Love this post! Here's a thought on why the Devil has to abide by the letter of the law. My guess is that Christian societies that created the devil built him within the framework of a system that is orderly (given that its order, and the meaning that provides, is a major reason for its existence), and so the devil, as part of this syste…
Love this post! Here's a thought on why the Devil has to abide by the letter of the law. My guess is that Christian societies that created the devil built him within the framework of a system that is orderly (given that its order, and the meaning that provides, is a major reason for its existence), and so the devil, as part of this system, must behave in an orderly way-- by following the laws laid out by some greater power (God? The Universe?). The result is that people's intuitions about the devil are of a being who is evil but still must comply with rule of law, not because he wants to, but because he is literally compelled to. And one result of THAT is that humans can outsmart the devil, because while he has power over them, he is still beholden to an even greater power. If he weren't-- if his behavior were chaotic-- he wouldn't serve the purpose embodying evil in a world where good and evil both exist, but in an orderly manner (such that people who are good are reliably rewarded, people who are bad are punished, etc). And the same thinking applies to other magical / mystical creatures that exist within larger systems of order, like a Genie, whose 3 wishes are are classically outsmarted by the well known loophole of wishing for more wishes! - Jess
Love this post! Here's a thought on why the Devil has to abide by the letter of the law. My guess is that Christian societies that created the devil built him within the framework of a system that is orderly (given that its order, and the meaning that provides, is a major reason for its existence), and so the devil, as part of this system, must behave in an orderly way-- by following the laws laid out by some greater power (God? The Universe?). The result is that people's intuitions about the devil are of a being who is evil but still must comply with rule of law, not because he wants to, but because he is literally compelled to. And one result of THAT is that humans can outsmart the devil, because while he has power over them, he is still beholden to an even greater power. If he weren't-- if his behavior were chaotic-- he wouldn't serve the purpose embodying evil in a world where good and evil both exist, but in an orderly manner (such that people who are good are reliably rewarded, people who are bad are punished, etc). And the same thinking applies to other magical / mystical creatures that exist within larger systems of order, like a Genie, whose 3 wishes are are classically outsmarted by the well known loophole of wishing for more wishes! - Jess