The Prince of Darkness: Radical Evil and the Power of Good in History
by Jeffrey Burton Russell
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The Devil, Satan, Lucifer, Mephistopheles - throughout history the Prince of Darkness, the Western world's most powerful symbol of evil, has taken many names and shapes. Jeffrey Burton Russell here chronicles the remarkable story of the Devil from antiquity to the present. While recounting how past generations have personified evil, he deepens our understanding of the ways in which people have dealt with the enduring problem of radical evil. After a compelling essay on the nature of evil, show more Russell uncovers the origins of the concept of the Devil in various early cultures and then traces its evolution in Western thought from the time of the ancient Hebrews through the first centuries of the Christian era. Next he turns to the medieval view of the Devil, focusing on images found in folklore, scholastic thought, art, literature, mysticism, and witchcraft. Finally, he follows the Devil into our own era, where he draws on examples from theology, philosophy, art, literature, and popular culture to describe the great changes in this traditional notion of evil brought about by the intellectual and cultural developments of modern times. Is the Devil an outmoded superstition, as most educated people today believe? Or do the horrors of the twentieth century and the specter of nuclear war make all too clear the continuing need for some vital symbol of radical evil? A single-volume distillation of Russell's epic tetralogy on the nature and personifcation of evil from ancient times to the present (published by Cornell University Press between 1977 and 1986), The Prince of Darkness invites readers to confront these and other critical questions as they explore the past faces of that figure who has been called the second most famous personage in Christianity. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
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. 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 show more it theo-jazz, the improvisations are sometimes enlightening, sometimes jaw-dropping. show less
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Books in the Bibliography of The History of Hell by Alice K. Turner
155 works; 1 member
Author Information
22+ Works 2,919 Members
Jeffrey Burton Russell (Ph.D., Emory University) is professor emeritus of history at the University of California-Santa Barbara, where he taught from 1979 to 1988. He has also taught at the University of Mexico, Harvard, University of California-Riverside, Notre Dame and California State University-Sacramento. Russell has published numerous books show more and articles in his area of expertise, the history of theology. Early in his academic career, Russell was honored as a Fulbright Fellow, Harvard Junior Fellow and Guggenheim Fellow. show less
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1988
- People/Characters
- The Devil
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, History, General Nonfiction, Philosophy
- DDC/MDS
- 235.47 — Religion Christianity Spiritual beings Devils, Demons Satan, Lucifer
- LCC
- BT981 .R867 — Philosophy, Psychology and Religion Doctrinal Theology Doctrinal Theology Invisible world (saints, demons, etc.)
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 230
- Popularity
- 141,903
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.05)
- Languages
- English, German, Italian, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 9
- ASINs
- 3
