Source

The Satanic Bible

Anton Szandor LaVey founded the Church of Satan, and this 1969 book is his own foundational text setting out its philosophy, an explicitly atheistic and self-focused system that treats Satan as a symbol of individualism and carnal nature rather than as a literal supernatural being. As LaVey's own primary statement it is the correct source for the Church of Satan's actual stated position, correcting the common outside assumption that the organization worships a literal devil. Its limit is exactly that it is one founder's personal manifesto rather than a scholarly or independent account, so a claim about the movement's later organizational history after LaVey needs a source beyond this founding text.

Facts

Citation

Author

Anton Szandor LaVey

Publisher

Avon Books

New York, first Avon printing December 1969; the copyright page itself states this Avon edition is the first publication of The Satanic Bible in any form.

Publication Year

1969

First Avon printing, December 1969.

Source Type

primary-text

Assessment

Reliability Tier

The Church of Satan's own founding text in the founder's own words: the correct source for the organisation's stated position, but a founder's manifesto rather than an independent or scholarly account, this atlas's middle tier.

Notes

Cited as evidence of the Church of Satan's own stated position, which is explicitly atheistic, and not as an authority on anything else.

Connections

Associated With

Church of Satan

This source names Church of Satan directly: "Anton Szandor LaVey founded the Church of Satan, and this 1969 book is his own foundational text setting out its philosophy, an explicitly atheistic and self-focused system that treats Satan as a..."

Source The Satanic BibleAnton Szandor LaVey

Satan

This source names Satan directly: "Szandor LaVey founded the Church of Satan, and this 1969 book is his own foundational text setting out its philosophy, an explicitly atheistic and self-focused system that treats Satan as a symbol..."

Source The Satanic BibleAnton Szandor LaVey

Claims Backed By This Source (50 claims)

This source backs 50 claims across the atlas. As facts: 29 well-attested. As cited relationships: 11 holds, 1 held Differently. Plus 9 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.