What is the purpose of the Devil? The Devil was created to create a scapegoat for the evils and temptations that afflict man in a world created by God. The presence of evil in the physical was thought not to come directly from God, so the concept of a lesser power that could be attributed to things like an outbreak of pox or a bad harvest. Later the Devil becomes a metaphor for a rebellious figure who struck against his “king”, as means to keep the people in their place socially and economically. Is Satan necessary to beleive in God? I would say that Satan’s existence is important to and even contingent to modern belief in God. For many people the excuse that tragedy is all apart of God’s infinitely growing plan, is just not enough. Otherwise we have to question the concept of God as an infinitely good. Believing in the Devil helps settle the mind and place him as the outsider trying to test your faith, because otherwise God just seems like an amoral jerk. Biblical depiction of Satan? For a start the Devil as we know him today is not present in the old testament, but does make an appearance in the later texts, so it support the notion that following the Christian movement that along with adapting Christ as the savior, Satan was created to be his antithesis and adversary. Later abuse of the term was than used to control the masses. Satan and Evil relationship Satans relationship with evil is not as simple as him being the ultimate embodiment of evil. Satan’s version of Evil seems to be more along the lines of unrestricted freedom shared by anarchist. Free thinking and ambition are traits that could be considered evil if they meant rebelling against a tyrant you lose faith in.