Bearer of Light, Prince of Darkness: The Devil in Premodern Christianity

Satan. Lucifer. The Prince of this World. The personification of evil in the Abrahamic traditions has gone by many names and titles. To premodern Christians, the devil was not an abstract entity; they felt the real presence of Satan and his demonic army all around them. This course explores the devil as a dynamic concept evolved in accordance with cultural and political priorities. It looks at the relationship between the premodern Christian perceptions of personified evil and the Jewish and Islamic traditions. It will also look at the ways in which misogyny and racism shaped ancient and medieval demonologies. P