The Origin of Satan
How Christians Demonized Jews, Pagans, and Heretics
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Narrated by:
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Suzanne Toren
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By:
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Elaine Pagels
About this listen
Who is Satan in the New Testament, and what is the evil that he represents? In this groundbreaking book, Elaine Pagels, Princeton's distinguished historian of religion, traces the evolution of Satan from its origins in the Hebrew Bible, where Satan is at first merely obstructive, to the New Testament, where Satan becomes the Prince of Darkness, the bitter enemy of God and man, evil incarnate. In The Origin of Satan, Pagels shows that the four Christian gospels tell two very different stories. The first is the story of Jesus' moral genius: his lessons of love, forgiveness, and redemption. The second tells of the bitter conflict between the followers of Jesus and their fellow Jews, a conflict in which the writers of the four gospels condemned as creatures of Satan those Jews who refused to worship Jesus as the Messiah. Writing during and just after the Jewish war against Rome, the evangelists invoked Satan to portray their Jewish enemies as God's enemies too. As Pagels then shows, the church later turned this satanic indictment against its Roman enemies, declaring that pagans and infidels were also creatures of Satan, and against its own dissenters, calling them heretics and ascribing their heterodox views to satanic influences.
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In his subtle and engaging investigation into the life and times of Jesus, Thomas Cahill shows us Jesus from his birth to his execution through the eyes of those who knew him and in the context of his time—a time when the Jews were struggling to maintain their beliefs under overlords who imposed their worldview on their subjects. Here is Jesus the loving friend, itinerate preacher, and quiet revolutionary, whose words and actions inspired his followers to journey throughout the Roman world and speak the truth he instilled.
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Desire Delivers
- By David on 04-18-03
By: Thomas Cahill
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Understanding the Koran
- A Quick Christian Guide to the Muslim Holy Book
- By: Mateen Elass
- Narrated by: Don Reed
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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A quick non-technical introduction to the Koran designed to help Christians understand a hidden book revered by 1.3 billion Muslims, covering the background on its writing, a summary of its contents, a perspective on how it’s used and viewed by Muslims, a comparison of differences and similarities to the Bible, and some suggestions on how it should and should not be used in conversations with Muslims.
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Favors Christianity
- By Dianne on 12-18-15
By: Mateen Elass
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When the Church Was Young
- Voices of the Early Fathers
- By: Marcellino D'Ambrosio
- Narrated by: Marcellino D'Ambrosio
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Marcellino D'Ambrosio dusts off what might have been just dry theology to bring you the exciting stories of great heroes such as Ambrose, Augustine, Basil, Athanasius, John Chrysostom, and Jerome. These brilliant, embattled, and sometimes eccentric men defined the biblical canon, hammered out the Creed, and gave us our understanding of sacraments and salvation. It is they who preserved the rich legacy of the early Church for us.
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Masterful summary of the early Church Fathers
- By Mike C on 08-22-14
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The Barbarians Are Here
- Preventing the Collapse of Western Civilization in Times of Terrorism
- By: Michael Youssef
- Narrated by: Jon Gauger
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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For decades Americans were vaguely aware that Islamist barbarians were in the deserts of the Middle East and in the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan, executing "infidels" and raiding villages with unrecognizable names. The Muslim world seemed far away, remote, and irrelevant to our daily lives. Then came the terrorist attack of 9/11, followed by attacks at Fort Hood, the Boston Marathon, San Bernandino, Orlando, and more. Now terrorists seem to be emerging everywhere, unleashing senseless death and destruction on our nation.
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Amen
- By SCOTT R MULLIN on 06-07-24
By: Michael Youssef
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Tried by Fire
- The Story of Christianity's First Thousand Years
- By: William J. Bennett
- Narrated by: Wayne Campbell
- Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins
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Full of larger-than-life characters, stunning acts of bravery, and heart-rending sacrifice, Tried by Fire narrates the rise and expansion of Christianity from an obscure regional sect to the established faith of the world's greatest empire with influence extending from India to Ireland, Scandinavia to Ethiopia, and all points in between.
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Best history of Christianity I've read
- By JOHN F KANARY on 05-05-16
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The Truth About Muhammad
- Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion
- By: Robert Spencer
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
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In The Truth about Muhammad, New York Times best-selling author and Islam expert Robert Spencer offers an honest and telling portrait of the founder of Islam - perhaps the first such portrait in half a century - unbounded by fear and political correctness, unflinching, and willing to face the hard facts about Muhammad's life that continue to affect our world today.
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Enlightening
- By Cx30 on 12-09-06
By: Robert Spencer
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Christ
- A Crisis in the Life of God
- By: Jack Miles
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Jack Miles's book is a provocative and revisionary look at the life of Jesus, in which many of the most well-worn truths about Christ are recontextualized and revisited. It does not look for the historical Jesus, but takes the Gospels as the sole source about his life.
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Missed a lot of stuff
- By Wintertao on 01-08-21
By: Jack Miles
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Paul and Jesus
- How the Apostle Transformed Christianity
- By: James D. Tabor
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Historians know virtually nothing about the two decades following the crucifixion of Jesus, when his followers regrouped and began to spread his message. During this time the man we know as the apostle Paul joined the movement and began to preach to the gentiles. Using the oldest Christian documents that we have - the letters of Paul - as well as other early Christian sources, historian and scholar James Tabor reconstructs the origins of Christianity.
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Paul or Jesus?
- By James on 01-29-13
By: James D. Tabor
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The First Paul
- Reclaiming the Radical Visionary Behind the Church's Conservative Icon
- By: Marcus J. Borg, John Dominic Crossan
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Paul is second only to Jesus as the most important person in the birth of Christianity, and yet he continues to be controversial, even among Christians. How could the letters of Paul be used both to inspire radical grace and to endorse systems of oppression - condoning slavery, subordinating women, condemning homosexual behavior? Borg and Crossan use the best of biblical and historical scholarship to explain the reasons for Paul's mixed reputation and reveal to us what scholars have known for decades: The later letters of Paul were created by the early church to dilute Paul's message.
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A Liberal Paul
- By Kayla on 05-12-20
By: Marcus J. Borg, and others
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The Misunderstood Jew
- The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus
- By: Amy Jill Levine
- Narrated by: Donna Postel
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Misunderstood Jew, scholar Amy-Jill Levine helps Christians and Jews understand the "Jewishness" of Jesus so that their appreciation of him deepens and a greater interfaith dialogue can take place. Levine's humor and informed truth - telling provokes honest conversation and debate about how Christians and Jews should understand Jesus, the New Testament, and each other.
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Courageous
- By Tad Davis on 07-27-17
By: Amy Jill Levine
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Rescuing the Gospel
- The Story and Significance of the Reformation
- By: Erwin W. Lutzer
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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The Reformation unfolded in the cathedrals and town squares of Europe - in Wittenberg, Worms, Rome, Geneva, and Zurich - and it is a stirring story of courage and cowardice, of betrayal and faith. The story begins with the Catholic Church and its desperate need for reform. The dramatic events that followed are traced from John Wycliffe in England, to the burning of John Hus at the stake in Prague, to the rampant sale of indulgences in the cities and towns of Germany.
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Great book for Protestants & Catholics
- By Michael Novak on 09-23-18
By: Erwin W. Lutzer
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Gospel of Thomas is somewhat a misnomer
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Great story but...
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Early in her career, Elaine Pagels changed our understanding of the origins of Christianity with her work in The Gnostic Gospels. Now, in the culmination of a decades-long career, she explores the biggest subject of all, Jesus. In Miracles and Wonder she sets out to discover how a poor young Jewish man inspired a religion that shaped the world.
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Millions of readers have turned to Elaine Pagels for her clear and insightful books about the Gnostic Gospels, the teachings of Jesus that have been lost for centuries. Sounds True is proud to present the first widely available audio recording of this extraordinary scholar as she explores the text that has changed the way many of us think about the message of Christ: The Gospel of Thomas.
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Very interesting lecture
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Beyond Belief
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Spurred by personal tragedy, Elaine Pagels turns to a consideration of the Gnostic Gospels, in particular, the Gospel of Thomas. As opposed to the Gospel of John, which asserted that Jesus was an eternally existing aspect of God who came to earth to save humankind, the "secret" Gospel of Thomas agrees that Jesus was in some sense divine, but says that a streak of divinity can be found in all of us.
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Gospel of Thomas is somewhat a misnomer
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Great story but...
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The Gospel of Thomas
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Millions of readers have turned to Elaine Pagels for her clear and insightful books about the Gnostic Gospels, the teachings of Jesus that have been lost for centuries. Sounds True is proud to present the first widely available audio recording of this extraordinary scholar as she explores the text that has changed the way many of us think about the message of Christ: The Gospel of Thomas.
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Two celebrated scholars illustrate how the newly discovered Gospel of Judas provides a window into understanding how Jesus' followers understood his death, why Judas betrayed Jesus, and why God allowed it. Presented with the elegance, insight, and accessibility that has made Pagels and King the leading voices in this field, this is a book for academics and popular audiences alike.
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Lost for nearly 1,700 years, newly restored and authenticated, the Gospel of Judas presents a very different view of the relationship between Jesus and Judas. Rather than paint Judas as a traitor, it portrays him as acting at Jesus' request.
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Fun subject, convincingly told
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It may not be what you expect
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Satan's transformation from opaque functionary to chief antagonist is one of the most striking features of the development of Jewish theology in the Second Temple Period and beyond. Once no more than an "accuser" testing members of the human community, Satan, along with his demons, is presented by Jewish apocalyptic texts and the New Testament as a main source of evil in the world. In Satan and the Problem of Evil, noted scholar Archie Wright explores this dynamic in both its historical and theological trajectories.
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I did not like this book
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The early Christian Church was a chaos of contending beliefs. Some groups of Christians claimed that there was not one God but two or twelve or thirty. Some believed that the world had not been created by God but by a lesser, ignorant deity. Certain sects maintained that Jesus was human but not divine, while others said he was divine but not human.
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Throughout much of human history, our most important stories were passed down orally - including the stories about Jesus before they became written down in the Gospels. In this fascinating and deeply researched work, leading Bible scholar Bart D. Erhman investigates the role oral history has played in the New Testament - how the telling of these stories not only spread Jesus' message but helped shape it.
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Insightful, but with limited depth
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The New Testament
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Whether taken as a book of faith or a cultural artifact, the New Testament is among the most significant writings the world has ever known, its web of meaning relied upon by virtually every major writer in the last 2,000 years. Yet the New Testament is not only one of Western civilization’s most believed books, but also one of its most widely disputed, often maligned, and least clearly understood, with a vast number of people unaware of how it was written and transmitted.
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If you want a balanced overview this is not it
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While most people think that the 27 books of the New Testament are the only sacred writings of the early Christians, this is not at all the case. A companion volume to Bart Ehrman's Lost Christianities, this book offers an anthology of up-to-date and easy-listening translations of many noncanonical writings from the first centuries after Christ - texts that have been for the most part lost or neglected for almost two millennia.
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Great book destroyed by horrific narration.
- By Stephen P Bielski on 05-31-21
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Signs and Wonders
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Explore the miracles of Jesus in Signs and Wonders with Amy-Jill Levine, professor of New Testament studies and Bible study author. In Signs and Wonders: A Beginner's Guide to the Miracles of Jesus, Amy-Jill Levine explores selected miracles of Jesus in historical and theological context. For each miracle, she discusses not only how past witnesses would have understood the events, but also how today's listeners can draw meaning from Jesus's words and actions.
By: Amy-Jill Levine
What listeners say about The Origin of Satan
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Christian
- 12-06-21
deceptive
deceptive title, the character of satan is rarely discussed. primarily a history of the early church.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Timothy Kelley
- 08-24-24
Very detailed but needs a different title
This narrator is fantastic! The book is very well researched with a large volume of biblical references and verses that are incorporated into the text. However, the book is as much a background of Gnostic beliefs as it is a research into the history of Satan. I enjoyed the Gnostic perspectives on numerous biblical text as well as the pseudepigrapha and Nag Hamadi texts. Unfortunately I spent 70% of the time listening to this book wondering what it had to do with Satan. If the title more accurately reflected the content, would have given the story a higher rating. If you understand what the book is really about, I’m certain you will appreciate the research that went into its creation, and the exceptional narration.
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- Ken Hutchison
- 01-18-15
interesting
loved it,very well done,was a pleasure to listen to, will definitely check out more of her books
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5 people found this helpful
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- Brian
- 01-22-20
Good Information
Well done
Well said
Historical Information
Maybe more present day application would have took the book to that next level
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- owen
- 11-03-22
Very informative!
This book was very informative and inspirational. I loved every minute of it. I highly recommend it!
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- Bryan
- 05-08-24
Fascinating history
The first half of the book contains common knowledge of all Christians. There's really nothing new there, and for me, it was mostly a waste of time to go through. Sailing past, the second half is a whole other story, that of the Gospel of Thomas and the gnostics. This was both captivating and inspiring. It really sparked my imagination and got me interested in early Christianity. I will definitely be studying this subject more as time goes on and I definitely recommend this book if that sounds like a rabbit hole you'd like to discover or go down.
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- SherryH
- 09-20-19
Hmmm
Definitely not what it purports to be. Rather than “the origin of Satan, it’s more like “history of good and bad in the Bible and associated works”. I’m not even sure about the good and bad. It’s mostly a historical work, and I never was sure where she was actually going with it. Not that it’s not interesting in its own right, but it just wasn’t what it said. Perhaps she pulled it together at the end but I didn’t get there because I wasn’t wanting to listen to general biblical history. If it had been a print book perhaps I would have flipped through the pages and seen where we were going and then it would have made more sense? Anyway, not bad just not “the origin of Satan”
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7 people found this helpful
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- Dawn
- 06-15-14
Interesting
If you could sum up The Origin of Satan in three words, what would they be?
Not what I expected, need to listen again.
Would you recommend The Origin of Satan to your friends? Why or why not?
Probably, only recommend to those who are interested in learning the historical origin of Satan.
What about Suzanne Toren’s performance did you like?
Not bad, sometimes I had a hard time following her.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
Man Creates Evil
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4 people found this helpful
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- A. Antine
- 11-30-21
level headed and informative
found the narrator's voice pleasant and nicely oriented to the subject matter. highly informative and detailed discussion of the social implications of the apocalyptic view of a battle between Cosmic forces.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- S. Thornton
- 01-18-23
Solid Book, Title A Little Off
Let me start by saying that this book is fantastic. There’s true insight into the writings and backgrounds of the early Jesus movement and its struggles to define its place in the world.
The titular origin of Satan, however, is a but more subtle. Pagels tells a compelling story about early Christianity’s struggle to place itself and develop its worldview. Pagels reveals how Christianity came to frame the world as an apocalyptic struggle between good and evil.
It’s good material and well worth the listen. Toren’s narration is fantastic albeit with a handful of mispronunciations.
This is not about the personified Satan-as-Devil, though, and I’m sure many people will take issue with the framing in the title.
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