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Images of the Devil: From Christianity to Modernity

RELG 295

Tuesday/Thursday, 12:40-2:30Olds-Upton 103

Instructor: Adam Kotsko

Office: Humphrey House 109Office Hours: Tuesday/Thursday 2:45-4:00 or by appointment

E-mail: Adam.Kotsko@kzoo.edu

Course Description

This course is an interdisciplinary research seminar focused on the role of the devil in Christian

theology and Western culture. The shared course readings trace a course from early Christianityto modern literature, attempting to find the theological roots of the modern tendency to view the

devil as a fascinating and even heroic charactermost famously in John MiltonsParadise Lost.

Along the way, we investigate some of the social history of the late medieval period, focusing on

groups who were closely identified with the devil.

In addition to the shared readings, the course also has a significant research component. Ingroups, students are expected to select a research topic relevant to the devilin any cultural

tradition or disciplineand become resident experts, contributing to in-class discussion,

distributing research materials to classmates, taking responsibility for an in-class presentation,

and ultimately completing a research paper.

Course Goals

Upon completing this course, students should:

understand the intellectual significance of the figure of the devil across the different erasof Western Christian thought and in modernity;

be able to identify the central themes and arguments of pre-modern and modern texts and

state them in a clear and sympathetic way in class discussion;

be able to formulate criticisms in a way that is attentive to the original authors intent andargumentation; and

be able to undertake guided group research and relate that research to our shared class

work.

Course Requirements

1. Shared readings: All common readings should be completed before the class session forwhich they are listed. In order to focus your reading, the professor will provide two study

questions per reading assignment, which you should come to class as prepared as possible

to answer; writing out answers beforehand is not required but is encouraged.2. Class participation: Class periods will incorporate significant lecture elements, but each

class period will include an in-class discussion. Students are expected to arrive in class

ready to discuss the assigned readings in a way that is attentive and accountable to the

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Joshua Trachtenberg, The Devil and the Jews: The Medieval Conception of the Jew andIts Relation to Modern Anti-Semitism (Jewish Publications Society)

Carlo Ginzberg, The Night Battles: Witchcraft & Agrarian Cults in the Sixteenth &

Seventeenth Centuries (Johns Hopkins University Press)

Recommended supplemental textook:

Gerald Messadi,A History of the Devil(Kodansha Globe)

Other supplemental readings, marked in the course outline with asterisks (**), will be distributed

in the most convenient way.

Outline of Course and Reading

Week 1: Biblical Roots of the Devil

Tuesday: Course intro, discussion of syllabus

Thursday: Bible passages related to the devil (**)

Week 2: The Struggle of Good and Evil in Dualistic Philosophies

Tuesday: Selections from Harnack, Marcion (**)

Thursday: Selections from writings on Gnosticism and Manicheanism (**)

Week 3: The Patristic Vision: The Ransom Paid the Devil

Tuesday: Athanasius, On the Incarnation (in Christology of the Later Fathers)

Thursday: Gregory of Nyssa, Great Catechism (in Christology of the Later Fathers);John of Damascus, The Orthodox Faith (selections) (**)

Week 4: The Medieval Vision: Displacing the Devil

Tuesday: Anselm, On the Fall of the Devil

Thursday: Dante, Selections fromInferno (**); Laurel Schneider, When Hell Freezes

Over (**)

Week 5: Witchcraft: Worship of the Devil?

Tuesday: Ginzburg, The Night Battles, prefaces, chs. 1 and 2

Thursday: Ginzburg, The Night Battles, chs. 3 and 4

Week 6: The Devil and the Scapegoating of the Jews

Tuesday: Trachtenberg, The Devil and the Jews, intro, chs. 1 through 4 (group researchsummaries due)

Thursday: Trachtenberg, The Devil and the Jews, chs. 5 through 10

Week 7: Continuation; Fausts and the Deal with the Devil

Tuesday: Trachtenberg, The Devil and the Jews, chs. 11 through 15, epilogue

Thursday: Marlowe,Dr. Faustus (A-text)

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Week 8: Milton

Tuesday: Milton,Paradise Lost, books 1 through 3

Thursday: Milton,Paradise Lost, books 4 through 6

Week 9: Milton (cont.)

Tuesday: Milton,Paradise Lost, books 7 through 9 Thursday: Milton,Paradise Lost, books 10 through 12

Week 10: Other Modern Devils

Tuesday: Mozart,Don Giovanni (film showing to be arranged)

Thursday: To Be Announced (**)

Final papers due Friday of Finals Week by noon, to be submitted via e-mail.