Religion Fact of the Day

Satan was not always the cosmic force of evil he is usually portrayed as now. In the Old Testament, Satan makes very few appearances and he is a member of God's court, as in the Book of Job. There it is clear that he is one of God's functionaries, tasked with roaming the Earth and testing human morality and faith. The tempting serpent in Genesis is just a snake. It was only much later that people linked Satan with the serpent. Not until the Intertestamental Period (200 BCE - 200 CE) does Satan become the eternal opponent of God.