Chapter 10: D & D: Just A Game? from Stairway to Hell by Rick Jones

[DJCupboard]

Most medieval names for the Devil (and demons) were usually one of the following:

1) Cna'anite deities which were, ofcourse, villified in the monotheistic Old Testament: Ba'al (Baal), Ba'al Zvoov (Beelzebob), Ashtoreth (Astarte/Astoreth) and so on.

2) The name "Satan", actually referring to an angel in the service of God who've convinced God to test the faith of poor old Job; the "Devil" is a very late concept, introduced into Judaism (and, later on, Christianity and Islam) from a dualistic Persian faith (IIRC); he was later identified with Satan. Lilith is the name of a Cna'anite goddess who was later, in Talmudic Judaism, used to refer to the Devil's consort.

3) Mistranslations and outright misunderstanding of Old Testament text. IIRC, "Leviathan" (whale in Hebrew) was originally referred to in the Book of Job as something which is beyond man's limited power (that specific part of the Book of Job talked about how Man was inferior to God, despite of that time's technology. The passage talked about how man can't catch Leviathan (i.e. a whale) by hook. Somehow the fact that the word "Leviathan" appeared in the same book which has introduced Satan into Judaism gave rise to the identification of Leviathan with Satan.

4) Medieval myth, usually given Latin names: Succubus, Incubus.

But I think that most D&D demons have made-up names (i.e. not originating from previous mythologies or religions) given "demonic-sounding names". The main exception to this is the Succubus, a Medieval demon. I don't think that Glabrezu (sp?), Baatezu and so on have any origion outside of Gygax's imagination.

Sorry about that, I wasn't actually commenting on any revelation I just had, but was instead being sarcastic about how Rick Jones notes that D&D demon names can be found in the bible, as if that shows we were all tricked into being satan worshippers, rather than indicating that the creators of D&D used the bible as inspiration for some of their demon names. I was having a real hard time crafting that sentence to be properly snarky without being too clunky, though.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Jack Chick should be careful, as all of his arguments could easily be used against him and his fanatical ilk who give all monotheistic religions a bad name.

Could be used? Should be used. Too bad religious discussion isn't allowed here, or I would have started ENWorld's version of the Chick Tracts long ago.

Which reminds me of this little jewel of an urban legend:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/drlaura.asp

Radio "preacher" type running a show where she answers questions invoking the bible denounces homosexuality because the bible says it's wrong, and an alleged open letter follows, where the author refers to obscure bible parts.

 

[Drawmack]

I think we generally have. The book was in print by 1991 at the latest, and Jack Chick is very much a fringe operator who's noteworthy mainly for the noise and the absurdity he generates, not for any real impact or following.

Matthew L. Martin

Actually I find Jack Chick's little pamphlet style comic books to be great material for my Cthulu games. - Talk about Irony

 

[Nyaricus]

Hey everyone,

I'd just like to remind everyone that ENW has a "no religion" rule, and that I'm sure the mods would rather keep this discussion open than not - so please par back the religios tone of some of your responses; it's better for everyone, even if we are bashing Jack Chick and his nuttery.

Worse come worse, go to Circvs Maximus and talk about it there - it's EN Worlds sister site, that is more "no holds barred".

In any case:

Well, I'm off to shoot my parents in the name of the Great Lord, Gygax! See you all tomorrow!

That is a gem

cheers,
--N

 

[Chainsaw Mage]

If Jack Chick had lived in the Middle Ages, he would've been a proud member of the Inquisition.

Careful . . . you're showing your ignorance of both medieval history and Christianity.

Jack Chick is a rabid anti-Catholic.

The Catholic Church conducted the Inquisition.

There was no Inquisition in the Middle Ages.

 

[Chainsaw Mage]

Hey everyone,

I'd just like to remind everyone that ENW has a "no religion" rule, and that I'm sure the mods would rather keep this discussion open than not -

Not true! We're allowed to discuss religion all we want, as long as we're bashing fundamentalist Christians and/or Muslims.

See, watch:

Can you guys believe how utterly stupid all of these idiotic fundamentalists are? Stupid religious fanatics! Morons!

See? No big deal.

 

[Piratecat]

Not true! We're allowed to discuss religion all we want, as long as we're bashing fundamentalist Christians and/or Muslims.

Wrong.

And it's a heck of a lot more effective if you report a problem thread by clicking the exclamation point in the bottom left corner of every post.

Klunk.