Does the Devil Deserve Credit for Christianity’s Success?

The closest thing we have to God’s autobiography is the Bible, but alas, The Good Book offers scant details about God’s life, background, history or personality. Undoubtedly, there are inferences that can be derived, but concrete information is so limited and so perplexing. There are a thousand different branches of Christianity — all of which claim to be correct, and all of which interpret God’s conduct and values in slightly (and not so slightly) different ways.

Some things we’re told explicitly: God loves us — therefore, it’s logical to assume that He also wants what’s best for us. God is described as jealous multiple times. Since we’re only jealous of things we care about, it’s logical to assume God cares greatly about us, too. (When was the last time you were jealous of something you didn’t value?)

Still, as far as hard, empirical details go, that’s not a whole heck of a lot — but at least it’s something.

Poor Devil! He doesn’t even get his own book. 

There’s really not much information about him in the Bible. Significantly less than there is about God, of course. For an archvillain who fancies himself God’s greatest Adversary, there’s minimal data about him in the actual text, but just like God, inferences can be made: In the entire history of spiritual creatures, the Devil has the absolute worst PR of anyone — his reputation is the pits! — so at a minimum, we know he sucks at PR.

But it might not be all his fault: The Bible isn’t clear about the Devil’s degree of autonomy, so maybe he can’t help it. Is the Devil a spiritual “free agent” with unrestricted free will? Or is he under God’s constant control? And if he’s not under God’s control, how could God still be all-powerful? But then again, if he is under God’s control, why would a Father who loves us allow a Devil to hurt us?

Different denominations have different explanations, but it gets confusing.

We know the Devil is far weaker than God and capable of committing errors, which means he’s not omniscient, all-powerful or immortal. Theoretically then, he could make a mistake, get overthrown, and possibly even murdered.

Speaking of overthrowing and murdering the Devil, don’t you think it’s weird that the other Demons never rebelled against him? In an earlier Age, they rebelled against God in Heaven — where things were, I’d imagine, rather heavenly. Yet they were still so unhappy -- 1/3 of all Angels engaged in armed rebellion against our Heavenly Father? When God had homefield advantage?! 

However bad things were in Heaven, aren’t they MUCH worse in Hell?! (I would assume they’re hellish.) Besides, we’ve already established that the Devil is way weaker than God! If the Demons thought they could overthrow God in Heaven, then surely they’re confident they could whoop the Devil in Hell. 

So why don’t the Demons do what the Democrats did to Biden, and coup Satan’s puny ass?

Sigh. That’s the trouble with Demons: No follow-through.

As it turns out, most of what we’ve come to believe about the Devil doesn’t even come from the Bible. It’s folklore, legend and works of literature, like Dante’s “Inferno” and Milton’s “Paradise Lost.” The Devil’s signature line, “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven,” came not from the Scriptures, but from Milton’s pen.

Peter Stanford is the author of “The Devil: A Biography,” where he explored the origins and developed a makeshift history of God’s most famous Adversary. It’s not a theological book; Stanford is indifferent to Satan’s existence as an actual entity. Instead, he was attempting to write a narrative of how our evolving interpretation of the Devil has influenced human behavior throughout history.

It led to an intriguing thought experiment: Does the Devil deserve credit for Christianity’s global success?

Christianity’s global dominance is beyond dispute. It’s the most successful, most widely practiced religion in world history. And despite the huffing and puffing of the multiculturalists, it’s probably worth noting that every single major scientific breakthrough of the past 500 years can be traced to Christian nations.

So what makes Christianity so different?

As an ideology, it’s not that dissimilar to Judaism. That’s why we can use phrases like “Judeo-Christian values.” In its desire to land new converts, Christianity isn’t that different from Islam — a fellow Abrahamic faith that also seeks converts and loathes apostates. Hinduism has been around longer and has an even older holy book. Buddhism also holds worldwide appeal.

But out of all of them, Christianity has proven the most functional. If a loving, caring, jealous God wants His humans to be happy, it certainly seems as if the Christian path is the best way to achieve those results.

And the one aspect of Christianity that’s unique from all those aforementioned religions is the concept of the Devil — an entity fully dedicated to evil, trying to hurt humans, and actively plotting Deicide. There’s nothing at all analogous in those other faiths.

One of the ideas that Stanford explores is the Devil as a caveat for Christian conversions. Lots of religions promise you paradise after you die, including Christianity and Islam, but being a Christian had an added benefit: It also protected you from the Devil while you were alive and could really use the help. For large portions of European history, the Devil was a popular, omnipresent figure in sermons and art. Old Scratch loomed large. People were afraid.

After two or three of your babies died in childbirth, in your mind, the Devil’s existence was beyond dispute.

Most academics suspect that the concept of a Devil was derived from Zoroastrianism, probably from Jewish exiles returning to the Holy Land in 586 BC. (Most conservative Christians suspect something very different, of course.) Regardless of his origins, he’s proven an eternally popular character. Even today, he’s the star of countless horror films, paintings, podcasts, and rock songs. Clearly, he was very “real” to our forefathers, who truly, wholeheartedly believed in possessions, witchcraft, amulets, and casting curses.

The question remains: Was the Devil the catalyst for Christianity’s enduring popularity?

According to Stanford, the Devil didn’t just fall from Heaven — he’s also fallen in and out of popular favor. During times when he was considered real, he gave Christianity a powerful marketing advantage over the other faiths. And when he’s reduced to a literary device, Christianity’s marketing message is diminished. (At least, that’s how I fused his ideas together in my marketing-centric brain.)

Today, the Devil has once again fallen out of favor. You’re more likely to find the Devil as a cartoon character in a TV commercial than the focus of many “mainstream” church sermons. This pivot may be responsible for lowering Christianity’s conversion rates. If you need a wakeup call, consider this: By 2035, there will be more babies born to Muslims than Christians. Christian nations also have some of the oldest, rapidly aging populations on the planet, so your children and grandchildren will likely witness Christianity’s reign as the world’s most popular religion come to an end.

It was a good run.

Fortunately, the worth of a savior is independent of the size of his flock. Even if Christ’s disciples had doubled in numbers, the validity of his message would stay precisely the same. One billion Christians, two billion Christians, five billion Christians — whatever the number, it doesn’t matter, for the truth of the Gospel isn’t linked to human roll calls.

But from a marketing perspective, it’s extraordinarily relevant. 

I personally don’t believe the Devil was responsible for Christianity’s success. As a contributing actor, sure — he certainly wasn’t a nonfactor. Plus, the concept of salvation necessarily implies a negative fate from which we need to be saved. The avoidance of Hell mattered to converts and we shouldn’t pretend otherwise, but I suspect the ethics and values of Christianity, along with the nobility of Jesus Christ as a role model, mattered much more.

Additionally, there’s another theory that Stanford failed to explore: Perhaps there’s an alternative explanation for Christianity's global success. Perhaps the reason why Christianity has been so successful for so long is… Christianity is right.

It’s probably at least worth a thought.