in particular circumstances). They are envious of the following gifts to be bestowed on man by the Almighty:

• to be made in made in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27)
• it pleased the Son of God to dwell in man (Ephesians 1:4; CCC 51)
• made man as adopted sons and daughters (Ephesians 1:5)
• to endow man with every grace and blessing (Ephesians 1:3)
• for the Word to take upon himself our lowly nature (Philippians 2:7)
• and as Man every knee shall bow in heavens, on the earth and under the earth (Philippians 2:9-11)

The very nature that God becoming man in Jesus Christ, meant that man would one day be higher than the angels. This truth of God's plan revealed to the angels was the reason that some of them despised God because they could not accept that a creature made less than them (Psalm 8:5) would rule over them (Psalm 8:6; Hebrews 1:5-6). Hence, envy, pride and hatred entered their heart.

Thus the sin of the fallen angels are:

• Envy - because they considered man as unworthy of what God wants to give them (CCC 391)
• Pride - because they considered themselves worthier of that unique grace where God would become one of them (CCC 392)
• Hatred - because God chose man to be higher than the angels, they were filled with hate against God and man (CCC 394)

Therefore, the purpose of the seduction of man by the serpent in the Garden of Eden, is to prevent the Incarnation from ever taking place. So that God will not become man, because man himself will reject God. (CCC 391)

"Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which makes them fall into death out of envy."