Satan as a Moral Philosopher

About this book

Satan takes the position of a philosopher, asking questions that threaten to turn conventional moral certainty upside down. Caleb Sprague Henry adopts the adversary's voice to test the reasoning by which people distinguish good from evil.

The work belongs to nineteenth-century religious argument, where satire and invented dialogue could expose the weaknesses in an apparently respectable position. Its provocations need to be read in their historical setting, with attention to who is speaking and who is being challenged. The pleasure is intellectual: following an argument far enough to discover the assumption it has been trying to disturb.