Fallen Angels: Soldiers of Satan's Realm

by Bernard Jacob Bamberger

Fantastic myths about the angels who were lured to sin and the proud angel who rebelled against God and was cast down as Satan. The problem of evil has challenged mankind ever since the dawn of intelligence. Why is there evil in the world and why do pain and suffering come upon those who do not seem to deserve it? Written in a simple, popular style, Bamberger’s book, first published in 1952, will appeal to anyone who, no matter what his own answer to the question may be, is curious to learn how it has been answered in the past or is being answered by others in our own age. The author traces the history of the belief in fallen angels in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and assembles a variety of tales and superstitions— some grotesque, others quaint and humorous. His presentation also reveals a basic divergence between Judaism and Christianity in their respective attitudes toward the devil. The concluding chapter of the work deals with the return of the devil to prominence in contemporary religious thought and shows how Judaism seeks its own solution to the problem of evil. The book contains an extensive bibliography, notes, and index.

Genres: Judaism, Religion, Nonfiction, Mythology

295 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1952

Reviews

[Steve Wiggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the dangers of doing research by the books you have read instead of setting out a plan ahead of time (I’ve written books both ways) is that in the former you miss things. Any writer hopes not to overlook an essential source, and I was therefore glad to have found this book. Originally published a decade before I was born, the fact that it was reissued over half-a-century later is a testament to its insight. The book, as I mention on my blog post on it (Sects and Violence in the Ancient World) isn’t really about demons. It is about fallen angels, a topic that is closely related to the demonic, but not exactly the same thing.

Judaism never developed the intense figure of Satan, or the Devil, as Christianity did. Bamberger doesn’t ignore Christian thought, but his main interest was to explore the idea of fallen angels and their later developments in Judaism. Prominent in his discussion is the story of the fallen angels implied in Genesis 6 and developed more fully in the book 1 Enoch. While there was intense interest in this during the time of the New Testament and later, in Judaism it never really caught on. There was belief in demons, but the fallen angel story didn’t really explain them.

Indulging a little with Islam (still not widely studied in the 1950s), Bamberger mostly juxtaposes Jewish and Christian thought on the subject. Christianity stuck rather tenaciously to the idea of a good angel gone bad, along with his followers. Judaism explored other possible origins of evil, always keeping an eye on the single nature of divinity. I found myself constantly surprised by this book, although I’ve been reading on the topic for a few years now. It just goes to show that you shouldn’t overlook a book simply because of its age.

[Comicfairy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very much scripture based with heavy emphasis on Good (God) Vs Evil (Satan). The book will likely not offer anything new and intriguing to any modern student of the Nephilim and might be a bit frustrating to some given it's very good/bad approach, but one must remember that this was first published in 1952. It's still a valuable and informative title that I keep on my bookshelf.