Erik Butler - The Devil and His Advocates

THE DEVIL and His ADVOCATES

ERIK BUTLER

REAKTION BOOKS

For the manes of Jacques Vergs

Published by Reaktion Books Ltd

Unit 32, Waterside

4448 Wharf Road

London N1 7UX, UK

www.reaktionbooks.co.uk

First published 2021

Copyright Erik Butler 2021

All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Page references in the Photo Acknowledgements and
Index match the printed edition of this book.

Printed and bound in Great Britain by

TJ Books Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

eISBN 9781789143744

Two interpreters of Scripture: Michael Pacher, The Devil Presenting St Augustine with the Book of Vices, c. 1480, oil on panel; detail from the outside panel of the Altarpiece of the Church Fathers (Kirchenvteraltar).

S atan has something of religion in him, Daniel Defoe observes in The Political History of the Devil (1726). This work, which is old but not dated, defends the Adversary against imputations of intrigue as practised by our old Friend Matchiavel and other sons of Adam.

The Devils history is not so hard to come at, as it seems to be; his original and the first rise of his family is upon record; and as for his conduct, he has acted indeed in the dark, as to method in many things; but in general, as cunning as he is, he... has not shewn himself a politician at all.

Satan does not act faithlessly to achieve earthly ends. Only people do that. The Devil is a believer and he fears God. These qualities set him apart from many, if not most, mortal servants of the Lord.

In the same spirit as Defoes vindication of the Devil, the study at hand proposes the forensic history of a wrongly maligned figure. Instead of presenting himself in a shower of fire and brimstone, Satan often plays the part of a lawyer. He musters evidence, makes arguments and ultimately wins or loses the case before the one and only Divine Judge. If Satan has a bad reputation, its because he has a thankless job.

For about four hundred years, the Roman Catholic Church appointed a theologian called the promotor fidei in English, promoter of the faith to oversee the process of beatification and canonization. Informally, the promotor fidei went by the name of advocatus diaboli, or Devils advocate. A sceptic by vocation, this officer weighed proof, examined witnesses and offered alternative explanations for supposed wonders. Whenever the Church was thinking about conferring sainthood on a person, limiting factors entered the equation; other points of view had to be considered. A recent study on the psychology of influence summarizes the matter with a felicitous understatement: the Church instituted this role as insurance against groupthink... Not everyone... should be sainted. Sometimes the minority position is right.

The Devil stands in the service of truth. The following pages seek to explain his activities in order to check the usual rush to judgement. Questions of good and evil arise, but they represent items of secondary importance. Instead, attention falls on arguments whether explicit, as in theological debate, or implicit, as in literary discourse that make the case for apparent wrongs, moral or otherwise. The Deitys designs are famously obscure; the Devil serves to bring them to fruition in roundabout fashion.

Our discussion remains anchored in the Bible, where the popular image of Satan as an unbridled force of wickedness finds no support. In both Testaments, the Devil is surprisingly modest. He makes few appearances and, without a bow, vanishes from the stage when his work is done. The Devil and His Advocates explores representations of the Adversary up to the present day in light of the scriptural standard. Counter to widespread prejudice, he is not the eternal bad guy.

, The Case for the Prosecution, establishes the frame of argument by examining Jewish and Christian sources. The Book of Job is the sole place in the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, where Satan has any real stature. He is one of the sons of God. When Satan expresses doubt about Jobs virtue, God gives him leave to determine whether the righteous man will remain loyal under terrible conditions. Satan exercises rigour, but within the bounds of divine instruction. The New Testament seems to flesh out Satan and endow him with a will of his own. However, closer inspection reveals that when he tempts or, more accurately, makes trial of Jesus, he is acting in line with his long-standing role as a prosecutor. Once more, he loses his case. The Adversary may be unpleasantly exacting, but no more so than a policeman, bailiff or other representative of authority.

, Satan and Salvation, explores the part the Adversary plays in the Book of Revelation. Although he might appear to work at cross-purposes with God, his presence is welcome. This late and controversial addition to the Bible rejoices at the imminent fall of pagan civilization. As war raged between Romans and Jews, monotheists embraced a bellicose stance towards those who refused to acknowledge the Lord. The Book of Revelation does not view Satan as an enemy: he is a fearsome ally in the coming judgement of humankind, which God has willed and His followers should embrace.

Alighieris Divine Comedy. Like the scholastic philosophy of his day, Dantes poem maps out a metaphysical reality directly connected to the physical universe; indeed, it is populated by historical figures the author knew well. Satan sits deep in darkness and cold, embodying forces that draw human beings away from life and light. The picture conforms to biblical logic: Satan represents the negative index of truth. Those who fail the tests posed by earthly existence face living death now and, even worse, dead life in the hereafter. Self-destructively playful devils in Dantes poem and contemporary works are exceptions that prove the rule reminders that God permits levity but refuses the last laugh to sinners who go too far.

, Doubt, Dissent and the Devil, turns to schisms in the Church and the trials they entailed. The old word for belief at variance with official doctrine is heresy, and orthodoxy had long sought to silence dissenting voices. In the Age of Reformation, rival versions of Christianity that differed on everything else shared two fundamental convictions: 1) God is great, and 2) the opponents of true religion have chosen to side with Satan. Perfect agreement on matters of principle led Christians to kill each other mercilessly to say nothing of people who lacked sufficient numbers or organization for self-defence (such as witches). Christopher Marlowes Doctor Faustus is discussed alongside Robert Burtons Anatomy of Melancholy, German chapbooks, Shakespearean devilry and the French Wars of Religion. The Devil thrives when confessional sophistry is more compelling than the Gospels simple eloquence.

sovereign domain. Outside this sphere, in the Garden of Eden, he bumbles as he tries to persuade Adam and Eve to file suit against the Lord. No matter how poorly he exercises his profession, Satan remains a lawyer, by turns a legislator and a litigator. Goethes