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The Birth of Satan: Tracing the Devil's Biblical Roots
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.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
January 29, 2010
My bible study group requested that we spend the 6 weeks between Christmas and Ash Wednesday studying Satan. I was a bit taken aback - this is not a subject I had considered studying - but I'm game to learn about almost anything. My difficulty came in finding resources that fit in comfortably with our Episcopalian world view (we seldom mention Satan unless it's Lent or someone is being baptized) and the scriptural/historical approach we take in our studies. I was very pleased to find this book. It is a scholarly but clearly written examination of the development of ideas about Satan from the adversary subject to God's will in the Hebrew bible to the evil opponent in the battle of Armageddon in the New Testament. This book makes no assumptions about one's personal beliefs, but simply looks at the writings - scriptural and non-scriptural - that indicate how the concept of Satan emerged and changed through time. It has been far more intriguing than I had initially imagined.
October 31, 2010
I loved The Birth of Satan. It was incredibly witty with lines like, “Warning: Common side effects of biblical study include visual flashes, deep remorse, and (unless reading Song of Solomon) decreased libido” (p. 30). The authors were honest about their positions and yet very thorough in their reading of the Bible. Turns out, Satan plays a very small role in the Bible. Much of what we know about him, we can attribute to postbiblical interpreters and our imaginations. Essentially, Satan is the development of ancient Jewish attempts to answer the theodicy question. If a good God really wouldn’t allow evil in the world, then there must be another cosmic source of evil that we’ll call Satan. The authors trace the role of Satan in the OT and conclude there is nothing linking the serpent in the garden of Eden to Satan or evil and that the first use of the term referred to human adversaries or angels of obstruction who could only operate under instructions from God. The authors also trace biblical narratives of death and destruction that were attributed to God in the OT and the devil in the NT—what a fascinating revision of history right there in the good book. The evil as we come to know him begins in the end of time battles in Revelation and not before (which ironically were written when Israel is being persecuted again by its enemies). Overall an incredibly enlightening read for anyone interested in theodicy and religious history.
December 8, 2022
This is the book I’ve been looking for for a long time.
The origin of Satan — from his near-complete absence in the Hebrew Bible to his prominent role in the New Testament, then his even more inflated mythology in medieval art and modern religion — is a huge area of interest for me. But the several other books I’ve read have tended to wander off topic into social history or personal anecdote, or just ended up being generally disappointing. I was beginning to think no one had written the book I wanted to read.
This is it, though, this is the one. A clear, concise, logical approach, starting with the earliest Jewish scriptures and working methodically up from there. A lot of information I already knew was covered well; I learned some new things I didn’t know; and the authors made some connections between the two that I’d never made. I enjoyed every page of this and will enthusiastically recommend it to anyone I meet who is interested in this topic.
The origin of Satan — from his near-complete absence in the Hebrew Bible to his prominent role in the New Testament, then his even more inflated mythology in medieval art and modern religion — is a huge area of interest for me. But the several other books I’ve read have tended to wander off topic into social history or personal anecdote, or just ended up being generally disappointing. I was beginning to think no one had written the book I wanted to read.
This is it, though, this is the one. A clear, concise, logical approach, starting with the earliest Jewish scriptures and working methodically up from there. A lot of information I already knew was covered well; I learned some new things I didn’t know; and the authors made some connections between the two that I’d never made. I enjoyed every page of this and will enthusiastically recommend it to anyone I meet who is interested in this topic.
March 27, 2022
Written for non-specialists, The Birth of Satan explores the biblical roots of the idea. The authors are academics but they do a pretty good job of making the book accessible. They do keep pretty close to the biblical story but they also make a few brief forays into popular culture, particularly movies.
As Mobley and Wray explain, the character of Satan isn’t “the Devil”in the Hebrew Bible. Neither does he show up suddenly in the New Testament. There’s often a misconception that “the Devil”appears in Genesis and persists all the way through Revelation. That’s not the case. The authors attempt to draw out how this idea evolves over time. Although they stop at the New Testament the story could be drawn out quite a bit after that. My blog post on the book (Sects and Violence in the Ancient World) points out that there are many books about the Devil.
Perhaps it’s the time frame in which this was written, but it’s difficult to tell who exactly the book is for. Biblical scholars won’t learn much they don’t already know, but interested laity will probably find the biblical detail heavy-going at times. Overall it’s an informative treatment that does just what it’s subtitle says, traces the history of the Devil’s biblical roots.
As Mobley and Wray explain, the character of Satan isn’t “the Devil”in the Hebrew Bible. Neither does he show up suddenly in the New Testament. There’s often a misconception that “the Devil”appears in Genesis and persists all the way through Revelation. That’s not the case. The authors attempt to draw out how this idea evolves over time. Although they stop at the New Testament the story could be drawn out quite a bit after that. My blog post on the book (Sects and Violence in the Ancient World) points out that there are many books about the Devil.
Perhaps it’s the time frame in which this was written, but it’s difficult to tell who exactly the book is for. Biblical scholars won’t learn much they don’t already know, but interested laity will probably find the biblical detail heavy-going at times. Overall it’s an informative treatment that does just what it’s subtitle says, traces the history of the Devil’s biblical roots.
August 18, 2008
Part of this book's downfall for me was my own high expectations. I was hoping for a deep plunge into a psychological/philosophical dissection into the need for Satan's existence, alas that isn't what I got. These authors took a more benign approach with this difficult subject matter and simply talked about his historical/literary evolution through religious writing. Their conclusion : Satan didn't always exist but came about gradually to fulfill a need to explain the ugly part of life. In extreme monotheism God is problematic as he is both the source of good and evil and yet a God like that can only inspire people's affection for so long before they realize they are better off without him. Satan was the man for the job, he takes away God's ugly half and now we have a scapegoat that we have all so desperately wanted. The irony of Satan's role in Christianity though is that not only is he necessary he is essential, equal to, if not greater than, Christ himself, for without Satan there would be no Christ. Christ needed Satan in order to overcome him, to subdue death and evil, without him Christ would have no purpose. That is the almost frightening paradox of the man everyone loves to hate, is that his role in Judeo-Islamo-Christian theology is almost central. Now to address the question that still lingers "Is Satan Real?" this question disturbs me because it is almost unanswerable. It is a question that once Metaphysics tried and failed to answer, and there might be a reason for that. Real is very subjective, I might even argue that you (the reader) are not real. Think about it, on a physical level you are made up of such small and distant pieces of matter that it is impossible to even say what you are let alone whether or not you are real. So in that sense I think the problem is the question. Instead of "what is real?" Maybe it should be "what makes something real to us?" Now putting the question like that I believe there is an answer. We make things real both individually and collectively, largely just on belief (regardless of whether it is correct or not). As long as there is a need to explain away the ugliness in life Satan's existence will remain very real, as one explanation, to countless people.
May 10, 2013
Though I only gave it three stars, the book is very informative and generally entertaining for the general reader. The book is well researched and tracks the adversarial satan (noun)of the Old Testament to the extra-canonical, apocalyptic material that transforms the adversarial noun into a proper name, Satan, the prince of demons; and finally, the transition of Satan in the New Testament. The book is packed with lesser known information concerning this nebulous character and demystifies the stigma surrounding him.
Note: this is not a polemic against Christian or Jewish belief in anyway, but it does serve to assist the interested reader in understanding both Satan and scripture in a new light.
Finally, I decided on three stars due to a couple of careless slip-ups in general (e.g., Table 4.1 lists Hades as the son of Zeus)and a couple more relevant, nuanced mistakes pertaining to their research. Overall however, I highly recommend it as an introductory work of the subject.
Note: this is not a polemic against Christian or Jewish belief in anyway, but it does serve to assist the interested reader in understanding both Satan and scripture in a new light.
Finally, I decided on three stars due to a couple of careless slip-ups in general (e.g., Table 4.1 lists Hades as the son of Zeus)and a couple more relevant, nuanced mistakes pertaining to their research. Overall however, I highly recommend it as an introductory work of the subject.
April 4, 2024
Perhaps I should give it a second star for the research going into the book but I find it difficult going beyond the one. The introduction spells out the self-fulfilling prophecy and bias of the authors who both saw the devil as a frightening figure in their respective childhoods and were deciding against his existence even then. The exploration of the biblical texts to see the development of the concept of the devil leans heavily against what is explicitly stated in order to come to conclusions in line with the authors’ viewpoints. Even though both identify as Christians and take Jesus’ words to be truth, they also shortchange Jesus’ testimony of the factuality of Satan to hold to their preconceived ideals. This is not a good book unless you are simply trying to find something which agrees with your bias, like the authors did.
November 16, 2017
Goodreads need half-stars. I'm torn about this work. On the one hand there is some good information and research between its covers. On the other hand, the writers stretched their findings in ways to seem to bend credulity. The humor was just plain silly and needs to be removed in subsequent editions. Over-all, I'd give the book 2 and half to 3 stars.
February 11, 2020
A solid overview of the subject that is accessible, and useful for the instruction of undergraduates. There are some minor factual errors.
January 3, 2017
This is a fascinating journey through the biblical roots of Satan, the Devil, Lucifer. I found it particularly relevant because of my childhood memories of being terrified of Hell and Satan, and how these were used to scare me into being a Christian. Even exploring my religious doubts was an overwhelming feat when I thought all of my doubts were the influence of Satan. It took me several painful and scary years before I could overcome this fear.
Looking back, I realize that I never actually looked for biblical evidence of such a supernatural villian. I just took it on sermon alone. It didn't take much to scare the piss out of me. I was young and impressionable, with a very active imagination. But if all this stuff was supposed to come from the Bible, why didn't I just look for Satan there, to see just how scary he really is? That's what this book does.
The authors have accomplished an amazing feat of writing style, in that it is both light and heavy at the same time. They manage to get into quite a bit of biblical detail, but rarely feeling bogged down. Their sense of humor is subtle. Here's a good example, which also serves to describe the authors' perspectives and confessed biases:
"We indicated our religious affiliations--Roman Catholic and Protestant--in the preface, although neither of us pretends to be definitively or officially Catholic or Protestant. We are writing for a mixed multitude of Christians and Jews, whether back-slidden or at the forefront of the saints when they go marching in. We are also addressing persons of other or no religious affiliation who are simply curious about Satan. We will certainly disappoint those readers for whom the Bible is beyond analysis, a divine document to be trusted and obeyed but never subjected to interpretation. We hope that, in the end, we also disappoint readers who want to see the Bible exposed as antiquated and primitive, a cultural superego from which modern persons need liberation."
To my surprise, this book shows that there's not actually much about Satan or Hell in the Bible, especially the Hebrew Bible (derisively called the Old Testament by Christians). This book goes through it with a fine-toothed comb, exploring every reference to Satan or Hell in detail, using historical context to make sense of the passages.
It shows that Satan didn't "exist" in the Bible as much as "was developed." There was no Satan as a specific entity at all in the early Hebrew Bible. There was just "hassatan," the Hebrew word for adversary, opponent, obstacle, or basically just pain-in-the-ass. Satan as an entity didn't actually show up until apocryphal writings between testaments, and even Jesus and Paul in the Christian Bible ("New Testament") usually used Satan as a descriptive word for someone who annoys them.
Really, the only place that Satan as we know him today shows up in a big way in the Bible is in Revelation, which this book describes as more of a horror story or dark fantasy than a gospel. Even Satan in Revelation is incomplete, and much of the detail we now ascribe to Satan and Hell was all post-biblical, particularly Dante's Inferno and Milton's Paradise Lost.
The authors' theory is that Satan was the original conspiracy theory. Conspiracies are attractive because they simplify evil. People need simple explanations for why bad things happen to good people. This became especially true when Judaism transitioned from polytheistic to monotheistic. (There is a lot of evidence that Judaism started out as polytheistic. There's even specific references, by name, to the other gods in the Hebrew Bible).
Something that had never occurred to me before reading this book is that monotheism is inherently unstable. Polytheism allows you to assign each personality of nature to a personality in the heavens. But if you only have one god, then everything has to be attributed to him, the good, the bad, and the ugly. There are several passages in the Hebrew Bible that say this very explicitly. Because life, and nature, can be both beautiful and terrifying, the god must necessarily appear to have a sort of multiple personality disorder, one minute pouring out blessings and the next punishing indiscriminately. Indeed, this is exactly how God behaves in the Hebrew Bible.
It's kind of hard to worship a god like that. If you really want people to believe in it, you need to split the evil part of the personality somehow, and that's what people started clamoring for around the turn of the Christian era. Increasingly over the centuries, you see more of the evil that was once attributed to God being dumped on Satan. Now we have someone to blame for all the evil in the world, and God can emerge blameless and omnibenevolent. It has evidently worked quite well. It explains why God is so much nicer and consistent in the Christian Bible.
This book is merely interesting from an atheist perspective, but I imagine it would be mind-blowing for believers. Especially if their belief stems in large part from a fear of Hell. This book won't just help believers understand the biblical origins of Satan and Hell better, but the entire Bible, how it was written, when it was written, and what cultural elements influenced it.
Looking back, I realize that I never actually looked for biblical evidence of such a supernatural villian. I just took it on sermon alone. It didn't take much to scare the piss out of me. I was young and impressionable, with a very active imagination. But if all this stuff was supposed to come from the Bible, why didn't I just look for Satan there, to see just how scary he really is? That's what this book does.
The authors have accomplished an amazing feat of writing style, in that it is both light and heavy at the same time. They manage to get into quite a bit of biblical detail, but rarely feeling bogged down. Their sense of humor is subtle. Here's a good example, which also serves to describe the authors' perspectives and confessed biases:
"We indicated our religious affiliations--Roman Catholic and Protestant--in the preface, although neither of us pretends to be definitively or officially Catholic or Protestant. We are writing for a mixed multitude of Christians and Jews, whether back-slidden or at the forefront of the saints when they go marching in. We are also addressing persons of other or no religious affiliation who are simply curious about Satan. We will certainly disappoint those readers for whom the Bible is beyond analysis, a divine document to be trusted and obeyed but never subjected to interpretation. We hope that, in the end, we also disappoint readers who want to see the Bible exposed as antiquated and primitive, a cultural superego from which modern persons need liberation."
To my surprise, this book shows that there's not actually much about Satan or Hell in the Bible, especially the Hebrew Bible (derisively called the Old Testament by Christians). This book goes through it with a fine-toothed comb, exploring every reference to Satan or Hell in detail, using historical context to make sense of the passages.
It shows that Satan didn't "exist" in the Bible as much as "was developed." There was no Satan as a specific entity at all in the early Hebrew Bible. There was just "hassatan," the Hebrew word for adversary, opponent, obstacle, or basically just pain-in-the-ass. Satan as an entity didn't actually show up until apocryphal writings between testaments, and even Jesus and Paul in the Christian Bible ("New Testament") usually used Satan as a descriptive word for someone who annoys them.
Really, the only place that Satan as we know him today shows up in a big way in the Bible is in Revelation, which this book describes as more of a horror story or dark fantasy than a gospel. Even Satan in Revelation is incomplete, and much of the detail we now ascribe to Satan and Hell was all post-biblical, particularly Dante's Inferno and Milton's Paradise Lost.
The authors' theory is that Satan was the original conspiracy theory. Conspiracies are attractive because they simplify evil. People need simple explanations for why bad things happen to good people. This became especially true when Judaism transitioned from polytheistic to monotheistic. (There is a lot of evidence that Judaism started out as polytheistic. There's even specific references, by name, to the other gods in the Hebrew Bible).
Something that had never occurred to me before reading this book is that monotheism is inherently unstable. Polytheism allows you to assign each personality of nature to a personality in the heavens. But if you only have one god, then everything has to be attributed to him, the good, the bad, and the ugly. There are several passages in the Hebrew Bible that say this very explicitly. Because life, and nature, can be both beautiful and terrifying, the god must necessarily appear to have a sort of multiple personality disorder, one minute pouring out blessings and the next punishing indiscriminately. Indeed, this is exactly how God behaves in the Hebrew Bible.
It's kind of hard to worship a god like that. If you really want people to believe in it, you need to split the evil part of the personality somehow, and that's what people started clamoring for around the turn of the Christian era. Increasingly over the centuries, you see more of the evil that was once attributed to God being dumped on Satan. Now we have someone to blame for all the evil in the world, and God can emerge blameless and omnibenevolent. It has evidently worked quite well. It explains why God is so much nicer and consistent in the Christian Bible.
This book is merely interesting from an atheist perspective, but I imagine it would be mind-blowing for believers. Especially if their belief stems in large part from a fear of Hell. This book won't just help believers understand the biblical origins of Satan and Hell better, but the entire Bible, how it was written, when it was written, and what cultural elements influenced it.
July 12, 2024
Wonderfully informative and eminently readable.
October 19, 2012
Basically this is an in-depth investigation of how the character of Satan came into being based upon references in the Jewish and Christian bibles. It's very well-researched and informative, and draws from the climate and surrounding religions in the Middle East to strengthen our understanding of why man felt the need to create a minion of evil in a monotheistic religion.
While reference was made to Islam as another religion with one God and a contrasting evil character, nothing from the Qur'an was referenced to show the Muslim take on Satan. I would've liked to have had that included, as well.
This book isn't for those seeking to reaffirm their own Jewish or Christian faith, as it speaks of both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament as historical literary works written in a specific time and place by people for an explicit purpose. Many believers of the Bible don't like the think of it in those terms.
Overall a good read. Well written and informative, though I would've liked more on the Islamic idea of Satan. There was some mention of Satan "through the ages" but this was very brief and almost besides the point. The main goal was to explore how Satan appears in the Bible and how that appearance changed over time as ideals and issues shifted from the Jewish Bible to the Christian Testament.
While reference was made to Islam as another religion with one God and a contrasting evil character, nothing from the Qur'an was referenced to show the Muslim take on Satan. I would've liked to have had that included, as well.
This book isn't for those seeking to reaffirm their own Jewish or Christian faith, as it speaks of both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament as historical literary works written in a specific time and place by people for an explicit purpose. Many believers of the Bible don't like the think of it in those terms.
Overall a good read. Well written and informative, though I would've liked more on the Islamic idea of Satan. There was some mention of Satan "through the ages" but this was very brief and almost besides the point. The main goal was to explore how Satan appears in the Bible and how that appearance changed over time as ideals and issues shifted from the Jewish Bible to the Christian Testament.
December 18, 2008
This book was a great concept. It helped me to understand what I had learned growing up about Satan. Was it Biblical or not? Was it literature? This book explores is Satan real or is he just made up by people so that God isn't seen as doing things to humans that are bad. It goes into the fact that most people want to believe that God is a loving god but not the punishing vengeful god, so was Satan created to combat that? The book starts off asking all these questions and more. Then it explores Satan in the Old Testament, between the testaments and then in the New Testament. It goes through the passages and what was going on at that time. It also talks about where the concept of hell comes from. Is it the Book of Revelation or is it from Dante's Inferno or Milton's Paradise Lost? I found it to be fascinating. However, I was shocked in parts to find that it was wrote almost like a textbook in places and on a higher level than I was ready for. I would recommend this book to people wanting to think on a deeper religious level.
June 21, 2015
I read this for the second time, realizing that I'd forgotten much of the detail. It’s a historical-critical bible study with a sense of humor, and goes beyond the bible to contemporary texts from other cultures, such as Babylonian and Persian. Literary interpretations of the devil are analyzed as well: Faust, Paradise Lost, The Inferno. Very interesting to see all the different streams that have contributed to the red guy with hoofs and horns, though when they try to answer the questions about what all of this means, I don’t sense profound insight. Maybe that’s the reader’s job.
August 9, 2014
A bit redundant. It states its idea and then spends the rest of the book dissecting the Bible to prove its theory. With extra bits on Hell and the importance of the Devil tacked on at the end. I would suggest others to read it, but the ones who need to read it the most are the ones who will refuse it the most and most often don't want to take a logical look at their own holy book lest they be proven wrong.
November 5, 2025
intertestamental period influence
The extended discussion of the period between the old and New Testament, conveniently suppressed in canonical decisions, contains significant context for theological and far reaching conclusions that obscure, confuse and distract examination of our lives and undermines critical discussion of life events and behaviors. Also concise historical overlay of the different periods of New Testament books changes the semantics of the encoded messages. The book invites new challenges of a whole variety of common metaphors that underlie religious practice and ritual.
The extended discussion of the period between the old and New Testament, conveniently suppressed in canonical decisions, contains significant context for theological and far reaching conclusions that obscure, confuse and distract examination of our lives and undermines critical discussion of life events and behaviors. Also concise historical overlay of the different periods of New Testament books changes the semantics of the encoded messages. The book invites new challenges of a whole variety of common metaphors that underlie religious practice and ritual.
August 13, 2024
It's time like these where I really wish Goodreads had .5 stars. I don't know if this book is a perfect 5 but it's such a strong 4.5 that I'm going to give it a 5.
As someone who isn't religious, nor was I raised religious, or as someone who studies the Bible I found this book very enlightening. Wray and Mobley perfectly straddle the line between being academically thorough while still being understandable to the lay person. I walked away from this book feeling like I maybe actually improved my life by learning something this time.
This book is also hilarious.
As someone who isn't religious, nor was I raised religious, or as someone who studies the Bible I found this book very enlightening. Wray and Mobley perfectly straddle the line between being academically thorough while still being understandable to the lay person. I walked away from this book feeling like I maybe actually improved my life by learning something this time.
This book is also hilarious.
February 13, 2021
Very interesting book. A good look at the anthropological/cultural/sociological development of satan through time as the Jews (and Christians) came into contact with different societies. The editing could have been better but overall, this seems very much like a "pop-religion" book that is meant to be accessible to everyone and not necessarily a scholarly dissertation on Satan. At the very least, it is good food for thought
January 13, 2024
Un libro interesante que me llevó a comprender más a fondo lo que desconocemos del mundo, especialmente del origen de un Dios tan aclamado como Satan. Me recordó muchísimo (a nivel de estructura) al libro del Dios Pan escrito por Paul Robichaud. Sin duda volveré a él por referencias futuras a mis escritos.
February 24, 2020
Not exactly
Not quite what I was looking for, however not a bad read. A lot of stories here actually focus on the original idea of the devil rather the actual “origin” of his own story. It drags here and then, but mainly because most of this information I had already knew.
Not quite what I was looking for, however not a bad read. A lot of stories here actually focus on the original idea of the devil rather the actual “origin” of his own story. It drags here and then, but mainly because most of this information I had already knew.
April 25, 2022
Thorough investigation into the origins of evil
Great book to understand why an all-evil figure is absolutely necessary for goodness to endure and prevail, and where does it all fit in.
Great book to understand why an all-evil figure is absolutely necessary for goodness to endure and prevail, and where does it all fit in.
April 12, 2024
This was alright, an interesting tour of some of the cosmology of the Ancient Near East and how different strands developed into the Satan that became dominant in Christian theology. Rather academic and also repetitive but readable, written for the layperson.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 9, 2025
This book is what I wanted when I read Elaine Pagels. The only major critique I have of this one is that it stops short of diving into the details of Satan’s role in contemporary times. If you’re interested in learning more about the character of Satan, skip Pagels and read this one.
June 26, 2021
Good, informative book. Unfortunately it didn't answer any questions and left me with more.
March 8, 2023
Incredibly insightful and mind opening. Loved it from beginning to finish
May 30, 2025
Kinda just scratched the surface, but you get what is advertised.
May 8, 2014
T.J. Wray and Gregory Mobley claim that the book is targeted at both an academic and lay readership, although I suggest some knowledge of the history of God and an awareness of man's dual nature would provide depth of context for the work. Taken straight, I think it would be a little bland. They stay very tightly within the boundaries of the Biblical references to Satan with some references to the near Eastern historical context. Their contention is that Satan evolves and changes during the course of the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Old Testament, although, except for a couple of notable exceptions, he's not very interesting in the first part of the Bible, as they trace his development from minor court functionary to the Prince of Darkness. What is interesting is the parallel evolution of God from a divinity possessing the power of good and evil to a singular entity possessing only good, as the two forces split over time. In a world in which man's darker nature often triumphs, there is a role for evil, a role currently played by Satan. In fact, except for his temptations of Jesus, he's not very interesting in the New Testament, either.
The authors point out that the Western world's perception of the devil is courtesy of Dante's Divine Comedy and Milton's Paradise Lost, especially Milton's version. His evolution in western culture would be far more interesting, but, the authors barely touch on that topic. They briefly mention the psychological importance of Satan in western culture, and I think they fall short of developing that topic. In a world in which man's darker nature often triumphs, there is a role for evil, a role currently played by Satan. What the authors don't mention is the birth of Satan. Man's dualism, man who is created in the image of God, seems the most obvious source for both a creator of love and goodness and a dark figure of evil, the two seem not separate forces but different aspects of the same nature, as they are in each individual. I was disappointed that they didn't discuss the possible origins of Satan, since that was the title of their book, even though they vaguely place the God-Satan conflict within the context of other eastern religions, particularly Zoroastrianism, which possess a good versus evil dichotomy. They seem uninterested in Satan's origins, just his development at the hands of the Biblical authors.
It's a moderately interesting book, although far drier than the subject would suggest it should be.
The authors point out that the Western world's perception of the devil is courtesy of Dante's Divine Comedy and Milton's Paradise Lost, especially Milton's version. His evolution in western culture would be far more interesting, but, the authors barely touch on that topic. They briefly mention the psychological importance of Satan in western culture, and I think they fall short of developing that topic. In a world in which man's darker nature often triumphs, there is a role for evil, a role currently played by Satan. What the authors don't mention is the birth of Satan. Man's dualism, man who is created in the image of God, seems the most obvious source for both a creator of love and goodness and a dark figure of evil, the two seem not separate forces but different aspects of the same nature, as they are in each individual. I was disappointed that they didn't discuss the possible origins of Satan, since that was the title of their book, even though they vaguely place the God-Satan conflict within the context of other eastern religions, particularly Zoroastrianism, which possess a good versus evil dichotomy. They seem uninterested in Satan's origins, just his development at the hands of the Biblical authors.
It's a moderately interesting book, although far drier than the subject would suggest it should be.
July 28, 2025
If any of my fellow atheists believe Christian scholars are incapable of a rigorous and intellectually honest study of the roots of their religion, I would recommend this book to them. Mobley and Wray, one a Catholic and the other a Protestant, examine where the idea of Satan came from.
Their conclusion is that Satan is a very minor character in the Old Testament. The idea that the serpent in Genesis 3 represents Satan is wrong and involves reading into the text ideas that its authors did not hold. One of Satan’s most important appearances is in the Book of Job, where he is a member of the heavenly court, a licensed troublemaker who helps God to audit Job’s piety.
His rise to prominence as the Prince of Darkness came much later, and the authors attribute this to two main factors. Firstly, the influence of other religions, particularly Zoroastrianism, in which a good god, Ahura Mazdā, is engaged in a cosmic war against the evil god Angra Mainyu.
The second factor is the problem of theodicy, why God allows evil and suffering. The earliest texts of the Old Testament show evidence of henotheism; the Israelite cult of Yahweh started as the worship of just one among many gods. Polytheistic gods can be wicked, needy, vengeful and malicious, qualities that Yahweh continued to display in abundance in his early monotheistic incarnation. But as monotheistic theology became more sophisticated, theodicy demanded more sophisticated answers, which Job and Ecclesiastes attempted to provide, basically by saying that God moves in mysterious ways that we cannot hope to understand.
But there is an alternative explanation: it isn’t God that makes terrible things happen, but Satan, with whom God is engaged in a struggle that will only be won when the world as we know it comes to an end. It is this apocalyptic tradition that informs Christianity. The authors write of Chronicles as a much later retelling of Kings in which God’s role in causing wicked things to happen is edited out and ascribed to Satan.
The authors show how the Bible’s view of Satan evolved, and how more modern views have been influenced by Jewish and Christian texts that are not accepted as part of the Bible and by later literature, especially Dante’s Inferno and Milton’s Paradise Lost.
Their conclusion is that Satan is a very minor character in the Old Testament. The idea that the serpent in Genesis 3 represents Satan is wrong and involves reading into the text ideas that its authors did not hold. One of Satan’s most important appearances is in the Book of Job, where he is a member of the heavenly court, a licensed troublemaker who helps God to audit Job’s piety.
His rise to prominence as the Prince of Darkness came much later, and the authors attribute this to two main factors. Firstly, the influence of other religions, particularly Zoroastrianism, in which a good god, Ahura Mazdā, is engaged in a cosmic war against the evil god Angra Mainyu.
The second factor is the problem of theodicy, why God allows evil and suffering. The earliest texts of the Old Testament show evidence of henotheism; the Israelite cult of Yahweh started as the worship of just one among many gods. Polytheistic gods can be wicked, needy, vengeful and malicious, qualities that Yahweh continued to display in abundance in his early monotheistic incarnation. But as monotheistic theology became more sophisticated, theodicy demanded more sophisticated answers, which Job and Ecclesiastes attempted to provide, basically by saying that God moves in mysterious ways that we cannot hope to understand.
But there is an alternative explanation: it isn’t God that makes terrible things happen, but Satan, with whom God is engaged in a struggle that will only be won when the world as we know it comes to an end. It is this apocalyptic tradition that informs Christianity. The authors write of Chronicles as a much later retelling of Kings in which God’s role in causing wicked things to happen is edited out and ascribed to Satan.
The authors show how the Bible’s view of Satan evolved, and how more modern views have been influenced by Jewish and Christian texts that are not accepted as part of the Bible and by later literature, especially Dante’s Inferno and Milton’s Paradise Lost.
January 22, 2011
I literally just finished reading this book, and it's great. It is neither an anti-religious argument against Biblical accuracy (although it clearly identifies contradictions within the Bible), nor is it religious propaganda intended to persuade nonbelievers of the fear of Hell or the devil. Rather, it is a very well-researched and balanced historical description of how the current, Western concept of the devil evolved from ancient religions. The authors present their history by analyzing what, exactly, the Bible has to say about Satan.
I found this book to be very interesting because it really does trace the origins of the satan ("accuser")all the way to today's concept of the Devil, including the literary accounts that heavily influenced today's idea of Satan. I think anyone who has suffered (and hopefully overcome/is in the process of overcoming) the psychological fear of hell will appreciate this historical narrative of how our present concept of Satan has evolved out of various political climates and ancient stories(if you like this, you may really enjoy Alice K. Turner's "A History of Hell"; review on that forthcoming).
The book ended (and I don't consider this a spoiler)on a really logical note that we can all agree with, regardless of religious/nonreligious beliefs: "Whether Satan is to be taken as a metaphor, as a symbolic, or literal being, Satan is real in the sense that evil is real". This reminds me of Bob, for any Twin Peaks fans out there. Like Bob, Satan is nothing more than an embodiment of "the evil (that)men do". For many people, I guess it's easier to believe in a demonic, eternal figure than to accept that we, as a species, are capable of intentionally causing great harm and distress to one another.
I found this book to be very interesting because it really does trace the origins of the satan ("accuser")all the way to today's concept of the Devil, including the literary accounts that heavily influenced today's idea of Satan. I think anyone who has suffered (and hopefully overcome/is in the process of overcoming) the psychological fear of hell will appreciate this historical narrative of how our present concept of Satan has evolved out of various political climates and ancient stories(if you like this, you may really enjoy Alice K. Turner's "A History of Hell"; review on that forthcoming).
The book ended (and I don't consider this a spoiler)on a really logical note that we can all agree with, regardless of religious/nonreligious beliefs: "Whether Satan is to be taken as a metaphor, as a symbolic, or literal being, Satan is real in the sense that evil is real". This reminds me of Bob, for any Twin Peaks fans out there. Like Bob, Satan is nothing more than an embodiment of "the evil (that)men do". For many people, I guess it's easier to believe in a demonic, eternal figure than to accept that we, as a species, are capable of intentionally causing great harm and distress to one another.
February 3, 2016
The main reason I gave The Birth of Satan two stars is that there was almost no new information in it for me since I have already read several of the books that T.J. Wray and Gregory Mobley rely so heavily on as sources. To be fair, the authors state in the introduction that it's intended for "both scholar and novice", and it may very well be interesting and informative for lay readers who don't know much about the subject, but I doubt it would satisfy any but the most callow graduate student except as a very limited survey of scholarship in this particular field. There is nothing original here, and Wray & Mobley present no profound or provocative thesis.
That's not to say this book is bad, boring, or not worth reading. The authors inject a fair amount of humor into it and do a good job of making connections between modern conceptions of Satan and how perceptions of him have evolved over millennia, and they do a great job of summarizing a couple dozen volumes of more serious, hardcore scholarship into this brief, easily readable book. If you haven't already devoted years of your life to somewhat serious study of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and ancient near east theology, mythology, and history, and you're interested in learning more about where the Satan we dread today came from, or if you're an undergrad or a 1st-year grad student trying to write a good paper on the subject, The Birth of Satan is a great place to start. And if it only whets your appetite, I would heartily recommend following it up with Alice K. Turner's The History of Hell, especially if you like accompanying pictorial and photographic documentation.
That's not to say this book is bad, boring, or not worth reading. The authors inject a fair amount of humor into it and do a good job of making connections between modern conceptions of Satan and how perceptions of him have evolved over millennia, and they do a great job of summarizing a couple dozen volumes of more serious, hardcore scholarship into this brief, easily readable book. If you haven't already devoted years of your life to somewhat serious study of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and ancient near east theology, mythology, and history, and you're interested in learning more about where the Satan we dread today came from, or if you're an undergrad or a 1st-year grad student trying to write a good paper on the subject, The Birth of Satan is a great place to start. And if it only whets your appetite, I would heartily recommend following it up with Alice K. Turner's The History of Hell, especially if you like accompanying pictorial and photographic documentation.
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