Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2017 June 25

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June 25

Opposite of the Devil

Guido Reni's Michael (in Santa Maria della Concezione church, Rome, 1636) tramples Satan. A mosaic of the same painting decorates St. Michael's Altar in St. Peter's Basilica.

If God and the Devil are not opposites and God has no opposite, then does the Devil have an opposite? If so, then what is his opposite? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 14.202.204.226 (talk) 05:18, 25 June 2017 (UTC)

Well, the Devil is a fallen angel, isn't commanded by god and does evil, so perhaps Angel? It's a story, so there is no testable answer. Choose one that pleases you most or agrees with whichever mythology you choose to believe in. Zzubnik (talk) 05:45, 25 June 2017 (UTC)

"Devil or Angel" is a song which is informed by a conventional cultural reference, namely that an angel is "good" and the devil (a "fallen angel") is "bad". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:20, 25 June 2017 (UTC)

Lucifer (the name) seems to be Latin for the "day star", which apparently meant "morning star", or Venus. So the Latin for "night star" ("nox sidus") or perhaps "evening star" (also Venus) might be a good choice, and that would be "vespere sidus"".

On the other hand, the Latin phrase "luci fer", from which the name Lucifer appears to be derived, seems to mean "carry the light", and "tenebris fer" would mean "carry the darkness". Or perhaps a better opposite would be "drop the dark"/"drop shadows", or "stillabunt tenebris". StuRat (talk) 14:46, 25 June 2017 (UTC)

"Luci fer" is not a Latin phrase: it would mean "bear [something] to the light". "Lucifer" is a Latin compound, meaning "light bearer". On the original question, "what is the opposite of ... " is very often an ill-formed question, because only if there is a single natural scale on which the item lies does it have a well-defined answer. --ColinFine (talk) 16:30, 25 June 2017 (UTC)

• Assuming you don't want to choose Jesus, then presumably one of the Archangels, particularly Michael, who leads God's army against Satan in the Book of Revelations. μηδείς (talk) 16:52, 25 June 2017 (UTC)
• Procedural note: questions about fictional characters go in Entertainment. Time for a move? Fgf10 (talk) 20:16, 25 June 2017 (UTC)
  • You're supposed to put jokes in small print. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:53, 25 June 2017 (UTC)

Joke? Fgf10 (talk) 07:18, 26 June 2017 (UTC)