Religion and the Decline of MagicReligion & the Decline of Magic is Keith Thomas's classic history of the magical beliefs held by people on every level of English society in the 16th and 17th centuries and how these beliefs were a part of the religious and scientific assumptions of the time. It is not only a major historical and religious work, but a thoroughly enjoyable book filled with fascinating facts and original insights into an area of human nature that remains controversial today- the belief in the supernatural that still continues in the modern world. |
From inside the book
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Page 25
... supernatural power . This does not prevent it from functioning as a system of explanation , a source of moral injunctions , a symbol of social order , or a route to immortality ; but it does mean that it also offers the prospect of a ...
... supernatural power . This does not prevent it from functioning as a system of explanation , a source of moral injunctions , a symbol of social order , or a route to immortality ; but it does mean that it also offers the prospect of a ...
Page 572
... supernatural power as a result . Those influenced by these theological currents of thought thus came to think it increasingly improbable that God could ever have allowed witches to exercise any supernatural power , or have intended that ...
... supernatural power as a result . Those influenced by these theological currents of thought thus came to think it increasingly improbable that God could ever have allowed witches to exercise any supernatural power , or have intended that ...
Page 660
Keith Thomas. In medicine , as elsewhere , therefore , supernatural theories went out before effective techniques came in . In the eighteenth century , for example , physicians finally ceased to regard epilepsy as supernatural , although ...
Keith Thomas. In medicine , as elsewhere , therefore , supernatural theories went out before effective techniques came in . In the eighteenth century , for example , physicians finally ceased to regard epilepsy as supernatural , although ...
Contents
The Environment | 3 |
The Magic of the Medieval Church | 43 |
3 The Impact of the Reformation | 63 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
2nd edn accused almanac Archaeol Ashm Ashmole astrological Aubrey belief Bishop Bodl Cambridge Catholic chap charms Christian Church claimed clergy clients confessed conjuration contemporary courts cunning cunning folk cure curse death declared Devil Diary Discourse Discoverie disease divine doctrine ecclesiastical Elizabeth Elizabethan England English Essex evil Ewen example explain fairies faith Folk-Lore G. G. Coulton Gadbury Gentilisme ghosts God's healing Henry History holy intellectual John John Aubrey John Dee John Gadbury Journ judicial astrology King Kittredge Lilly Lollards London magic maleficent Matthew Hopkins medicine medieval natural Oxford parish persons Physicians plague popular practice prayer predictions prognostication prophecies prophetic prosecution Protestant Puritan records Reformation Reginald Scot reign religion religious Richard ritual Robert Royal scepticism Science Scot Sermons seventeenth century Simon Forman social society sorcery spirits supernatural Thomas thought trans Treatise Tudor William William Lilly William Perkins witch-beliefs witchcraft witches wizard woman