Lectures on Tap - Before the Devil Had Horns: A Genealogy of Satan

📍 Location: Exact address given in confirmation email

🧠 Lecture: "Before the Devil Had Horns: A Genealogy of Satan"

🎤 Speaker: Noemi Palomares

Before Satan had horns, he had a job.

In the Hebrew Bible, “the satan” is not yet the red Devil ruling over hell, but a legal prosecutor within God’s heavenly court. Over centuries, through Second Temple Jewish apocalyptic thought, imperial crisis, theological controversy, and early Christian interpretation, this courtroom accuser was transformed into something far more dramatic: God’s chief cosmic enemy.

In this lecture, scholar Noemi Palomares traces the historical evolution of Satan from a celestial functionary into the iconic symbol of evil in Western culture. Drawing on years of research in Hebrew Bible and ancient Jewish history and religion, she will explore how shifting ideas about God, empire, and human suffering reshaped the figure of the satan.

Palomares holds an M.A. in Bible from Yale University with doctoral training at Boston College. Her work has taken her from archaeological sites in Israel to classrooms and conferences across the U.S. and abroad, where she has engaged seven ancient languages from Mesopotamia, the Levant, and North Africa.

Get a drink, connect, and learn at Lectures on Tap! 🙌

Agenda

7:30 PM – Doors open: find a seat (open seating!), order food & drinks, and expect a bar line—arriving early is key. Attendees are encouraged to arrive as early as 7pm to enjoy the exhibition in the gallery space. Please note that this is a DRINKS ONLY venue!

7:55 PM – Host introduction

8:00 PM – Lecture begins

8:45 PM – Audience Q&A

9:00 PM – Have 1:1 time with the speaker, mingle with fellow guests, and order another round

9:30 PM – Wrap up.