Jeffrey Burton Russell (1934–2023)

Pros: detailed analysis, lots of explanation

Cons: lots of necessary repetition

This is the second in a series of books on the evolution of the devil in Christian thought, following The Devil: Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity. There are 8 chapters: The Devil, The Apostolic Fathers, The Apologetic Fathers and the Gnostics, Human Sin and Redemption: Irenaeus and Tertullian, Mercy and Damnation: the Alexandrians, Dualism and the Desert, Satan and Saint Augustine, show more Conclusion: Satan Today. There is also an essay on the sources used by Russell.

Given that each group of theologians built on what came before, the book contains a lot of repetition. Several later authors expanded on Origen’s theory of the cosmos and redemption before it was declared heretical. Russell does a good job of explaining sometimes convoluted mythologies (like those of the Gnostics and Manicheans) so that you can see how their beliefs coloured that of Orthodox Christians.

Each chapter deals with a stage in the development of Christianity, including how the believers at that period understood Creation, the Fall (of angels and mankind), and Redemption (whether through Christ’s sacrifice or via tricking the Devil). It’s interesting to read the various theories and how they shifted and grew over time into the ideas we’re familiar with today.

While it’s an older book, first published in 1981, the scholarship is solid, with then current references and a lot of page notes explaining certain concepts in more detail.

If you’re interested in the development of the devil and hell, how theological discourse changes over time, or simply in the history of Christianity as a whole, this is an interesting read. show less

Fascinating exploration of the development of the Western, Christian idea of the personification of evil. The mid-70's anthropological methodology, however, now reads as paternalistic and condescending to anything pre-Christ, but we can forgive him because he was of the V. Gordon Childe era, as well as being firmly in the Jungian camp, which struck me as delightfully antiquated. His break down of pre-Hellenistic faith structures was also limited to what the Church Fathers deigned to show more assimilate into the nascent Christian faith. His ideas of evil, whether it is natural or moral, how and where in a divine world or body of divine beings it resides, were the most compelling arguments. His assertion that our current ideation of evil is contemporary with Christian thought is also dated, but those are my only qualms with the book. Enjoyed it, will look out for his "Witchcraft in the Middle Ages". show less

This is a great one-stop overview of the development and evolution of the Christian notion of the Devil as a means to deal with the problem of evil. It covers the earliest theological and scholarly musings on the topic all the way to the devil in current popular culture. Along the way, great summations of the thoughts of the early church fathers, such as Origen and Tertullian, through Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, and on, with literary detours into Shakespeare, Hume, Dante, and Milton. show more The author has written several books on Satan, and this is a summation--though primarily from the Christian perspective. It is stunning to see the mental gyrations that theologians and artists have gone through to explain evil in the universe. Call it theo-jazz, the improvisations are sometimes enlightening, sometimes jaw-dropping. show less

Pros: very thorough, lots of endnotes

Cons: not many photos

This was a very interesting book about how peoples in the past thought about the concept of evil and how those philosophical musings and religious beliefs slowly morphed into the idea held by Christians that there is a single force that causes evil: the Devil.

After the preface the book consists of 7 chapters: The Question of Evil, In Search of the Devil, The Devil East and West, Evil in the Classical World, Hebrew Personifications show more of Evil, The Devil in the New Testament, and The Face of the Devil. There’s a select bibliography and an index.

The book starts with a discussion of what evil is. This book traces how ancient societies thought of ‘evil’, whether it was part of the gods, human nature, imposed from the outside or something within us. It examines both religious and philosophical beliefs from various cultures and periods whose peoples wanted to know why good things happened to bad people. Why, if there’s a god (or gods) who is good, who created a world of good, is there evil in the world?

We’re so used to categorizing things that it’s easy to forget just how interconnected the world really is. I tend to think of Greek mythology as independent from other religious practices, even though I know the Romans modified the beliefs to fit with their own pantheon of gods. So it was eye opening learning how the Greek gods were turned into evil spirits by early Christian thought, and how Pan was used as a template when artists started visualizing the devil as a personification of evil.

I only knew bits and pieces of other ancient religions so leaning more about them and how they intersected and built off of one another was fascinating. I also loved learning side information like why people with red hair were considered evil.

The most interesting section for me was on the Persian Zoroastrian religion, whose basic mythology is similar to the one Christianity ultimately settled on. I also enjoyed learning more about the apocalyptic Jewish writings and how they impacted the Gospels in the New Testament.

There aren't that many photos, but the ones included help visualize how the devil gained certain attributes (like wings, horns, etc).

This is an older book (it came out in 1977), but it’s still highly relevant to Christian and general religious studies. show less