Sourcery: The History of Satan with Fresh Readings of Primary Sources
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2023
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2023
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Sourcery: The History of Satan with Fresh Readings of Primary Sources grew out of many years of teaching the course History of Satan (RELS 6.66 in the Santa Rosa Junior College catalog), which was in turn modeled after the course History of God. The creation of History of Satan was suggested by students who were taking History of God who felt the devil needed his due. The course, and this text, are concerned to answer three questions. One, given the sketchiness of the figure of Satan in the Bible compared to his fuller definition in later medieval theology, how did that happen? In other words, how did Satan get that way since it is clear he did not start out that way. Two, how and why did brutalized and persecuted social groups, such as heretics, Jews and women (as witches for example), come to be associated with Satan and demons as a reason or excuse for the persecution? Three, why does Satan (and his demon minions) continue to imbue religion, popular culture, and social movements in contemporary culture? This book seeks to explain the answers through nine Satanic chapters that cover the history of Satan from the first mention of the character in the Hebrew Torah to the present day, and covers a range of diverse cultural contexts including Judaism; Christianity; Ancient Greece, Rome, Mesopotamia, and Iran; Islam; Mormonism; and contemporary popular culture in the US.
Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction
Part One: Pre-Christian Antiquity
Chapter 1: The Hebrew Matrix
1.1 The Word שטן) satan) and Related Terms and Concepts
1.2 Satanic Ground Zero: The Story of Balaam
1.3 “The Satan” in Zechariah 3, and Job 1–2
1.4 A Satanic Conundrum: The Story of the Census Side-by-Side
1.5 Spirits, Angels, and Sons of the Gods in the Hebrew Bible
1.6 Hebrew Words for Satanic Use Later
Chapter 2: Fan Fiction, or Bible Rewrites and Commentary
2.1 The Pseudepigrapha and the Beginnings of the Concept “Bible”
2.2 Re-Writing Genesis 6: Ground Zero for Watchers, Demons, and Incubi
2.3 The Dead Sea Scrolls and Sectarian Second Temple Judaism
2.4 Summary and Conclusions
Chapter 3: The Surrounding World of Demons
3.1 The Devil and Demons, An Etymology
3.2 Lilith the Succubus
3.3 Zoroastrian Dualism: Ahura Mazda vs. Ahriman and the Question of Influence
3.4 Summary and Conclusions
Part Two: The Birth of Christianity to Medieval Times
Chapter 4: Christian Beginnings
4.1 Survey of Satan in the New Testament
4.2 The New Testament Documents as Sources
4.3 Paul on Satan (ca 50–60 CE)
4.4 The Synoptic Tradition
4.5 Johannine Literature (ca 100 CE)
4.6 Late Pseudepigraphal Letters
4.7 Revelation (ca 96 CE)
4.8 Summary and Conclusions
Chapter 5: Midrash, Allegory, the Garden Snake, and Satan
5.1 What Is Midrash?
5.2 The Garden Snake in the Life of Adam and Eve
5.3 What Is Allegorical Exegesis?
Chapter 6: The Efflorescence of Satan—The Church Fathers Make Lucifer
6.1 Who Were These People?
6.2 Tertullian’s On the Shows
6.3 Lucifer
Part Three: Medieval to Modern Satan Riffs, Spinoffs, Expansions and Crazes
Chapter 7: Spinoffs of Jewish-Christian Satan, Islam and Mormonism, and Satan’s Iconography
7.1 Shaytan, Iblis and Djinn in Arabic Culture and Al-Qur’an
7.2 Al Qur’an on the Garden of Eden and Satan’s Origin
7.3 Iblis/Satan: Angel or Jinn?
7.4 The Satanic Verses
7.5 Satan/Lucifer in Mormon Scripture
7.6 The Iconography of Satan
Chapter 8: Hunting Satan’s Agents
8.1 Heresy under Christian Totalitarianism
8.2 The Inquisition, and Witchcraft as Heresy
8.3 The Malleus Maleficarum
8.4 The Medieval and Early Modern Myth of Organized Satanism
Chapter 9: Satan in Our World
9.1 Overview
9.2 The Myth of Organized Satanism
9.3 The Theology of Satan
9.4 The Reality of Organized Satanism
9.5 Takeaways
Bibliography
Eric Thompson has degrees in Religion and Philosophy (BA, Northwest University, Kirkland, WA, 1986, summa cum laude); Theology (MA, Fuller Theological Seminary, 1989, summa cum laude); and Biblical Studies (PhD/ABD Graduate Theological Union/UC Berkeley, 1994). These degree programs included extensive training in the relevant original languages of the material he teaches: Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, and Arabic among others. He taught Greek and Hebrew at Fuller before teaching Religious Studies at Santa Rosa Junior College beginning as an adjunct instructor in 1990, then as a tenured professor and coordinator of the Religious Studies program from 2001 until his retirement at the end of spring semester, 2023. During this time, he expanded the Religious Studies offerings from 4 to 10 courses, established the associate degree in religion, and diversified the curriculum toward a global focus. At Santa Rosa he taught Comparative Mythology, Introduction to Religious Studies, History of God, History of Satan, Hebrew Bible, Early Christianity, Religion in America, Islam, as well as Attic Greek and Biblical Hebrew for a combined 33 years. The History of Satan course was developed in 2007-2008, and has remained his principle research focus for the last 15 years. He continues to teach and write, particularly on the subject of Satan, in retirement. He has received awards for excellence in scholarship, teaching, and academic leadership: The William Sanford LaSor award for Semitic Languages and Hebrew Bible at Fuller Seminary (1988), and 2 teaching awards at Santa Rosa Junior College: the NISOD award, a national community college award for teaching excellence (2005), and the Tauzer Lectureship award, a local teaching excellence award for SRJC (2011); and the Academic Senate President’s Award for College service (2010). He also served as Academic Senate President at Santa Rosa Junior College (2016-2020) and Department Chair for The Humanities and Religion Department (2021-2023)