Description:
The problem of evil has preoccupied world religions for centuries. The Old Testament contained no uniform dogma on evil powers, launching a fierce debate that has dominated theological and philosophical thought through the centuries to this day.
Evil and the Devil brings together contributions from leading inter national scholars to chart that debate, tracing the history of evil from its origins in the Old Testament through early Judaism and the New Testament to the thought of Origen and one of the topic's most influential theologians, Augustine. What role did evil adopt in ancient Judaism? What impact did the association of miracles with demons have upon Matthew's Gospel? Evil and the Devil examines such questions, resulting in a fascinating and comprehensive exploration of portrayals of evil and its power and influence on religious thought.Brief description: Erkki Koskenniemi is adjunct professor of Biblical Studies at Abo Akademi University, Finland. He is author of The Old Testament Miracle-Workers in Early Judaism (2005) and The Exposure of Infants among Jews and Christians in Antiquity (2009).
Review Quotes:
"A fascinating and comprehensive exploration of portrayals of evil and its power and influence on religious thought ... We have to congratulate the editors for producing a very fine work." --Gerbern S. Oegema, McGill University, Journal of Semitic Studies
"The articles are of high quality and contribute to the advancement of our understanding of these diverse traditions ... Gottfried Reeg's "The Devil in Rabbinic Literature" fills a void in scholarly literature about the devil and corrects some misconceptions ... [and] the index of sources at the end of the anthology increases its usefulness." --Torsten Löfstedt, Linnaeus University, Sweden, The Swedish Exegetical Yearbook 2015