RELIGION AND THE DECLINE OF MAGIC

by Keith Thomas ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1971

The subject of this volume concentrates upon the popular beliefs merging magic with true religion in 16th and 17th century England. Although astrology, witchcraft, ghosts, fairies, and the like are not taken seriously by mature people today, cults such as these held an important place in the minds of both ignorant and sophisticated people in the period between the Reformation and the Enlightenment. Their central function is to be found in the explanations of, and the relief from, misfortunes, tragedies, afflictions, and disasters that were then the common lot of most men. At times these explanations drew heavily upon Christian sources and paralleled the solicitude offered by the Church; but other, non-Christian elements were also present and were held in Opposition to Church teachings. The depth of need for such rationalizations of human suffering is made vividly clear by the author's first chapter on the human environment in England in the two centuries under study. Each of the main forms of what would now be regarded as ""superstition"" is examined in detail. A curious but significant aspect of the study is the part played by judicial records as a source of information about these beliefs and the behavior they caused -- or were supposed to cause. This is a fascinating -- if humiliating -- book. Reading it is an excursion into ancestral closets crammed with all sorts of skeletal superstitions and some of the spiritual tenets that consorted with them.

Pub Date: May 1, 1971

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Scribners

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1971

Categories: NONFICTION