2. Works of the Devil

World Scripture

Shall I inform you on whom it is that the devils descend? They descend on every lying, wicked person, into whose ears they pour hearsay vanities, and most of them are liars.
Qur’an 26.221-223

When a man grasps at things, Mara stands beside him.⁸
Sutta Nipata 1103 (Buddhism)

The foremost of your armies is that of Desire, the second is called Dislike. The third is Hunger-Thirst and the fourth is Craving. The fifth is the army of Lethargy-Laziness and the sixth is Fear. The seventh is Doubt and the eighth is Obstinacy-Restlessness. Then there are Material Gain, Praise, Honor, and Fame… These, O Mara, are your forces, the attackers of the Evil One. One less than a hero will not be victorious over them and attain happiness.
Sutta Nipata 436-39 (Buddhism)

For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6.12

The Evil Ruler spoils the Word, the plan of life, by his teachings. He, indeed, deprives me of the exalted goal of Good Thought.
Avesta, Yasna 32.9 (Zoroastrianism)

Never did We send an apostle or a prophet before you, but, when he framed a desire, Satan threw some vanity into his desire. But God will cancel anything vain that Satan throws in, and God will confirm His signs—for God is full of knowledge and wisdom: that He may make the suggestions thrown in by Satan but a trial for those in whose hearts is a disease and who are hardened of heart.
Qur’an 22.52-53

The Messenger of God said, “There is none among you with whom is not an attaché from among the jinn (evil spirits).” The Companions said, “With you, too?” He said, “Yes, but God helps me against him and so I am safe from his hand.”
Hadith of Muslim (Islam)

He who commits sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God commits sin; for God’s nature abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. By this it may be seen who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not do right is not of God, nor he who does not love his brother.
John 3.8-10

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But, because I [Jesus] tell the truth, you do not believe me.
John 8.43-45

Through me you pass into the city of woe: Through me you pass into eternal pain: Through me among the people lost for aye. Justice the founder of my fabric moved: To rear me was the task of power divine, Supremest wisdom, and primeval love. Before me things create were none, save things Eternal, and eternal I shall endure. All hope abandon, ye who enter here.
Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

What is the meaning of the Fall? Humankind fell under Satan’s control. Imprisoned within the realm of Satan’s dominion, the descendants of Adam and Eve have lived out their miserable history.
(168:300, October 1, 1987)

The Devil demands that others live for his sake. That is the reason why all dictators throughout history have demanded that others serve them.
(222:138, October 28, 1991)

A human being’s essence is spirit. When you go to the spirit world, you will vividly realize that the essence of being human is to live for the sake of others. Why, then, do people treat every matter so selfishly? It is because humankind has a blood relationship with Satan, the angel that violated the law of Heaven.
(2:138, March 17, 1957)

Evil started from Satan, who infused into Eve the attitude, “I am the subject; I am the center.” It started with the mentality to boast of oneself, which is evil. God’s original Principle of Creation is, “Live for the sake of others.” Satanic fallen nature is, “Live for myself.”

You must know the origin of good and evil clearly. Evil people expect others to live for them; God wants to tear down this nature. Jesus also wants to it tear down; that is why he taught: Do not be arrogant, live for others and serve others.
(69:84-85, October 20, 1973)

The Fall means that human beings fail to connect with God’s vertical true love and cannot fulfill horizontal true love in their relationships with others. This is because the archangel Lucifer invaded human horizontal love.
As the result of the Fall, God lost His children, and we were born into a dysfunctional life, suffering from conflict between mind and body. On this condition, the Devil can inappropriately subjugate human beings.
(198:158, February 1, 1990)

In John 8.44, Jesus says: “You are of your father the Devil… He is a liar and the father of lies.” Our lineage from Satan is a result of the Fall. Lucifer (who became Satan) seduced Eve, who then seduced Adam. As a result, human history began with a tragedy brought about by deception.
(73:202-03, September 18, 1974)

When Eve united with the archangel Lucifer and they fell, the archangel became Satan, the Devil, and Eve was bonded to his blood lineage. Originally, Adam and Eve’s children should have been the elder and younger sons of God. However, once Eve had fallen with Satan, he claimed her body as his. According to the Principle of Creation, love determines ownership. By this principle, once two people enter into a love relationship, each partner has ownership rights over the other. Therefore, once Eve fell, the archangel could rightfully claim ownership over her and over all her descendants, fallen human beings.
(110:216, November 18, 1980)

Due to the Fall, human beings could not become temples of God; instead, they united with Satan and became his dwelling places. By being united with Satan, they failed to cultivate the divine nature; instead, they acquired an evil nature. People with evil nature have propagated evil through their children, constituting evil families, evil societies and an evil world. This is the hell on earth in which we have been living. In this hell, we cannot properly form cooperative horizontal relationships with one another because our vertical relationships with God have been severed. We perform deeds harmful to others because we cannot feel the pain and suffering of our neighbors as our own.
Since humans are living in hell on earth, after shedding their physical body, they naturally enter hell in the spirit world. We have not built the Kingdom of God, but instead established the sovereignty of Satan. For this reason, Satan is called the “ruler of this world” (John 12.31) and the “god of this world.” (2 Cor. 4.4) (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 1.1) Father! We cannot feel in our daily life how much the foundation of Satan’s power and authority remains.
We go about our walk of faith, hour after hour, day after day, yet we do not recognize the extent that Satan’s power and authority has invaded our daily life and the circumstances in which we live.
(19:185, January 17, 1968)