Lucifer

In 1904, Isaiah 14:12 was interpreted as primarily describing Satan, with secondary applications to ancient and symbolic Babylon. From 1906 through the Russell presidency, Lucifer was presented as the original designation of a glorious heavenly creature who rebelled and became Satan. Under Rutherford, the teaching continued, and in 1925 Isaiah's description of Lucifer's fall was explicitly connected with Satan's expulsion from heaven after weakening the nations, rather than his original rebellion in Eden. Publications through 1947 repeatedly identified Lucifer as Satan's former name and described him as a divinely appointed guardian or overlord of humanity. In 1949, the king of Babylon was emphasized as a symbolic representation of Satan, and in 1952 Satan was described as having made himself Lucifer in his organization. A significant reversal appeared in 1957: Lucifer was no longer identified as Satan's original name, but the designation could still be applied to him in a taunting sense associated with Babylon's supremacy. In 1963, the publications explicitly attributed the use of Lucifer as Satan's name to early uninspired religious writers. Articles in 1965 explained the Babylonian royal dynasty as the primary referent of Isaiah 14:12 while retaining a secondary prophetic application to Satan as the invisible ruler of Babylon the Great. In 1971, the publications stated that Satan's former personal name was not revealed, and in 1973 they explicitly rejected calling Lucifer one of Satan's names. The interpretation of the shining one as the Babylonian dynasty was reaffirmed in 1985, 1988, 2000, and 2002. Publications in 2006, 2007, 2018, and 2026 continued to teach that the personal name of the angel who became Satan is unknown. By 2026, the distinction between the Babylonian shining one and Satan's unrevealed original name remained unchanged.