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I have always heard people say that when you die and haven't accepted Christ and go to hell, that you're going to be punished by Satan, and we have this great plethora of contemporary culture showing a red horned devil with a trident forcing people to punishment in hell, but where does the Protestant Bible say that this is the case?

If it doesn't say this, where did this belief originate amongst Protestant faiths?

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  • The pictogram used to portray Satan as a red horned devil with a trident. Was because the early church wanted to convert followers of the Pagan god Pan to Christianity. So the story developed from the simple concept that those that followed Pan are going to die. Yet those that followed Christ would live.
    – Decrypted
    Commented Aug 29, 2014 at 1:16

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Put simply, it doesn't. Satan will not be the punisher in hell, but among the punished. Satan is not any any sense the king of hell

And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven[b] and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Revelation 20:7-10 ESV

So, the idea is a misconception.

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  • Any thoughts (or related questions on here) about why he is shown to always be the "king of hell" then?
    – jcolebrand
    Commented Oct 26, 2011 at 19:12
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    I really don't know. It's probably just cultural legend, like people who thinkg "God helps those who help themselves" is in the Bible.
    – Narnian
    Commented Oct 26, 2011 at 19:20
  • Interesting that the passage is titled "The Defeat of Satan" in the ESV.
    – joshmax
    Commented Oct 27, 2011 at 16:22
  • Because of the tree of discerning function and dysfunction. The one who exalts the functionality is the blasphemer. That is why Satan is referred to as a prince. Because those attempting to maintain functionality their spirit is more likely to fall to anger, depression, of anxiety (The Way of Death). Those submissive to others functionality have a much stronger position for maintaining Love, Peace, and Joy. So their reward is Everlasting Life. So the King is of greater risk of the grave, and risk the fiery(angry) lake(communication) or can be stated as tormenting arguments day and night.
    – Decrypted
    Commented Aug 29, 2014 at 1:12
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    This idea comes from pagan myth where almost every religion had a God of hell - hades, Pluto, Loki (? I think), etc... Just like Sunday worship, worship of idols etc... were incorporated into Christianity, this idea also was incorporated.
    – One Face
    Commented Dec 9, 2015 at 6:31
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In reference to your comment on Narnian's answer, my guess is that since Satan is referred to as the "prince of this world" (John 12:31, 14:30), it's been misconstrued over the years to mean "ruler" &/or "king". Along the same lines, since we understand he'll be in Hell for eternity, people have associated the "prince of this world" and "will be in hell" together and, voila, you have a "King."

Wikipedia states (emphasis added):

God therefore grants [Satan] the chance to test Job. Due to this, it has been interpreted that [Satan] is under God's control and cannot act without God's permission. This is further shown in the epilogue of Job in which God is speaking to Job, [Satan] is absent from these dialogues. "For Job, for [Job's] friends, and for the narrator, it is ultimately [God] himself who is responsible for Job's suffering; as [God] says to the 'satan', 'You have incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.'".

I'd say from observation that a King usually does not need permission to do such things.

This is mostly an educated guess, though :)

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  • Because of the tree of discerning function and dysfunction. The one who exalts the functionality is the blasphemer. That is why Satan is referred to as a prince. Because those attempting to maintain functionality their spirit is more likely to fall to anger, depression, of anxiety (The Way of Death). Those submissive to others functionality have a much stronger position for maintaining Love, Peace, and Joy. So their reward is Everlasting Life
    – Decrypted
    Commented Aug 29, 2014 at 1:09
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To be "punished by Satan" would imply that Satan has some sort of authority over the inhabitants of Hell.

It would seem to me that Mathew 23:12 (KJV), which states:

And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

would equally apply to the inhabitants of Hell as it would those of Heaven.

Therefore, since Satan's greatest sin was exalting himself, he would actually be the LOWEST inhabitant of Hell.

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  • Matt 23:12 is speaking of functionality vs. dysfunctionality. Exalting your functionality over someone else's lowers your value in that persons eyes because they see your functionality as dysfunctionality. Whoever submits to the functionality of another becomes valuable to that person.
    – Decrypted
    Commented Aug 29, 2014 at 1:03

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