What Does Satan Look Like?

"You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, carnelian, topaz, and jasper, chrysolite, beryl, and onyx, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald; and wrought in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. With an anointed guardian cherub I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and the guardian cherub drove you out from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground" (Ezekiel 28:13-17 RSV)

It would be quite natural to assume that a spirit being so grossly evil would also look evil. The popular perceptions of Satan are usually either that of a sinister-looking individual in all-black clothing, or a comic character in a red suit with horns and a pitchfork, but The Bible, as in the above Scriptures, describe Satan with "beauty" and "splendor." Satan appears righteous:

"For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is not strange if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness." (2 Corinthians 11:13-15 RSV)

There is much written in the Bible about Satan's change of behavior, but nothing about any change in appearance. He is the ultimate evil, and yet he appears attractive and righteous. The references to him as a "snake" or "serpent" refer more to his sneaking, slithering, underhanded personality than his actual visual appearance.

Along with the fact that the rugged and ordinary-looking Jesus Christ (Isaiah 53:2-5, see also What Did Jesus Look Like?) looked almost nothing like the pale "pretty boy" who is so often portrayed in Christian art, one of the most startling questions of recent times involves just who it is that's actually portrayed in those images. What very powerful deceiver, and, as the Bible describes him, impersonator, could have easily influenced all of those various artists, over the many centuries, to depict someone who's consistently the same in un-Christ-like appearance?

Fact Finder: How did Satan originate?
See Did God Create The Devil?

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