Description
Book SynopsisPhilip C. Almond explores the figure of evil incarnate from the first centuries of the Christian era through to the Enlightenment, when the Devil became marginal to Christian theology and the dominant concerns of the Western intellectual tradition.
Trade ReviewAlmond has accomplished an impressive feat in compressing the long and complicated life, or lives, of the Prince of Darkness into a clear, coherent, and engaging narrative. For students and general readers, this is an excellent introduction to the Devil's story, and scholars will find it a valuable synthesis as well.
* The Medieval Review *
Almond's biography carves out of the mass of works related to the diabolichal a carefully delineated history that is both scholarly and accessible and that contributes to the intertwined fields of Christian theology, magic, witchcraft, and demonology.... Almond's careful overview of the Western perspective of the devil provides a valuable and highly readable explanation for one of the most bizarre and devastating ideas in Western history.
-- Gary K. Waite * H-Albion *
Almond's contribution to the Devil's bibliography is welcome in particular because he makes it clear just how tenuous the Christian theory of evil is, and how much it potentially undermines the power and goodness of God; the commander of all things evil is a dangerous concept for monotheistic religion, complicating the already difficult problem of the existence of evil in a world created by an overwhelmingly good deity.
-- Noel Rooney * Fortean Times *
By the time the reader has reached the final page of Philip Almond's presumably unauthorised bigraphy, one is possessed by a curious and wholly unexpected sensation—that of sympathy for the Devil.
-- Jonathan Gornall * The National *
The book's greatest strength is Almond’s ability to present complicated theological and philosophical debates with clarity and in an engaging style. The sweeping scope of the work is admirable.... It will be of great interest to a broad readership, both within and beyond academia.
-- Jason Coy * Speculum *
What we can find here is a serious look through the ages at our choices to not just personify evil, but make it a central even necessary part of the culture. Almond creates a readable if not comfortable journey to that regard.... Clearly the devil is not dead even if modern thought has him in assisted living.
-- Thomas Whitaker * U.S. Catholic Magazine *
With its understanding that the devil is best understood through his history, with its many stimulating and illuminating obiter dicta... with its up-to-date bibliography, and with its understanding of the moral importance of the devil as ast least a metaphor of real evil as opposed to treating the subject as merely a literary topos, Almond's book is a welcome addition to the subject.
-- Jeffrey Burton Russel * The Catholic Historical Review *
Table of ContentsPrologue
Chapter One: The Devil is Born
Angels and Demons, Sons and Lovers
"The Book of the Watchers"
Angels, Arising and Falling
The Birth of "Satan"
The Archdemon Belial
Satan and Jesus
The Fall of the Dragon
Chapter Two: The Fall of the Devil
The Fall of Man
The Satanic Serpent
Pride Cometh before a Fall
Lucifer Descending
The Battleground of History
Chapter Three: Hell's Angel
Paying off the Devil
The Demonic Paradox
The Harrowing of Hades
In Hell, and in the Air
Chapter Four: The Devil Rides Out
A Pope Bewitched
Cathars, Moderate and Extreme
Angels and Demons
The Demonization of Magic
Magic Defined, Damned and Defended
Conjuring Demons and Conversing with Angels
Chapter Five: Devilish Bodies
The Demonization of Popular Magic
Errors Not Cathartic but Satanic
The Devil, Sex and Sexuality
Embodied Demons
Chapter Six: The Devil and the Witch
Infanticide and Cannibalism
Travels Sabbatical
The Satanic Pact
The Devil's Mark
Chapter Seven: A Very Possessing Devil
The Possessed Body
Possession, Medicine and Sceptics
Forensic Demonology
Beyond the Borders of the Human
Exorcising the Devil
Chapter Eight: The Devil Defeated
The Binding and Loosing of Satan
The Antichrist
Adso and the Antichrist
The Future Binding of Satan
Apocalypse Now
Satan and the Fires of Hell
Chapter Nine: The “Death” of the Devil
Satan and Superstition
The Cessation of Miracles
The Devil De-skilled
The Devil Disembodied
Bodies, Platonic and Demonic
Disenchanting the World
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index
