Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages (Cornell Paperbacks) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Evil is real and immediate..." (more)
Key Phrases: Middle Ages, New York, Old English (more...)

Product Details

• Paperback: 356 pages
• Publisher: Cornell University Press (October 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080149429X
• ISBN-13: 978-0801494291
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #395,710 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Third in a series of four books, July 17, 1999

By A Customer

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, March 7, 2002

By A Customer

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).

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Lightbearer Extends His Kingdom, June 6, 2006

By	Brian E. Erland "Rainbow Sphinx" (CA - USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

'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!!