A History of the Devil

I expected some kitschy camp given the title, and I was totally unprepared for the full on religious studies discourse that was not so much about the history of the devil as the religious history of no devil. Not quite the cheap fun I was looking for but very interesting none the less.

I expected some kitschy camp given the title, and I was totally unprepared for the full on religious studies discourse that was not so much about the history of the devil as the religious history of no devil. Not quite the cheap fun I was looking for but very interesting none the less.

An entertaining, opinionated, and erudite discussion of the origins of Satan. Very fascinating; I'd never really thought about whether other cultures have beings analagous to Satan, and it turns out many of them just don't. They have demons, but no great Evil like Christianity's Satan.

Interesting historical survey of a great part of humanity - must it always have a representation of evil, an enemy to always face?

Not as good as I was hoping.

Obra geralmente interessante, apesar de fastidiosa aqui e ali. Tem contudo uma grave falha: designando-se "História Geral do Diabo" tem muitos, demasiados, capítulos em que o autor dá largas à sua erudição e ao seu conhecimento, mas o diabo é que o Diabo não aparece nessa escrita ou então é lá colocado à martelada.
Na verdade, o último capítulo é um resumo muito aceitável de tudo quanto era importante e fora escrito antes.
No fundo este livro vale sobretudo pelos conhecimentos do autor e pela sua habilidade em expor com clareza as suas ideias.