Anti-Satan

The flavor of this is somewhat too Girardian, but still an excellent statement of the Spirit’s anti-Satanic role from Mark Heim (Saved from Sacrifice, 156):

“Satan sows discord, flames the mimetic rivalries and animosities among persons that can blow up into social crisis, and then encourages the persecutory sacrifices by which communities beat down and manage these conflicts. The paraclete is an anti-Satan. Satan was a murderer from the beginning. But the Holy Spirit is an advocate with the abandoned victims when all turn against them in sacred fury. Jesus says the devil is a liar and father of lies, but the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, truth that pierces the veil of mythic rationales for redemptive violence. Satan incites violence, the better to justify violence to restrain it. The Holy Spirit nurtures peace and unity to resist the conflicts that lead to sacrifice.”

To which we might add: When the Spirit becomes grieved and departs, satans move in in groups of seven, and the last state is worse than the first. Do not let the sun go down on anger, lest you give the devil an opportunity.