Dealing with the devil

Last updated on: January 15, 2019 at 7:39 pm by Fred Clark

Dealing with the devil 2019-01-15T19:39:04-05:00 Fred Clark

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Here’s a charming little folktale from Lübeck, Germany, involving St. Mary’s Church, which was built from 1250 to 1350 and features the tallest brick vault in the world:

When the Gothic-style St Mary’s Church was being built in Lübeck in the mid-13th century, local legend has it that none other than Satan himself stopped by the construction site to see what was afoot. The workers, scared to tell him the truth, told the devil they were building a magnificent wine bar. The devil was so excited to have some more souls come his way, he began to lend a hand with the construction.

As the legend goes, it was only when the basilica was nearly finished that the prince of darkness realized he had been tricked. In his rage, he picked up a large slab to destroy the church, but a quick-thinking laborer promised him that they would build a wine bar in the same neighborhood. This pacified the devil, who dropped the slab right near the church.

The slab still remains at that spot, with markings that are supposedly the claw marks of the devil, and is called the “Devil’s Stone.” To honor the legend, a bronze statue of the devil designed by Rolf Goerler was placed on the slab in 1999. He looks quite pleased with the way things turned out and smiles cheekily at passers-by. The people of Lübeck also kept their word, and built the Ratskeller tavern across the road from the church.

St. Mary’s is a Catholic church, but the compromise agreed to at the end of that story still has a whiff of Lutheran Two Kingdoms theology to it. Despite that, I really like this story.

Turns out there’s a similar legend in Segovia, Spain, claiming that the city’s spectacular first-century aqueduct was not built by the Romans, but by the devil Mephistopheles who was tricked into doing it by a crafty servant girl who was tired of hauling water every day.

The devils of Segovia (left) and Lubeck are smiling. The dour religious folk pretending to be upset by them sometimes smile, but those smiles will creep you out. (Photos from El Pais and Atlas Obscura)

With an eye toward the tourists who boost the ancient city’s economy, Segovia planned a statue of its own to commemorate the legend:

But the move has brought controversy with it: the complaints from local residents have seen the installation work halted by a judge.

The 1.7-meter sculpture depicts a smiling devil, who has a cellphone in one hand and is taking a selfie. … But the final installation will have to wait until a Segovia court rules whether the statue constitutes an attack on religious sentiments, as a group of local residents have denounced. …

“It all began with a visit to Lübeck,” explains José Antonio Abella, the creator and donator of the statue. “They also have a local legend about the devil being duped into building a church. When I saw the little figure they had there as a tribute, I thought, ‘What a great idea to export to Segovia!’”

A sculptor and a writer, the retired country doctor was born in Burgos 63 years ago, but says that he is Segovian by adoption. The row that has broken out over his creation has taken him by surprise. “I don’t understand anything,” he says, with sadness. “I just wanted to pay homage to my city and to create something to give back all I have been given.”

The faux-pious “religious” objection to this statue is strained, to say the least. Their claim — that the devil “is offensive for Catholics, because it constitutes the glorification of evil” — is preposterous. This is Segovia, a city whose Catholic patroness is the Virgin of Fuencisla, a statue of whom sits in the center of the famous aqueduct — in the empty space that legend says marks the spot where the devil failed to place the final rock of the aqueduct, thereby losing his bet with the servant girl that he could finish building it before morning. And in some versions of the legend, it was the appearance of the virgin in that very spot that stayed the devil’s hand, thus sparing the girl’s soul.

The story shouldn’t be “offensive for Catholics” in Segovia. The story has shaped Catholics in Segovia.

The story also has nothing to do with the “glorification of evil.” It’s a story about the defeat of evil — through pluck, luck, cunning, and maybe a bit of divine intervention.

Abella’s devil is a good sport about it. Like the grinning imp outside of St. Mary’s in Lübeck, he seems to have accepted his loss in good humor.

To be fair, it’s understandable that the uptight takers of offense in Segovia would have a hard time distinguishing between the genie-like trickster figure in the folktale and the godlike personification of evil in their dogma. The former, older character is, after all, the main basis for the creation of the latter one.

But then these sanctimonious opponents of whimsy aren’t really taking their stand in opposition to either of those characters. Like most people portraying themselves as guardians against the devil himself, they’re mainly concerned with being perceived as such. They’re concerned, in other words, with pretending to be opposed to superlative evil so that they, by contrast, can claim to be superlative good.

That’s the pose that C.S. Lewis said would “make us into devils.” This, too, has a long history there in Segovia, as Abella notes:

“It’s insane,” adds sculptor José Antonio Abella, who points out with a hint of irony that this Mephistopheles is going to be installed next to the former headquarters of the Spanish Inquisition in the city. “It would appear that the inquisitors never left the country for good,” he concludes.

Previous Post

January 15, 2019

Postcards from the class & culture wars (1.15.19)

Next Post

January 16, 2019 Wankers

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category class warfare evangelicals Iraq Left Behind Mammon music Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does the Bible say about giving?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Never give God loves a cheerful giver Only give under pressure Give to get rich