A History of Exorcism in Catholic ChristianityExorcism in the Age of Reason
A History of Exorcism in Catholic Christianity: Exorcism in the Age of Reason
Young, Francis
2016-04-20 00:00:00
[In the eighteenth century, attitudes to exorcism divided the Catholic world. This division broadly followed a philosophical division within Catholic Christendom between adherence to a conservative interpretation of Neo-Scholastic Aristotelianism and openness to Enlightenment thought. Spain and its territories were the heartland of the conservative tradition, while France was the centre of a ‘Catholic’ Enlightenment that pushed the boundaries of orthodoxy. Rome, caught between the ‘superstitious’ practices of over-enthusiastic exorcists and the boldness of clergy prepared to deny the reality of demonic possession altogether, attempted to steer a middle course and imposed increasingly strict controls on the practice of exorcism. These, in spite of reassurances that no change of doctrine had taken place, inevitably had the consequence of pushing exorcism to the margins of Catholic life.]
http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.pnghttp://www.deepdyve.com/lp/springer-journals/a-history-of-exorcism-in-catholic-christianity-exorcism-in-the-age-of-t0uYueZAqD
A History of Exorcism in Catholic ChristianityExorcism in the Age of Reason
[In the eighteenth century, attitudes to exorcism divided the Catholic world. This division broadly followed a philosophical division within Catholic Christendom between adherence to a conservative interpretation of Neo-Scholastic Aristotelianism and openness to Enlightenment thought. Spain and its territories were the heartland of the conservative tradition, while France was the centre of a ‘Catholic’ Enlightenment that pushed the boundaries of orthodoxy. Rome, caught between the ‘superstitious’ practices of over-enthusiastic exorcists and the boldness of clergy prepared to deny the reality of demonic possession altogether, attempted to steer a middle course and imposed increasingly strict controls on the practice of exorcism. These, in spite of reassurances that no change of doctrine had taken place, inevitably had the consequence of pushing exorcism to the margins of Catholic life.]
Published: Apr 20, 2016
Keywords: Eighteenth Century; Church Father; Popular Religion; Enlightenment Thought; Demonic Possession
To get new article updates from a journal on your personalized homepage, please log in first, or sign up for a DeepDyve account if you don’t already have one.
All DeepDyve websites use cookies to improve your online experience. They were placed on your computer when you launched this website. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.