Prior to this work, conservative Christians with a high regard for the Bible as God's inspired Word used books on the biblical teaching about Satan and demons such as Unger's Biblical Demonology (1952) and Green's I Believe in Satan's Downfall (1981). These works are still useful and find a place in Page's Select Bibliography, although his work surpasses them in certain ways such as the use of current scholarship and original literary and historical contexts in interpreting the relevant biblical texts. Although over fourteen years have passed since this work was published in 1995, some of the newer works on the topic of biblical demonology highly recommend it. For example, Kenneth Boa and Robert Bowman, Jr. in their book, Sense & Nonsense About Angels & Demons (2007), include it in their "Recommended Reading" section and called it an "excellent, scholarly study of what the Bible teaches about Satan and other evil spirits." Pierre Gilbert in his book, Demons, Lies & Shadows: A Plea for a Return to Text and Reason (2008), which was written in response to recent books on spiritual warfare that give too much power to Satan and demons, references Page's book on several occasions and offered it as a notable exception to much of what is written about the topic which only loosely reflects the biblical material. He stated that Page's study "provides a very careful exegetical analysis of the Old and New Testament passages that pertain to the devil and demons."
Although Boa, Bowman, and Gilbert recognize the value of Page's book, other books such as Dennis McCallum's recent work, Satan and His Kingdom: What the Bible Says and How It Matters to You (2009) - which is focused on Satan's role in spiritual warfare - seem oblivious to its existence. McCallum complains about the lack of good books on the topic to recommend, referring only to C. S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters and Warren Wiersbe's The Strategy of Satan as useful but limited works on the topic, which inspired him to write his own text. Even granted McCallum's restricted interest in the practicalities of spiritual warfare, his work is inferior to Page's study in terms of comprehensiveness, scholarship and careful exegesis on what the Bible says about "Satan and his kingdom". Although out of print, Page's text is worth more than many in-print titles and should be sought out and purchased. It covers every explicit reference to Satan and other evil spirits in the Bible (organized according to textual-based categories [Satan, The Serpent, Fallen Angels, Demons, Evil Spirits, Principalities & Powers, etc.]). Page also respects the silence of Scripture which leaves many questions unanswered. One will come away from the study with a solid understanding of the biblical teaching on the powers of evil and how various interpreters approached certain texts.
The Table of Contents is as follows: 1. Satan in the Old Testament [The Serpent of Genesis 3, The Satan of Job, The Satan of Zechariah, Satan in 1 Chronicles, Excursus: The Fall of Satan?]; 2. Fallen Angels, Demons, and Evil Spirits in the Old Testament [Fallen Angels, Demons, Evil Spirits, Excursus: Alleged Allusions to the Demonic]; 3. Satan and Jesus in Conflict [The Temptation in the Desert, The Prince of Demons, Other Teachings of Jesus Concerning Satan, Satan and the Passion, Satan in Acts], 4. Jesus' Mastery of the Demons [The Demoniac in the Capernaum Synagogue, The Gerasene Demoniac, The Daughter of the Woman from Syrian Phoenicia, The Epileptic Boy, Brief References to Exorcism Performed by Jesus, Additional Gospel References to the Demonic, Demons in Acts, Excursus: Exorcism in the Modern World], 5. The Apostolic Teaching Concerning Satan [The Pauline Literature, Hebrews and the General Epistles, Revelation], 6. The Apostolic Teaching Concerning the Powers of Evil [Demons and Fallen Angels in the Epistles, The Principalities and Powers in the Epistles, Demons and Fallen Angels in Revelation, Excursus: Disputed References to Cosmic Powers], Postscript: The Demonic Today, Select Bibliography, Index of Scripture, Index of Extrabiblical Literature, Index of Subjects
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NF
Very good book. Highly recommended
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 11, 2024