Here’s a book review from the New York Times that ran in the Summer of The Devils’ Best Trick: How the Face of Evil Disappeared by Randall Sullivan. It chronicles the investigations of the author into the reality of Satan as an actual, functioning entity via the malicious actions of humans. The subheading of the review touts it as an “in-depth investigation of the occult” whereas it seems to mainly a collection of case histories of some horrible people, some of whom attribute their behavior to The Devil. There’s no discussion of other spirits including angels, divine beings (the loa for instance) or any of the technologies humans have developed for interacting with them.
Beyond this, the take on The Devil/Satan presented is incredibly dated as the range of folks who identify as Satanists take varying positions: he’s purely a symbol of non-conformity; he’s a rebel angel resisting the dictates of an oppressive Father-God; he’s a promoter of human self-sovereignty and positive action; he’s the source of reckless, selfish behavior, etc. Meanwhile traditionalist Christians view him as being God’s foe, locked in an ongoing battle with this supposedly all powerful Cre3ator that perhaps The Devil has a chance of winning. All very confusing. Anyway:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/29/books/review/randall-sullivan-the-devils-best-trick.html
