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Are "demon" and "devil" religious words? What's the difference?
Were these two words originally used in religious context (i.e. as a reference to Satan)? Or were they used to describe all kinds of evil spirits? What's the difference between "demon" and "devil"?
Any help is appreciated!
1 Answer
- JPaneLv 78 years agoFavorite Answer
The word "demon" is derived from the Greek term for entities known as "daemons". They were beneficial nature spirits that also possessed a divine nature. However, the name gained a negative connotation in one of the early translations of the Hebrew Bible, and then in the Greek New Testament. One of the reasons why the demons in the Ars Goetia teach varies philosophies and sciences is because of their original nature as daemons, until they were reinterpreted as heretical spirits in Christian mythology.
A devil is the personification of all evil that either fights the incarnation of goodness and light (like in Zoroastrianism), or simply defies its creator. Also, unlike "demon", a "devil" was never a good thing; the Greek Diabolos translates to "slanderer", and this meaning has carried over to multiple different languages.
The difference between the two is that "demon" is usually used in reference to your run-of-the-mill evil spirit, whereas a devil (or the Devil) is essentially the worst of the worst in most religions. Some people these the terms interchangeably, though.
