COSMOS DIABOLICUS

Cosmos Diabolicus [literally “the devil’s world,” from the Greek word kosmos, “world, worldly affairs,” and Latin word diabolicus, “of or relating to the devil”] is a term that is drawn from the New Testament use of kosmos, the term that designates the “world” as Satan’s domain and identifies the evil premise, purpose, and policy on which it is formed (John 7:7; 15:18–19). Cosmos Diabolicus is the state of human civilization as fashioned by Satan, the ruler of this “present evil age” (Galatians 1:4; cf. 2 Corinthians 4:4).

To gain control over the realm he usurped from Adam, Satan constructs his earthly kingdom on the lie that the creature can thrive independently of the Creator (John 8:44; 1 John 5:19b). The vast and sophisticated cosmos diabolicus is the consummating display of that which the creature—both angelic and human—can produce, having embarked on an autonomous career. It is a highly ordered civilization of secular governments, education, and culture; man-centered theories of life, nature, and human behavior; religions of mere morality, legalism, even false gods. In its determination to imitate, obscure, and rule out God, Satan’s cosmos includes all the good which he can incorporate into it and be consistent in the thing he aims to accomplish. This deceptive ‘good’ is the relative righteousness of human good, a replacement for the absolute standards and righteousness of God. Cosmos diabolicus is thus a world in which man strives by his own works to improve, even perfect, the human condition—a world whose intrinsic depravity is whitewashed by the ideals of a utopian kingdom that, in Satan’s mind, will supersede the kingdom that Christ has promised to inaugurate on His return.

Satan is indeed the present ruler of the cosmos (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; Ephesians 2:2). His offer to Jesus in the desert was bona fide, because “all the kingdoms of the world” were, and still are, his to offer (Matthew 4:8-9). However, infinite God, sovereign over all creation, ensures that this finite creature will never gain complete control of the world he rules and thus never accomplish his evil objectives. God permits the satanic kingdom to run its course, because the failure of cosmos diabolicus must be fully demonstrated against the supremacy of God’s power and plan. This demonstration will culminate with Satan’s defeat at the Second Advent, when rulership of all the earth’s kingdoms will be delivered to Jesus Christ. The King of kings will inaugurate His millennial reign only after everything of cosmos diabolicus is crushed, set ablaze, laid waste, and the devil is deposed and imprisoned (Psalm. 2:7-9; Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45; Malachi 4:1; Matthew 13:41-43; Revelation 18:9—20:3).