A History of Satan: Evil Personified in Early Judaism and in Christianity (Winter 2006)

Course description

This course investigates the origins, development and significance of personified evil--Satan and his demons--in early Judaism and in the history of Christianity. We will consider some of the most important literary and visual depictions of this figure (and his story) from the ancient world through the middle ages to our own day. In the process, we will shed light on how intellectuals thought of this figure, but also on how Satan came to play an important role in popular culture into the modern era (when this devilish character often makes an appearance in movies).

Required Books

  • Jeffrey Burton Russell, The Prince of Darkness: Radical Evil and the Power of Good in History (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1988).
  • Timothy K. Beal, Religion and Its Monsters (New York: Routledge, 2002).
  • Bible (modern translation such as NRSV, NEB, Jerusalem, NIV)
  • Course pack
  • Posts on the history of Satan on my blog at: http://www.philipharland.com/Blog/

Evaluation

  • Assignment 1: Book review (Beal, Religion and Its Monsters), 5 pages max., due Week 5 at the beginning of class -  20%
  • Assignment 2: Major essay (analysis of primary sources), 8 pages, due Week 13  -  25%
  • In class Quiz in class Week 7 - 15%
  • Test in class Week 12 - 30%
  • Participation and attendance - 10%

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Discussion schedule:

Unit 1: Ancient Origins of Personified Evil – Mesopotamia, Persia and Israel (from 3000 B.C.E.)

Week 1 (Jan 4)

Introduction to the academic study of Satan and personified evil Historical importance of Satan; Key terms and concepts

Readings: Russell, chapter 1; Beal, Introduction

Week 2 (Jan 11)

Satan’s predecessors in the Ancient Near East: Mesopotamian chaos-monsters and Zoroastrian dualism (Ahriman)

Readings: “Anzu” (course pack); Psalm 74:12-17; Psalm 89:5-18 (Bible); Plutarch, Isis and Osiris, section 370 (handout); “Verses from Yasna 30” (course pack) Russell, chapter 2; Beal, chapter 1

Week 3 (Jan 18)

Satan’s origins in Jewish apocalypticism: Fallen Angels and evil spirits

Readings: Genesis 6:1-8 (Bible); 1 Enoch 1-16 (course pack); “The Rule of the Community” (Dead Sea Scrolls), columns 1-4 (course pack) Russell, chapter 3; Beal, chapters 3-4

Unit 2: Satan and Demons in early Christianity (origins-312 C.E.)

Week 4 (Jan 25)

Satan and his roles in early Christianity: Jesus, Paul, and John’s Apocalypse

Readings: Gospel of Mark (esp. chapters 1-3); Gospel of Luke, chapter 4; 2 Corinthians, chapter 11; John’s Apocalypse (Revelation), chapters 1-3, 12-19, especially chapters 12-13 (Bible); (Also look at the New Testament passages listed in Russell’s Appendix 2, pp. 280-81) Russell, chapter 4; Beal, chapters 5-6

Week 5 (Feb 1)

Developments in Satan’s story in the first centuries: Satan (or the world-creator), Adam and Eve, and the serpent (including “gnosticism”)

Readings: Genesis 2-3 (Bible); “The Life of Adam and Eve” (course pack) Gen 1-7 (Bible); “On the Origin of the World”, sections 107-121 (course pack) Russell, chapter 5 **Book Review due at the beginning of class**

Week 6 (Feb 8)

Discussion of Religion and Its Monsters Going to hell: Satan’s (ultimate) home and tours of the underworld

Readings: “Gospel of Nicodemus: Christ’s Descent into Hell” (course pack); Russell, chapter 6

Week 7 (Feb 15)

**Test in first half of class (1 hour)**

Satan in the Church Fathers: Instigator of Idolatry (“Paganism”) and Heresy (150-430 CE and beyond)

NOTE: No class - Reading Week from Feb 20 to 24

Unit 3: Developments in Satan’s Story in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages (312-1500)

Week 8 (March 1)

Satan and the Church Fathers (continued): Augustine and the “classical view”

Readings: Augustine, Enchiridion, chapter IV (course pack); Augustine, The City of God against the Pagans, book 11, sections 13-19; book 21, sections 9-10 (course pack) Russell, chapter 7

Medieval perceptions of Satan, his demons and hell: Visualizing hell’s torment and Satan (Dante’s Inferno and artistic depictions)

Readings: Dante, Divine Comedy 1: Hell, sections 1-5, 34 (course pack) Russell, chapter 8

Week 9 (Mar 8)

Medieval perceptions of Satan (continued): Popular religion, heresy, witchcraft, and Satan

Readings: Shinners, “Demons and Spirits” (course pack); Moore, “The Triumph of Catharism” (course pack); Briggs, “Myths of the Perfect Witch” (course pack) Russell, chapters 9-10

Unit 4: Modern Re-configurations of Personified Evil (c.1500-present)

Week 10 (Mar 15)

Reformation battles and the rhetoric of evil From traditional (evil) Satan to modern (Ironic) Mephisto: Milton (1600s) and Goethe (1700s)

Readings: Menno Simons, “The Church: An Instructive Comparison Whereby the Church of Christ and That of Antichrist May be Known” (course pack); Milton, Paradise Lost (sections in course pack); Goethe, Faust (sections in course pack) Russell, chapters 11-13

Week 11 (March 22)

Rationalism, scepticism and modern conceptions of evil: Satan as illusion (Freud) and evil personified in the twentieth century

Readings: Russell, chapters 14-17

Week 12 (March 29)

**Test in class (2 hours)**

Unit 5: Personified Evil in Modern-Western Popular Culture

Week 13 (April 5)

More on personified evil in popular culture

Readings: Beal, chapters 7-12 (again) **Analysis of primary sources due in final class**

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For full descriptions of assignments, see the hardcopy version of the syllabus.