I See Satan Fall Like Lightning

Overview

Rene Girard holds up the gospels as a mirror to reflect our broken humanity and, in the same frame, they reveal the new reality that can make us whole. Like Simone Weil, Girard looks at the Bible as a map of human behavior, and sees Jesus Christ as its compass, pointing us in the right direction regardless of where we start. The title echoes Jesus' words (Luke 10:18): I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven.

Girard persuades the reader that even as our world grows increasingly violent the power of the Christ is so great that the evils of scapegoating and sacrifice are being defeated even now. A new community, God's nonviolent kingdom, is being realized.

Born in Avignon, France, Rene Girard is a world-renowned scholar, a historian, literary critic, and philosopher of social science. He is the author of more than 30 books.