The Twilight of the Devil?: The Survival of Catholic Demonology to the Eve of Vatican II
Since the early twentieth century, historical accounts of belief in the devil have tended to see the period from the Enlightenment onwards as the nadir of belief in a personified devil, particularly in secularising Europe. While this is demonstrably the case in some regards, more recent scholarship...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
Journal for the academic study of religion
Year: 2025, Volume: 38, Issue: 3, Pages: 251-278 |
| Further subjects: | B
Demonology
B Witchcraft B Roman Catholicism B Catholicism B Spiritualism B Exorcism |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Since the early twentieth century, historical accounts of belief in the devil have tended to see the period from the Enlightenment onwards as the nadir of belief in a personified devil, particularly in secularising Europe. While this is demonstrably the case in some regards, more recent scholarship has complicated this picture, and this is particularly salient with reference to sectors of the Roman Catholic Church. This article examines the specific case of the survival of Roman Catholic demonology in the period from the late nineteenth century through to the eve of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). By surveying a series of discursive fields usually treated separately, this article highlights that far from being abandoned, demonological discourse remained a feature of various sectors of the Church during the period between around 1850 through to 1960 and can be evidenced in a variety of intellectual domains ranging from the developing discipline of Biblical Studies to the historiography of witchcraft and touching on areas extending from the Roman Catholic response to Spiritualism through to the modernist controversy and popular literature. |
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| ISSN: | 2047-7058 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the academic study of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1558/jasr.33739 |
