What is Levayan Satanism?

Typing Satanism into google comes up with a wikipedia article first. Then a Church of Satanism website.  In todays blog I will be doing a very brief over all look into Levayan Satanism.  Like i've said before I personally belief its important as Christians to do some research into other cultures and religions.  Please forgive me for the VERY brief look into it today and I welcome discussion into the subject.

As I begin to read the wikipedia article on Levayan Satanism I find myself surprised to learn that Satanism isn't just the Judeo-Christian view of Satan, the fallen angel, the temptor of Christ.  There is for example Levayan Satanism.

Levayan Satanism (from wikipedia)

"Founded in 1966 by Anton LaVey. Its teachings are based on individualism, self-control and "eye for an eye" morality."

"Unlike Theistic Satanism, LaVeyan Satanism does not involve the literal worship of any being other than the self, but rather uses "Satan" as a symbol of carnality and earthly values, of man's inherent nature, and of acosmos which Satanists perceive to be permeated and motivated by a force that has been given many names by man over the course of time."

I find this quite interesting because it really is part of the human nature to be this way.  And although Levayan Satanists don't actually believe in Satan as a real entity, the beliefs are very similar to how Christians/Muslims view Satan and how he tempts humanity.  

"Anton LaVey established Satanism's first and largest religious organization, the Church of Satan, in 1966, and codified Satanic beliefs and practices in The Satanic Bible in 1969. The Church of Satan acknowledges that there are many Satanists around the world, including both members and non-members. It rejects the legitimacy of any other organizations of Satanists, dubbing them reverse-Christians, pseudo-Satanists or Devil worshippers. Although exact numbers are not known, conservative estimates are that the number of adherents run into the thousands."

So, from what i can gather they reject devil worshipers. Which, if i'm being honest, is what I thought the majority of Satanists were.  They do however use rituals. 

"The Church of Satan attracted a great deal of publicity. Its use of nude women as altars, and performances of a Satanic wedding and funeral service, brought it much attention. Anton LaVey shaved his head and wore a white clerical collar, sometimes even wearing horns to complete the image of the Devil incarnate. His flamboyant personality attracted many followers and admirers."

Beliefs

"In The Satanic Bible, Anton LaVey describes Satan as a motivating and balancing dark force in nature. Satan is also described as being the "Black Flame", representing a person's own inner personality and desires. Satan is seen as synonymous with thenature and even, metaphorically, with certain conceptions of a supreme deity or God."

In his most important essay, "Satanism: The Feared Religion", the Church of Satan's current leader Peter H. Gilmore states:

"Satanists do not believe in the supernatural, in neither God nor the Devil. To the Satanist, he is his own God. Satan is a symbol of Man living as his prideful, carnal nature dictates. The reality behind Satan is simply the dark evolutionary force of entropy that permeates all of nature and provides the drive for survival and propagation inherent in all living things. Satan is not a conscious entity to be worshipped, rather a reservoir of power inside each human to be tapped at will. Thus any concept of sacrifice is rejected as a Christian aberration—in Satanism there’s no deity to which one can sacrifice"

"Satanists do not believe that Satan is a god; rather, the function of God is performed and satisfied by the Satanist him/herself. That is, the needs of worship, ritual, and religious/spiritual focus are directed, effectively, inwards towards the Satanist, as opposed to outwards towards a God.

LaVey proposes, instead, that if all gods are creations of humans, worship of an external deity is worship of its creator by proxy. He suggests, then, that the rational Satanists should instead internalize their gods and therefore worship themselves; hence the Satanic maxim, "I am my own god."^[15]"

^{Please do read further into the wikipedia article by clicking the wikipedia link above.}

The Church of Satan Website:

The Nine Satanic Statements from the satanic bible: 

1. Satan represents indulgence instead of abstinence!

2. Satan represents vital existence instead of spiritual pipe dreams!

3. Satan represents undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical self-deceit!

4. Satan represents kindness to those who deserve it instead of love wasted on ingrates!

5. Satan represents vengeance instead of turning the other cheek!

6. Satan represents responsibility to the responsible instead of concern for psychic vampires!

7. Satan represents man as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse than those that walk on all-fours, who, because of his “divine spiritual and intellectual development,” has become the most vicious animal of all!

8. Satan represents all of the so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification! 

9. Satan has been the best friend the Church has ever had, as He has kept it in business all these years!

The Eleven Satanic Rules of Earth:

1. Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked.

2. Do not tell your troubles to others unless you are sure they want to hear them.

3. When in another’s lair, show him respect or else do not go there.

4. If a guest in your lair annoys you, treat him cruelly and without mercy.

5. Do not make sexual advances unless you are given the mating signal.

6. Do not take that which does not belong to you unless it is a burden to the other person and he cries out to be relieved.

7. Acknowledge the power of magic if you have employed it successfully to obtain your desires. If you deny the power of magic after having called upon it with success, you will lose all you have obtained.

8. Do not complain about anything to which you need not subject yourself.

9. Do not harm little children.

10. Do not kill non-human animals unless you are attacked or for your food..

11. When walking in open territory, bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask him to stop. If he does not stop, destroy him.

There are also nine satanic sins which you can feel free to research yourself.

The amount of information out there is really quite astounding and there is no way for me to fit it 

all into one blog post.  I hope this briefly outlined the Leveyan belief system for you. 

As you know, we are a Christian blog. I want to finish this post with bible verses that are very

important to me personally and represent my beliefs and what is written in our bible.

Mark 12:30-31

30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and

 with all your strength.’[a] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] There is no

 commandment greater than these.”

Mark 8:34-35 

The Way of the Cross

 34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my

 disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to

 save their life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it." 

Philipians 2:2-4

² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. ³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Our belief on this blog is we have life through Jesus Christ. If you have any questions please ask below. 

Also we welcome discussion on this subject. Please share your opinions and points of view. Just remember to be civil and friendly.  We hope our blog is a friendly, welcoming place where people can feel free to discuss various subjects. 

God bless you all this week! :)