The History of the Devil and the Idea of Evil

Abstract

THE volume before us is one of considerable interest, but we must say at once that we think the history of the Devil and of the idea of evil should have been treated in a manner different from that which has been adopted by Dr. Paul Carus. The discussion of the idea of evil is a matter for the philosophical thinker, it seems to us, and the subject cannot be threshed out in detail in a single volume by any writer, however able he may be; the history of the manner in which the Devil, i.e., the personification of evil, has been depicted by various peoples at various times in various places over the earth, is quite a different subject, and is, likewise, one which cannot be treated adequately in a single small volume. Dr. Carus, however, has tried to deal with both sides of this complex subject in one volume, and, it must be confessed, he will, in consequence, not satisfy either the philosopher or the iconographer. His book is well printed and well illustrated—though we certainly do not admire the shadowy “ghost” pictures printed in a sickly green colour on several of the pages—and to many readers it will be of interest, and probably of use also, for it may stimulate them to investigate the subject for themselves. In eighteen chapters, which vary considerably in length, the history of the Devil and the idea of evil are discussed in connection with the evidence derived from pictures, reliefs, &c., from Egypt, Akkad, Babylonia, Persia, Judea, India, China, Europe, and other countries, but Dr. Carus has not collected all the facts which he ought to have gathered together, and his deductions from those he gives are hardly correct. We do not think that “the belief in good spirits tended towards the formation of the doctrine of Monotheism,” or that “the belief in evil spirits led naturally to the acceptance of a single supreme evil deity.” Prehistoric man peopled all earth, air, sea and sky with spirits, some of whom were supposed to be hostile to him, and others benevolent; and he regarded a spirit as good or evil according to whether it did him good or evil. When a series of good harvests came to him, or he was singularly fortunate in love, or the chase, or war, he made up his mind that the good spirits had succeeded in destroying the power of those who were evil. In process of time, to certain evil and to certain good spirits extraordinary powers were ascribed, and eventually the idea of the existence of a prince of evil, as well as of a prince of good, was formulated; terror and ignorance were the chief constituents in the worship of primitive man, and physical and moral attributes, as well as cause and effect, were often confounded by him.

The History of the Devil and the Idea of Evil.

By Dr. Paul Carus. 8vo. pp. xvi + 488. (London: Kegan Paul and Co., Ltd. Chicago: The Open Court Publishing Company, 1900.)