Shards of Combat: How Did Satan Seek to Destroy the Agency of Man?

Authors

Philip L. Barlow

Keywords

BYU Studies, agency, war in heaven, Satan

Abstract

Human beings in other guise lived before the creation of our world. This belief is at once controversial and durable, pervading the history of Western thought and bearing analogues elsewhere.¹ That gods, angels, or other celestial beings rebelled against their superiors or engaged in cosmic conflict prior to earth’s creation is a related concept, widespread in the ancient world. Depictions or allusions to such contests appear in the myths, lore, art, literature, and sacred texts of Babylon, Egypt, Israel, Persia, Greece, Rome, far-flung tribal religions, and elsewhere. In certain cases, the older traditions endure even to the present, as in Sufi (Muslim) expressions of Iblis’s rebellion against Allah.

Recommended Citation

Barlow, Philip L. (2021) "Shards of Combat: How Did Satan Seek to Destroy the Agency of Man?," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 60: Iss. 3, Article 10.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol60/iss3/10