Evil as well as good is necessary in any religion that preaches redemption. To overcome evil you must first have evil. There are at least seven different versions of how Satan appeared and gathered such a large following. Satan has been given many names, among them, the Prince of Darkness, Azazel, Mastema, Mephistopholes, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Samael, and the Angel of Rome. It is written when cast from heaven Satan took 1/3 of the angel flock with him. Considering the amount of angels this still left almost 266,613,336 angels loyal to the Throne. Below are the seven legends of the rise of Satan and the fall of the angels.

Legend One - The Shadow of God. In this version, Satan, the Devil, begins as part of God, the dark side so to speak. As time went on this dark side went from a voice, to a touch and finally to an entirely separate entity, having its own free will. By the time the New Testament was written this dark side had become Satan, the evil opponent of God. In the Old Testament many believe it was God's dark side that made him slay the first born of Egypt and demand the sacrifice of Abraham's son Isaac. Not quite a century later when the "Book of Jubilees" is written God is a good entity and the dark side has separated and has become the Prince of Darkness. Thus the fall is complete.

The Second Legend - Free Will. This legend comes from one of the most influential theologians of the Greek church, Origen of Alexandria. He believed that God created a number of angels who were equal, intelligent and had free will. Having free will they drifted from the source of God and turned away from the Throne. A few of these angels stayed in the regions fairly close to God while others went far out beyond the divine center. Those staying close to God were the angels, those going further out became human and the ones in the extreme regions became demons. It is said when an angel falls through his own free will, meaning he gives into evil, he walks the earth as a man. If he continues in his evil ways he becomes a demon. Origen claims that angels can become men as well as men having the capabilities of becoming angels and a demon can regain his angelic state. Thus the fall took place when those that did not redeem their vitue became demons.

The Third Legend - Lust. This account comes from Enoch the Scribe. According to his version 12,000 years ago a group of 200 Watchers came to Mt. Hermon to help the Archangels in the creation of Eden. At the same time they were teaching the art of civilization to men. The problems began with the seduction of the daughters of Adam. Although some accountings of these events blamed everything on the women, many do not think the angels could have been completely blameless. The Watchers were the only angels capable of reproduction. In addition to this the Watchers began to teach the lowlanders the secrets of heaven, and how to produce weapons, perfumes, and items to make the women more desirable. Out of the union of the mortal women and the Watchers came the creation of mutant monsters that began to ravage the land. The loyal angels of the Throne captured the creatures and the Lord hurled them into everlasting hell. They did however escape, making the fall complete and leaving them free to spread their corruption.

The Forth Legend - Pride. Enoch himself gives a conflicting second version of what might have happened in the "Book of Secrets". One of the order of angels, as he tells it, turns away from the Throne and decides to place their throne higher than the clouds above the earth. The leader of this order, "Satan", 'Lucifer", "The Morning Star", attempts to storm the Throne of light and is cast down out of heaven for his impudence. He fell like lightning and plunged to the earth. He was so heavy with sin that the explosion that followed his crash into the earth created a vast tomb, which would be named hell. Thus the creation of Hell and the falling of Satan's band of angels.

The Fifth Legend - War. In this accounting there was a great war in heaven on the second day of creation. God had created the angels, but after doing so relized that they were fallible and could, and probably would sin. So he gave them his grace to strengthen their convictions. He then created a second group of angels but witheld his grace. As he thought this group embrassed the temptations of evil and a war broke out between the two groups of angels. Michael, with god's grace, and his group cast the sinners from heaven. This outcast group of fallen angels would become the followers of Satan.

The Sixth Legend - Passion of the Redeemer In this version the separation of Satan and his angels from God is already completed when the story begins. Satan and his band of angels have tempted and punished humankind, have seduced Eve and are obsessed with their hatred of man. To this point God has allowed these things to happen. But now, St. Augustine proposes that God take on human form to experience living under the reign of Lucifer. So, in the form of Christ he delivers himself to Lucifer. Satan had a pact with God that he would only tempt the sinner or be damned. Thus when he tries to destroy Christ he is made abruptly aware that Christ is both divine and sinless. So Lucifer has broken the pact he had made with God. So God through Christ is our redemption. God then demands the release of the souls from hell which makes Satan furious and he renews his vow to corrupt the earth. At this point God hurls him down and Michael binds him in hell. Trapped in hell his only power left is to punish those humans who refuse to accept God.

The Seventh Legend - DisobedienceThis version begins when God created Adam. He presented him to the angels, and Satan, then the greatest Seraphin and the Regent of Heaven refused to bow in his presense. Outraged God flung Satan from heaven. It was said that 1/3 of the angels of heaven went with him. Another version of this same story was that when God created the angels he told them to bow to no one but himself. then when he created Adam he insisted that they bow to him. It was said that Satan would not bow to anyone other than God and therefore received his wrath.