If, as Chesterton claimed, the devil's greatest triumph was convincing the modern world that he does not exist, Jeffrey Burton Russell means to rob him of his victory. Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages is both a scholarly assessment of the development of diabology in the Middle Ages and an impassioned plea to the 20th century to recognize and acknowledge the existence of real, objective evil. The third in a series of works tracing the history of the devil from his Judeo-Christian roots, it represents a formidable undertaking: the devil's history is integrally related to the problem of evil, which is in turn at the heart of Western religious thought. Each of the volumes on Satan comprises, in essence, a judicious and able tour of Christian theology from the villain's point of view.
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32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Third in a series of four books,
By A Customer
This review is from: Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages (Cornell Paperbacks) (Paperback)
This third installment in Dr. Russell's series (The Devil, Satan, Lucifer, Mephistopheles) comes to the Middle Ages, which means that we are well beyond source material in Canaanite and Jewish legend and now into the development of the devil in Patristic literature, and onwards. On the plus side this is the historical period where Russell is an expert so you would expect it to be the strongest of the three volumes. On the minus side, in this volume, as with the others, one is constantly uneasy that the historical perspective is being underpinned by the author's own belief in a literal fallen heavenly being, and too often it is not clear whether the focus is medieval society or metaphysics. Incidentally, anyone buying this book because of the word 'Lucifer' in the title will be disappointed that Russell does not address how the specific concept of 'Lucifer' developed from Origen and Augustine onwards. Neither here, nor in the previous volume 'Satan', does Dr Russell deal in any depth with the process by which a name which for the first 4 centuries of Christianity was used as a title of Christ (because the Latin word Lucifer appears in the Latin Vulgate as Peter's "day star"), to the point that early Christians used to name their children Lucifer (eg Bishop Lucifer of Cagliari), suddenly by the 5th and 6th centuries was being used as a title for a fallen angel (based on Isaiah 14:12 being reapplied).
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Russell: My Lucifer,
By A Customer
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This review is from: Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages (Cornell Paperbacks) (Paperback)
This book was a pleasure to read. Like the two previous volumes, Lucifer was an enlightenment. The evoultion of the "lightbearer" becomes more exciting as Russell progresses to the modern age. This volume, focusing on the Middle Ages, solitifies some philisophical beliefs of evil, matter and its representation in literature(specifically Dantes Inferno). I strongly recommend picking up this book(and reading it).
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Lightbearer Extends His Kingdom,
This review is from: Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages (Cornell Paperbacks) (Paperback)
'Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages' is the longest (356 pages) of Jeffrey Burton Russell four book treatise examining the concept of evil and the ever elusive Devil as he treks through his way through human history and consciousness. The time period of the Middle Ages is Russell's expertise and it shows in his research and his understanding of Medieval metaphysics.
The best thus far! Don't give up yet, only one books to go!!
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Evil is real and immediate. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Middle Ages, New York, Old English, Gregory the Great, Old Testament, New Testament, Dark Lord, British Library, Piers Plowman, Fall of Man, William of Auvergne, Duns Scotus, The Thomist, Albert the Great, History of Witchcraft, Meister Eckhart, Saint Anselm, Vision of Tundale, Christ's Passion, Divine Comedy, Fourth Lateran, Modern Language Notes, Nicholas of Cusa, Old Law, San Apollinare Nuovo New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Evil is real and immediate. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Middle Ages, New York, Old English, Gregory the Great, Old Testament, New Testament, Dark Lord, British Library, Piers Plowman, Fall of Man, William of Auvergne, Duns Scotus, The Thomist, Albert the Great, History of Witchcraft, Meister Eckhart, Saint Anselm, Vision of Tundale, Christ's Passion, Divine Comedy, Fourth Lateran, Modern Language Notes, Nicholas of Cusa, Old Law, San Apollinare Nuovo New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
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80
books
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- Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics) by John Milton on page 202, page 275, and Back Matter
- Mystical Theology by Evelyn Sire on page 30, page 286, and Back Matter
- Devil: Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity (Cornell Paperbacks) by Jeffrey Burton Russell in Front Matter (1), Front Matter (2), and Back Matter
- Satan: The Early Christian Tradition by Jeffrey Burton Russell in Front Matter (1), Front Matter (2), and Back Matter
- The Horned Moses in Medieval Art and Thought (California Studies in the History of Art, 14) by Ruth Mellinkoff on page 192, page 211, and Back Matter
See all 100 books this book cites
- The Secret History of Lucifer: And the Meaning of the True Da Vinci Code by Lynn Picknett on 4 pages
- Averting Demons: The Protecting Power of Medieval Visual Motifs and Themes, 2 Volumes by Ruth Mellinkoff on 4 pages
- Mephistopheles: The Devil in the Modern World by Jeffrey Burton Russell in Front Matter (1), Front Matter (2), and Back Matter
- Folklore, Myths, and Legends by Donna Rosenberg in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance by John Boswell on page 394, page 418, and Back Matter
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