How do we account for the explosion of demonic activity in the New Testament? Archie T. Wright examines the trajectory of the origin of evil spirits in early Jewish literature. His work traces the development of the concept of evil spirits from the Hebrew Bible (Genesis 6) through post-biblical Jewish literature. "I would in fact recommend this book, not because of the answers it gives, but the questions it raises." -- Philip R. Davies in Journal of Semitic Studies 55 (2010) "This work is marked by several strengths. First, Wright shows an impressive command of the primary and secondary literature. Second, this writer appreciates Wright's tendency to express cautious conclusions regarding historical and source-critical matters. These qualities are especially helpful in a work dealing with the reception history of a given text. Third, Wright has an extremely helpful discussion of the identity of the nephilim of Gen. 6:4 (80-83)." -- Mark D. Owens in Faith & Mission 24 (2007), pp. 68-70

From the National Book Award-winning and National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author of The Gnostic Gospels comes a dramatic interpretation of Satan and his role on the Christian tradition. "Arresting...brilliant...this book illuminates the angels with which we must wrestle to come to the truth of our bedeviling spritual problems." —The Boston Globe With magisterial learning and the elan of a born storyteller, Pagels turns Satan’s story into an audacious exploration of Christianity’s shadow side, in which the gospel of love gives way to irrational hatreds that continue to haunt Christians and non-Christians alike.

2020 Center for Biblical Studies Finalist for Biblical Theology The truth about demons is far stranger--and even more fascinating--than what's commonly believed. Are demons real? Are they red creatures with goatees holding pitchforks and sitting on people's shoulders while whispering bad things? Did a third of the angels really rebel with Satan? Are demons and "principalities and powers" just terms for the same entities, or are they different members of the kingdom of darkness? Is the world a chaotic mess because of what happened in Eden, or is there more to the story of evil? What people believed about evil spiritual forces in ancient biblical times is often very different than what people have been led to believe about them today. And this ancient worldview is missing from most attempts to treat the topic. In Demons, Michael Heiser debunks popular presuppositions about the very real powers of darkness. Rather than traditions, stories, speculations, or myths, Demons is grounded in what ancient people of both the Old and New Testament eras believed about evil spiritual forces and in what the Bible actually says. You'll come away with a sound, biblical understanding of demons, supernatural rebellion, evil spirits, and spiritual warfare.

A selection of texts from the Second Temple-era Jewish literature with commentaries.

"Did rebel angels take on human bodies to fulfill their lust for the “daughters of men”? Did these fallen angels teach men to build weapons of war? That is the premise of the Book of Enoch, a text cherished by the Essenes, early Jews, and Christians but later condemned by both rabbis and Church Fathers. Elizabeth Clare Prophet examines the controversy surrounding this book and sheds new light on Enoch’s forbidden mysteries. She demonstrates that Jesus and the apostles studied the Book of Enoch and tells why Church Fathers suppressed its teaching that angels could incarnate in human bodies. Fallen Angels and the Origins of Evil takes you back to the primordial drama of Good and Evil, when the first hint of corruption entered a pristine world—earth. Contains Richard Laurence’s translation of the Book of Enoch, all the other Enoch texts (including the Book of the Secrets of Enoch) and biblical parallels."