Herein we will consider info on the Devil in Bishop Archelaus of Kashkar aka Caschor in Mesopotamia (3rd century AD). The fuller complete result consists of quotations of those sections within the text that refer to Angels, Cherubim, Seraphim, Devil, Satan, demons, serpent and dragon. The point is not to elucidate these references but to provide relevant partial quotations and citations. See my section on Angels here, Cherubim and Seraphim here, Satan here and Demons here.
13 …our Saviour Jesus Christ…assures us that the “father of the devil is a liar and a murderer from the beginning.”
18 Or, to speak of him who receives the commandment, how can he contend against the devil?…Yea, we shall have to fancy the devil himself to have gone to such an excess of folly, as not to have perceived that in making man he made an adversary for himself, and neither to have considered what might be his future, nor to have foreseen the actual consequence of his act.
29 Manes said: Is not that word also to the same effect which Jesus spoke to the disciples, when He was demonstrating those men to be unbelieving: “You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do?”
32 Moreover, as to this word which is written in the Gospel, “You are of your father the devil,” and so forth, we say in brief that there is a devil working in us, whose aim it has been, in the strength of his own will, to make us like himself…For this reason also has he obtained the name of devil, because he has passed over from the heavenly places, and appeared on Earth as the disparager of God’s commandment. But because it was God who first gave the commandment, the Lord Jesus Himself said to the devil, “Get behind me, Satan…”…addressed in these terms by the Saviour: “You are of your father the devil, and the lusts…Archelaus said: I think that what we have said concerning the devil contains no small measure of reason as well as of piety…the word which declares that the devil was an Angel, and that he fell in transgression, and that he is not of the same substance with God…they do not keep the commandments of God, then, even on such grounds, my argument will pass very well, which avers that the devil fell first, on account of his failure to keep the commandments of God.
33 The judges said: He has given demonstration enough of the origin of the devil… Archelaus said: Surely when a full account of the devil has once been presented, and the dispensation set forth, any one now, with an ordinarily vigorous understanding, might simply, by turning the matter carefully over in his own mind, get an idea of who this is that is here called the father of the devil…Wherefore, as you have betrayed your ignorance, I shall tell you what is meant by this expression, the “father of the devil”…Now, from this learn who is this father of the devil…Now as long, indeed, as man was not yet existent, the devil was never called either a murderer or a liar together with his father. But subsequently, when man had once been made, and when further he had been deceived by the devil’s lies and craftiness, and when the devil had also introduced himself into the body of the serpent, which was the most sagacious of all the beasts, then from that time the devil was called a liar together with his father, and then also the curse was made to rest not only on himself, but also on his father. Accordingly, when the serpent had received him, and had indeed admitted him wholly into its own being, it was, as it were, rendered pregnant, for it bore the burden of the devil’s vast wickedness; and it was like one with child, and under the strain of parturition, as it sought to eject the agitations of his malignant suggestions…The devil, however, was not able to manifest himself completely through the serpent; but he reserved his perfection for a time, in order that he might demonstrate it through Cain, by whom he was generated completely…From this the devil has been called a murderer from the beginning, and also a liar, because he deceived the parties to whom he said, “You shall be as gods; for those very persons whom he falsely declared destined to be gods were afterwards cast out of paradise.
Wherefore the serpent which conceived him in its womb, and bore him, and brought him forth to the light of day, is constituted the devil’s first father; and Cain is made his second father, who through the conception of iniquities produced pains and parricide: for truly the taking of life was the perpetrating of iniquity, unrighteousness, and impiety all together…For it is with this view that our Lord says to the Pharisees, “You are of your father the devil,” thereby making them his sons, as long as they appeared still to be perturbed by him, and meditated in their hearts evil for good toward the righteous.
35 …the Apostle Paul, that elect vessel, has given us very clear indication when he says: “Now in the last times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy…”
36 For we are given to understand beforehand that the devil himself is to be transformed into an Angel of light, and that his servants are to make their appearance in similar guise, and that they are to work signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, the very elect should be deceived.
44 There, Moses when he was tried was set upon the mountain and fasted forty days; and here, my Lord Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness when He was tempted of the devil, and fasted in like manner forty days.
48 But supposing that, as you say, Peter was pronounced blessed on the ground of his having said what was true, and that that messenger was reproved on account of the error he committed, tell me then why it is, that when the devils confessed Him, and said, “We know You, who You are, the holy God,” He rebuked them, and commanded them to be silent?
49 For immediately Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil; and as the devil had no correct knowledge of Him, he said to Him, “If you be the Son of God.”
In the next segment, we will consider Satan in Bishop Archelaus.
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