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''The Satanic Bible'' is a collection of essays, observations, and rituals published by Anton LaVey in 1969. It contains the core principles of Satanism, and is considered the foundation of its philosophy and dogma. It has been described as the most important document to influence contemporary Satanism. Though ''The Satanic Bible'' is not considered to be sacred scripture in the way the Christian Bible is to Christianity, LaVeyan Satanists regard it as an authoritative text as it is a contemporary text that has attained for them scriptural status. It extols the virtues of exploring one's own nature and instincts. Believers have been described as "atheistic Satanists" because they believe that God is not an external entity, but rather something that each person creates as a projection of his or her own personality—a benevolent and stabilizing force in his or her life. There have been thirty printings of ''The Satanic Bible'', through which it has sold over a million copies. ''The Satanic Bible'' is composed of four books: ''The Book of Satan'', ''The Book of Lucifer'', ''The Book of Belial'', and ''The Book of Leviathan''. ''The Book of Satan'' challenges the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule, and promotes hedonism. ''The Book of Lucifer'' holds most of the philosophy in ''The Satanic Bible'', with twelve chapters discussing topics such as indulgence, love, hate, and sex. LaVey also uses the book to dispel rumors surrounding the religion. In ''The Book of Belial'', LaVey details rituals and magic. He discusses the required mindset and focus for performing a ritual, and provides instructions for three rituals: those for sex, compassion, or destruction. ''The Book of Leviathan'' provides four invocations for Satan, lust, compassion, and destruction. It also lists the nineteen Enochian Keys (adapted from John Dee's Enochian keys), provided in both Enochian and translated to English. There have been both positive and negative reactions to ''The Satanic Bible''. It has been described as "razor-sharp" and "influential". Criticism of ''The Satanic Bible'' stems both from qualms over LaVey's writing and disapproval of the content itself. LaVey has been criticized for plagiarizing sections, and accusations have been made that his philosophies are largely borrowed. ''The Satanic Bible'' has been heavily condemned as dangerous, particularly to adolescents. Attempts have been made to ban the book in schools, public libraries, and prisons, though these attempts are somewhat rare. ==History== There are multiple stories of the birth of ''The Satanic Bible''. In the introduction to the 2005–present edition, High Priest Peter H. Gilmore describes LaVey as having compiled ''The Satanic Bible'' on his own from monographs he had written about the Church of Satan and its rituals. Gilmore lists a number of people who influenced LaVey's writings: Ayn Rand, Friedrich Nietzsche, H. L. Mencken, the members of the carnival with whom LaVey had supposedly worked in his youth, P. T. Barnum, Mark Twain, John Milton, and Lord Byron. LaVey's estranged daughter Zeena Schreck, in an exposé about both her father's religion and past, attributes the birth of ''The Satanic Bible'' to a suggestion by Peter Mayer, a publisher for Avon. According to Schreck, Mayer proposed that LaVey author a Satanic bible to draw from the popularity of the 1968 horror film ''Rosemary's Baby'', which had caused a recent rise in public interest in both Satanism and other occult practices.〔There is some disagreement over this claim: Gilmore states in the introduction that it was in fact LaVeyan Satanism that influenced ''Rosemary's Baby''.〕 Schreck states that, aided by Diane Hegarty, LaVey compiled a number of writings he had already been distributing: an introduction to Satanism, a number of short essays, a guide to ritual magic, and articles he had previously published in ''The Cloven Hoof'', a Church of Satan newsletter. Either to meet length requirements set by the publisher or out of agreement with the ideas, LaVey and Hegarty borrowed heavily from writings by other authors. These included a social Darwinist book published in 1890 entitled ''Might Is Right'' by Ragnar Redbeard, as well as Dee's Enochian keys from Aleister Crowley's ''The Equinox'', modified to replace references to Christianity with those to Satan. Some accuse LaVey of paraphrasing the ''Nine Satanic Statements'' from Rand's ''Atlas Shrugged'' without acknowledgement, though others maintain that LaVey was simply drawing inspiration from the novel. LaVey later affirmed the connection with Rand's ideas by stating that LaVeyan Satanism was "just Ayn Rand's philosophy, with ceremony and ritual added". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Satanic Bible」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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