Christianity: General
Christianity teaches that the devil (or Lucifer/Satan) is a fallen angel, after Isaiah 14:12: "How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!" Lucifer was an angel who rebelled against God and was ejected from heaven.
Christianity: Catholicism
Catholics believe that the devil and other demons were angels created by God but became demonic--or adversaries of God--after their fall. Satan, lord of demons, exists and can cause humans harm, but he is still a creature and not equal to God.
Buddhism
The Buddhist concept of the devil is called Mara, the head of the heavenly demons and the Sense Desire realm. Buddhists believe that Siddhartha (later, the Buddha) was tempted by Mara before enlightenment, but he could not be swayed from his path. Mara symbolizes desire and everything that hinders humans from proceeding along the right path.
Hinduism
Though Hindus believe there is evil in the world, there is no single devil-like entity in Hinduism. However, there is a concept of asura, or evil sprit. Evil spirits do not remain evil forever--they are beings of Naraka, the lower plane, and can evolve to goodness. The Bhagavad Gita, one of Hinduism's most important texts, tells the story of Arjuna's fight against evil and lower desires, embodied by the army of Kauravas.
Islam
Iblis, the devil in Islam, is described in the Qur'an as "the adversary." Originally, he refused to obey God's commandment to prostrate himself before Adam. The devil in Islam tempts humans and tries to mislead them. Before beginning to read the Qur'an, Muslims recite the Ta'awud, in which they say, "I take refuge in God from Satan the stoned one"--praying that they may take refuge in Allah from the devil.
Judaism
Judaism teaches that humans were created with two inclinations, the yetzer tov, or good inclination, and the yetzer ra, the bad inclination. The inclination to do bad or be selfish is within a person, it is not the result of an outside force. The Jewish concept of Satan, the "hinderer," is that he is an angel who leads humans to evil, and people must struggle to overcome their evil inclinations.
Zoroastrianism
One of the earliest concepts of the devil comes from Zoroastrianism. Zoroaster, founder of Zoroastrianism, taught belief in two distinct entities: Angra Mainyu and Ahura Mazda. Mainyu was an evil spirit who tempted Zoroaster, but Zoroaster overcame evil in favor of Ahura Mazda, the supreme Zoroastrian god and "Wise Lord."
Satanism
Some religions worship the Devil. This can be in a polytheistic sense where "God", Satan, and others are all deities with Satan as the preferred patron; or it can be from a more monotheistic viewpoint, where God is regarded as a true god, but is nevertheless defied.
Some variants deny the existence of God and the Devil altogether, but still call themselves Satanists, such as Anton LaVey's Church Of Satan which sees Satan as a representation of the primal and natural state of mankind.
Much "Satanic" lore does not originate from actual Satanists, but from Christians. Best-known would be the medieval folklore and theology surrounding demons and witches. A more recent example is the Satanic ritual abuse scare of the 1980s – beginning with the memoir Michelle Remembers – which depicts Satanism as a vast (and unsubstantiated) conspiracy of elites with a predilection for child abuse and human sacrifice. This genre regularly describes Satan as actually appearing in person in order to receive worship.
NeopaganismChristian tradition has frequently identified pagan religions and witchcraft with the influence of Satan. In the Early Modern Period, the Church accused alleged witches of consorting and conspiring with Satan. Several modern conservative Christian writers, such as Jack Chick and James Dobson, have depicted today's neopagan and witchcraft religions as explicitly Satanic.
Few neopagan reconstructionist traditions recognize Satan or the Devil outright. However, many neopagan groups worship some sort of Horned God, for example as a consort of the Great Goddess in Wicca. These gods usually reflect mythological figures such as Cernunnos or Pan, and any similarity they may have to the Christian Devil seems to date back only to the 19th century, when a Christian reaction to Pan's growing importance in literature and art resulted in his image being translated to that of the Devil.
Wicca
Wiccans do not have a concept of the devil in their beliefs or practices. Wiccans do not believe that good and evil come from a divine source, but instead individual humans are responsible for their actions.
New Age movement
Participants in the New Age movement have widely varied views about Satan, the Devil, and so forth. In some forms of Esoteric Christianity Satan remains as a being of evil, or at least a metaphor for sin and materialism, but the most widespread tendency is to deny his existence altogether. Lucifer, on the other hand, in the original Roman sense of "light-bringer", occasionally appears in the literature of certain groups as a metaphorical figure quite distinct from Satan, and without any implications of evil. For example, Theosophy founder Madame Blavatsky named her journal Lucifer since she intended it to be a "bringer of light". Many New Age schools of thought follow a nondualistic philosophy that does not recognize a primal force for evil.
Even when a dualistic model is followed, this is more often akin to the Chinese system of yin and yang, in which good and evil are explicitly not a complementary duality. Schools of thought that do stress a spiritual war between good and evil or light and darkness include the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, Agni Yoga, and the Church
Ancient Egypt
In the Ausarian drama we find that Ausar (Greek: Osiris) is chopped into 13 pieces by Set. Auset (Isis) collects all of his pieces save his phallus. Horus, son of Ausar and Auset sets out to avenge the death and dismemberment of his father by confronting Set. Horus is victorious over Set and Ausar, being brought back from the dead becomes lord of the underworld. It is this drama that gives us the cosmic conflict between good and evil, evil being embodied by Set. This is not to say that Set was always seen as an evil character in Ancient Egyptian theology. There are many times in Ancient Egyptian history where conflicts between different "houses" lead to the depreciation of one god relative to another.
As in most polytheistic faiths, the characters involved differentiate themselves from the Western tradition of a devil in that all the gods are closely related. In this case, numerous historic texts suggest that Set is the Uncle or Brother of Horus and in the "defeat" of Set, we see another separation from the norm in the devouring/assimilation of Set into Horus with the result of Horus having depictions of both the falcon head and the (unknown animal) head of Set. This (like Buddhism) represents a dissolution of dichotomy.
World Folklore
In the Western Christian tradition, the Devil has entered popular folklore, particularly in his role as a trickster figure. As such, he is found as a character in a wide number of traditional folktales and legends from Ireland, Newfoundland, Italy and the United Kingdom, where he often attempts to trick or outwit other characters. In some of these tales, the Devil is portrayed as more of a folk villain than as the personification of evil. The Devil also features prominently in a number of hagiographical tales, or tales of the saints such as the popular tale of St. Dunstan, many of which may fall outside the authorized religious canon. The Devil is also a recurring feature in tales explaining the etymology of geographical names, lending his name to natural formations such as The Devil's Chimney.
Demons
In some religions and traditions, these titles are separate demons; others identify these names as guises of The Devil. Even when thought of as individual demons, some are often thought of being under the Devil's direct control. This identifies only those thought of as the Devil.
Atheism
It is a myth that Atheists worship Satan as a sort of metaphorical symbol for particular principles . They reject all beliefs in the existence of Gods. Hence they do not believe in the Devil either.
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