Editing Satanism (section)

== Etymology and definitions ==

===Etymology===
[[File:Alexandre Cabanel - Fallen Angel.jpg|thumb|[[The Fallen Angel (painting)|''The Fallen Angel'']] (1847) by [[Alexandre Cabanel]]]]
The term ''Satan'' has evolved from a [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] term for "adversary" or "to oppose", into the Christian figure of a fallen angel who tempts mortals into sin. The word ''Satan'' was not originally a proper name, but rather an ordinary noun that means "adversary". In this context, it appears at several points in the [[Old Testament]].{{sfnm|1a1=Medway|1y=2001|1p=51 |2a1=van Luijk|2y=2016|2p=19}} For instance, in the [[Book of Samuel]], [[David]] is presented as the satan ("adversary") of the [[Philistines]], while in the [[Book of Numbers]], the term appears as a verb, when Jehovah sent an angel to satan ("to oppose") [[Balaam]].{{sfn|Medway|2001|p=51}}

Prior to the composition of the [[New Testament]], the idea developed within Jewish communities that Satan was the name of an angel who had rebelled against Jehovah and had been cast out of Heaven along with his followers; this account would be incorporated into contemporary texts such as the [[Book of Enoch]].{{sfn|Medway|2001|p=52}} This Satan was then featured in parts of the New Testament, where he was presented as a figure who tempts humans to commit [[sin]]; in the [[Book of Matthew]] and the [[Book of Luke]], he attempted to tempt [[Jesus of Nazareth]] as the latter fasted in the wilderness.{{sfn|Medway|2001|p=53}}

While the early Christian idea of the Devil was not well developed, it gradually adapted and expanded through the creation of folklore, art, theological treatises, and morality tales, thus providing the character with a range of extra-Biblical associations.{{sfn|Dyrendal|Lewis|Petersen|2016|pp=21–22}}  Beginning in the early middle ages, the concept developed in Christianity of the devil as "archrepresentative of evil", and  of the Satanist "as malign mirror image of the good Christian".{{sfn|van Luijk|2016|at=Chapter 1. The Christian Invention of Satanism }}

The word ''Satanism'' was adopted into English from the French ''satanisme''.{{sfn|Medway|2001|p=9}} The terms ''Satanism'' and ''Satanist'' are first recorded as appearing in the English and French languages during the 16th century, when they were used by Christian groups to attack other, rival Christian groups.{{sfnm|1a1=Medway|1y=2001|1p=257 |2a1=van Luijk|2y=2016|2p=2}} In a [[Roman Catholic]] tract of 1565, the author condemns the "heresies, blasphemies, and sathanismes [sic]" of the [[Protestants]].{{sfn|Medway|2001|p=9}} In an [[Anglican]] work of 1559, [[Anabaptists]] and other Protestant sects are condemned as "swarmes of Satanistes [sic]".{{sfn|Medway|2001|p=9}} As used in this manner, the term ''Satanism'' was not used to claim that people literally worshipped Satan, but instead that they deviated from true Christianity, and thus were serving the will of Satan.{{sfn|van Luijk|2016|p=2}} During the 19th century, the term ''Satanism'' began to be used to describe those considered to lead a broadly immoral lifestyle,{{sfn|van Luijk|2016|p=2}} and it was only in the late 19th century that it came to be applied in English to individuals who were believed to consciously and deliberately venerate Satan.{{sfn|van Luijk|2016|p=2}} This latter meaning had appeared earlier in the [[Swedish language]]; the [[Lutheran]] Bishop [[Laurentius Paulinus Gothus]] had described devil-worshipping sorcerers as ''Sathanister'' in his ''Ethica Christiana'', produced between 1615 and 1630.{{sfn|Introvigne|2016|p=44}}

=== Definitions ===
Some definitions of Satanism:
 
* the worship or veneration of the figure from Christian belief known as Satan, the Devil or Lucifer<ref name="Britannica-White"/>
* the "intentional, religiously motivated veneration of Satan"{{sfn|van Luijk|2016|p=5}}{{sfn|van Luijk|2016|p=2}}
*  "a system in which Satan is celebrated in a prominent position"<ref>{{cite book |first=P. |last=Faxneld |title=Satanic Feminism: Lucifer As the Liberator of Woman in Nineteenth-Century Culture |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2017 |page=25}}</ref> This definition has the advantage of avoiding "assumptions about the nature of religion".<ref name=JPLS2023:sect.1-Invention/>
*the simultaneous presence of three characteristics:
::1) the worship of the character in the Bible whose name is Satan or Lucifer, 
::2) the organization of these "Satanists" into a group with at least some kind of organization and hierarchy, and ... 
::3) and has some kind of ritual or liturgical practices [...] 
:whether the group with these characteristics perceives Satan as personal or impersonal, real or symbolic, does not matter.{{sfn|Introvigne|2016|p=3}}

But these definitions of Satanism are limited to 
* figures and groups who ''identify'' as Satanists or at least  admirers of Satan (Romantic Satanists, hellfire clubs and modern Satanists). 
... excluding 
* figures and groups ''accused'' of worshipping Satan and in the process committing horrible crimes (in the middle ages, during the 1980–1994 [[Satanic panic|Satanic ritual abuse moral panic]], etc.) but who either appear to have not been satanists or to not  have actually existed.
According to Laycock, excluding the second group, you leave out most of the history of Satanism.<ref name=JPLS2023:sect.1-Invention>[[#JPLS2023|Laycock, ''Satanism'', 1981]]: section 1. What Is Satanism? Anton LaVey and the Invention of Satanism</ref>

If you ''do'' include both groups, you have two sides with very different views on who or what Satan was/is and represented. The accusers usually follow the Christian idea of Satan as an irredeemably evil fallen angel who seeks the destruction of both God and humanity, but who, along with his followers, is doomed to fail and to suffer eternal punishment.<ref name=JPLS2023:sect.1/> While the self-identified Satanists often do not believe that Satan actually exists as a being (they believe he is a symbol and a "[[Prometheus|Promethean]] figure",<ref name=JPLS2023:sect.5-Amoral-O9A/> "an esoteric symbol of a vital force that permeates the universe"),<ref name=JPLS2023:sect.3-Esotericism>[[#JPLS2023|Laycock, ''Satanism'', 1981]]: section 3 Satanic Sympathizers.  Satan and Esotericism</ref> let alone is trying to destroy humanity.

Definitions that would include the "satanism" of heresy crusades and moral panics is:
*  an invention of Christianity, relying on a character deriving from [[Christian mythology]], i.e.  Satan.{{sfn|van Luijk|2016|p=16}}

In their study of Satanism, the [[religious studies]] scholars Asbjørn Dyrendal, [[James R. Lewis (scholar)|James R. Lewis]], and Jesper Aa. Petersen stated that the term ''Satanism'' "has a history of being a designation made by people against those whom they dislike; it is a term used for '[[othering]]'".{{sfn|Dyrendal|Lewis|Petersen|2016|p=7}} 
 
Eugene Gallagher noted that Satanism was usually "a [[polemical]], not a descriptive term".{{sfn|Gallagher|2006|p=151}}

Similar to the way certain Christian denominations accuse each other of heresy, different satanic groups—mainly the Church of Satan (CoS), the Temple of Set (ToS), the Order of Nine Angles (ONA), and The Satanic Temple (TST)—often accuse one another of being fraudulent Satanists and/or ignorant of true Satanism.<ref name=JPLS2023:sect.1/>

===Related terms===
Because the original concept of Satan came from Judaism and was embraced by Christianity, and because Satanists, almost by definition, oppose the teachings of those religions, people drawn to Satanism will often move on to "post-Satanism", i.e. to a religion that does not declare itself "Satanic", but includes elements of Satanism (e.g. [[Temple of Set]]). Others may regards themselves as Satanists but promote mythological figures and traditions outside of Christianity or Judaism.<ref name="Granholm-2012">{{cite book |last1=Granholm |first1=Kennet |editor1-last=Petersen |editor1-first=Jesper Aa. |editor2-last=Faxneld |editor2-first=Per |title=The Devil's Party: Satanism in Modernity |date=November 2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=209–228 |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/11601/chapter-abstract/160464629?redirectedFrom=fulltext |access-date=6 January 2024 |chapter=10. The Left-Hand Path and Post-Satanism: The Temple of Set and the Evolution of Satanism}}</ref> These religions are sometimes called Satanic and sometimes post-Satanic.{{#tag:ref|For example the [[Temple of Set]], despite being a splinter group of the Church of Satan, venerates the deity Set, considering ''Set'' to be the true name of Satan.|group=Note}}

Diane E. Taub and Lawrence D. Nelson complain that Satanism "is frequently defined either too broadly or too narrowly", with accusers sometimes including non-satanic groups such as [[Santeria]], [[Witchcraft]], Eastern religions as well as [[Freemasonry]]; and academics (for example Carlson and Larue){{sfn|Carlson|Larue|1989|p=11}} and others sometimes restricting its definition to "recognized Satanic churches and their members", excluding those who "believes in a literal Satan". Taub and Nelson define Satanism as "the literal or symbolic worship of Satan, the enemy of the Judeo-Christian God".{{sfn|Taub|Nelson|1993|p=525}}