How Thin Is a Demon?

Widespread assumptions about the material constitution of demons in Roman and later antiquity have much to teach us about conceptions of the cosmos and the human person. Focusing on spiritual, psychological, or even the social implications of demons, the sophisticated readings of recent scholarship...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Smith, Gregory A. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 2008
In: Journal of early Christian studies
Year: 2008, Volume: 16, Issue: 4, Pages: 479-512
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Parallel Edition:Non-electronic
Description
Summary:Widespread assumptions about the material constitution of demons in Roman and later antiquity have much to teach us about conceptions of the cosmos and the human person. Focusing on spiritual, psychological, or even the social implications of demons, the sophisticated readings of recent scholarship have proved so fruitful that more fundamental ideas about matter, physics, and biology are easy to miss. Exploring the physical "science" of demons, however, need not preclude their psychological interpretation. On the contrary, simultaneous attention to matter and spirit suggests that demons and people had more in common than we might otherwise suspect.
ISSN:1086-3184
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of early Christian studies
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1353/earl.0.0229