Empathy for the Devil
Page 21
I blog and podcast at NorvilleRogers.com. These are my podcasts:
StoryMen—pop culture, history, and theology
In All Things Charity—Wesleyan feminist theology (with two female pastors as cohosts)
Don’t Split Up!—reviews of horror films old and new
Bible Bites—Sunday school for the twenty-first century (or Through the Bible Twenty Minutes at a Time)
Origami Elephants—religion and philosophy through the lens of current events
You can also find my sermons at jrforasteros.com/messages.
You can download a discussion guide and sermon resources at empathyforthedevil.com.
Praise for Empathy for the Devil
“Sometimes we get closer to truth by taking the opposite perspective from the one we typically take. Empathy for the Devil gets us closer to truth by exploring the dark side, the devil's side. Like a series of narrative proverbs, we can learn something about what is right by looking closely at what is wrong.”
Thomas Jay Oord, author of The Uncontrolling Love of God
“This is a beautifully written, compelling, and important book that will make you see the villains of the Bible and yourself in a whole new light. Highly recommended.”
Matt Mikalatos, author of Sky Lantern
“Empathy for the Devil is unlike anything you’ve ever read. Part fictional anthology, part nonfiction, the pages of this book bring ancient antagonists to life in ways that will both shock and inform you. It’s Wicked for the spiritual formation set. Every one of us knows what it’s like to linger before a mirror, seeing a deep secret or two we withhold from the world, wondering if others really understand our hearts, anxious about whether or not we want them to. When JR. told me he was going to write a book about how relatable the villains of Scripture are, I thought if anyone could pull it off, he could. And he has. The people in these pages are infamous for the worst things they ever thought and did. Plenty of us can probably relate to the fear of being remembered for our faults, what we got wrong. But beyond the darkness there is always a light to move toward. This book shows us the cost of selfish ambition and the choice we have to be protagonists in a story much larger than ourselves.”
Clay Morgan, author of Undead: Revived, Resuscitated & Reborn
“The deepest truth usually dawns on us through the power of a story. Nowhere do we find more explosiveness than in the stories of Scripture. We love these stories because they’re not whitewashed or edited. We see ourselves in our human rawness. JR. Forasteros has done two things quite well in this book: narrated the story of the dark characters of Scripture and introduced them into our lives in believable terms. If we can own them rather than castigate them, we may find the saving grace of God that delivers us from evil.”
Dan Boone, president, Trevecca Nazarene University, Nashville
“We underestimate the power of looking to our greatest enemies. We forget that they are like us more than they are unlike us and that if we can learn to see ourselves in their eyes, to bridge the gap between ‘us’ and ‘them,’ tremendous healing and peace can be found. Never has there been a time in history where this message is more needed, and JR. tackles the subject with creativity, wisdom, and grace. You don’t want to miss this book.”
Allison Fallon, author of Packing Light
“Reading Empathy for the Devil is like realizing your whole life you’ve been trying to see the stars through the wrong end of the telescope. Carefully researched and creatively written, Empathy for the Devil gives us a new kind of Copernican Revolution. It reframes the way we think about the other and the Other. I feel like I can see the stars with fresh eyes—or maybe for the first time.”
Tom Fuerst, author of Underdogs and Outsiders
“The most compelling question any great story seeks to answer is why? Why did Cain kill Abel? Why did Delilah seduce Samson? Why did Judas betray Jesus? These questions are all the same question: Why does evil exist? And, more to the point, why does it exist within us? In Empathy for the Devil, JR. Forasteros tells seven gripping stories about the most infamous characters of the Bible so we can learn why they did what they did, and, in turn, why we do what we do. Tread lightly, reader: when JR. parts the veil over Jezebel’s face or grants us entrance into Herod’s inner sanctum, you’re unlikely to discover the evil adversaries you booed in Sunday school. Rather, you’re going to find yourself subtly nodding your head. You will see these misunderstood men and women of the Bible in such arresting, startling new ways that you may even catch glimpses of yourself in their eyes. The question you have to ask yourself then is why?”
Blake Atwood, author of The Gospel According to Breaking Bad
About the Author
JR. Forasteros is the teaching pastor at Catalyst Community Church in Rowlett, Texas, and is an active blogger and podcaster on the church and pop culture. He blogs at NorvilleRogers.com, where he reviews films and books, and is the cocreator and cohost of the StoryMen podcast. JR. has a master’s degree in religious studies, New Testament, and early Christianity from the University of Missouri—Columbia. He lives in Dallas, Texas, with his wife, Amanda.
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©2017 by Marshall M. Forasteros
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from InterVarsity Press.
InterVarsity Press® is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA®,
a movement of students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities, colleges, and schools of nursing in the United States of America, and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. For information about local and regional activities,
visit intervarsity.org.
Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
While any stories in this book are true, some names and identifying information may have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.
Published in association with literary agent David Van Diest of the Van Diest Literary Agency,
www.christianliteraryagency.com.
Author photo by Arianne Martin, www.ariannemartin.com.
Cover design: David Fassett
Interior design: Daniel van Loon
Images: devil illustration: © CSA Images / Getty Images
dark gray background: © Lava4images/iStockimages
snake illustration: David Fassett
ISBN 978-0-8308-8896-2 (digital)
ISBN 978-0-8308-4514-9 (print)
This digital document has been produced by Nord Compo.