The Prince of Darkness: Radical Evil and the Power of Good in History

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Cornell University Press, Apr 16, 1992 - History - 288 pages

The Devil, Satan, Lucifer, Mephistopheles - throughout history the Prince of Darkness, the Western world's most powerful symbol of evil, has taken many names and shapes. Jeffrey Burton Russell here chronicles the remarkable story of the Devil from antiquity to the present. While recounting how past generations have personified evil, he deepens our understanding of the ways in which people have dealt with the enduring problem of radical evil.

After a compelling essay on the nature of evil, Russell uncovers the origins of the concept of the Devil in various early cultures and then traces its evolution in Western thought from the time of the ancient Hebrews through the first centuries of the Christian era. Next he turns to the medieval view of the Devil, focusing on images found in folklore, scholastic thought, art, literature, mysticism, and witchcraft. Finally, he follows the Devil into our own era, where he draws on examples from theology, philosophy, art, literature, and popular culture to describe the great changes in this traditional notion of evil brought about by the intellectual and cultural developments of modern times.

Is the Devil an outmoded superstition, as most educated people today believe? Or do the horrors of the twentieth century and the specter of nuclear war make all too clear the continuing need for some vital symbol of radical evil? A single-volume distillation of Russell's epic tetralogy on the nature and personifcation of evil from ancient times to the present (published by Cornell University Press between 1977 and 1986), The Prince of Darkness invites readers to confront these and other critical questions as they explore the past faces of that figure who has been called the second most famous personage in Christianity.

From inside the book

Contents

The Devil around the World
7
The Good Lord and the Devil
28
Christ and the Power of Evil
43
Satan and Heresy
56
Dualism and the Desert
82
The Classical Christian View
93
Lucifer Popular and Elite III
111
Scholastics Poets and Dramatists
130
High on a Throne of Royal State
186
The Disintegration of Hell
206
From Romance to Nihilism
220
The Integration of Evil
241
Auschwitz and Hiroshima
256
The Meaning of Evil
273
Appendixes
279
Index
283

Nominalists Mystics and Witches
157
The Devil and the Reformers
167

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About the author (1992)

Jeffrey Burton Russell is Professor of History, Emeritus, at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

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