The second episode of our series on the figure of Satan in the Bible touches on how this figure is characterized in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). Is Satan of the Hebrew Bible the same as that of the New Testament? Readers of the gospels first come across this figure in the testing of Jesus in the wilderness. Does Satan in this story work against God or on his behalf, and is the characterization of this personage consistent throughout the gospels? Can the role ascribed to Satan in these gospel stories shed some light on the ways early Christians tried to rationalize their faith in their struggle with evil?