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 587
... ghosts In medieval England it was fully accepted that dead men might sometimes return to haunt the living . The Catholic Church rationalised the ancient belief in ghosts by teaching that such apparitions were the souls of those trapped ...
... ghosts In medieval England it was fully accepted that dead men might sometimes return to haunt the living . The Catholic Church rationalised the ancient belief in ghosts by teaching that such apparitions were the souls of those trapped ...
Page 589
... ghosts , it was in the sixteenth century a shibboleth which distin- guished Protestant from Catholic almost as effectively as belief in the Mass or the Papal Supremacy . In due course , some Catholic theologians also became sceptical of ...
... ghosts , it was in the sixteenth century a shibboleth which distin- guished Protestant from Catholic almost as effectively as belief in the Mass or the Papal Supremacy . In due course , some Catholic theologians also became sceptical of ...
Page 596
... Ghosts were no more motiveless than witches ; they had an important social role to play . In Shakespeare's plays , for example , there are many ghosts and they always come for a purpose . They are instruments of revenge or protection ...
... Ghosts were no more motiveless than witches ; they had an important social role to play . In Shakespeare's plays , for example , there are many ghosts and they always come for a purpose . They are instruments of revenge or protection ...
Contents
The Environment | 3 |
RELIGION | 4 |
The Magic of the Medieval Church | 25 |
Copyright | |
22 other sections not shown
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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 priest prognostication prophecies prophetic prosecution Protestant Puritan records Reformation Reginald Scot reign religion religious Richard ritual Robert Royal scepticism Science Scot 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