When John Boehner referred to Ted Cruz as “Lucifer in the flesh,” he probably meant it as an insult. But what he really did was reveal his ignorance through yet another tired Western stereotype.
The misunderstanding is a layer cake of ignorance.
First of all, Satan is a mythological religious figure, meaning that he is an idea, not a person. What does the idea represent? To most, “Satan” is the name of the devil. For anyone who believes in these kinds of fairy-tale concepts, that can evoke strong emotions.
Satanism itself is greatly misunderstood. Like most religions, it has several divisons, including Theistic Satanism and LaVeyan Satanism, neither of which considers Satan to be a negative or evil being in any way. Heck, there are even Christian Satanists.
But we’re not talking about Satan; we’re talking about Lucifer. Satan is commonly misused as a pseudonym for Lucifer, so in the idiocracy of 2016 America, when someone says “Lucifer,” most people hear “Satan.”
“Lucifer” is the Latin word for “phosphorous,” the Greek translation of “helel,” which is the Hebrew word used in the Bible in Isaiah. “Phosphorous” means “light-bringer.” In Revelation, Jesus himself is referred to as “the morning star,” and in the Vulgate Latin text of 2 Peter, the phrase “until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” appears, with “lucifer” as the Latin word for “morning star.”
This misunderstanding is largely due to widespread ignorance in almost all churches regarding their own scriptures, which have been translated and retranslated over and over, watering them down further and further, and are often taught by people who are simply regurgitating what they’ve been told. While some religions require true devotion and scholarship, most branches of Christianity appear to use their scripture as a propaganda tool to be memorized and obeyed but never really understood.
I would know. After an active life in the church (a Baptist church) wherein I often participated in all three services each Sunday and more on Wednesdays as well as multiple mission trips, I innocently took several religious classes in college for fun. Nothing will destroy the belief in a falsehood more quickly than learning a fact.
How many Hebrew and Greek scholars are teaching in the churches? Among those, who have the historical chops to correctly interpret what scriptures mean within the appropriate literary and historic context? From the voluminous number of gospels there really are (versus the scanty four, but really two, in the New Testament) to the fact that Paul by no means wrote the letters attributed to him (and the list goes on and on), most Christians seemingly have very little real working knowledge of the meaning of Christian scripture. That said, why don’t you try to find the story about the angel Lucifer being cast out of heaven in the Bible? Good luck with that. It’s gotta be there somewhere, right? You heard it in church, so it’s gotta be true!
Boehner would number among the misinformed as a Catholic — or a “Catholic.” Take your pick.
Lucifer is mentioned in passing in Isaiah, but this passage refers to a Babylonian king, not an angel, a devil, or any other fantasy creature. And that’s the extent of his appearance in scripture.
So what might Boehner have meant by his comment about Ted Cruz?
Let’s pretend Boehner isn’t just another callous, elitist, alcoholic Republican. I know, it’s hard to imagine. Let’s pretend that he actually knew what he was talking about. I mean other than golf, pills, and scotch. Come on, use your imagination!
The king mentioned in Isaiah is Helal. Like “helel,” “Helal” is translated as “Lucifer,” which means “light bearer.” Diabolical! “Helal” could also be translated as “daystar,” or “son of the dawn.” “Lucifer” is the Roman name for the planet we call Venus, which is visible at dawn, brighter than other celestial bodies. Calling Ted Cruz “Lucifer” in that context would seem like a big compliment, describing him as a vanguard and a maverick who outshines his competition. Yeah, if Ted Cruz’s competition is other douchebags, maybe.
If Boehner had some working knowledge of ancient source texts and were familiar with 2 Peter, he would be comparing Ted Cruz with Yeshua himself. Raise your hand if you think that’s the case. Anybody? No? Ok, moving on.
If Boehner were referring to King Helal indirectly, he would be describing Cruz as a ruler who loses, or will lose, power for persecuting someone. Helal persecuted the Israelites. Cruz has persecuted … well, who hasn’t Cruz persecuted? Rich white men? But that’s Boehner.
One of the signs of our society’s rapid deterioration is the loss of our language and history. When we misunderstand our own heritage to the extent that the words we use don’t even mean what they mean anymore — when both the people speaking and the people listening don’t understand what is being said — we have lost something irreplaceable. Our efforts at communication become noise. A drug-addicted bigot named Rush Limbaugh once said something brilliant: “Words mean things.” What do you know? For once in his life, Rush was actually right!
RELATED ARTICLES
CARTOON: “Lucifer Cruz”
Dear stupid Utah weather: I will have my revenge
Watch me salvage the DSU rebranding survey
Sorry Jason, you didn’t go back far enough. The ancient Greek God Prometheus is equivalent to Lucifer. Further, you have to go to Gnostic Christianity to hit the nail on the head from the perspective of the Biblical context. The Demiurge, according to the Gnostics created this universe. The Demiurge is equivalent to the God Zeus of Greek mythology, or Yahweh of the old testament, and is perceived as a false god – who from the Gnostic standpoint, believes he is the one true God… To the Gnostics – The one true God was unknowable – except through gnosis. Now this is where it gets complicated – but stay with me… In the Gnostic version of the garden of Eden story, the structure is reversed from the typical Christian construct. Man is stupid – blissfully ignorant etc… until he eats the Apple… The serpent that gives him the Apple is Lucifer. Lucifer, in this context is sent by the one true unknowable God to intervene in the universe created by the Demiurge, to help man escape from his prison. The Apple is Knowledge… (of good and evil) and hence gives man the possibility to become liberated and return back to the light… Now to really get weird, Christ is the Alien God – see Hans Jonas – “The Gnostic Religion” and is not connected to the Demiurge, but is also an aspect (knowable through gnosis) of the one true unknowable God… GET IT NOW… For some however Lucifer is a TV show. You are right – Lucifer = Satan = Devil for the vast majority of people out there – no doubt. Now you can understand why the vast majority of early Gnostics were put to death, let alone tortured, by the Church. Even Centuries later, in the middle ages, Gnostic off shoots, such as the Bogomils and Cathars, were wiped off the face of the Earth. For further info, the ultimate authority on this subject is the famous Albert Pike – who wrote the Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. As for John Boehner, he did the right thing – (see my comment on the Lucifer Cartoon)… Just a fool setting the record straight.
Yeah, Prometheus = Lucifer. But Prometheus =/= Satan, not Biblically speaking. That was a large part of my point. Lucifer is falsely equated with Satan in a Christian context — and considering the prevalence of Judeo-Christian traditions in this country, it makes the irony that much more glaring. Concerning not going back far enough, one can’t go back far enough, but it wasn’t intended to be a lecture on the history of religion. Go back far enough and Yahweh is a pagan volcano/storm god. Heck, go back far enough and there are no human beings to make up silly stories to try to make sense of the world.
I’m aware of Gnosticism. While I’ve wandered my way through a few of the Gnostic Gospels, even an annotated version can be difficult to understand. They are impenetrable to a layperson. Hidden knowledge, indeed. You’re also talking to an avid Philip K. Dick fan, so you’re preaching to the choir about the Gnostic!
And as far as Freemasons go … whew! That’s a whole ‘nother can of worms, especially within the LDS empire, ain’t it?
Wow, talk about over thinking things. Language evolves right along with human understanding and I’m pretty sure most folks understood that Boehners’ comments were an expression of his derogatory feelings toward douche bag Cruz. I’m not sure we all need to be totally conversant in how the language was used in a bygone era in order to understand that Boehner doesn’t like Cruz. What I find troublesome isn’t “the loss of our language” so much as the fact that we live in a world where billions of people still worship ancient texts that science made nonsense of at least 100 years ago. While I’m happy there are folks like Jason who can educate the rest of us on language and how it gets used, improperly and otherwise, if I’m going to assign blame to “society’s rapid deterioration” I’m looking at humanity’s dullard response to modern science. How much longer can we cling to our superstitious past before something disastrous, and of our own making, happens?
The almighty God of Science has spoken!!!! Science knows all… Then came Shroedingers Cat… and there was a temporal paradox. Blame religion… But did religion invent the Atomic Bomb and Bio-weapons? First that crazy alchemist Isaac Newton invented the law of gravity.. Ooops… not quite the answer… Space is curved, so Einstein superseded that belief. What if string theory is substantiated… ? What if we discover there are non-organic beings, or Bells theorum becomes fact…? Those who make Science a philosophy and dispute the belief systems of others because it is not based on scientific methodology are at best close minded. Ever hear of Charles Forte? When Science can’t explain something and there is an anomaly they ignore it like ostriches sticking heads in the ground. Without religion humanity is lost. Atheism is a BELIEF and like it or not, a religion. Blame the scientists that lacked restraint and without thinking manifested technology that is destructive, NOT other religious beliefs… They are bystanders… and harmless… oops, were harmless… now that science has made it possible for one man to take down a thousand fold. Anyway, I’m just a fool, so ignore me if you like. THE WORLD IS JUST A STAGE… As You Like It. 🙂