"Talk of the Devil"

 

The idea of the Christian Devil has exerted a profound influence over western culture.  He is also a beguiling and remarkably complex figure – as well as a personification of wickedness.  This talk considers the curious appeal of the Devil in contemporary mass media, and explores the roots of this appeal in the history and theology of ‘the ancient enemy’.  Along the way, it touches on themes such as witchcraft, the afterlife, and the ‘inner demons’ of the mind. 

 

Speaker:

Prof. Darren Oldridge is a specialist in sixteenth and seventeenth-century religious history.  His interests include witchcraft and the Devil, the supernatural, and the religious context of the English Civil Wars.  A recurring theme of his work is the rationality underpinning apparently strange beliefs.  His books include The Devil: A Very Short Introduction, Strange Histories, and most recently English Demonologies: The Devil and Witchcraft in Elizabethan and Stuart Thought.  He is currently editing the fourth edition of The Witchcraft Reader.

 

Date and Time:

Saturday 17th October at 11am

 

 

Location:

Old Baptist Chapel,

Old Baptist Chapel Court,

Tewkesbury,

GL205RZ

 

 

Tickets:

Adults: £7.00

Concessions: £5.50