Thesis advisor: Andrew L. Prevot / Although underemphasized by contemporary theologians, demonology haunts some of the most important theological and social questions of our time. Specifically, demonology is a necessary site of Christian reflection in light of the contemporary social and theological problems of colonialism and anti-Black racism. This dissertation charts pathways for a contextual, prophetic, and decolonial Christian demonology for the 21st theology. This dissertation first retrieves underappreciated attempts to revive demonology among 20th century American and European theologians. This theological tradition, which I dub “Euro-American political demonology” endorses possibilities for Christian demonology as a political theological doctrine in a world of violence and systemic injustice. The second chapter, drawing from Black studies and decolonial theory, analyzes the precise role of Christian demonology in the emergence of the anti-Black colonial reality. Returning to Euro-American political demonology, the third chapter assesses whether this demonological tradition responsibly and effectively speaks to the anti-Black colonial context, putting these thinkers in conversation with liberation, postcolonial, and decolonial theologies. I determine that Euro-American approaches demonology, while instructive, do not take sufficient account of the modern anti-Black colonial context, nor the particular implication of demonology in the emergence of that very social reality. Aligning with emerging decolonial approaches to theology, the final two chapters turn to Black and womanist reflections on demonology, demonization, and the practice of discerning the spirits. For Black American populations, demonology has remained a salient language for articulating resistance and healing in a world of demonizing, anti-Black, violence. Womanist theology, in particular, approaches demonology in the context of the difficult praxis of Black persons discerning their divine dignity living under a colonial matrix that demonizes Black flesh. The final chapter traces the themes of demonology and discernment in the literature of James Baldwin, commending Baldwin as a resource for decolonial approaches to demonology. Baldwin, particularly through his literary work exhibits a Black grammar of the demonic which frames the drama of discerning the spirits. For Baldwin, discernment is an embodied and communal praxis of embracing possibilities of Divine love and resisting the powers of anti-Black coloniality. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

This dissertation examines the demonology of William of Auvergne, to determine why and how he constructed his theories out of contemporary lore about demons and other spirits. William was master of theology in the University of Paris and bishop of Paris from 1228 until his death in 1249, in which position he served as a major advisor to the young Louis IX. In addition to being one of the most politically influential people in the French kingdom, William was one of the greatest thinkers of his generation, producing numerous works of theology, philosophy and science. William's efforts combine an adoption of an Aristotelian "physics" for spiritual entities with an uncompromising reaffirmation of the view that demons are evil, fallen angels. He believed that a demonic conspiracy existed to deceive humans into false worship, and his concerns led him to precisely define the capabilities of demons according to the latest scientific views of spirits, to characterize opinions with which he disagreed as demonic lies and to label their holders as demonic dupes. William's demonology represented a choice between several alternative varied and contradictory conceptions of spirits that circulated among the western European populace. With his demonology, he hoped to help impose an order he considered doctrinally and politically-acceptable onto the turbulence of early thirteenth century France.

This dissertation is the first focused study of images of demons and how they were created and received at the turn of the Southern Song and Yuan periods of China. During these periods, China was in a state of dynastic crisis and transition, and the presence of foreign invaders, the rise of popular culture, the development of popular religion, as well as the advancement of commerce and transportation provided new materials and incentives for painting the supernatural grotesque. Given how widely represented they are in a variety of domains that include politics, literature, theater, and ritual, the Demon Queller Zhong Kui and his demons are good case studies for the effects of new social developments on representations of the supernatural grotesque. Through a careful iconological analysis of three of the earliest extant handscroll paintings that depict the mythical exorcist Zhong Kui travelling with his demonic entourage, this dissertation traces the iconographic sources and uncovers the multivalent cultural significances behind the way grotesque supernatural beings were imagined. Most studies of paintings depicting Zhong Kui focus narrowly on issues of connoisseurship, concentrate on the painter's intent, and prioritize political metaphors in the paintings. This study expands understanding of these images by contextualizing them within contemporary beliefs in the supernatural world, which are reconstructed through a heterodox array of thirteenth-century sources encompassing nuo exorcist rituals, physiognomy manuals, joke books, codes of law, and writings on weddings. This study also examines the psychological impact images of grotesque supernatural beings had on their pre-modern viewers by analyzing original translations of inscriptions written in response to these paintings. This study reveals that paintings depicting Zhong Kui are heavily influenced by religious, social, and cultural currents at the time, despite their better-known political readings; that images of demons share interesting iconographic traits with portrayals of humans of foreign origins and in abject conditions; that and that aside from provoking feelings of disgust and fear, demons served as comic relief and spectacles in paintings which had been largely interpreted as moralistic. This study fills a gap in Chinese demonology--which had focused largely on visual and textual sources before the Six Dynasties and after the Ming dynasty--by examining images of demonic creatures from the Song and Yuan periods. It enriches cross-cultural studies of monsters and the monstrous by offering an analysis of comparable Chinese examples. It contributes to studies of Song-Yuan painting by focusing on a category of images that have been understudied because they were at odds with literati taste. Finally, it adds to scholarship on Zhong Kui by offering new readings on three well-known paintings of the Demon Queller and synthesizing studies on him in literature, religion, and folklore.

Aim.C. Peter Wagner is a well-known missiologist. In the late twentieth century Wagner became interested in the means by which the devil, as the enemy of God, obstructs the spread of the Gospel. Based on his reading of Daniel 10:13 [20-21], a passage referring to the prince of Persia, he concluded that the earth is ruled by Satan’s angels, whom he terms “territorial spirits.” The same chapter mentions other supernatural beings, Michael, one of the chief princes and the prince of Greece. In Wagner’s understanding Scripture reveals the existence of good and evil spirits having authority or control over specific geographical regions. Further, Wagner believed he had discovered why evangelism is ineffective in some locations - territorial spirits blind the minds of the populace and need to be bound spiritually to remove hindrances to the gospel’s reception. Wagner devised a prayer methodology called Strategic Level Spiritual Warfare (SLSW), to accelerate world evangelisation by strategically targeting designated cities or locations with aggressive prayer to disarm the spiritual powers of wickedness. SLSW depends for effectiveness on the associated practice of spiritual mapping,” entailing foundational research into an area’s historical and spiritual background preceding the prayer programme. Wagner believes SLSW to be both divinely revealed and empirically verifiable. The SLSW methodology spread with startling rapidity to many sectors of Christianity. SLSW became associated with Pentecostalism, and is now mistakenly assumed to be a Pentecostal teaching. This thesis aims to show this is inaccurate. Scope. C. Peter Wagner, an Evangelical, is associated with Third Wave groups who deliberately distance themselves from the Pentecostal label. Classical Pentecostalism is differentiated historically from the later Charismatic Renewal Movement. Third Wave groups are a separate more recent spiritual movement, sometimes known as neo-charismatics. Neither Wagner’s theological nor ecclesial location is Pentecostal, but this fact has not helped negate the mistaken assumption that his teaching originated within Pentecostalism. In order to demonstrate the difference between Wagner’s demonology and that of Pentecostalism, their respective interpretive methods need to be compared. This task was approached firstly by showing what comprises a Classical Pentecostal hermeneutic. Three distinctive principles were identified for a conventional Pentecostal reading of Scripture, namely: (1) the Protestant Reformation principle of Sola Scriptura, (2) a pneumatic approach to interpreting Scripture and (3) biblical revelation, not self-revelation, in the community of faith. In the past, Pentecostals depended on academic writings stemming from within Evangelicalism. This was a dependence of convenience, since historically Pentecostalism had no systematic theology, nor until comparatively recently a critically active academia. The disadvantage of this borrowing has been that Pentecostals have been obliged to filter out anti-Pentecostal bias evident in much Evangelical literature. The text Daniel 10:13 was then exegeted using these principles. This narrow focus is based on Wagner’s use of this text as the foundation of his demonology. Using a combined theological and literary approach, stances on reading the book of Daniel in general and Daniel 10:13 in particular were discussed. The relaxation of tensions between the factions which divided biblical scholarship for much of the twentieth century has allowed some cross-fertilization of ideas and methods, without reducing the ideological chasm separating the camps. The history of the text was recognised but meaning was sought more particularly from the form of the extant text. The results were tested against the principles of Pentecostal hermeneutics. Finally, Wagner’s writings on SLSW were appraised. His hermeneutical method was compared with the Pentecostal hermeneutical principles, the Pentecostal reading prepared from the exegesis, and the demonology of two Classical Pentecostal writers. Discussion of SLSW was confined to Wagner as the initiator of the concept. Wagner’s specific contribution has been in relating a hypothetical demonic hierarchy according to their perceived function (not simply the degree of power they may possess). He is well aware that his theory stands or falls on the issue of whether demonic spirits can legitimately be seen as occupying territories. Conclusions. Whilst some aspects of Wagner’s demonology and hermeneutic are held in common with that of Pentecostalism, the mistaken identification of SLSW as Pentecostal has led to confusion. Notwithstanding Wagner’s high view of Scripture and enthusiasm for evangelism, the hermeneutic employed in his interpretation of Dan 10:13 is not consistent with that of Classical Pentecostalism. The conclusion reached was that C. Peter Wagner’s teaching on SLSW should not be labelled Pentecostal.

Masks, actions, words. These three elements provide a starting point for a study of the devil figure as represented in Middle French saint's plays (mysteres hagiographiques). / An urban, popular art, mediaeval French theatre addressed a broad public that it was considered useful to both edify---particularly in the case of the mysteres---and divert. The mysteres represented and interpreted the world. In this theatre, the devil figures embody Evil and adversity, but also alterity. Placed in opposition to the saints and the sublime inhabitants of Heaven, they appear grotesque, crude and carnivalesque. Often the mainspring of the action, they are essential to the plot of the saint's play; noisy and garrulous, they are a no less necessary element of the mysteres' discourse on the world (tangible or intangible, earthly or celestial). The devil, ever ill-intentioned, concocts evil plots and engages in infernal dialogues---which the mystere presents in order to further its edifying goals and propagate its unifying and didactic message. / This dissertation examines some of the most important aspects, in terms of the mystere's reception, of the devil figure. The first part, which deals with diabolical masks, discusses their external features (scenery, costumes, gestures, disguises) and certain of their linguistic characteristics. The second part studies the actions of the devils themselves. Their principal activities are identified and defined, and divided into three broad categories, according to whether the devils attempt to draw human beings and their activities into their sphere of influence, or commit evil deeds, or fail in their baleful plans and end up serving God despite themselves. The third part of the thesis studies diabolical discourse. More specifically, it analyses the relationship between the speech of devils (traditionally perceived as deceitful) and truth. Using the concepts of place and authority, we can read certain instances of this speech as illegitimate, while an examination of the workings of the discourse of diabolical seduction reveals the twisted nature which the mysteres attributed to devils. / A study of the devil figure thus provides an opportunity to understand in some measure the role the mysteres hagiographiques played in relation to the mediaeval public, whose perception of the other (as well as of the same) the saint's plays represented even as they helped construct it.

Thesis (D. Miss.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1988. / Abstract. Bibliography: leaves 127-129.

Thesis (M.A.)--Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, 1994. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-94).

Thesis (M.A.)--Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, 1994. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-94).

Thesis (D. Miss.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1988. / Abstract. Bibliography: leaves 127-129.

Thesis (D. Miss.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1988. / Abstract. Bibliography: leaves 127-129.