The History of the Devil and the Idea of Evil by Paul Carus

Carus has not collected all the facts which he ought to have gathered together, and his deductions from those he gives are hardly correct.

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.

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. 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.

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. 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.

The History of the Devil and the Idea of Evil by Paul Carus