Rel 361: Social History of Satan

aporter@ic.edu

Resources

Syllabus

NEW: Addtional Book to purchase: Neil Gaiman, Sandman, Vol 3: Season of Mists (ISBN: 1563890410) (Amazon, $13.50) or order from IC bookstore.

Craft of Research - how to take notes and read books, etc., quickly.
Notes example
Research Paper Guidelines

Paper 1
Paper 2

Ancient Documents:

1 Enoch 1-36
Collins, Apocalyptic Imagination
Jubilees 1-18, Intro and Text
Life of Adam & Eve, Intro and Text
Johnson, "Satan Talk in Corinth"
Kirsch, A History of the End of the World, ch 3
Bishop Athanasius, Life of Antony
Augustine, City of God, ch 11 and ch 12 (selections)

Medieval & Reformation Documents:

Dante's Inferno

Inferno (selections)
Cervigni, Dante's Lucifer
Danteworlds website (interesting resource about the Divine Comedy)

Marlowe, Dr. Faustus
Kirsch, Demonology and the Rise of Science

Milton's Paradise Lost Resources

Librivox.org's Audiobook edition (about 9 hours)

Milton's 400th birthday
Outline of all 12 books
Study Questions, Journal Questions

Shelly, Frankenstein (selections)

Modern Documents:

Wyman, “The Devil We Already Know” (http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/Vol8No2/wymandevil.htm)
Flesher & Torry, "The Devil: Screening Humanity's Enemy," in Film & Religion: An Introduction (Nashville, 2007)

Satanic Ritual Abuse Intro, Part 1, and Part 2 (from Religious Tolerance.Org)
Victor, Satanic Panic, Ch 2, ch 9, and ch 14.
ABC 20/20, May 1985 Satanism Report, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

(Satan panic spinoff? Or just weirdness? Satan and Scooby-Doo 1984)

Trott & Hertenstein, "Selling Satan: The Tragic History of Mike Warnke," Cornerstone Magazine (1992) vol. 21. Intro and Article

(You may be interested in Warnke's current activities, as well as his refutation - such as it is - to the Cornerstone Article, and the Wikipedia article on him.)

Soledata Souza e Paula, "'Him who Disobeys': A Comparative Analysis of Satan and Lucifer" (This a reformatted version of the originsal, found on the web at http://www.letras.ufmg.br/milton/ing_critica/i_critica_04h1.htm)
Bolt, Satan is Alive and Well (formatted to save paper) and in the original EBSCO link/file: Satan is Alive and Well, CTJ 29/2 (1994) 497-506
Delbanco, "The Culture of Irony" in The Death of Satan (New York, 1995)

Research Paper Topics:

Popular Books: Mike Renke, The Satan Seller, and its falsehoods (see Cornerstone Magazine's series of articles) LeHay and Jenkins, Left Behind Series (and the theological controversy it sparked) Pratchett & Gaiman, Good Omens (a very funny reworking of The Omen movie; my 11 year old son laughed out loud as he read it). Amazon has thousands of books that are related to Satan . Figure out of they are appropriate for this class by reading their descriptions and consulting with the instructor. (Many use Satan in the title, but Old Nick doesn't actually appear as a character; these books are probably not appropriate.) More popular books are better than independently published (and hence, not widely read); it is also good to see if there is some secondary literature discussing the book you are interested in. If you can't find secondary literature, you will need to read a couple of books.
Churches: Pick a church to visit in Jacksonville to visit at least twice. What role does Satan play in their liturgical service? Arrange to talk to the pastor / minister / priest and ask her / him what role Satan plays in their theology. Research the church's theology to find out their official theological position on Satan. I would also be interested in having someone research Anton LaVey's Church of Satan, Wikipedia, the media's reaction to it, and the entirely predictable response from conservative religious folks.
Movies: South Park Dogma Devil's Advocate The Omen (both versions) Bedazzled (both versions) Rosemary's Baby The Exorcist The Simpsons (Simson's Archive) Other movies (suggest them to me)
Music: Heavy Metal (not my favorite music ever) has, for years, played on its "Satanic" connections. Ozzy Osbourne calls himself "the fucking prince of darkness" (Osbournes, 2002). Art: Serrano made "Piss Christ" in 1989. Is there a "Piss Satan?" Medieval art was rife with images of Satan. How is he depicted in modern art?

Rel 361: A Social History of Satan

Spring 2011

Adam L. Porter