新約聖書の誕生以来、悪魔の存在は神学者や芸術家をはじめ、多くの人の関心を集めてきました。現在、悪魔はポップカルチャーにおいても欠かせない強力なイメージとして定着しています。全知全能の神が作ったこの世界で、なぜ罪のない純粋な人々が辛い目に遭うのでしょうか。本書は悪魔という概念の歴史と、現実の人々の暮らしを通じて、悪魔がキリスト教でどのように描かれているのかを紹介します。
    

• Focusses specifically on the Christian Devil, exploring all of the issues and debates about the Devil from the ancient to the modern
• Highlights the Devil's place in the history of ideas and how he has shaped thought about our past
• Considers the many guises and meanings of the Devil represented in the Bible
• Emphasises the influence the Devil has had on many forms of popular culture, including art, literature, and even language

 
Why do the innocent suffer in a world created by a loving God? Does this mean that God cannot prevent this suffering, despite His supposed omnipotence? Or is God not loving after all? This in brief is 'the problem of evil'. The Devil provides one solution to this problem: his rebellion against God and hatred of His works is responsible for evil. 

The Christian Devil has fascinated writers and theologians since the time of the New Testament, and inspired many dramatic and haunting works of art. Today he remains a potent image in popular culture. The Devil: A Very Short Introduction presents an introduction to the Devil in the history of ideas and the lives of real people. Darren Oldridge shows us that he is a more important figure in western history than is often appreciated, and also a richly complex and contradictory one. 

Oldridge focuses on three main themes: the idea of the Devil being integral to western thought from the early Middle Ages to the beginnings of modernity; the principle of 'demonic inversion' (the idea that as the eternal leader of the opposition, the Devil represents the mirror image of goodness); and the multiplicity and instability of ideas about the Devil.

While belief in the Devil has declined, the idea of an abstract force of evil is still remarkably strong. Oldridge concludes by exploring 'demonological' ways of thinking in our own time, including allegations of 'satanic ritual abuse' and the on-going 'war on terror'.