The Satan
The Satan

Author: Ryan E. Stokes

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 2019-07-09

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 1467457159

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Many people today think of Satan as a little red demon with a pointy tail and a pitchfork—but this vision of the devil developed over many centuries and would be foreign to the writers of the Old Testament, where this figure makes his first appearances. The earliest texts that mention the Satan—it is always “the Satan” in the Old Testament—portray him as an agent of Yahweh, serving as an executioner of evildoers. But over the course of time, the Satan came to be regarded more as God’s enemy than God’s agent and was blamed for a host of problems. Biblical scholar Ryan E. Stokes explains the development of the Satan tradition in the Hebrew scriptures and the writings of early Judaism, describing the interpretive and creative processes that transformed an agent of Yahweh into the archenemy of good. He explores how the idea of a heavenly Satan figure factored into the problem of evil and received the blame for all that is wrong in the world.

Explaining Evil
Explaining Evil

Author: J. Harold Ellens

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2011-02-18

Total Pages: 1046

ISBN-13: 0313387168

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In this three-volume set, international scholars from across a broad spectrum of scholarly fields examine the concept of evil throughout history and world cultures from religious, scientific, psychological, and political perspectives. The manifestation of evil has provided a convenient theme for popular culture entertainment, ranging from the classic film The Exorcist, to almost all of Stephen King's horror novels, to video games such as Resident Evil. Unfortunately, dealing with—and attempting to overcome—the forces of evil is a pervasive problem in the real world as well. Explaining Evil addresses incidents of evil from ancient times to modern day around the globe. Concepts of evil within the big three religions—Christianity, Judaism, and Islam—are examined, as well as in Chinese philosophy and Native American beliefs. The political or national expressions of evil are explored, such as the "axis of evil" that culminated in World War II. These volumes identify the causes and effects of evil, and suggest possible remedies to humanity's inescapable flaw.

Fallen Angels
Fallen Angels

Author: Bernard J. Bamberger

Publisher: Jewish Publication Society

Published: 2010-01-01

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 0827610475

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The problem of evil has challenged mankind ever since the dawn of intelligence. Why is there evil in the world and why do pain and suffering come upon those who do not seem to deserve it? Written in a simple, popular style, Bamberger's book, first published in 1952, will appeal to anyone who, no matter what his own answer to the question may be, is curious to learn how it has been answered in the past or is being answered by others in our own age. The author traces the history of the belief in fallen angels in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and assembles a variety of tales and superstitions -- some grotesque, others quaint and humorous. His presentation also reveals a basic divergence between Judaism and Christianity in their respective attitudes toward the devil. The concluding chapter of the work deals with the return of the devil to prominence in contemporary religious thought and shows how Judaism seeks its own solution to the problem of evil. The book contains an extensive bibliography, notes, and index.

Evil and the Devil
Evil and the Devil

Author: Erkki Koskenniemi

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2013-05-23

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 0567607380

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The problem of evil has preoccupied world religions for centuries. The Old Testament contained no uniform dogma on evil powers, launching a fierce debate that has dominated theological and philosophical thought through the centuries to this day. Evil and the Devil brings together contributions from leading inter national scholars to chart that debate, tracing the history of evil from its origins in the Old Testament through early Judaism and the New Testament to the thought of Origen and one of the topic's most influential theologians, Augustine. What role did evil adopt in ancient Judaism? What impact did the association of miracles with demons have upon Matthew's Gospel? Evil and the Devil examines such questions, resulting in a fascinating and comprehensive exploration of portrayals of evil and its power and influence on religious thought.

Dictionary of Angels
Dictionary of Angels

Author: Gustav Davidson

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 1994-10

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 002907052X

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In the midst of the remarkable revival of interest and belief in angels comes this handsomely illustrated reference work--the fruit of 16 years of research in Talmudic, gnostic, cabalistic, apocalyptic, patristic, and legendary texts. "A wacky and wonderful compendium of angelic lore".--Time. Illustrations.

The Prince of Darkness
The Prince of Darkness

Author: Jeffrey Burton Russell

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 1992-04-16

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 9780801480560

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While recounting how past generations have personified evil, Jeffrey Burton Russell deepens our understanding of the ways in which people have dealt with the enduring problem of radical evil.

Sibyls, Scriptures, and Scrolls
Sibyls, Scriptures, and Scrolls

Author: Joel Baden

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2016-10-11

Total Pages: 1538

ISBN-13: 9004324747

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This volume, a tribute to John J. Collins by his friends, colleagues, and students, includes essays on the wide range of interests that have occupied John Collins’s distinguished career. Topics range from the ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Second Temple Judaism and beyond into early Christianity and rabbinic Judaism. The contributions deal with issues of text and interpretation, history and historiography, philology and archaeology, and more. The breadth of the volume is matched only by the breadth of John Collins’s own work.

The New Isaac
The New Isaac

Author: Leroy Huizenga

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2009-09-14

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 9047429133

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Gospel scholarship has long recognized that Matthean Christology is a rich, multifaceted tapestry weaving multifold Old Testment figures together in the person of Jesus. It is somewhat strange, therefore, that scholarship has found little role for the figure of Isaac in the Gospel of Matthew. Employing Umberto Eco's theory of the Model Reader as a theoretical basis to ground the phenomenon of Matthean intertextuality, this work contends that when read rightly as a coherent narrative in its first-century setting, with proper attention to both biblical texts and extrabiblical traditions about Isaac, the Gospel of Matthew evinces a significant Isaac typology in service of presenting Jesus as new temple and decisive sacrifice.

Metaphor and the Portrayal of the Cause(s) of Sin and Evil in the Gospel of Matthew
Metaphor and the Portrayal of the Cause(s) of Sin and Evil in the Gospel of Matthew

Author: Judith V. Stack

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2020-02-25

Total Pages: 229

ISBN-13: 9004419500

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Metaphor and the Portrayal of the Cause(s) of Sin and Evil in the Gospel of Matthew traces the range and significance of metaphors used in Matthew for the origin and sin and evil and their congruence with key texts of the Second Temple milieu. While traditional theology has often sought to pinpoint a single cause of sin and evil, Matthew’s use of a spectrum of metaphors undermines theologically reductionist approaches and opens up a rich range of ways for conceiving of and talking about the cause of sin and evil. Ultimately, the use of metaphor (necessary to discussions of sin) destabilizes foundationalist theologies of sin, and any theology of sin must grapple with the inherently tensive nature of metaphorical language.