From the "New Catholic Encyclopedia" -------------------------------------- _DEVIL_, the supreme evil spirit. The term devil is derived from the Greek word [diabolos], which etymologically means an accuser, a slanderer. In classical Greek the word [diabolos] was applied, as a noun or an adjective ("slanderous"), only to men, and in this way it is used also in 1 Tm 3.3; Ti 2.3. The Septuagint, however, used the term [o diabolos] to translate the Hebrew term *hassatan* (the accuser, the adversary), and so also in the NT [ha diabolos] (the devil) is a common synonym for the somewhat less frequently used term [ha satan] or [ha satanas] (Satan). Other NT synonyms for the devil are Beelzebub, Belial, the Evil One..., the Accuser..., the Tempter..., the Great Dragon and the Ancient Serpent...., the Prince of This World..., and the God of This World.... The only NT occurrence of the term "a devil" (without the definite article in Greek) is in Jn 6.70, where Jesus speaks of Judas Iscariot as a devil, no doubt because Judas was already in the power of the devil.... Although strictly speaking there is only one devil, just as there is only one Satan, the term is often used broadly in the plural (devils) as a synonym for demons (though never thus in the Bible).... _DEVIL WORSHIP_. Cultic practices of homage paid to Satan, frequently developed from the doctrine that there are two supreme beings, the one all good, the other all evil. Devil-worshipers have argued that since the God of all the good things receives his homage from many, it is only fitting that the god of wickedness should also have cult and worship paid to him. The chief liturgical service of the Satanists, or Luciferians, as they are called, was the celebration of the Sabbath. They also possessed a service called the Black Mass, over which they believed Satan himself personally presided. In devious ways they obtained Hosts that were truly consecrated, or, whenever possible, they invited apostate priests for the purpose of consecrating the sacred species so that they could be descrated and profaned. Devil worship maintained this manner of cult whenever it was practiced by those acquainted with the Judeo-Christian history and the story of the fall of Lucifer. There are others, like the Kurd Yezidis... who still exist today in Upper Mesopotamia, worshiping Satan under the name of Iblis. They do not believe in dualism, but profess the belief that Satan rebelled against God, and that at a later time he was forgiven and given the government of this world and the administration of the transmigration of souls.... "New Catholic Encyclopedia", The Catholic University of America, 1967; pp. 828-9. _________________ EOF