In the late eighteenth century, Catholic priest Johann Joseph Gassner (1727?1779) discovered that he had extraordinary powers of exorcism. Deciding that demons were responsible for most human ailments, he healed thousands, rich and poor, Protestant and Catholic. In this book H. C. Erik Midelfort delves deeply into records of the time to explore Gassner's remarkable exorcising campaign, chronicle the official efforts to curb him, and reconstruct the sufferings of the afflicted. Gassner's activities triggered a Catholic religious revival as well as a noisy skeptical reaction. In response to those who doubted that he was really casting out demons, Gassner marshaled hundreds of eyewitness reports that seemed to prove his exorcisms really worked. Midelfort describes the enormous public controversy that resulted, and he demonstrates that the Gassner episode yields important insights into the German Enlightenment and Counter-Enlightenment, the limitations of eighteenth-century debate, and the ongoing role of magic and belief in an age of scientific enlightenment.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Yale University Press
ISBN-13
9780300106695
eBay Product ID (ePID)
95710515
Product Key Features
Author
H. C. Erik Midelfort
Publication Name
Exorcism and Enlightenment: Johann Joseph GASSNER and the Demons of Eighteenth-Century Germany
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Subject
History
Publication Year
2005
Type
Textbook
Number of Pages
240 Pages
Dimensions
Item Height
210mm
Item Width
147mm
Item Weight
386g
Additional Product Features
Title_Author
H. C. Erik Midelfort
Series Title
The Terry Lectures Series
Topic
Religious History, Christianity
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States
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