Product Description

This look into the dark world of satanic ritual and devil worship shows how the movement thrives in an "enlightened" Western society.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1367880 in Books
• Published on: 1995-05-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

From the Back Cover
Belief in Satan worship is often viewed as an embarrassing throwback to the superstitions of another time. And "selling your soul to the Devil"? Nothing more than an overworked theme in literature and opera. To the contrary, Bob and Gretchen Passantino show how, in the midst of prevailing attitudes of skepticism and disbelief, Satanism has made unprecedented inroads into our society.

About the Author
Bob and Gretchen Passantino are the directors of Answers in Action, an organization dedicated to Christian discipleship and a Christian worldview. They have worked in cult apologetics for more than twenty years and are the authors of several books.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Satanism
Copyright © 1995 by Bob and Gretchen Passantino, dba, G. P. Publisher
Services
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan Publishing House
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Passantino, Robert.
Satanism / Bob and Gretchen Passantino.
p. cm. — (Zondervan guide to cults and religious movements)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN: 0-310-70451-0 (softcover)
1. Satanism—Controversial literature. 2. Satanism—United States—
Controversial literature. I. Passantino, Gretchen. II. Title. III. Series.
BF1548.P37 1995
133.4'22—dc20 95-
8262
CIP
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the
Holy Bible: New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978,
1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan
Publishing House. All rights reserved.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic,
mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations
in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Edited by James E. Ruark
Interior design by Art Jacobs
Printed in the United States of America
95 96 97 98 99 00 / ?DP/ 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Dr. Walter R. Martin (1928–1989)
A personal friend, teacher, and mentor who wrote the first Zondervan series
on cults (1950s). He taught us never to give up and to contend
earnestly for the faith once for all entrusted to the saints (Jude 3) .
Satanism
Copyright © Bob and Gretchen Passantino, dba, G. P. Publisher Services
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Passantino, Robert
Satanism / Bob and Gretchen Passantino, authors
p. cm. — (Zondervan guide to cults and religious movements)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-10: 0-310-70451-0 (softcover)
ISBN-13: 978-0-310-70451-5 (softcover)
1. Satanism — Controversial literature. 1. Satanism — United States —
Controversial literature I. Passantino, Gretchen. II. Title. III. Series.
BF1548.P37 1995
133.4'22 — dc20 95-8262
CIP
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New
International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy,
recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior
permission of the publisher.
Edited by Patti Picardi
Interior design by Art Jacobs
Printed in the United States of America
05 06 07 08 09 10 / ? / 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
How to Use This Book
The Zondervan Guide to Cults and Religious Movements comprises sixteen
volumes, treating many of the most important groups and belief systems
confronting the Christian church today. This series distills the most important
facts about each and presents a well-reasoned, cogent Christian response. The
authors in this series are highly qualified, well-respected professional Christian
apologists with considerable expertise on their topics.
We have designed the structure and layout to help you find the information
you need as quickly as possible. All the volumes are written in outline
form, which allows us to pack substantial content into a short book. With
some exceptions, each book contains, first, an introduction to the cult, movement,
or belief system. The introduction gives a brief history of the group, its
organizational structure, and vital statistics such as membership. Second, the
theology section is arranged by doctrinal topic, such as God, Christ, sin, and
salvation. The movement’s position is set forth objectively, primarily from its
own official writings. The group’s teachings are then refuted point by point,
followed by an affirmative presentation of what the Bible says about the doctrine.
The third section is a discussion of witnessing tips. While each witnessing
encounter must be handled individually and sensitively, this section
provides some helpful general guidelines, including both dos and don’ts. The
fourth section contains annotated bibliographies, listing works by the groups
themselves and books written by Christians in response. Fifth, each book has
a parallel comparison chart, with direct quotations from the cultic literature
in the left column and the biblical refutation on the right. Some of the books
conclude with a glossary.
One potential problem with a detailed outline is that it is easy to lose
one’s place in the overall structure. Therefore, we have provided graphical
“signposts” at the top of the odd numbered pages. Functioning like a “you are
here” map in a shopping mall, these graphics show your place in the outline,
including the sections that come before and after your current position.
(Those familiar with modern computer software will note immediately the
resemblance to a "drop-down” menu bar, where the second-level choices vary
depending on the currently selected main menu item.) In the theology section
we have also used "icons” in the margins to make clear at a glance whether the
material is being presented from the cultic or Christian viewpoint. For example,
in the Mormonism volume the sections presenting the Mormon position
are indicated with a picture resembling the angel Moroni in the margin; the
biblical view is shown by a drawing of the Bible.
We hope you will find these books useful as you seek “to give an answer
to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1
Peter 3:15).
—Alan W. Gomes, Ph.D.
Series Editor
Part I:
Introduction
A glow of new light is borne out of the night and Lucifer is risen, once more
to proclaim: “This is the age of Satan! Satan Rules the Earth!” (Anton Szandor
LaVey, The Satanic Bible, 23).
[God] having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle
of them, triumphing over them by the cross (The Holy Bible, Col. 2:15).
I. What Is Satanism?
A. The Difficulty of Classifying Satanists
1. Contemporary satanists defy easy classification. This is partly because
of the independent nature of satanism and partly because of satanists’
desire for secrecy.
2. If satanists could be characterized in one term, it would be “self-serving.”
That is, one’s own needs, desires, beliefs, and goals are supreme.
Consequently, it is to be expected that satanism could have almost as
many definitions as practitioners.
B. The Worship of “Satan” the Common Factor
1. “Contemporary satanism is a form of religious belief and expression
holding to the worship of Satan, whether Satan is defined as a supernatural

Customer Reviews

A very subjective book from the view points of Christianity
Hoping to understand more about Satanism in an objective point of view, I purchased this book and eventually had so much a disappointment that I have to write a review here to express my opinions, which I have not done for a long long time.

This book is a short book, of only 96 pages, titled "Satanism", but it does not tell much about Satanism as one might expect. Instead, it spends much effort on defining Christian theological terms of "Satan", "demon", "angel" and the like, from their meanings to their history. Also mentioned in details were Christian philosophies of "demonology" and the witch hunts, etc.. The author had done a neat and concise work on this, but sorry this is a book on Satanism. In chapter two on "History", a length of 32 pages, only 6 pages are actually Satanism related.

In chapter four on "Theology", there are great lengthy parts of ridiculous "refutation of Satanist arguments". Never have I seen an introductory book on any particular religion has such a section! The "refutations" are all Christian viewpoints, some of them are themselves questionable (but still presented as if they are solid facts).

And the next chapter, "Witnessing Tips", was a chapter teaching Christians how to approach Satanists and have them persuaded to turn their minds back to the Lord. Holy.

Hardly can I say this book is objective. If you are looking for an introduction to Satanism, you have better choices elsewhere.

Beware!!!!
This book CLAIMS that it can enlighten you as to what a TRUE satanist believes. If you are thinking about purchasing this book, don't. If you are seriously curious about Satanism, stay away from this book. If you want to know what Christians THINK satanism is about, or what Wiccans/Neopagans THINK Satanism is about, this is the book for you.
Here's the TRUTH about Satanism:
Satanists only use the name 'Satan' because it scares you.
Satanists have only one rule: Question Everything.
There is only one person who has written about Satanism with complete honesty, that person was Anton Lavey. Read the Satanic Bible if you want to know the truth.

Best In This Series So Far
I found this to be a refreshingly calm and objective look at an alternative religious movement. To my surprise, I found that the authors disparaged more hysterical fundamentalist accounts of conspiracy theories, and even admitted that some fundamentalists lie about satanic ritual abuse and satanic conspiracy theories. They also regard many "satanists" as nothing more than very naughty adolescent misfits. As a neopagan, I was also pleased to see that the authors distinguish our traditions from satanist practices. Neopagans do not believe in an incarnated antideity of evil or Nietzschean superhumanity, whereas christians and satanists do. Stripped of the evangelical apologetics, this would be an excellent offering in a comparative religion course. I hope the authors and publisher decide to market it as such, as I am sure it would meet a warm reception if they did.