#The habitual sin is strong and I am struggling to deal

[herbofgraceandpeace]

God is good! All the time!

All the time! God is good!

[inaconstantstateofchange]

Hi!

I'm so glad i found your blog, your deep dives are making my brain tingle in the best of ways! It's so difficult to really find all the info your curious about with the many different editions and histories of everything so you are an absolute lifesaver for understanding all these intruiging lore aspects.

I've been very curious about Asmodeus for a while now but am kinda struggling finding out more about him, I know he's very strong and apparently a large snake?? But I was wondering if you at some point feel the motivation to if you could tell me some about him, he seems so interesting to me and I just wanna know more about who and what he is.

Again, you are so awesome and I vow to devour all your writing!

Asmodeus: An Origin

Thank you so much for the kind words - and for your patience as I worked on this one. If there's any question you had about him that feels like it's not wholly answered here, feel free to let me know! There's still a lot that I was not able to include.

As ever, these writeups will align with current 5e lore, and draw from 3.5e for additional supporting information. On rarer occasions – and always noted – I will reference 1e and 2e, but with the caveats that there is much more in those editions that is tonally dissonant with the modern conception of the Forgotten Realms, and thus generally less applicable.

You would be hard-pressed to find a more succinct introduction to Asmodeus himself than in the following passage, from 3e’s Book of Vile Darkness: 

Asmodeus the Archfiend, the overlord of all the dukes of hell, commands all devilkind and reigns as the undisputed master of the Nine Hells. Even the deities that call that plane home pay Asmodeus a great deal of respect.¹ 

As to his current position, 5e’s Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide features Asmodeus among the list of gods, naming him the “god of indulgence”, and crediting to him the domains of knowledge and trickery. His symbol is “three inverted triangles arranged in a long triangle”, as seen in the image below.² 

While his active circle of worshippers remains small, he is one of the gods habitually turned to by those in need, particularly those who have done something to earn them the displeasure of another god:

After transgressing against a god in some way, a person prays to Asmodeus for something to provide respite during the long wait. Asmodeus is known to grant people what they wish, and thus people pray for all the delights and distractions they desire most from life. Those who transgress in great ways often ask Asmodeus to hide their sins from the gods, and priests say that he will do so, but with a price after death.³

Asmodeus is particularly appealing to those who fear what awaits them after death, or have arrived to find the reality does not match their hopes. For these souls, even the hazards of Baator might be preferable to long centuries of solitary wandering on the Fugue Plane. 

All souls wait on the Fugue Plane for a deity's pleasure, which determines where a soul will spend the rest of eternity. Those who lived their lives most in keeping with a deity's outlook are taken first. Others, who have transgressed in the eyes of their favored god or have not followed any particular ethos, might wait centuries before Kelemvor judges where they go. People who fear such a fate can pray to Asmodeus, his priests say, and in return a devil will grant a waiting soul some comfort.³

The worship of Asmodeus attracts staunch individualists, who desire a future unaligned with the domain of any of the other gods, and are willing to choose self-determination in any form that might approach them.

The faithful of Asmodeus acknowledge that devils offer their worshipers a path that's not for everyone — just as eternally basking in the light of Lathander or endlessly swinging a hammer in the mines of Moradin might not be for everyone. Those who serve Asmodeus in life hope to be summoned out of the moaning masses of the Fugue Plane after death. They yearn for the chance to master their own fates, with all of eternity to achieve their goals.³

Asmodeus achieved his current official status of godhood during the Spellplague, which lasted from 1385 to 1395 DR. After this, for reasons he has unsurprisingly chosen not to reveal, he performed a ritual to alter the metaphysical categorization of all existing tieflings, giving them features that highlighted this connection.

Due to this shift, tieflings are often perceived with wariness by those who believe that Asmodeus is able to exert control over these newly-determined “descendants” of his. While this is an unwarranted suspicion, as tieflings are no more bound to his will than any other individual of another race, the mistrust remains unfortunately pervasive.⁴ 

The true origins of Asmodeus, particularly from 3rd Edition on, are kept rather ambiguous, seemingly quite by design. This is both for Watsonian reasons – that a supreme being of evil such as Asmodeus would not carelessly leave information about his origins (and, potentially, weaknesses) floating around – as well as Doylist: it is a more elegant solution than eternal retcons, and leaves it up to the individual scholar or DM which explanation they ascribe the most veracity to.⁵ 

On the charge of Asmodeus’s true form being a giant serpent, we have Chris Pramas to thank for that bit of lore, stated in 2e’s 1999 Guide to Hell, but rarely mentioned - and not in any definitive manner - from 3e onward.⁶ 3e’s Manual of the Planes, published in 2001, does reference this account, but as a whispered and shadowy theory about the Archdevil Supreme, rather than objective truth.

Brutally repressed rumors suggest that there is more to Asmodeus than he admits. The story goes that the true form of Asmodeus actually resides in the deepest rift of Nessus called the Serpent’s Coil. The shape seen by all the other devils of the Nine Hells in the fortress of Malsheem is actually a highly advanced use of the project image spell or an avatar of some sort. ... From where fell Asmodeus? Was he once a greater deity cast down from Elysium or Celestia, or is he older yet, as the rumor hints? Perhaps he represents some fundamental entity whose mere existence pulls the multiverse into its current configuration. Nobody who tells the story of Asmodeus’s “true” form lives more than 24 hours after repeating it aloud. But dusty scrolls in hard-to-reach libraries (such as Demogorgon’s citadel in the Abyss) yet record this knowledge. Unless it is pure fancy, of course.⁷ 

One can see from the framing of the above excerpt that there is no attempt made at certainty. Perhaps it is mere conjecture, or perhaps a secret, hidden truth that few may know. It is impossible to say for certain. 

Another story of Asmodeus’s possible origin is found in 3e’s Fiendish Codex II. This text, again, does not frame the information given as universal truth, but rather takes pains to emphasize its ambiguity. 

The best way to understand devils and their ways is to listen to the stories they tell about themselves. The most famous of these tales have propagated as myths throughout all the worlds of the Material Plane, becoming familiar to mortals of all sorts. But as is often the case with legends, contradictions abound. For example, the tale of the Pact Primeval is the accepted version of the multiverse’s creation. But an alternate story claims Asmodeus as the fallen creator of the universe.  Countless cultures have their own versions of the Pact Primeval legend. The names of the deities featured in it change depending on where it is told, but the names of the devils are always the same. Perhaps this fact is what inspired Philogestes, the accursed philosopher of evil, to pen his famous proverb: “The gods exist in multiplicity, but Asmodeus is unique.” As is the case with any myth worthy of the name, the following tale is true — whether or not it actually happened.⁸ 

In this account, Asmodeus began as a celestial embodiment of law, formed from the concept itself to fight against the embodiment of chaos — demons.⁹ Over time, as he and his followers became more akin to the enemies they were facing, those celestial beings not engaged in the fight grew leery of what they were becoming, and took him to trial, to account for himself. The god of valor spoke first, laying out the concerns of those gathered against Asmodeus. In response: 

Asmodeus smiled, and the smoke of a thousand battlefields rose from his lips. “As Lord of Battle,” he pointed out, “you should know better than any that war is a dirty business. We have blackened ourselves so that you can remain golden. We have upheld the laws, not broken them. Therefore, you may not cast us out.”⁸

Despite their efforts, the gods were able to find no laws that Asmodeus had broken. Unsurprisingly, as he himself had helped write them. This conflict between Asmodeus and his host and the remainder of the unsullied gods continued on, with the gods unable to get rid of him, and free themselves of the constant reminder of the Blood War.

With time, the concepts of “good” and “evil” entered the world alongside law and chaos, and Asmodeus was able to argue for dominion over those souls that chose evil. The gods loathed the reminders of this fact, however, and when Asmodeus volunteered to move to the empty plain of Baator, they enthusiastically agreed. It was only years later, when the number of souls arriving at their own planes after death began to sharply decrease, that they thought to travel to Baator themselves, where they found a robust operation based around encouraging mortal souls to take to the path of evil. 

“You have granted us the power to harvest souls,” replied Asmodeus. “To build our Hell and gird our might for the task set before us, we naturally had to find ways to improve our yield.” The war deity drew forth his longsword of crackling lightning. “It is your job to punish transgressions, not to encourage them!” he cried.  Asmodeus smiled, and a venomous moth flew out from between his sharpened teeth. “Read the fine print,” he replied.⁸ 

While the recorded story implies a simple act of one-upmanship, a later section of the Fiendish Codex tells us that Asmodeus’s split from the other celestial deities was not so amicable. 

Once he had committed himself to residing in Baator, the deities physically cast him out of the upper realms, and he fell — and fell, and fell. Upon reaching the plain of Baator, he plunged through the nascent layers he had begun to shape. (In some versions, his fall created the layers, breaking the formerly featureless plain into nine pieces, which then arranged themselves into floating tiers.) At last he hit solid ground but continued to fall, spiraling through rock and soil. The protesting earth of Baator tore at his flesh, opening scores of gaping wounds. Still he fell, until he could fall no farther. The point where he finally stopped was the deepest part of Baator — the Pit.  The wounds that Asmodeus suffered in his dramatic fall have never healed. Though he manages to appear blithely unperturbed by his injuries, they still weep blood every day, and he has been wracked by constant pain for millennia.¹⁰ 

This casting down and its associated injuries is corroborated in other texts as well, including 3e’s Manual of the Planes. 

5e’s Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes seemingly follows on from the Fiendish Codex’s account, sharing one conception of the fallout of Asmodeus’s stratagem, positioned as an in-universe account penned by the aasimar bard Anodius in a work titled “The Trial of Asmodeus”.

At some point after Asmodeus broke from Celestia to rule Baator, he was brought up on trial for unspecified crimes and trespasses. Asmodeus claimed the right to speak in his own defense, and a court was gathered, arbitrated by Primus, a being intrinsically aligned with Neutrality and Law. From Asmodeus’s recorded arguments in his own defense, we can surmise that those on Celestia had accused him of acting outside of the law in actively working to turn mortals to evil. 

The case stretched on, with neither side ceding ground, for weeks, until finally Primus declared his judgment. While Asmodeus could not be convicted of any true crime – for he had acted within the law in all things – he was to take an artifact, the Ruby Rod that is synonymous with his position, which would “guarantee his adherence to law”.¹¹ A quote from Anodius’s in-universe text is helpfully provided by Mordenkainen: 

“I literally sit beneath eight tiers of scheming, ambitious entities that represent primal law suffused with evil. The path from this realm leads to an infinite pit of chaos and evil. Now, tell me again how you and your ilk are the victims in this eternal struggle.” – Asmodeus addresses the celestial jury, from The Trial of Asmodeus¹¹

In a manner similar to his contested origin, Asmodeus’s appearance is described in several varying ways — a fact that seems in line for a principal schemer such as himself. This seeming discrepancy could also speak to varying uses of aspects or projection spells.

The Fiendish Codex II in one instance paints him as “a horned, red-skinned humanoid with a tall, lithe frame” who “dresses in splendid robes and understated but elegant accoutrements.”¹⁰ A later section in the Codex corresponds to this description given in the Book of Vile Darkness: 

Asmodeus stands just over 13 feet tall, with lustrous dark skin and dark hair. He is handsome in the same way that a thunderstorm is beautiful. His red eyes shine with the power of hell, and his head is crowned with a pair of small, dark red horns. He dresses in finery of red and black; a single garment of his might cost what an entire nation spends in a year. Of course, he is never without his Ruby Rod, an ornate piece of unparalleled jeweled finery and vast magical power.¹ 

Regarding his personality, he is most often described as “a soft-spoken, articulate, chillingly reasonable fellow who is confident in his status as one of the multiverse’s most powerful entities. Even when surprised, he reacts with supreme poise, as if he were already three steps ahead of his adversaries.”¹⁰ The Book of Vile Darkness notes correspondingly that: 

The actions of Asmodeus are often mysterious to outside observers, but that is due to the short-sighted and dim-witted view most beings have. Asmodeus’s manipulations are labyrinthine and insidious. They work on a grand scale, although when it suits his needs he is willing to focus his attention even on the status of a lowly mortal soul.¹

¹ Book of Vile Darkness. 2002. p. 165-6.

² Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide. 2015. p. 21.

³ Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide. 2015. p. 24.

⁴ Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide. 2015. p. 118. 

⁵ “Watsonian vs. Doylist”. Fanlore.org. 

⁶ In general, I try to stay in-universe with these lore writeups, but in this case it did feel like some out-of-universe context was necessary. 

⁷ Manual of the Planes. 2001. p. 123.

⁸ Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells. 2006. p. 4-5.

⁹ While the description of these events found within the Fiendish Codex is too long to transcribe here in its entirety, I highly encourage you to read the full account for yourself. 

¹⁰ Fiendish Codex II. 2006. p. 73-4.

¹¹ Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes. 2018. p. 9-10.

[cpdevos]

7/21/20 Fleeing Temptation/Living in Freedom From Sin pt. 2 (Margarette, Maria, and Lili)

Hi everyone!

Today's devo is part 2 of our discussion on fleeing from temptation and living in freedom from sin. If you haven't checked out part 1 of this series, definitely go read that one as well! Maria, Margarette, and I will each be providing our input, advice, and experiences with these issues.  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maria:

Romans 6:1-2

1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

God is perfect and holy. This verse touches on something we’ve probably thought about at some point: that if we sin, it’s okay since God will always forgive us and give us grace. Isn’t the whole point of Jesus that He takes our sin away? Paul raises this question as something logical to wonder. BUT, our hearts are not in the right place when we think this. Why would we choose to continue to sin, knowing it hurts us and takes us further from God, who is perfect and loves us? Paul rebukes this way of thinking, saying that we have died to sin by choosing to follow Jesus.

We are naturally prone to sin as human beings. But God redeems us from our life of sin! However, we cannot continue to live as we had before knowing God. If God is our priority, our lives will change to reflect Him better. We all struggle with sinning, but going to God through prayer and his Word, and having a community of believers for accountability are some ways I think can help us turn from it. We aren’t perfect and God does give us grace! But we should realize that taking advantage of that grace and refusing to repent isn’t the way to live as Christians. Grace and truth go hand in hand -- I’ll leave you with this quote by Randy Alcorn: “Any concept of grace that makes us feel more comfortable about sinning is not biblical grace. God’s grace never encourages us to live in sin; on the contrary, it empowers us to say no to sin and yes to truth.”

Margarette:

When we decided to write about the topic of sin + temptation, I felt unqualified...and I kind of still do. But, I just hope that I can at least share my perspective and a few things I’ve learned / realized over time.

We all fall prey to sins and temptations, and furthermore, we all struggle with being free from sin and temptation. Sin is usually a topic that we try to stay away from, at least when it comes to diving deeper and admitting your sins to other people or to God. In fact, we sometimes even push off admitting it to ourselves. I think part of my struggles stem from growing up in such a conservative environment (church, family, friends, etc.). I usually put up a front because I’m embarrassed that I don’t have my life together when it seems like everyone else is thriving. Of course, society also encourages a lot of these temptations--everyday, we consume so much media and often, our forms of online entertainment (movies, Youtube, TV shows, social apps) have bad themes (violence, romance, anti-religion, etc.).

I think being honest with yourself is a very important first step to freeing yourself from all the burdens of sin. We all need to take time and actually think about why we make certain choices and where our beliefs lie. Is God not so much greater than any of these earthly temptations? Like Maria wrote in her response: Why would we choose to continue to sin, knowing it hurts us and takes us further from God, who is perfect and loves us?

1 Peter 2:24 -- “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

This verse is pretty powerful, and it made me really rethink the implications of our sins. Jesus saved us from sin with his death on the cross and if we believe in Jesus Christ, we need to start acting like it. We are called to follow in Jesus' footsteps in living a more pure and holy life.

I’ll always remember the ABC acronym that Paster To taught: Admit, Believe, Confess. This might also sound familiar because we sang about it in the “Ride of your Life” VBS song:

A: Admit to God that you’re a sinner and repent

B: Believe that Jesus is God’s own son

C: Confess your faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord

When we talk about repenting from our sins, it seems like such an easy task...but what about when we try to actively turn away from sin? I encourage you to reflect on something you're struggling with and just take the time to bring it to God (maybe remember your ABCs while you're at it).

Lili:

Hello! This topic of temptation and being enslaved to sin is familiar in both an unpleasant and good way for me. It's good because it is a reminder of God's mercy to me, but it also a reminder of how I was consumed by my sin. I've experienced temptations of many kinds, but today I'm just gonna be giving you a shorter version of my hardest and most significant battle with temptation and sin. There was a pretty long period when I struggled with having impure and lustful thoughts. This went on pretty much everyday for about 3 or 4 years, so you can imagine how much I clung on to this sin and how it just became harder to want to let go of it. Every time I'd fall into that sin, I'd tell God I was sorry and asked Him to forgive me, knowing full well that I was going to do it again anyways. I was stuck, and I felt so much shame and guilt from this hidden sin that I couldn't tell anyone about because I couldn't and didn't want to explain what I was going through. I hate keeping things to myself, and this weighed heavily on me because I was dealing with this problem alone. I would pray for God to help me to control my thoughts, but at the same time, I wasn't willing to give up my sin because it gave me pleasure and temporary satisfaction. It was also relatively easy to hide it because it was all going on inside my head, while it was really destroying me on the inside. It really felt like a battle was going on in my head because while I felt the Holy Spirit nudging me to let go of my sin, my own will fought against those nudges because I didn't want to let it go.

After a few years of this and also after feeling convicted from hearing a number of sermons, Bible passages, and other resources talking about fleeing from sin and temptation, I knew I wanted this to end, but I didn't know how to tell anyone about my problem. I was scared of being so vulnerable, and that was part of the reason it took so long to admit it. Thankfully, I was truly convicted when I read a Christian article about temptation and how we must expose our sin. I believe it was the Holy Spirit pushing me to tell someone I trusted about it because I still can't believe I had the guts to expose my sin. Once I told that person, I felt SO free! It was one of the most wonderful feelings I've experienced because I felt like my burden had been lifted when I came out of hiding. I've heard the analogy of how sin prospers in the dark, but once it's brought into the light, it loses its power, and I felt like that was what happened when I confessed my sin. Of course, it still wasn't and isn't easy to fight off that temptation, but I am happy to say that for the most part, I've moved on from that sad and broken season in my life. It is by the grace of God that I have been freed from that life.

A couple of things that I found helpful in fighting my temptation was reciting verses and praying. When I was tempted to have those impure thoughts, I would sometimes instead fill my mind with God's truth. One verse that I would often remind myself of was 1 Corinthians 10:13 - "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it." It reminded me that I didn't have to be controlled by my temptation and that God could help me control myself from giving into temptation. Prayer is another thing that was helpful for me, because I was asking God to keep my mind from anything impure, and I have experienced Him truly working in me and taking my mind from what was impure to something better. And as I mentioned earlier, talking with someone about it also helps because you have someone to shoulder that burden with you and to keep you accountable. It's definitely scary, but so worth it if you talk with someone you trust who will be understanding and safe to talk to about it. From my own experience, it truly was a huge step for me to find freedom from my habitual sin. But as I was going through that time, I feel like God was slowly planting seeds in my mind which eventually led me to want to let my sin go. With help from the Holy Spirit and hearing from God through a number of different sources (messages, Bible passages, etc.), I was eventually ready to let go of the sin and experience His grace and forgiveness.  

To wrap this all up, I'd just like to say that if you are experiencing temptation or are struggling with sin, I'd highly recommend memorizing scripture, praying for God's strength to overcome the temptation, and talking with other Christian brothers and sisters (if you need someone to confide in, feel free to message me! I'd be happy to provide a listening ear and support). As Moses mentioned in the last devo, we’re going to be dealing with temptation our entire lives through all of the different stages of life we’re in. Just because I got out of that one phase of temptation in my life (which I still struggle with from time to time) doesn’t mean that I’m going to be temptation-free for the rest of my life. It will be an ongoing struggle for us, but I hope we all remember that God is faithful and that He has provided us with so much to help us combat sin and temptation. Our temptations are strong, but our God is even stronger. If you have any other tips/suggestions on how you fight against sin/temptation, feel free to respond to this email with your thoughts!

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Thanks for reading, and we hope you found both parts of this devo encouraging :)

Pray to end, Maria, Margarette, Lili