I See Satan Fall Like Lightning

Girard holds up the gospels as mirrors that reveal our broken humanity, and shows that they also reflect a 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 the turning point leading to new life.

The title echoes Jesus’ words: I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven. Girard persuades us that even as our world grows increasingly violent, the power of the Christ-event 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—even now.