Based on a conference held Oct. 6-7, 2006 in Heeze, Netherlands.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preliminary Material / N. Vos and W. Otten -- Demons And The Devil In Ancient And Medieval Christianity: Introduction, Summary, Reflection / Nienke Vos -- Monotheismus und Teufelsglaube: Entstehung und Psychologie des biblischen Satansmythos / Gerd Theißen -- Stoics On Souls And Demons: Reconstructing Stoic Demonology / Keimpe Algra -- Demons And Exorcisms In The Gospel Of Mark / Geert Van Oyen -- The Application Of Magical Formulas Of Invocation In Christian Contexts / Hagit Amirav -- Exorcism: Tackling The Devil By Word Of Mouth / A.A.R. Bastiaensen -- Justin Martyr And His Demon-Ridden Universe / Theodoor Korteweg -- Demons Without And Within: The Representation Of Demons, The Saint, And The Soul In Early Christian Lives, Letters And Sayings / Nienke Vos -- Demons Among The Messalians / Boudewijn Dehandschutter -- Denominations Of The Devil And Demons In the Missale Gothicum / Gerard Bartelink -- Overshadowing Or Foreshadowing Return: The Role Of Demons In Eriugena’s Periphyseon / Willemien Otten -- Horror Vacui: Evil In The Incarnated World Of The Bibles Moralisées / Babette Hellemans -- Index Locorum / N. Vos and W. Otten.

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This collection of essays approaches the role of demons and the devil in ancient and medieval Christianity from a variety of scholarly perspectives: historical, philosophical, and theological as well as philological, liturgical, and theoretical. In the opening article Gerd Theissen presents a wide-ranging overview of the role of the devil, spanning the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and patristic literature. The contributions that follow address texts on the devil, demons, and evil, and are drawn from ancient philosophy, the New Testament, early Christian apologetics, hagiography, and history. Covering primarily the patristic period, the volume also contains articles on medieval sources. The introduction discusses the different angles of approach found in the articles in an effort to shed fresh light on this familiar but also uniquely troubling theme.

In English and German.