Download or read book The Origin of Satan written by Elaine Pagels and published by Vintage. This book was released on 1996-04-30 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the National Book Award-winning and National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author of The Gnostic Gospels comes a dramatic interpretation of Satan and his role on the Christian tradition. "Arresting...brilliant...this book illuminates the angels with which we must wrestle to come to the truth of our bedeviling spritual problems." —The Boston Globe With magisterial learning and the elan of a born storyteller, Pagels turns Satan’s story into an audacious exploration of Christianity’s shadow side, in which the gospel of love gives way to irrational hatreds that continue to haunt Christians and non-Christians alike.

Download or read book The Old Enemy written by Neil Forsyth and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-06-30 with total page 524 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The description for this book, The Old Enemy: Satan and the Combat Myth, will be forthcoming.

Download or read book The Devil A Very Short Introduction written by Darren Oldridge and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-05-31 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Devil has fascinated writers and theologians since the time of the New Testament, and inspired many dramatic and haunting works of art. Today he remains a potent image in popular culture. The Devil: A Very Short Introduction presents an introduction to the Christian Devil through the history of ideas and the lives of real people.

Download or read book Revelations written by Elaine Pagels and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2012-03-06 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A startling exploration of the history of the most controversial book of the Bible, by the bestselling author of Beyond Belief. Through the bestselling books of Elaine Pagels, thousands of readers have come to know and treasure the suppressed biblical texts known as the Gnostic Gospels. As one of the world's foremost religion scholars, she has been a pioneer in interpreting these books and illuminating their place in the early history of Christianity. Her new book, however, tackles a text that is firmly, dramatically within the New Testament canon: The Book of Revelation, the surreal apocalyptic vision of the end of the world . . . or is it? In this startling and timely book, Pagels returns The Book of Revelation to its historical origin, written as its author John of Patmos took aim at the Roman Empire after what is now known as "the Jewish War," in 66 CE. Militant Jews in Jerusalem, fired with religious fervor, waged an all-out war against Rome's occupation of Judea and their defeat resulted in the desecration of Jerusalem and its Great Temple. Pagels persuasively interprets Revelation as a scathing attack on the decadence of Rome. Soon after, however, a new sect known as "Christians" seized on John's text as a weapon against heresy and infidels of all kinds-Jews, even Christians who dissented from their increasingly rigid doctrines and hierarchies. In a time when global religious violence surges, Revelations explores how often those in power throughout history have sought to force "God's enemies" to submit or be killed. It is sure to appeal to Pagels's committed readers and bring her a whole new audience who want to understand the roots of dissent, violence, and division in the world's religions, and to appreciate the lasting appeal of this extraordinary text.

Download or read book The Birth of Satan written by T. J. Wray and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2014-12-09 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of all the demons, monsters, fiends, and ogres to preoccupy the western imagination in literature, art, and film, no figure has been more feared—or misunderstood--than Satan. But how accurate are the popular images of Satan? How--and why--did this rather minor biblical character morph into the very embodiment of evil? T.J. Wray and Gregory Mobley guide readers on a journey to retrace Satan's biblical roots. Engaging and informative, The Birth of Satan is a must read for anyone who has ever wondered about the origins of the Devil.

Download or read book The Quest for the Historical Satan written by Miguel A. De La Torre and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For centuries the figure of Satan has incarnated absolute evil. Existing alongside more intellectualist interpretations of evil, Satan has figured largely in Christian practices, devotions, popular notions of the afterlife, and fears of retribution in the beyond. Satan remains an influential reality today in many Christian traditions and in popular culture. But how should Satan be understood today? "The Quest for the Historical Satan excavates cultural, historical, religious, and morally constructed productions of evil within Christianity, from myth and legend to the complex ways people conjure the embodiment of evil and harm. De La Torre and Hernßndez are engaging sleuths as they carefully examine Satan's conception and his presence in modernity and through the ages. The wrestle with the spiritual notions of Good and Evil and justice and injustice.-Cheryl A. Kirk-Duggan Professor of Theology and Women's Studies Shaw University Divinity School

Download or read book The History of the Devil written by Paul Carus and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2012-08-15 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This treasury of facts and lore on the philosophy and practice of evil traces the concept of Satan from ancient to modern times. A collection of 350 rare and compelling images illuminate the text.

Download or read book Reading Judas written by Elaine Pagels and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2007-03-06 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The instant New York Times bestseller interpreting the controversial long-lost gospel The recently unearthed Gospel of Judas is a source of fascination for biblical scholars and lay Christians alike. Now two leading experts on the Gnostic gospels tackle the important questions posed by its discovery, including: How could any Christian imagine Judas to be Jesus' favorite? And what kind of vision of God does the author offer? Working from Karen L. King's brilliant new translation, Elaine Pagels and King provide the context necessary for considering its meaning. Reading Judas plunges into the heart of Christianity itself and will stand as the definitive look at the gospel for years to come.

Download or read book Adam Eve and the Serpent written by Elaine Pagels and published by Vintage. This book was released on 1989-09-19 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A National Book Award winner and New York Times bestselling author deepens and refreshes our view of early Christianity while casting a disturbing light on the evolution of the attitudes passed down to us. "Confirms her reputation as both a scholar and a popular interpreter.... Continuously rewarding and illuminating." —The New York Times How did the early Christians come to believe that sex was inherently sinful? When did the Fall of Adam become synonymous with the fall of humanity? What turned Christianity from a dissident sect that championed the integrity of the individual and the idea of free will into the bulwark of a new imperial order—with the central belief that human beings cannot not choose to sin? In this provocative masterpiece of historical scholarship Elaine Pagels re-creates the controversies that racked the early church as it confronted the riddles of sexuality, freedom, and sin as embodied in the story of Genesis. And she shows how what was once heresy came to shape our own attitudes toward the body and the soul.

Download or read book The Gnostic Gospels written by Elaine Pagels and published by Random House. This book was released on 2004-06-29 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time The Gnostic Gospels is a landmark study of the long-buried roots of Christianity, a work of luminous scholarship and wide popular appeal. First published in 1979 to critical acclaim, winning the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Gnostic Gospels has continued to grow in reputation and influence over the past two decades. It is now widely recognized as one of the most brilliant and accessible histories of early Christian spirituality published in our time. In 1945 an Egyptian peasant unearthed what proved to be the Gnostic Gospels, thirteen papyrus volumes that expounded a radically different view of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ from that of the New Testament. In this spellbinding book, renowned religious scholar Elaine Pagels elucidates the mysteries and meanings of these sacred texts both in the world of the first Christians and in the context of Christianity today. With insight and passion, Pagels explores a remarkable range of recently discovered gospels, including the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, to show how a variety of “Christianities” emerged at a time of extraordinary spiritual upheaval. Some Christians questioned the need for clergy and church doctrine, and taught that the divine could be discovered through spiritual search. Many others, like Buddhists and Hindus, sought enlightenment—and access to God—within. Such explorations raised questions: Was the resurrection to be understood symbolically and not literally? Was God to be envisioned only in masculine form, or feminine as well? Was martyrdom a necessary—or worthy—expression of faith? These early Christians dared to ask questions that orthodox Christians later suppressed—and their explorations led to profoundly different visions of Jesus and his message. Brilliant, provocative, and stunning in its implications, The Gnostic Gospels is a radical, eloquent reconsideration of the origins of the Christian faith.

Download or read book Satan written by Henry Ansgar Kelly and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-08-17 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publisher description

Download or read book The Fall of Satan written by Bodie Hodge and published by New Leaf Publishing Group. This book was released on 2011-03-01 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ruler of darkness? the Tempter? the Great Red Dragon? Apollyon; the Destroyer? One being is revealed to have all these titles and more - names that reveal his horrific nature? All names given to Satan, your adversary who comes like a lion "seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8). Today, many question and even mock the very existence of Satan, as well as the reality of evil. Even in the Church, by and large, there are few biblical resources on the subject to counter the destructive claims raised in today's humanistic culture. In The Fall of Satan: Rebels in the Garden you will discover the answers to 35 captivating questions, such as: How could one created good become so absorbed by evil? Why would God, who is not evil, allow evil to continue to exist? Did sin begin with Adam or was its origin found in Satan? When did Satan rebel against God's authority? Where can the answers be found to such provocative, spiritual questions that have been asked so many times over? Carefully consider the biblical response, since it is the only completely reliable foundation for information about Satan. As our absolute authority, we must reject unqualified conclusions drawn from sources outside the Bible, such as the current ideas and traditions of the culture. No believer should be unaware of these sound answers found in the Bible.

Download or read book Literature on Adam and Eve written by Gary Alan Anderson and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2000-01-01 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is a collection of articles by some of the foremost scholars in the field, dealing with the rich variety of Adam and Eve-traditions, from "The Life of Adam and Eve" onwards to late medieval writings in Armenian.

Download or read book Persian Influence on Daniel and Jewish Apocalyptic Literature written by Vicente Dobroruka and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2022-03-24 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Vicente Dobroruka explores Iranian influence on Second Temple Judaism, providing a new explanation of Persian culture and history in the context of biblical accounts by focusing on the spread of Zoroastrian ideas in the period c.300 BCE–200 CE. Dobroruka begins his investigation with an overview of the problems posed by a dualistic worldview-he examines the Indo-European origins of Zarathushtra and his ideas, explores the long-term implications for the notion of free-will, and clarifies the lightness/darkness paradigm that originated in Persia. Following this, Dobroruka discusses a variety of concepts that illustrate this influence, such as the role of matter and the material world, aspects of dualism and the cosmic struggle, the perspectives on the rewards for the just and the opposing punishments for the wicked, the idea of an 'Anointed One', shamanistic visionary experience, the resurrection, and the concepts of Sheol and Paradise.

Download or read book Devil written by Luther Link and published by Reaktion Books. This book was released on 1995 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "highly entertaining and informative... This is a book worth arguing with, written with verve, wit and passion. It is also lavishly illustrated. I enjoyed every minute of it."—The Spectator "as comprehensive a guide as anyone could wish to the appearances of the Evil One in art and literature throughout the age."—The Herald

Download or read book The Devil Problem written by David Remnick and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2014-04-02 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Readers know from his now classic Lenin's Tomb that Remnick is a superb portraitist who can bring his subjects to life and reveal them in such surprising ways as to justify comparison to Dickens, Balzac, or Proust. In this collection, Remnick's gift for character is sharper than ever, whether he writes about Gary Hart stumbling through life after Donna Rice or Mario Cuomo, who now presides over a Saturday morning radio talk show, fielding questions from crackpots, or about Michael Jordan's awesome return to the Chicago Bulls -- or Reggie Jackson's last times at bat. Remnick's portraits of such disparate characters as Alger Hiss and Ralph Ellison, Richard Nixon and Elaine Pagels, Gerry Adams and Marion Barry are unified by this extraordinary ability to create a living character, so that the pieces in this book, taken together, constitute a splendid pageant of the representative characters of our time.

Download or read book Satanism A Social History written by Massimo Introvigne and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2016-08-29 with total page 665 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A 17th-century French haberdasher invented the Black Mass. An 18th-century English Cabinet Minister administered the Eucharist to a baboon. High-ranking Catholic authorities in the 19th century believed that Satan appeared in Masonic lodges in the shape of a crocodile and played the piano there. A well-known scientist from the 20th century established a cult of the Antichrist and exploded in a laboratory experiment. Three Italian girls in 2000 sacrificed a nun to the Devil. A Black Metal band honored Satan in Krakow, Poland, in 2004 by exhibiting on stage 120 decapitated sheep heads. Some of these stories, as absurd as they might sound, were real. Others, which might appear to be equally well reported, are false. But even false stories have generated real societal reactions. For the first time, Massimo Introvigne proposes a general social history of Satanism and anti-Satanism, from the French Court of Louis XIV to the Satanic scares of the late 20th century, satanic themes in Black Metal music, the Church of Satan, and beyond.