Book review: ‘Your Adversary The Devil’ - J Dwight Pentecost

The book I am currently reading is about Satan – the Devil – Lucifer. His story and ways are certainly a topic I’m sure most Christians avoid even more than they do talking about Hell. And here’s the rub – I think the devil likes it that way. He likes us not to know him – to be ignorant or misinformed about him – to make assumptions about him – to ignore him as he works backstage. Either that or he likes us to become obsessed with him – charmed by him. It is just as unhealthy either way. But  I believe it is a responsibility of any disciple of Christ to know the enemy – not what the world would have us know of him – not the world’s red-hooved, horned king of hell caricature – for he is the god of this world (note small g), and he has no doubt fostered the images people collectively assume. No. Our duty as the Church is to study the whole counsel of God and find what the Holy Spirit has revealed about the Enemy in the scripture. With this conviction settled I began to search for a suitable book on the topic. After reading several reviews, ‘Your Adversary The Devil’, first published in 1969, kept coming up as the best authority. It has not disappointed. Please don’t be thrown by Dwight’s name – he was not a Pentecostal Christian. He was an important figure in the formation of the Dallas Theological Seminary – the Emeritus Professor of Bible Exposition no less! And his deep respect for scripture is richly evident in his writing.

The book finds every scripture pertaining to Lucifer – the Devil – and paints an accurate picture of the creature who hates us with his whole being. You may think that the subject matter would be dark, and at times this is unavoidable, but Pentecost soaks each chapter with the gospel. In fact there is a  lovely rhythm to the book where he starts with a target scripture (for example Ezekiel 28:11-27) unpacks it, links it to other parts  of the Bible, shows how this teaches us about Satan or the way He works and then at the end of each chapter he exhorts the believer and shows us how to practically use the information in the chapter to defeat the enemy’s whiles. Finally he closes the chapter with a gospel presentation relevant to the chapter’s theme but levelled squarely at the unbelieving reader.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who would like to be better informed and better armed against the Enemy. At just 191 pages it is not a vast book to consume and is well worth your time. Not since I read ‘Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices’ by Thomas Brooks (a book I may review as well for you later) have I found anything quite so arming outside of scripture.

Go in peace to serve the King!

J