"Although the Devil still 'lives' in modern popular culture, for
the past 250 years he has become marginal to the dominant concerns
of Western intellectual thought. That life could not be thought or
imagined without him, that he was a part of the everyday,
continually present in nature and history, and active at the depths
of our selves, has been all but forgotten. It is the aim of this
work to bring modern readers to a deeper appreciation of how, from
the early centuries of the Christian period through to the recent
beginnings of the modern world, the human story could not be told
and human life could not be lived apart from the life of the Devil.
With that comes the deeper recognition that, for the better part of
the last two thousand years, the battle between good and evil in
the hearts and minds of men and women was but the reflection of a
cosmic battle between God and Satan, the divine and the diabolic,
that was at the heart of history itself." from The Devil
Lucifer, Mephistopheles, Beelzebub; Ha-Satan or the Adversary;
Iblis or Shaitan: no matter what name he travels under, the Devil
has throughout the ages and across civilizations been a compelling
and charismatic presence. In Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, the
supposed reign of God has long been challenged by the fiery malice
of his opponent, as contending forces of good and evil have between
them weighed human souls in the balance.
In The Devil, Philip C. Almond explores the figure of evil
incarnate from the first centuries of the Christian era. Along the
way, he describes the rise of demonology as an intellectual and
theological pursuit, the persecution as witches of women believed
to consort with the Devil and his minions, and the decline in the
belief in Hell and in angels and demons as corporeal beings as a
result of the Enlightenment. Almond shows that the Prince of
Darkness remains an irresistible subject in history, religion, art,
literature, and culture. Almond brilliantly locates the life of the
Devil within the broader Christian story of which it is
inextricably a part; the demonic paradox of the Devil as both God s
enforcer and his enemy is at the heart of Christianity. Woven
throughout the account of the Christian history of the Devil is
another complex and complicated history: that of the idea of the
Devil in Western thought. Sorcery, witchcraft, possession, even
melancholy, have all been laid at the Devil s doorstep. Until the
Enlightenment enforced a disenchantment with the old archetypes,
even rational figures such as Thomas Aquinas were obsessed with the
nature of the Devil and the specific characteristics of the orders
of demons and angels. It was a significant moment both in the
history of demonology and in theology when Benedict de Spinoza
(1632 1677) denied the Devil s existence; almost four hundred years
later, popular fascination with the idea of the Devil has not yet
dimmed."
General
Imprint: |
Cornell University Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
September 2014 |
First published: |
August 2014 |
Authors: |
Philip C. Almond
|
Dimensions: |
225 x 145 x 30mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover - Cloth over boards
|
Pages: |
270 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-8014-5337-3 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
0-8014-5337-2 |
Barcode: |
9780801453373 |
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