If you thought the recent efforts to rehabilitate Judas with a so-called "Gospel of Judas" were strange, then take a look at this:
"A former Jesuit turned university professor has set himself an ambitious project: rehabilitating the devil.
"Henry Ansgar Kelly says Satan is the most maligned figure in history and has endured 17 centuries of unjustified character assassination.
"’For 1700 years Satan has been the enemy of God, whereas in the Bible he works for God, he’s his prime minister or attorney-general, in charge of policing the world,’ Professor Kelly said.
God himself didn’t seem all that appreciative of his alleged "prime minister’s" efforts, as I recall:
"[The devil] was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44).
I feel really sorry for the few “good” Jesuits out there.
Wow. Sounds like Professor Kelly is putting a little too much stock in the depiction of Satan in the book of Job, one of the earliest books written and certainly one without the fullness of revelation contained in the NT, where Satan is hardly depicted as a loyal servant of the Lord.
Can we really say that HAK is stupid? Or do we have to say, at least once in a while, that some guys are just evil?
This is all PR for his book coming out in August from Cambride University Press.
Satan: A Biography. Publisher’s site has cover art, contents, description, estimated price ($55.00) ISBN, cataloging info, etc.
If Dan Brown can make a big pile of dough from the pile of dung that is “Angels & Demons” and “Davinci Code,” why can’t the old Professor make a few bucks of rehabilitating the Devil?
He wrote his first “Devil” book, “The Devil, Demonology and Witchcraft” in 1968, still being printed. And he also has a book, “The Devil at Baptism”, first published in 1985 and still going.
His “serious” academic career was mostly focused on Chaucer and Medieval Literature.
I don’t know why all the buzz now, since he has been at this for almost 40 years.
Probably because of DaVinci Code and Judas Gospels.
OZ: I picked up DDW, used, some years ago but have never read it; is there anything worthwhile in it?
I would also add that, in contrast to Dan Brown, Professor Kelly can actually write. I would encourage you to look at his list of publications at the link in the comment above. Not just the general list, but also the separate lists on various topics:
Chaucer, Dante, Devil, Incest, Inquisition, Latin, Law, Love, Marriage, Richard III, Shakespeare, Spain, Tragedy
His is a legitimate academic of medieval literature.
Dear Ed,
If you want to study the devil and demonology, the I suppose DDW is useful. Professor Kelly is also the author of some theology encyclopedia articles on the devil, such as this one with an overview of the devil in church history. If that sort of thing excites you.
I think his monograph “Inquisitions and Other Trial Procedures in the Medieval West” would make interesting bedtime reading.
You actually might prefer some of his articles on law.
Heh. Silliness.
Oh, man, Michelle. You should have put a Snurfle Disclaimer before posting this one. I snurfled a chocolate Easter egg all over my laptop.
‘thann
OldZ: thx. not “excites me” but more of an professional need to know some things, from time to time. best, edp.
They’re totgally right… Satan gets such a bad rap. Just because he’s the prince of lies and seeks to lead us away from God… that doesn’t mean he’s not a good person. He is, after all, just performing the roll that was set forth for him.
::rolls eyes::
He’s just another liberal needing sympathy.
If they could figure out how to do it, how many American Catholic colleges and universities would invite the Devil to be a graduation speaker (academic freedom, you know), and give him an honorary doctorate?
This story was up at The Curt Jester blog and I thought it was one of his jokes.
Henry Ansgar Kelly has not been in the Jesuit order since 1966 and was NEVER a Jesuit priest and NEVER took final vows. It just makes him seem more interesting if you associate the idea of being a Jesuit with his name… It also serves to reinforce a negative image some people have of the whole Jesuit order – and that’s too bad.
Cain, the Sodomites, Caiaphas, Judas, and not Satan. Brutus too. Who shall we rehabilitate next while we pull down Jesus to our level and demonize the 11 and the Church he founded. Pilate is the last target I think we have left. demonizing him helps clear Caiaphas, but I think soon we will find a way to clear both of them. Hitler may have his time in the distant future, but for now just make him a symbol of the Right and associate him with the Church. Who next, oh yes, Stalin. Well, make a hero of Castro and other communists and of communism in general (at least as an ideal), and Stalin will have his time.
All this while making abortion, euthanasia, sodomy, and homosexual marriage rights and freedom, and speaking out against them hate crimes and oppression. Then we just need to wait for the coming of the Cosmic Christ and everything will be the opposite of how these Christians want.
and NOW Satan
This isn’t really funny. This man is putting his soul in serious jeopardy.
Pilate is the last target I think we have left.
Actually, I remember reading a few years ago about early Church legends that Pilate, under the influence of his wife (as well as the events that transpired after his most famous decision), converted to Christianity. This is done much in the same vein of how Aaron, although being the one to forge the molten calf idol, still became high priest of Israel – he was stuck between a rock and a hard place, and succumbed to public opinion.
Forgiving Satan, though, is a much tougher sell.
I have heard of that legend, but if it were true, then that would be great and Pilate realy would be able to be forgiven. I mean saying his actions in the Bible themselves were good or something like that, so as to further create a non-Christian and anti-Christian morality.
when are you going to stop slamming liberals? just because W changed the definition to “the L word”
“Pilate is the last target I think we have left.”
Give us Barabas!
I was in the record store the other day and saw an album titled “God Hates Us All.” On TV, you have Penn and Teller mocking Blessed Mother Theresa as if she were a cruel tyrant. And in the DaVinci Code, Brown reforms the pentagram to be just another symbol of the Sacred Feminine.
It is not like we have not always had people who call good evil and evil good, but it sure seems like their numbers are surging these days.
Still, I consider it the dying gasp of a dying culture. When your idea of art is shock for shock’s sake, pretty soon the only thing that becomes shocking is the quiet interior of a beautiful cathedral…