Product Description
This massive work on the history of evil, particularly as symbolized by the Christian devil, was written on the cusp of the 20th century by Paul Carus, a prolific writer on the topic of religion.
This lavishly illustrated review of the history of the idea of evil has never been excelled as a reference on the topic. It traces the evolution of concept from Ancient Egypt, through the Zoroastrians and other eastern religions, and into the peculiar madness of the Middle Ages and beyond. It covers the Witch crazes, pacts with the devil, and the elaborate demonology of the grimoires.
When Carus wrote this, it seemed apparent that evil would soon be eliminated by the onrushing forces of rationalism and modernism. The devil had been reduced to a literary character, always ready to make a silly bargain for a soul. This trivialized image is perpetuated to this day. Satan in the cinema is either represented as a hideous special effect or a comic, bumbling trickster. Long gone is the noble adversary of Jehovah, as portrayed in the Bible, Milton or Dante.--J. B. Hare
This lavishly illustrated review of the history of the idea of evil has never been excelled as a reference on the topic. It traces the evolution of concept from Ancient Egypt, through the Zoroastrians and other eastern religions, and into the peculiar madness of the Middle Ages and beyond. It covers the Witch crazes, pacts with the devil, and the elaborate demonology of the grimoires.
When Carus wrote this, it seemed apparent that evil would soon be eliminated by the onrushing forces of rationalism and modernism. The devil had been reduced to a literary character, always ready to make a silly bargain for a soul. This trivialized image is perpetuated to this day. Satan in the cinema is either represented as a hideous special effect or a comic, bumbling trickster. Long gone is the noble adversary of Jehovah, as portrayed in the Bible, Milton or Dante.--J. B. Hare
