Here are the notes for: A Cultural History of Satan: Ideological, Rhetorical, and Social Functions of Personified Evil.
This final episode in the series looks at some ways in which Satan still finds a place within modern culture. After discussing the importance of the film Nosferatu (1922), I discuss Satanic imagery within the country blues (1930s) and rock and roll. Then I conclude with a discussion of two Satanic conspiracies of the 1980s, the Satanic ritual abuse scare and the notion of backmasking in rock and roll.
Podcast 8.24: Satanic Imagery and Conspiracies in Modern Culture (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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This episode looks at the modern, ironic portrayal of Mephistopheles in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust (ca. 1800), which suggests some future directions for a relatively harmless and even powerless Satan in the modern period.
Podcast 8.23: Goethe’s Ironic Mephistopheles (ca. 1800) (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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This episode looks at the way in which John Milton (in Paradise Lost) pulled together many different elements into an early modern epic of a traditional Satan with some notable twists.
Podcast 8.22: Milton’s Traditional Satan in Paradise Lost (1600s) (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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In this episode, I explore how Devilish images and stories were used to combat enemies during the Reformation period (1500s), finishing with a discussion of Menno Simons’ piece on identifying the Antichrist.
Podcast 8.21: The Devil and Internal Struggles of the Reformation Period (1500s) (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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This episode looks at the place of Satan or the Devil in witchcraft accusations of the period 1400-1600, building on Robin Briggs’ theory expounded in Witches and Neighbors: The Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft (London: Penguin Books, 1998).
Podcast 8.20: Witchcraft Accusations and Pacts with the Devil (1400-1600) (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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This episode considers some Medieval perspectives on Satan and demons, considering stories of everyday interactions between humans and demons and looking at the role of Satan within one particular movement, the Cathars.
Podcast 8.19: Satan and Demons in Everyday Life in the Middle Ages (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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This episode discusses some medieval images of Satan and Hell with a special focus on Dante’s Inferno.
Podcast 8.18: Satan’s Home, part 5 – Medieval Depictions and Dante’s Inferno (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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This episode looks at images of torture in hell that are first seen in the Apocalypse of Peter before going on to the notion of Christ’s descent into hell to rescue prisoners in other writings, including the so-called Gospel of Nicodemus.
Podcast 8.17: Satan’s Home, part 4 – Tortures in Hell and Christ’s Descent (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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This episode looks at how certain followers of Jesus, including the authors of Revelation and the gospels, expressed their notions of Hell and the afterlife.
Podcast 8.16: Satan’s Home, part 3 – Developments among Early Jesus Followers (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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This episode situates the emergence of Hell and notions of an afterlife within Judean apocalypticism in light of the earliest reference to the punishment of fallen angels in 1 Enoch (ca. 225 BCE).
Podcast 8.15: Satan’s Home, part 2 – The Birth of Judean Hell in 1 Enoch (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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This episode looks at cultural predecessors of Hell and the afterlife in the Ancient Near East, Israel and Persia, setting the stage for discussion of Judean and Christian developments in the following episodes.
Podcast 8.14: Satan’s Home, Part 1 – Cultural Origins Of Hell (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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This episode looks at how the rhetoric of Satan and demons played a role in internal debates and the construction of “heresies” in the era of the so-called Church Fathers (2nd-4th centuries).
Podcast 8.13: Satan as Father of Lies and Heresy in the Church Fathers (2nd-4th centuries CE) (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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In connection with a course I am teaching, I have prepared an accessible version of Oenomaus’ critique of deceptive oracles and placed it on archive.org: Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Deceivers, or Charlatans Exposed (Γοήτων φώρα). This work was cited in Eusebius, Praeparatio Evangelica = Preparation for the Gospel 5.18-36 and 6.7 (translation with modifications from Gifford, Eusebii Pamphili Evangelicae Praeparationis (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1903)).
Oenomaus (Oinomaos) of Gadara in Palestine was a Cynic philosopher (probably in the second century CE, during the reign of Hadrian) who wrote a work against deceptive divination practices and procedures at oracles, including those at Delphi and Claros (Klaros). The work is only preserved in extracts by the church historian, Eusebius (early fourth century CE). For clarity, I present Eusebius’ own comments in italics and those attributed to Oenomaus of Gadara in regular font. Oracles cited by Oenomaus are indented. I have modernized Gifford’s English translation.
The work is especially helpful in providing context for Lucian of Samosata’s critique of the oracle of Glykon set up by Alexander of Abonouteichos, a writing also known as Alexander the False Prophet (link). Lucian aligns himself with Epicurean philosophers who likewise sought to expose the supposed deceptions of this oracle in northern Asia Minor (in Paphlagonia).
In the first of two episodes dealing with the Church Fathers, here I look at how Justin Martyr and Origen contribute to the story of Satan and his demons in countering external opponents.
Podcast 8.12: Satan’s Demons and the Greco-Roman Gods in the Church Fathers (2nd-3rd centuries CE) (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I examine “On the Origin of the World” (one of the writings found at Nag Hammadi), which attributes to the creator God (Yaldabaoth) of the Hebrew Bible many of the negative attributes and motivations found in developing stories about Satan. The result is a Satanic creator god and a wise serpent in the garden who brings knowledge (gnosis) and salvation.
Podcast 8.11: The Jealous Creator and the Serpent of Wisdom in Gnosticism (2nd century CE) (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Nice to finally have a copy of my new book in hand now. This one took more than 10 years (off and on)
Philip A. Harland, Greco-Roman Associations Texts, Translations, and Commentary, Volume II: North Coast of the Black Sea, Asia Minor (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 204; Berlin: de Gruyter, 2014), 565 pages, € 99.95 / $140.00 (De Gruyter order page).
Table of Contents:
[gview file=”http://www.philipharland.com/Blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/TOC.pdf” width=60%]
Here I discuss the expanded story of Adam and Eve that emerged around the turn of the common era as a way of explaining the motivations of Satan (primarily jealousy) in connection with both the creation of humans in the image of God and the serpent in the garden.
Podcast 8.10: Jealous Satan, the Image of God, and the Serpent in the Life of Adam and Eve (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I discuss Satan in John’s Apocalypse (Revelation), pointing out how this author pulls together many strands of the story of Satan and does so to demonize an external power: the Roman empire.
Podcast 8.9: A Satanic Empire in John’s Apocalypse (ca. 80-100 CE) (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I introduce Paul’s apocalyptic worldview and go on to discuss the way in which some early Christian authors or leaders (e.g. Paul and the elder John) used the language or rhetoric of Satan or evil personified figures (e.g. Antichrist) to label and combat internal opponents within the Christian communities.
Podcast 8.8: Internal Functions of the Rhetoric of Satan in Paul and John (ca. 50-110 CE) (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I discuss how the authors of the synoptic gospels portray Jesus in conflict with demons and with the Devil.
Podcast 8.7: The Devil and Beelzebub in Early Biographies of Jesus (70-100 CE) (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I continue to trace the development of evil personified figures in Judean literature around the turn of the first century BCE, focussing on Mastema (Enmity personified) and Beliar or Belial (Worthless One). I also discuss the Prince of Darkness in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Podcast 8.6: Mastema in Jubilees and Beliar in the Dead Sea Scrolls (ca. 100 BCE) (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I discuss 1 Enoch’s expanded story of the fallen angels headed by Azazel and Semyaz (based on an interpretation of Genesis 6), which came to play a crucial role in the emerging story of Satan.
Podcast 8.5: Fallen Angels in 1 Enoch (ca. 225 BCE) (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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My apologies that somehow this episode from the last series never got released (ooohh the suspense). Here it is:
Here I further explore the first-person visionary account in Daniel chapters 7-12, our earliest example of an historical apocalypse as veiled history.
Podcast 7.9: Daniel’s Visions as Veiled History (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I explore other building blocks of Satan’s story from Israelite culture by looking at arrogant foreign kings and angels or messengers of God in the Hebrew Bible.
Podcast 8.4: Other Predecessors of Satan from the Hebrew Bible (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I discuss the battle between Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu in Persian Zoroastrianism in relation to the role of Satan within Judean apocalypticism.
Podcast 8.3: Predecessors of Satan from Persia (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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This episode continues to consider the centrality of the “combat myth” for the subsequent origins of Satan, considering Ugaritic (Canaanite) and Israelite examples of a god slaying a chaos monster, such as Leviathan.
Podcast 8.2: Predecessors of Satan from Canaan and Israel (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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This series of the podcast investigates the origins, history and functions of personified evil from ancient Judean (Jewish) and Christian culture to modern, Western culture. We begin with what you might call the pre-history of Satan by exploring the building blocks of what ultimately became the story of Satan within Judean and Christian circles. The first among the predecessors of Satan are monsters (who are also gods) found within Mesopotamian mythology in the second and first millenia BCE. The so-called “combat myth” is a fundamental building block of Satan’s story.
Podcast 8.1: A Cultural History of Satan – Predecessors from Mesopotamia (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I introduce the “historical apocalypse” of Daniel, including a discussion of the kingdoms in king Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (ch. 2) and the historical context of chapters 7-12 (the visionary apocalypse proper) during the time of the Hellenistic king Antiochus IV Epiphanes (in the 160s BCE).
Podcast 7.8: Introduction to Daniel’s Historical Apocalypse (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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The new, thoroughly revised edition of my book Associations, Synagogues and Congregations (2013) is now available for download. On the companion site, you can read part one of the work for free online or download the entire book for a pay-what-you-will price ($0-15). Simultaneously, I have refurbished and updated my websites for a better look.
The main advantage of this edition is that each of the inscriptions and sources mentioned is keyed to the new Associations in the Greco-Roman World sourcebook and there are direct, clickable links in the pdf of the book to the corresponding inscription on the AGRW companion website. You simply click on an inscription number (e.g. IEph 1503) and are brought to the description, Greek text, and a translation. There are also many, many new illustrations and figures (many in color).
