Where the Devil?

Where did this idea of the Devil come from? I just returned from watching Dr. Faustus. It seems anathematic to the Jewish religion, I guess it must have come from somewhere else but it's so prevalent in most forms of Christianity and in the general culture. I've heard from people who believe they are the battleground of Good and Evil, and experience dreams of Spiritual Warfare. My view, after this evening, is that Evil comes from taking life too seriously. If you don't do that, then there are only mistakes.

I do like the idea of the seven deadly sins, however. Those, apparently, were invented by Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th Century. What I like about them is the concept of responsibility, that I am responsible for my own lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride - not others to blame for providing temptations, challenges and irritation. The one thing I would add would be jealousy - in Hebrew there are no two separate words for envy and jealousy. It took me a long time to figure out what those words meant in English. Just as there is no word for Evil, only bad or wickedness.

Back to project sleep. Gotta wake up to teach yoga tomorrow morning.