The Quest for the Historical Satan

De La Torre and Hernandez's volume probes the murky origins of the satanic legends and beliefs back to their pre-Christian roots in the Middle East. They unearth the satanic roots in Egyptian and Babylonian understandings of evil. They also show, however, that the ancient Satan has some characteristics we would hardly recognize, especially his appearance in most ancient cultures and survival in many traditional religions as the "trickster" figure. This is a fascinating story that helps the reader reframe basic elements of our worldview of good and evil.