Book contents
- The Problem of the Devil in Cappadocian Thought
- The Problem of the Devil in Cappadocian Thought
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1Problematising the Devil
- 2The First Fallen Angel
- 3Know Thine Enemy by Name
- 4Christ’s Defeat of the Devil
- 5The Church’s War Against the Devil
- 6Becoming Diabolic in Gregory of Nyssa’s Homilies On the Beatitudes and On the Lord’s Prayer
- 7The Devil in Gregory of Nyssa’s Homilies On the Song of Songs
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
1 - Problematising the Devil
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 May 2026
Book contents
- The Problem of the Devil in Cappadocian Thought
- The Problem of the Devil in Cappadocian Thought
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1Problematising the Devil
- 2The First Fallen Angel
- 3Know Thine Enemy by Name
- 4Christ’s Defeat of the Devil
- 5The Church’s War Against the Devil
- 6Becoming Diabolic in Gregory of Nyssa’s Homilies On the Beatitudes and On the Lord’s Prayer
- 7The Devil in Gregory of Nyssa’s Homilies On the Song of Songs
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Chapter 1 challenges the scholarly assumption that the devil, as he appears in early Christian writings, is little more than a useful way of covering a gap in theological reasoning. This widespread misconception undercuts the breadth and complexity of early Christian thought and adopts anachronistically the concerns of eighteenth-century philosophers, gathered up into what is known as the classic ‘problem of evil’. By disentangling the devil from the conceptual webs that surround evil and suffering, this chapter argues that for the Cappadocians, the devil does not resolve the question of why humans experience evil. Chapter One closes by establishing a more suitable theological context in which to study the devil.
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- The Problem of the Devil in Cappadocian Thought , pp. 19 - 45Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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