Acknowledgments
Practical Indications for the Reader
Introduction
Chapter 1. The Christian Invention of Satanism
Intermezzo 1. The Eighteenth Century: Death of Satan?
Chapter 2. The Romantic Rehabilitation of Satan
Chapter 3. Satan in Nineteenth-Century Counterculture
Intermezzo 2. Charles Baudelaire: Litanies to Satan
Chapter 4. Huysmans & Consorts
Chapter 5. Unmasking the Synagogue of Satan
Chapter 6. Unmasking the Synagogue of Satan (continued and
concluded)
Intermezzo 3. Nineteenth-Century Religious Satanism: Fact or
Fiction?
Chapter 7. Paths into the Twentieth Century
Chapter 8. Tribulations of the Early Church
Intermezzo 4. Adolescent Satanism, Metal Satanism,
Cyber-Satanism
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Ruben van Luijk was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Children of Lucifer is based on his research as a PhD student at the Faculty of Catholic Theology, Tilburg University and as a research fellow at Radboud University, Nijmegen. Van Luijk is also active as a photographer, novelist and artist.
"Children of Lucifer is a tour de force and the best book on the
historical development of Satanism out there." -- Lukas Pokorny,
Religious Studies Review
"Ruben van Luijk's Children of Lucifer: The Origins of Modern
Religious Satanism is the most readable of a current rush of books
on Satanism ... [it's] a highly valuable and immensely enjoyable
book." -- Numen
"[T]he prose is engaging and would pose little problem for those
unfamiliar with the shibboleths of academia Children of Lucifer is
best at exploring the wider field of Satanic discourse, namely the
interplay between literature about Satanism and more explicitly
religious manifestations of Satanic practice."--Ethan Doyle White,
Correspondences
"Van Luijk is an eminent specialist of the Belle Époque, and a
master storyteller. All the chapters of his book about late
19th-century France are rich in details nobody else found before
him, and the story is told in such a vivid prose that even those
who have no special interest in esotericism or Satanism would find
the book extremely entertaining Van Luijk's book is indispensable
for understanding the Belle Époque and the medieval and early
modern precursors of modern Satanism."-- Massimo Introvigne, Aries
- Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism
"I recommend Children of Lucifer not only for its engrossing
history, but also because Luijk engages critically-problematizing
and theorizing through-a vast oeuvre of well-known nineteenth- and
twentieth-century authors, poets, philosophers, theologians, and
occultists. This scope will surely appeal to graduate students,
literary critics, and scholars of Christianity, Western
Esotericism, and New Religious Movements."--Tarryl Janik, Nova
Religio
"This book provides sweeping treatment of a fascinating and
challenging theme that might well provoke its readers into
rethinking the intellectual foundations of Western
modernity."--Stephen W. Angell, The Journal of the American Academy
of Religion
"It is by far the most comprehensive history of Satanism
available...Recommended."--CHOICE
"Van Luijk's book is a welcome addition to the emerging field of
studies of religious Satanism. Children of Lucifer successfully
argues that rhetoric around the figure of Satan marginalizes
political enemies and reflects social concerns-and modern religious
Satanism is yet another example of this-as it promotes a radical
marginality as an empowering identity."--Reading Religion
"A tremendously important, meticulously researched and wittily
written book, which will change the way we look on Satanism."-Per
Faxneld, coauthor of The Devil's Party: Satanism in Modernity
"Contrary to popular news, Satanism is not just statues and
coloring books. Through the dual mechanisms of attribution and
identification, Ruben van Luijk's monumental work examines the
history of modern Satanism from early modern Christian inventions
to the appropriation and reinterpretation of contemporary satanic
groups. This is first-rate scholarship with an impressive attention
to detail and breadth of insight, which never fails to captivate
the reader.
Children of Lucifer proves that to understand the present we must
understand history."-Jesper Aagaard Petersen, co-author of The
Invention of Satanism (2015)
"If you want the real story of Satanism, then read this book.
Extremely well documented and full of surprising twists and turns,
it shows that history is much more exciting than the predictable
standard products of the sensationalist imagination."-Wouter J.
Hanegraaff, Professor of History of Hermetic Philosophy, University
of Amsterdam
Ask a Question About this Product More... |