Devil: Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christiantiry

by Jeffrey Burton Russell

Book Overview

"Evil--the infliction of pain upon sentient beings--is one of the most long-standing and serious problems of human existence. Frequently and in many cultures evil has been personified. This book is a history of the personification of evil, which for the sake of clarity I have called 'the Devil.' I am a medievalist, but when I began some years ago to work with the concept of the Devil in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, I came to see that I could...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801494095
• ISBN13: 9780801494093
• Release Date: September 1987
• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.97 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.1"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Assiduous, but not without flaws.

Though I find myself having many negative things to say about this book in this review, a few pervasive aspects of Russell's assiduous research and writing inevitably atones for these negative aspects. Russell opens his four volume series spending ¾ of this book discussing evil in ancient cultures other than in Israel. Only in the last quarter does Russell discuss anything relating to the Biblical Satan. Though this is defiantly interesting material, it left me wondering what it had to do with the stated purview. This material would make a fine piece of literature outside this series, but it had nothing to do with the Biblical devil. Not even Russell discusses its relevance. The first ¾ could have been cut from the book without any consequence, Russell would have just as easily make his case without it. When Russell does occasionally mention outside influences on Old Testament he admits that there are only a few at most, and what few that do exist are tentative and speculative anyway. The only influences that are mentioned seem only to be on the apocryphal texts any way. Russell does a marvellous job as a historian, but whenever he goes off on excursions into theology one can see that he is out of his depth. The mere fact that he goes on these excursions raised my eyebrow when one remembers that the *very first* words of this book state that "This is a works of history, not of theology". It's not the actual excursions that disappoint me, it is the combination of the two facts that 1) his explicit statements that he isn't going to but does, and 2) his orate diatribes against Yahweh (whether he believes God exists or not), most of which are frivolous and at the very least invalid. Though it is inevitable that one has to ask theological questions such as "why does God allow evil" as Russell does, it makes me wonder why he asserted at the beginning and the end that theology is untouched in this book. I was left a little bewildered by these theological excursions, on the one hand he brings up many fine and well articulated arguments, and on many occasions treats these points in authoritative and impartial manner, but on the other hand he makes use sophistry, intentionally or not I do not know. On page 185 Russell asserts that the religion of the ancient Hebrews was more polytheistic the monotheistic. Russell quotes a passage from Psalms (82:1-7) as evidence. Russell quotes God as referring to other angelic beings as "Gods", whereas the actual passage uses only lower case `g'. To the uninitiated this may seem negligible if not irrelevant, but as most educated readers will know the upper case `G' denotes of the supreme Biblical god, whereas the lower case `g' denotes a false god or idol. So contrary to Russell's implicit assertion that God in the passages referring to other `gods' the fact is that when the passage is not misquoted, God in the passage is actually referring to the fallen angels/demons who were commonly worshipped by humans

the Devil emerges

Drawing on many different sources, the author suggests how the concept of the Devil as used in the New Testament took shape. Clearly, some of the reviewers of this book were very disappointed with it. They did not find what they were looking for. Speaking for myself, I pretty much did. Russell takes some pains early on to say that his work is part of the history of concepts, and even spends time distinguishing this from the history of ideas--a distinction that I found to be a bit pedantic and, for me, unhelpful. However, in the rest of the book I mostly found what I hoped to find: an inventory and discussion of the ideas and images that contributed to the concept of the Devil as he appeared in the Judeo-Christian world by New Testament times. Since the Devil came to be known as the source and personification of evil in the world, Russell starts off very well by discussing what he means by "evil": the immediate and unjust suffering of an individual. For Russell this is an immediate and visceral experience, not a philosophical conclusion or theological category. We know evil when we see it, and there's no mistaking it. Having set these terms of reference, Russell goes on to discuss how evil and its related mythological characters were portrayed in various ancient societies, from India to Iran to Mesopotamia to Egypt, among others. Along the way he shows how various characteristics were eventually echoed by the Biblical portrait of the Devil. For example, in Egypt the god most identified with evil was Seth, killer of Osiris. Seth was pictured as red, the color eventually taken on by Satan. Seth was also "twinned" with Horus in a close antagonism, as the Devil eventually came to be regarded as the dark "twin" of the good God. Russell is clear that these links are only suggestive. There is no way of knowing exactly how ideas arrived at the minds of the writers of the ancient texts, or how they combined there. Rather, the ancient writers, having a need to explain or demonstrate certain things, reached into the bank of images and ideas of which they were aware, and made use of those that fit their purpose. Over time the Devil gradually took shape, acquiring more definite features as his role in the evolving theological system developed. Here and there Russell makes declarations or assumptions that are not necessarily backed up by authority. He declares, for example, that in ancient Egypt and ancient Greece there was one God who manifested in the multifarious guise of the gods of mythology. It's not clear to me how true this is, or in what sense. He also refers to "the God" and "the Devil" as near-universal concepts for many cultures, underlying specific figures such as Yahweh and Satan. Again, it's not clear to me that there really is a universal concept underlying these different manifestations. However, these ideas are not unreasonable, and I was certainly willing to entertain them in order to engage with Russell's argument. The author did a l

The historical origins of the cosmic bad guy

In this rigorous and erudite work, Russell sets out to explore the origins and early historical development of a concept. To make things easy, he calls it "the Devil", but in fact this is the history of the idea of evil incarnated in a character, as opposed to an abstract concept of "Evil". Although he takes every care to remind us that his is a work of history and not theology, it is impossible not to entertain certain philosophical questions and millenary debates: Why does evil exists? How has every civilization dealt with this insoluble problem? Why are there so many bad people? How is it possible that we humans inflict so much pain to ourselves and our fellows? Is it not God supposed to be good and omnipotent? Why does he allows for so much evil? Before Christianity, there were two kinds of answers to these questions: in Monism, the One included the totality of the cosmos. God was a coincidence of contraries. God was truly One, and in him were resolved the contradictions between Good and Evil. Ancient polytheistic religions like the Egyptian and the Greek were Monist, since the different gods were nothing but manifestations of the One. According to Russell, these religions did not answer the question satisfactorily, but they did resolve the problem for every day life. The other answer, invented in the VII Century B.C. in Persia, what is now Iran, by the prophet Zarathustra (and above all his Mazdeistic followers), is Dualism. In Dualism, the cosmos is divided in two: one principle of Good (God), and one principle of Evil (which is not yet the Devil). In Persia these were Ahura Mazda (or Ormuz), and Ariman, the lord of Deception. According to this view, the history of Man is the story of the millenary struggle between Good and Evil, and each myth defines the way in which Good will eventually defeat Evil. For centuries on end, the Old World religions influenced one another, until Christianity appeared. In what side does Christianity fall? In neither one properly. It is a hopelessly schizophrenic synthesis (for all its social virtues). Christianity is not Monist because it rejects the assimiliation of Evil into the One God. God is absolutely good and so it can not contain Evil. So, is Christianity Dualist? No sir, there is nothing outside God. So? Aha: God created many beings, including the Angels. One of them rebelled against God, using the free will which God gives us so that we can choose. The rebel angel became the proponent and champion of Evil, in the enemy of God and his creatures. And he is making progress with increasing speed, until the Second Coming of God takes place, the Kingdom of this World ends, Evil dissolves in Nothingness and the good go to Heaven. Very good, but the question remains: If God is omnipotent, why does he allows the presence of Evil? In order to prove us? Thanks so much. So that we grow in the love of God? Thanks again. Through a fascinating journey across ancient religions, Russell forces us to revisit the pri

The Best Book On This Evil Villian!

Russell traces the history, myths, and iconography of the devil. It explains how the devil became associated the with pitchfork, horns, and the human goat. Not only is this book well-written, but it also contains many pictures which depict the subject matter at hand. Russell is highly respected by his peers and is usually reference by other authors. Anyone who is interested in mythology - especially Greek mythology - will love this well-documented book.