Jeffrey Burton Russell

Jeffrey Burton Russell
PhD
Born 1934
California
Nationality American
Education PhD (Emory University)
Years active 1965-Present
Employer University of California, Santa Barbara
Known for Professor of Medieval History
Notable work Dissent and Reform in the Early Middle Ages, History of Medieval Christianity, Witchcraft in the Middle Ages, Prince of Darkness: Radical Evil and the Power of Good in History, A History of Heaven
Religion Christian (Catholic)
Spouse(s) Pamela Russell, Diana Russell (deceased)
Children Jennifer Ellen Russell
Parent(s) Lewis Russell, Aida Raffetto
Awards Fulbright Fellow, Harvard Junior Fellow, Guggenheim Fellow

Jeffrey Burton Russell (born 1934) is an American historian and religious studies scholar.

Biography

Russell received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1955 and his PhD from Emory University in 1960.

He is currently Professor Emeritus of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has also taught History and Religious Studies at Berkeley, Riverside, Harvard, New Mexico, and Notre Dame.[1]

Works

Russell has published widely, mostly in medieval European history and the history of theology. His first book was Dissent and Reform in the Early Middle Ages (1965). He is most noted for his five-volume history of the concept of the Devil: The Devil (1977), Satan (1981), Lucifer (1984), Mephistopheles (1986) and The Prince of Darkness (1988).

In Inventing the Flat Earth (1991) he argues that 19th century anti-Christians invented and spread the falsehood that educated people in the Middle Ages believed that the earth was flat. As one writer summarizes, "Russell also examined a large selection of textbooks and found those written before 1870 usually included the correct account, but most textbooks written after 1880 uncritically repeated the erroneous claims in Washington Irving, John William Draper and Andrew Dickson White. Russell concludes that Irving, Draper and White were the main writers responsible for introducing the erroneous flat-earth myth that is still with us today."[2]

Russell has also written two books on the history of the notion of Heaven: A History of Heaven: The Singing Silence (1997), which deals with the period from around 200 B.C. up to Dante, and Paradise Mislaid (2006), which takes the story up to the present day.

The Library of Congress lists 18 books written by Russell:

Articles by Russell include:

Book reviews by Russell include:

Honors and accolades

References

  1. ↑ "Jeffery Burton Russell". Veritas Forum at UCSB. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
  2. ↑ Bergman, Jerry. "The flat-earth myth and creationism". Creation Ministries International. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
  3. ↑ Russell, Jeffrey Burton (September–October 2002). "Flattening the Earth". Lawrence Hall of Science (reprinted from Mercury Magazine). pp. 34–38.
  4. ↑ Russell, Jeffrey Burton (20 February 2007). "Satan: A Biography". The Christian Century. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  5. ↑ Russell, Jeffrey Burton (Summer 2008). "Bad to the Bone". Wilson Quarterly. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  6. ↑ Russell, Jeffrey Burton (Summer 2009). "A God of the Times". Wilson Quarterly. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  7. ↑ "Jeffrey Burton Russell". Guggenheim Foundation. Retrieved 30 June 2013.

External links

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