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Look Inside Satan

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Satan
A Biography

$39.99 (P)

Author: Henry Ansgar Kelly, University of California, Los Angeles

Date Published: August 2006
availability: Available
format: Paperback
isbn: 9780521604024

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About the Authors

Christians traditionally think of Satan as Lucifer, God's enemy, who rebelled against Him out of pride and then caused Adam and Eve to sin. But, as Kelly shows, this portrayal is not biblical but a scenario invented by the early Fathers of the Church which became the 'New Biography of Satan'. The 'Original Biography' must be reconstructed from the New Testament where Satan is the same sort of celestial functionary we see in the Book of Job - appointed to govern the world, specifically to monitor and test human beings. But he is brutal and deceitful in his methods, and Jesus predicts that his rule will soon come to an end. Kelly traces the further developments of the 'New Biography': humankind's inherited guilt, captivity by Satan, and punishment in Hell at his hands. This profile of Satan remains dominant, but Kelly urges a return to the 'Original Biography of Satan'.
- Challenges the traditional Christian view of Satan using evidence from the Bible
- Kelly shows how the character-assassination of Satan developed and persists to the present day
- Contains separate scripture and full topic indexes
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Reviews & endorsements
"...the book intriguingly and meticulously maps each minute twist and turn in Satan's "biography.""
Daniel Pick, BOOKFORUM
"K.'s chronological and historical approach makes a useful contribution to the understanding of Christian images of Satan and will be of interest to historians, theologians, and individuals interested in religious studies and the humanities in general." --J. Edward Wright, University of Arizona, Tucson: The Catholic Bible Quarterly
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Product details
- Date Published: August 2006
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9780521604024
- length: 376 pages
- dimensions: 227 x 153 x 22 mm
- weight: 0.611kg
- contains: 15 b/w illus.
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
List of illustrations
List of abbreviations
Introduction
Part I. Hebrew Backgrounds:
1. The Old Testament
2. Apocryphal works and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Part II. The New Testament: Satan Comes Into His Own:
3. St Paul, the first Christian writer
4. The four Gospels
5. Later Epistles
6. The apocalypse of John the Divine
7. Putting the New Testament together: a composite portrait of Satan in canonical order
Part III. Satan and Adam:
8. Satan's original sin: felling Adam
Part IV. The Rise of the Fallen Lucifer:
9. Lucifer and the new biography of Satan
10. Satan and the human race
11. Theorizing Satan
12. Satan in literature and art
Part V. Satan in the Modern World:
13. Temptation and possession
14. Doubts and affirmations
Summary and conclusion
Index of passages
General index.
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Instructors have used or reviewed this title for the following courses
- Western Religions
Author
Henry Ansgar Kelly, University of California, Los Angeles
Henry Ansgar Kelly is Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of English and Director of the Center of Medieval Studies, University of California, Los Angeles.