Once again Pagels provides an incisive and readable overview of the origin of the Bible and the historical context shaping both Christian & Jewish identities, and the Catholic Church as an institution. This title focuses on how the concept of Satan emerged from the story of Job (the angel "challenging" God's faith in his servant, Job), evolving from a "loyal obstacle" to a representation of evil. Pagel's findings are that the evolution had more to do with social developments than theological: groups of people vilified their enemies by associating them with Satan. Somewhat counterintuitively, this trend was followed primarily by Jews against other Jews, not against non-Jews, as they struggle to define / defend themselves and their faith in the face of increasing repression.

Pagels analysis highlights the war between Jews and Roman authorities (especially the siege of Jerusalem) as the key contextual event in which to place an understanding of the Bible. This war and its aftermath motivated the very writing of the Bible, and defined who would be around to write it. Interestingly, this event is also pretty much irrelevant to understanding Jesus, since he died 30-35 years before -- unless by "understanding Jesus" is meant the portrait put forth by different groups claiming him as their own, in which case this is merely another way of saying "understanding the Bible" (and helps explain the rift between heretics such as the gnostics and the Church).

Also interesting: Pagels seems to have come to this topic / question in part out of her grieving for her husband, who died in a hiking accident. That Pagels would acknowledge this personal motive in her introduction marks out the perspective she uses in all her popular writings: a critical and scholarly examination undertaken by a believer. I respect her scholarship and thesis all the more for this perspective. ( )

This was the first book that I read by Elaine Pagels. She has helped ease me on my spiritual journey. I have now read several of her books and this one is one of my favorites. I have also had the opportunity to see her speak once... that was unforgetable! ( )

Pagels' analysis of the treatment of evil as "other" in the Bible. ( )

Elaine Pagels' lucid history of the social construction of Satan is not only a wealth of historical information but also a source of important insights into the demonization of "intimate enemies" that has marked the history of Christianity. Pagels writes that she began with the assumption that Christian discourse about invisible beings, including Satan and other angels, had as its primary purpose what Martin Buber called the "moralizing" of the natural universe. She discovered that it had far more to do with social relations among particular persons, and that discovery informs the entire book. She traces the development of Satan in the Jewish community from a sort of roving agent acting on God's behalf-always obstructing but not always evil-to an increasingly evil force identified more and more with intimate enemies, members of one's own community with whom one is in conflict. That trend toward demonization of portions of the Jewish community intensified with the emergence of Christianity and became the basis for demonization of heretics and centuries of anti-Semitism. This is an informative, beautifully written book, an excellent illustration of how careful historical research can illuminate questions of more than passing historical interest.