Synopsis
In this controversial book, Pagels examines the Christian demonization of others--first the Jews, then the pagans and dissenting Christians--and the true identity of the Devil in early Christianity.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1995-07-01 |
| Size | | Length: | 214 pages | | Height: | 9.5 in | | Width: | 6.5 in | | Thickness: | 1.0 in | | Weight: | 16.8 oz |
Publisher's Note
A study on the role of the devil in biblical and modern times theorizes that dissident social groups that resisted Christianity, such as Jews and Pagans, were typically portrayed as demons and therefore established as threats.
Industry Reviews
"A model of exemplary scholarship...The Satanic imagery of the gospels has burned itself into the Western imagination--indeed, into that of Islam as well. Satan has traveled from innocent word to rhetorical flourish to rebellious angel to cosmic demon to supreme ally of the Jew....Ms. Pagels has served us well through her clear tracing of that journey. One leaves this most worthy book with a grim sense that Satan will be with us for a long time to come."
Press Materials - Chaim Potok
"That Pagels can explain [a] complicated thesis in a mere 184 pages of text testifies to her skill as a master teacher. Her strength lies not in discovering new facts but in drawing familiar facts into new and meaningful configurations. Her clear, concise exposition rarely bogs down in details...Though minor errors of fact occur...they do not affect Pagels's overall thesis....Pagels's achievement is both a stimulating intellectual romp and a sobering sermon on the dangers of religious polemic."
Washington Post Book World - John P. Meier (07/09/1995)
"She has demonstrated, more fully and convincingly than has been done before, how ancient the demonizing tradition in Christianity is. In particular, she has demonstrated how the authors of the canonical gospels helped--unintentionally and unwittingly, to be sure--to create the stereotype of the demonic Jew. Thoughtful, scholarly works that are also original and adventurous are not common. 'The Origin of Satan' is such a work, and we should be correspondingly grateful."
New York Review of Books - Norman Cohn (02/21/1995)
"I think the history [of early Christianity] is intrinsically fascinating. There are many people who do it extremely well, but most of us who do it are within a scholarly dialogue and don't write for people who are not part of that dialogue. We write in shorthand....I was living in Manhattan, in a world where if you go to a dinner party and say you study religion, conversation dies. I wanted to say, but this is fascinating! I wanted to write for those people. It was quite a conscious decision; I wanted to share this work, to participate in that discussion....Before I researched this book, I would have said that Satan was just a peripheral character, an arcane joke. But the devil is deeply involved in the dramatic tension of the Christian story, which is a story about the forces of good and evil in the world."
Boston Book Review - Elaine Pagels (10/19/1995)
"...[T]his brief book is thought-provoking--especially effective when it vividly portrays the faith of individual early Christians and of noble pagans. The problem of evil vexed them as it does us; indeed, Ms. Pagels says she was led by the accidental death seven years ago of her husband, Heinz, to search the Scriptures for a clue about how people throughout history have dealt with evil."
New York Times Book Review - Leslie Houlden (06/18/1995)
"Pagel's book succeeds wonderfully...in its primary task of tracing the evolution of Satan in the Jesus movement--first among other Jews, then pagans and finally dissident Christians, the 'heretics.'"
San Francisco Chronicle Book Review - Don Lattin (07/16/1995)
"'The Origin of Satan' is a fascinating and valuable book..."
Nation - Mary Gordon
"A brilliant book with important implications for our time."
Arthur Herzberg
"As with Pagel's earlier books...her new book has the virtue of presenting a single thesis dramatically, with elegant simplicity, and then variously replaying it."
New Republic - Brent Shaw
"Groundbreaking. Professor Pagels has the remarkable talent of taking primary scholarship and making it accessible."
S. David Sperling
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