Tracing the affects of the protestant reformation on the mythology of Satan, the author looks comprehensively and authoritively on the religious and societal factors at play in early modern england (read: 1600ce-1700ce). A fascinating look at the anti-catholic doctrine that the Reform theologians succeeded in resonating with the general public, but failing in most ways to put across a new, more powerful version of a popular Satan figure that was, and mostly remained, a weak, comic character within Christianity. The result was a Satan that was a mix of folk belief and what we now accept as standard Christian mythology of the devil.
The author traces some of the strange discrepencies of this illogical mix of beliefs, and traces their affect on the populace and protestant clergy.