"But Who Can Assure Himselfe Not To Be Deceived in Matters Concerning Spirits?" Discernment as Antidemonology in Late Sixteenth-Century Europe
This article analyzes the relationship between demonology and discernment of spirits in sixteenth-century Europe. Discernment was a theoretical and practical device employed to distinguish between spirits (divine, demonic, human). More often than not, as it dealt with pneumatology (the ontology and...
| Published in: | The sixteenth century journal |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sixteenth Century Journal Publishers, Inc.
2021
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| In: |
The sixteenth century journal
Year: 2021, Volume: 52, Issue: 3, Pages: 607-628 |
| IxTheo Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality KAF Church history 1300-1500; late Middle Ages KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history NBG Pneumatology; Holy Spirit NBH Angelology; demonology |
| Further subjects: | B
Demonology
B EUROPEAN history B Sixteenth Century B Discernment of spirits |
| Summary: | This article analyzes the relationship between demonology and discernment of spirits in sixteenth-century Europe. Discernment was a theoretical and practical device employed to distinguish between spirits (divine, demonic, human). More often than not, as it dealt with pneumatology (the ontology and action of spirits), it was closely coupled with demonological discourse. As the article suggests, however, discernment could also inform epistemological, natural-philosophical, and biblical critiques concerning demonology and its supporters. The Spanish Catholic physician Juan Huarte de San Juan (ca. 1529-88), the English reformed squire Reginald Scot (ca. 1538-99), and the French Catholic physician Michel de Marescot (1539-1606) advanced such positions. A thematic and comparative approach to their works shows their radical emphasis on natural over demonic causality, their instrumentalization of discernment against demonology, their use of biblical passages to support this skeptical stance, and their defense of a lay discernment of spirits. |
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| ISSN: | 2326-0726 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The sixteenth century journal
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