Reviving Old Scratch: Demons and the Devil for Doubters and the Disenchanted

tl;dr: I would recommend buying this book, as long as you understand that Dr. Beck is beginning the conversation, not ending it. I doubt that, for anyone, this book will resolve any tension they feel or offer closure/certainty of any sort. However, it may provide for you a framing that helps you dive deeper.--In Reviving Old Scratch, Dr. Beck argues that-- regardless of whether Satan is a sentient being with a personal will and physical/spiritual presence-- there is a certain understanding of evil and of the Devil that is both robust and thoroughly Christian. Per my understanding of the text, he argues that the pathway to understanding the Devil lies through re-enchanting our worldview, regardless of whether we are theologically conservative or liberal. Both sides of the theological fence have become disenchanted with the world, and both need to re-engage with what it means for the immanent God to be incarnate through acts of love.The content of book hearkens back to C.S. Lewis' "That Hideous Strength". If you enjoyed this book and are looking to see its themes fleshed out in a work of fiction, I would highly recommend Lewis' Space Trilogy. The final book in the series addresses many of these themes, and I would wonder if the author was similarly affected in some capacity.This book very effectively outlines the fundamentals of his position, and of why we should care about it. I'm not sure that a hostile reader would be persuaded, but a reader open to the ideas it presents would likely them engaging.Unfortunately, the limitations of the book are in its simplicity. I struggled with whether to rate this "3" or "4" stars, but ultimately, I feel that it was too shallow to accomplish what it set out to do. If the book was able to engage in a mental conversation with me by answering the questions I had, I would have bumped it up to "4" stars. If it was able to do so in a way that I found profound masterful, I would have bumped it up to "5" stars.Below are some specific points where I felt the book, had it been written differently, could have been elevated from "3" to "4" stars:- Dr. Beck pulls out some tensions we have with scripture, but fails to resolve (or even address) the tensions in ways that leave the reader satisfied. For example, in the "Jesus the Exorcist" chapter, he addresses the Jeffersonian approach to "cutting up your Bible" and removing the passages we find troubling. He claims that this is problematic. However, elsewhere (such as in the chapter, "Angels & Demons"), he notes discrepancies in how modern people understand scripture and the world versus how ancient people do. This is disconcerting and, even if the author does not wish to sidetrack the reader, the tension-- which is quite central to the book-- should at least be addressed, so as not to leave a reader in a more confused state than when they began.-While I'm sympathetic to Dr. Beck's arguments in the chapter, "The White Witch", for rejecting penal substitutionary atonement theories-- in fact, I am inclined to agree with him-- he has stirred up an anthill without being able to deal with the resulting bug bites. In most of today's theological institutions, including churches and seminaries, rejecting penal substitution is akin to rejecting a fundamental of Christianity. For Dr. Beck to throw that out as a fragment of a chapter without addressing or dealing with the profound implications is like putting a hungry person in the middle of the Pacific without a boat and expecting them to fish. You just completely upended someone's world in order to get them access to what they need, but didn't give them any of the tools or resources they need to deal with the complete change of circumstances.-I found myself unsure of how to apply much of what he advocated for. In the "Holy Ghost Congo Lines" chapter, he argues for rejecting a disenchanted worldview and embracing enchantment, but he doesn't tell us how to get there. At the end of the chapter, he spends maybe two paragraphs trying to elucidate how we can do this. Those two (or so) paragraphs should have and could have, frankly, merited several chapters on their own. In "Angels & Demons", he argues that Christians should reject the Zeitgeist of the world and embrace Christ's vision of love, but I don't understand how we're supposed to apply that or what that looks like. He rejects the actions of those such as Westboro Baptist, but fails to explain how our application must lead in a different direction.In conclusion, my core problem with the book is an inconsistency between its content and its method. The book argues that we should reject disenchantment, find depth and meaning in the world, and really live out a bold and revolutionary love. Unfortunately, the book is very shallow-- this is a very short book and is not, itself, enchanting. It fails to carry out the bold and revolutionary work that it tasked itself with. Its content is great, but it's coffee-table level.Would I buy it again? Yes, but knowing that I would be dissatisfied at the end. If Dr. Beck were to put out a follow-up, in which he dove into the issues he raises in-depth and brings the reader to enchanted, strange new places in bold and revolutionary ways, I would be thrilled to join him. As it is, unfortunately, this book isn't sufficient to complete the work it sets out for itself.This book was paid for by me. I did not receive any compensation or free copies. I have no affiliation with Dr. Beck/etc. I have no conflicts of interest that I believe I need to disclose.

Once again, Richard Beck has challenged my firmly held traditions and given me a new way to look at the teachings of Christ.

In our modern times our modern scientific technology makes it hard for many Christians to believe in beings of the spiritual world. There is not much difference in their mind in believing in fairies, goblins, ghosts, or bigfoot and in the belief of demons, demon possession, or the Devil. If you are one of these people who have doubts are you are disenchanted with the view of a supernatural spiritual world - You Need to Read This Book! This book is Profound, Insightful and it is Profoundly Relevant to the real world. Richard Beck takes you into what spiritual warfare really is, the differing views of it, wickedness in high places, social justice, rulers and authorities, and a lot of the spiritual language and explains it both as it was first intended to be understood and as it is evident in the world today. He shows us why we must have more than just social justice but also a foundation based in the hierarchy of Heaven and not in the powers of this world and why we must have an attitude of spiritual warfare. This book would be a good read for anyone, but especially if you have problems dealing with the supernatural aspects of the Bible. It turns out those supernatural aspects of the Bible are not just primitive superstitious beliefs; they were a lot more involved than that.

Richard Beck is a psychologist that writes theology. And honestly, he is one of the best theologians that I have read. He is accessible. Beck is a long time blogger. And much of his books have been heavily worked out on his blog prior to becoming full books. So the chapters tend to be short and focused. There tends to be lots of stories and illustrations. And there tends to be relatively few footnotes.Beck is on the liberal end of Christianity. He is not overly fond of Penal Substitutionary Atonement theories. (He likes Christus Victor as his primary atonement theory.) But does not reject the basics of Christian orthodox theology. Theology for Beck has to be practical to the people around him. And while Beck is an academic and college professor ( academics and college students are some of the people that the theology has to work for) he is also a prison chaplain and a member at a church that leans Pentecostal and poor.In many ways Reviving Old Scratch is riffing off of Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age. One of the central images of the book is the Jefferson bible. Jefferson snipped out all of the miracles and difficult passages for Jefferson’s rationalist mindset. But just because you have difficulty with the supernatural does not mean that the supernatural does not exist.Beck wants to help the modern, liberal leaning, rationalist Christian remember that Satan exists. Not just the Frank Peretti style angels and demon fighting, but systemic evil. Temptation that is beyond internal psychological battles.I am not sure that the full premises of Reviving Old Scratch is realized. But I do think that the ideas it raises are worth the time. Beck does not ask that we check our brains at the door or that we casually accept some of the simplistic spiritual battle language. But the broader concepts and theology is important. Without a concept of Satan and evil, fully realized Christianity as a force for healing and wholeness in this life doesn’t quite make sense.The concept of sanctification and struggle toward abundant life can only be a struggle if there is evil outside of ourself that needs to be struggled against. And because Beck is an advocate of the Christus Victor atonement theory, and some theological concepts that tend to be most fully realized in the Eastern Orthodox stream of Christianity, he give some language and concepts to that struggle that many that are rooted primarily in Reformed protestant theology have lost touch with.

Unlike the author, Richard Beck, who was ‘reintroduced’ to the Devil partly through his contact with Charismatic and Pentecostal expressions of church, my disenchantment with the Devil was born out of my kinship with the Charismatic church. I wasn’t skeptical of the existence of evil or Satan. But I was disenchanted with the way in which spiritual warfare was discussed because, as I’ve said, it generally tended towards wacky, confusing and theologically-shaky ground that had more in common with the occult and horror films than the Bible.So I was curious about this book. The title piqued my interest and, although I’ve not (yet) read any of his other work, I had heard of Richard Beck and liked what people were saying about him. So I took a dive, hoping that it wouldn’t fall into the weird chasms that others have fell into.I wasn’t disappointed. This book is fantastic and, thankfully, not fantastical.In *Reviving Old Scratch*, psychologist and theologian, Richard Beck is balanced, insightful and illuminating. Disrobing the Satan of the stereotypical horns, red tights and pitchfork, Beck—using plenty of helpful culturally-savvy analogies and leaning on his experience of leading a prison ministry—pastorally and practically fleshes out our struggle with the principalities and powers without divorcing spiritual warfare from social justice, and vice versa. And, in my opinion, he does so in a scripturally-sound approach. There are no calls to salt the ground here, nor any summons to name demonic princes, and it’s void of the false dualism between the spiritual and the political. There’s just good old Christus Victor theology, resisting the zeitgeist, worship, prayer, solidarity, cruciform living, and putting love where there is no love.I almost wanted to give a standing ovation to every page because of this alone.But the style of writing in this book also deserves applause. Despite the topic of conversation, this is not a dry, abstract textbook. It was an absolute joy to read Old Scratch. Beck’s writing propels you from one page to the next without becoming dull or tedious, and every chapter cranks up the cranium and heats up the heart.Additionally, I read this with a friend as part of a super-micro, two-person book club, and it never failed to spark some great dialogue between us. So if you’re looking for a book for group discussion, this works amazingly well.Overall, Beck puts the important Old Scratch component back into the conversation in an accessible, relatable and well-written way. *Reviving Old Scratch* is a page turner that I will definitely be recommending.—Tristan Sherwin, author of *Living the Dream? :The Problem with Escapist, Exhibitionist, Empire-Building Christianity*

Being somewhat familiar with Richard's work I found his discourse on this topic to be spiritually insightful and contemporarily relevant as ever. Rather than highlighting the typical pea-soup spitting sensationalism of pedestrian demonology, Richard's work skilfully links together socio/psychological, political and experiential factors to paint a very serious portrait of the "Ha-Satan" that is often clandestinely obscured. The over-personification of 'evil' is often a simplified notion within 'theodicy'. Richard addresses this incongruity by providing clear examples of the 'emergent properties' of evil and how it can be combatted through genuine acts of Cross-centred altruism and love. The work is an integral and profound resource for anyone wrestling with the interpersonal origins and sociological machinations of "Old Scratch".

Great product a must buy!