The Beast (Koine Greek: Θηρίον, Thērion) may refer to one of three beasts described in the Book of Revelation.
Revelation 12-13 describes these three beasts as follows:
The Beast (Koine Greek: Θηρίον, Thērion) may refer to one of three beasts described in the Book of Revelation.
Revelation 12-13 describes these three beasts as follows:
The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is canonically the last book of the New Testament. Written in Greek, its title is derived from the first word of the text, apocalypse (Koine Greek: ἀποκάλυψις, romanized: apokálypsis), which means "revelation" or "unveiling". The Book of Revelation is the only apocalyptic book in the New Testament canon, and occupies a central place in Christian eschatology.
The book spans three literary genres: the epistolary, the apocalyptic, and the prophetic. It begins with John, on the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea, addressing letters to the "Seven Churches of Asia" with exhortations from Christ. He then describes a series of prophetic and symbolic visions, which would culminate in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. These visions include figures such as a Woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars, the Serpent, the Seven-Headed Dragon, and the Beast.
In Christianity, the Devil, also known as Satan, is a malevolent entity that deceives and tempts humans. Frequently viewed as the personification of evil, he is traditionally held to have rebelled against God in an attempt to become equal to God himself. He is said to be a fallen angel, who was expelled from Heaven at the beginning of time, before God created the material world, and is in constant opposition to God. The Devil is identified with several other figures in the Bible including Lucifer, Satan, the serpent in the Garden of Eden, the tempter of the Gospels, Leviathan, Beelzebub, and the dragon in the Book of Revelation.
Early scholars discussed the role of the Devil. Scholars influenced by neoplatonic cosmology, like Origen and Pseudo-Dionysius, portrayed the Devil as representing deficiency and emptiness, the entity most remote from the divine. According to Augustine of Hippo, the realm of the Devil is not nothingness, but an inferior realm standing in opposition to God. The standard medieval depiction of the Devil goes back to Gregory the Great. He integrated the Devil, as the first creation of God, into the Christian angelic hierarchy as the highest of the angels (either a cherub or a seraph) who fell far, into the depths of hell, and became the leader of demons.