Lawrence S. Cunningham
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195178067
- eISBN:
- 9780199784905
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195178068.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter explores the Protestant reaction against the Marian tradition of Catholicism, which was addressed by the reform of the Council of Trent. Topics discussed include the Catholic Reformation ...
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This chapter explores the Protestant reaction against the Marian tradition of Catholicism, which was addressed by the reform of the Council of Trent. Topics discussed include the Catholic Reformation and two conspicuous events which characterized the Marian character of Catholicism in the 19th century: the definition of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX in 1854 and the rise of Marian apparitions and subsequent pilgrimage locations, most conspicuously at Lourdes in France.Less
This chapter explores the Protestant reaction against the Marian tradition of Catholicism, which was addressed by the reform of the Council of Trent. Topics discussed include the Catholic Reformation and two conspicuous events which characterized the Marian character of Catholicism in the 19th century: the definition of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX in 1854 and the rise of Marian apparitions and subsequent pilgrimage locations, most conspicuously at Lourdes in France.
Niels Christian Hvidt
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195314472
- eISBN:
- 9780199785346
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195314472.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Christian prophecy can only be judged on the backdrop of the theology of revelation. It is possible to consider revelation as a concept of experience with different modes of divine communication: ...
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Christian prophecy can only be judged on the backdrop of the theology of revelation. It is possible to consider revelation as a concept of experience with different modes of divine communication: visions, apparitions, locutions, etc., and where we must compare inspiration and experience. It is also possible to see revelation as a concept of reflection, identifying different models of revelation that lead to different models of prophecy: dogmatic, epiphanic, historical, dialectic, ontological, and personalistic models. From a rather dogmatic model with little room for prophecy, revelation has emerged into a more personalistic concept, where revelation is seen as God's gift of self, calling his people to respond to his truth, often through prophecy.Less
Christian prophecy can only be judged on the backdrop of the theology of revelation. It is possible to consider revelation as a concept of experience with different modes of divine communication: visions, apparitions, locutions, etc., and where we must compare inspiration and experience. It is also possible to see revelation as a concept of reflection, identifying different models of revelation that lead to different models of prophecy: dogmatic, epiphanic, historical, dialectic, ontological, and personalistic models. From a rather dogmatic model with little room for prophecy, revelation has emerged into a more personalistic concept, where revelation is seen as God's gift of self, calling his people to respond to his truth, often through prophecy.
Robert A. Scott
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520262751
- eISBN:
- 9780520946200
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520262751.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
Iconic images of medieval pilgrims, such as Geoffrey Chaucer's pilgrims making their laborious way to Canterbury, conjure a distant time when faith was the only refuge of the ill and infirm, and ...
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Iconic images of medieval pilgrims, such as Geoffrey Chaucer's pilgrims making their laborious way to Canterbury, conjure a distant time when faith was the only refuge of the ill and infirm, and thousands traveled great distances to pray for healing. Why, then, in an age of advanced biotechnology and medicine, do millions still go on pilgrimages? Why do journeys to important religious shrines—such as Lourdes, Compostela, Fátima, and Medjugorje—constitute a major industry? This book explores these provocative questions and finds that pilgrimage continues to offer answers for many. Its benefits can range from a demonstrable improvement in health to complete recovery. Using research in biomedical and behavioral science, the book examines accounts of miracle cures at medieval, early modern, and contemporary shrines. It enquires into the power of relics, apparitions, and the transformative nature of sacred journeying and shines new light on the roles belief, hope, and emotion can play in healing.Less
Iconic images of medieval pilgrims, such as Geoffrey Chaucer's pilgrims making their laborious way to Canterbury, conjure a distant time when faith was the only refuge of the ill and infirm, and thousands traveled great distances to pray for healing. Why, then, in an age of advanced biotechnology and medicine, do millions still go on pilgrimages? Why do journeys to important religious shrines—such as Lourdes, Compostela, Fátima, and Medjugorje—constitute a major industry? This book explores these provocative questions and finds that pilgrimage continues to offer answers for many. Its benefits can range from a demonstrable improvement in health to complete recovery. Using research in biomedical and behavioral science, the book examines accounts of miracle cures at medieval, early modern, and contemporary shrines. It enquires into the power of relics, apparitions, and the transformative nature of sacred journeying and shines new light on the roles belief, hope, and emotion can play in healing.
Michael Hunter
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780300243581
- eISBN:
- 9780300249460
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300243581.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
In early modern Britain, belief in prophecies, omens, ghosts, apparitions and fairies was commonplace. Among both educated and ordinary people the absolute existence of a spiritual world was taken ...
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In early modern Britain, belief in prophecies, omens, ghosts, apparitions and fairies was commonplace. Among both educated and ordinary people the absolute existence of a spiritual world was taken for granted. Yet in the eighteenth century such certainties were swept away. Credit for this great change is usually given to science — and in particular to the scientists of the Royal Society. But is this justified? This book argues that those pioneering the change in attitude were not scientists but freethinkers. While some scientists defended the reality of supernatural phenomena, these sceptical humanists drew on ancient authors to mount a critique both of orthodox religion and, by extension, of magic and other forms of superstition. Even if the religious heterodoxy of such men tarnished their reputation and postponed the general acceptance of anti-magical views, slowly change did come about. When it did, this owed less to the testing of magic than to the growth of confidence in a stable world in which magic no longer had a place.Less
In early modern Britain, belief in prophecies, omens, ghosts, apparitions and fairies was commonplace. Among both educated and ordinary people the absolute existence of a spiritual world was taken for granted. Yet in the eighteenth century such certainties were swept away. Credit for this great change is usually given to science — and in particular to the scientists of the Royal Society. But is this justified? This book argues that those pioneering the change in attitude were not scientists but freethinkers. While some scientists defended the reality of supernatural phenomena, these sceptical humanists drew on ancient authors to mount a critique both of orthodox religion and, by extension, of magic and other forms of superstition. Even if the religious heterodoxy of such men tarnished their reputation and postponed the general acceptance of anti-magical views, slowly change did come about. When it did, this owed less to the testing of magic than to the growth of confidence in a stable world in which magic no longer had a place.
Phillip H. Wiebe
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195126693
- eISBN:
- 9780199853366
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195126693.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter scrutinizes various explanatory proposals, either specifically for Christic apparitions or for apparition phenomena in general. It considers explanations suggesting transcendent causes, ...
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This chapter scrutinizes various explanatory proposals, either specifically for Christic apparitions or for apparition phenomena in general. It considers explanations suggesting transcendent causes, or what is more commonly called “supernaturalism.” It shows how recent developments in understanding the structure of scientific theories are relevant to understanding explanations offered by religious belief systems.Less
This chapter scrutinizes various explanatory proposals, either specifically for Christic apparitions or for apparition phenomena in general. It considers explanations suggesting transcendent causes, or what is more commonly called “supernaturalism.” It shows how recent developments in understanding the structure of scientific theories are relevant to understanding explanations offered by religious belief systems.
Sarah A. Curtis
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195394184
- eISBN:
- 9780199866595
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195394184.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, History of Religion
This chapter opens part II by introducing Emilie de Vialar, a noblewoman who founded her own active religious order, the Soeurs de St‐Joseph de l'Apparition (SSJA) in 1830. Within two years, she had ...
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This chapter opens part II by introducing Emilie de Vialar, a noblewoman who founded her own active religious order, the Soeurs de St‐Joseph de l'Apparition (SSJA) in 1830. Within two years, she had not only attracted followers but was also invited to Algeria, immediately after the French conquest, to provide educational, charity, and health care services to European settlers and the indigenous population. After the appointment of a French bishop in 1839, however, Vialar found her scope of action reduced as Bishop Dupuch sought to limit Vialar's authority as a mother superior. The conflict was adjudicated by ecclesiastics in Rome, who supported the bishop, and the French government reluctantly expelled Vialar from Algeria. At issue were not only the lines of authority between a nun and a bishop but also the conversion activity of Catholics in a Muslim land.Less
This chapter opens part II by introducing Emilie de Vialar, a noblewoman who founded her own active religious order, the Soeurs de St‐Joseph de l'Apparition (SSJA) in 1830. Within two years, she had not only attracted followers but was also invited to Algeria, immediately after the French conquest, to provide educational, charity, and health care services to European settlers and the indigenous population. After the appointment of a French bishop in 1839, however, Vialar found her scope of action reduced as Bishop Dupuch sought to limit Vialar's authority as a mother superior. The conflict was adjudicated by ecclesiastics in Rome, who supported the bishop, and the French government reluctantly expelled Vialar from Algeria. At issue were not only the lines of authority between a nun and a bishop but also the conversion activity of Catholics in a Muslim land.
Vjekoslav Perica
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195148565
- eISBN:
- 9780199834556
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195148568.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter discusses the cult of the Virgin Mary in Herzegovina as it developed from the vision of a Croatian‐speaking Madonna at Medjugorje, western Herzegovina (an overwhelmingly Catholic Croat ...
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This chapter discusses the cult of the Virgin Mary in Herzegovina as it developed from the vision of a Croatian‐speaking Madonna at Medjugorje, western Herzegovina (an overwhelmingly Catholic Croat area), in 1981. Attitudes to this Marian apparition and later ones at the same place are discussed, and the politics of the visions analyzed. The last part of the chapter discusses the Marian apparitions at Medjugorje and other places in relation to the Yugoslav crisis of the 1980s, when Catholic–Orthodox tensions were reignited. They are viewed as a prelude not to a peace and prayer movement but as a prelude to partition, war, and genocide in Bosnia‐Herzegovina.Less
This chapter discusses the cult of the Virgin Mary in Herzegovina as it developed from the vision of a Croatian‐speaking Madonna at Medjugorje, western Herzegovina (an overwhelmingly Catholic Croat area), in 1981. Attitudes to this Marian apparition and later ones at the same place are discussed, and the politics of the visions analyzed. The last part of the chapter discusses the Marian apparitions at Medjugorje and other places in relation to the Yugoslav crisis of the 1980s, when Catholic–Orthodox tensions were reignited. They are viewed as a prelude not to a peace and prayer movement but as a prelude to partition, war, and genocide in Bosnia‐Herzegovina.
Kas Saghafi
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823231621
- eISBN:
- 9780823235094
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fso/9780823231621.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
Since the other resists conceptualization or thematization, it would never be a matter, this book suggests, of providing an exhaustive account of the descriptions of the other ...
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Since the other resists conceptualization or thematization, it would never be a matter, this book suggests, of providing an exhaustive account of the descriptions of the other in Jacques Derrida's work but rather of how the other is written, each time singularly. The other, whose appearance appears without appearing, effaces itself in its coming. A thinking of the other—as that which never fully comes to presence, as that which does not present itself as such, and as that to which no direct access is possible—necessitates a new approach to appearing, visibility, and phenomenality in general. The other, then, never appears as such, yet one could say it appears as an apparition. An apparition, as Derrida uses this term in his writings, names the appearance, the coming to appear, of something and a phantomatic or ghostly form. Apparition thus names the structural instability between appearing and (“mere”) appearance.Less
Since the other resists conceptualization or thematization, it would never be a matter, this book suggests, of providing an exhaustive account of the descriptions of the other in Jacques Derrida's work but rather of how the other is written, each time singularly. The other, whose appearance appears without appearing, effaces itself in its coming. A thinking of the other—as that which never fully comes to presence, as that which does not present itself as such, and as that to which no direct access is possible—necessitates a new approach to appearing, visibility, and phenomenality in general. The other, then, never appears as such, yet one could say it appears as an apparition. An apparition, as Derrida uses this term in his writings, names the appearance, the coming to appear, of something and a phantomatic or ghostly form. Apparition thus names the structural instability between appearing and (“mere”) appearance.
Timothy Chesters
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199599806
- eISBN:
- 9780191723537
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199599806.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature, European Literature
Caught in the grip of savage religious war, fear of sorcery and the devil, and a deepening crisis of epistemological uncertainty, the intellectual climate of late Renaissance France (c. 1550–1610) ...
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Caught in the grip of savage religious war, fear of sorcery and the devil, and a deepening crisis of epistemological uncertainty, the intellectual climate of late Renaissance France (c. 1550–1610) was one of the most haunted in European history. And yet although existing studies of this climate have been attentive to the extensive body of writing on witchcraft and demons, they have had little to say of its ghosts. Combining techniques of literary criticism, intellectual history, and the history of the book, this study examines a large and hitherto unexplored corpus of ghost stories in late Renaissance French writing. These are shown to have arisen in a range of contexts far broader than was previously thought: whether in Protestant polemic against the doctrine of purgatory, humanist discussions of friendship, the growing ethnographic consciousness of New World ghost beliefs, or courtroom wrangles over haunted property. This book describes how, over the course of this period, we also begin to see emerge characteristics recognisable from modern ghost tales: the setting of the ‘haunted house’, the eroticised ghost, or the embodied revenant. Taking in prominent literary figures (Rabelais, Ronsard, Montaigne, d'Aubigné) as well as forgotten demonological tracts and sensationalist pamphlets, the book sheds new light on the beliefs, fears, and desires of a period on the threshold of modernity.Less
Caught in the grip of savage religious war, fear of sorcery and the devil, and a deepening crisis of epistemological uncertainty, the intellectual climate of late Renaissance France (c. 1550–1610) was one of the most haunted in European history. And yet although existing studies of this climate have been attentive to the extensive body of writing on witchcraft and demons, they have had little to say of its ghosts. Combining techniques of literary criticism, intellectual history, and the history of the book, this study examines a large and hitherto unexplored corpus of ghost stories in late Renaissance French writing. These are shown to have arisen in a range of contexts far broader than was previously thought: whether in Protestant polemic against the doctrine of purgatory, humanist discussions of friendship, the growing ethnographic consciousness of New World ghost beliefs, or courtroom wrangles over haunted property. This book describes how, over the course of this period, we also begin to see emerge characteristics recognisable from modern ghost tales: the setting of the ‘haunted house’, the eroticised ghost, or the embodied revenant. Taking in prominent literary figures (Rabelais, Ronsard, Montaigne, d'Aubigné) as well as forgotten demonological tracts and sensationalist pamphlets, the book sheds new light on the beliefs, fears, and desires of a period on the threshold of modernity.
Deirdre de la Cruz
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226314884
- eISBN:
- 9780226315072
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226315072.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Religion
This book is a wide-ranging study of the efflorescence of apparitions and miracles of the Virgin Mary in the Philippines, from the mid-nineteenth century to the turn of the millennium. It examines ...
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This book is a wide-ranging study of the efflorescence of apparitions and miracles of the Virgin Mary in the Philippines, from the mid-nineteenth century to the turn of the millennium. It examines not only the conditions of this efflorescence but also its effects, and charts the ways in which the cult of Mary has transformed the place of Filipinos in the greater Catholic world. Whereas most scholarship on the “Age of Mary” has understood this religious revival as resisting the social, political, and economic transformations wrought by modernity, this book demonstrates that much of nineteenth and twentieth century Filipino Marianism and Marian phenomena articulates with projects and practices of colonial and post-colonial modernity. Of particular emphasis in this book is the mass media, and the ways in which, in the Philippines, the proliferation of apparitions and miracles of Mary and the burgeoning of print and technological media are interdependent phenomena that mirror one another on numerous levels.Less
This book is a wide-ranging study of the efflorescence of apparitions and miracles of the Virgin Mary in the Philippines, from the mid-nineteenth century to the turn of the millennium. It examines not only the conditions of this efflorescence but also its effects, and charts the ways in which the cult of Mary has transformed the place of Filipinos in the greater Catholic world. Whereas most scholarship on the “Age of Mary” has understood this religious revival as resisting the social, political, and economic transformations wrought by modernity, this book demonstrates that much of nineteenth and twentieth century Filipino Marianism and Marian phenomena articulates with projects and practices of colonial and post-colonial modernity. Of particular emphasis in this book is the mass media, and the ways in which, in the Philippines, the proliferation of apparitions and miracles of Mary and the burgeoning of print and technological media are interdependent phenomena that mirror one another on numerous levels.
Phillip H. Wiebe
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195126693
- eISBN:
- 9780199853366
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195126693.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This introductory chapter sets out the purpose of the book, which is to describe and critically reflect on the phenomenon of Christic visions and apparitions, particularly the experiences reported to ...
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This introductory chapter sets out the purpose of the book, which is to describe and critically reflect on the phenomenon of Christic visions and apparitions, particularly the experiences reported to the author by living visionaries. It then outlines the reasons for studying Christic visions and apparitions. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.Less
This introductory chapter sets out the purpose of the book, which is to describe and critically reflect on the phenomenon of Christic visions and apparitions, particularly the experiences reported to the author by living visionaries. It then outlines the reasons for studying Christic visions and apparitions. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.
Phillip H. Wiebe
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195126693
- eISBN:
- 9780199853366
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195126693.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
The fact that Christic visions and apparitions have been experienced since the earliest days of Christianity is so well accepted that documentation is hardly needed. As in other experiences that are ...
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The fact that Christic visions and apparitions have been experienced since the earliest days of Christianity is so well accepted that documentation is hardly needed. As in other experiences that are a part of common knowledge, visionary experiences exhibit a variety and complexity that is little understood. This chapter introduces the study of Christic visions and apparitions by describing some representative reports offered during the long history of the Christian church. The New Testament literature and apocryphal literature that circulated in the early churches also report encounters with the risen Jesus.Less
The fact that Christic visions and apparitions have been experienced since the earliest days of Christianity is so well accepted that documentation is hardly needed. As in other experiences that are a part of common knowledge, visionary experiences exhibit a variety and complexity that is little understood. This chapter introduces the study of Christic visions and apparitions by describing some representative reports offered during the long history of the Christian church. The New Testament literature and apocryphal literature that circulated in the early churches also report encounters with the risen Jesus.
Phillip H. Wiebe
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195126693
- eISBN:
- 9780199853366
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195126693.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter presents descriptions of the apparitions people have experienced as narrated to the author. The experiences are divided into five groups. The first group consists of experiences in which ...
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This chapter presents descriptions of the apparitions people have experienced as narrated to the author. The experiences are divided into five groups. The first group consists of experiences in which people appear to have fallen into trances, or where the experience began in what seemed to be the “normal” world but did not continue there, or where the experience had a dreamlike character. The second group of experiences consists of those in which percipients were aware of a significant change in the physical environment they knew themselves to be in. The third group of experiences consists of those in which the physical environment appeared to percipients as they knew it to be, apart from the visionary figure that appeared in it. The fourth group of experiences applies to those in which several percipients were simultaneously affected. The fifth group involves visions in which some event in the life of Jesus is apparently re-enacted, for example, an event of his childhood or his crucifixion.Less
This chapter presents descriptions of the apparitions people have experienced as narrated to the author. The experiences are divided into five groups. The first group consists of experiences in which people appear to have fallen into trances, or where the experience began in what seemed to be the “normal” world but did not continue there, or where the experience had a dreamlike character. The second group of experiences consists of those in which percipients were aware of a significant change in the physical environment they knew themselves to be in. The third group of experiences consists of those in which the physical environment appeared to percipients as they knew it to be, apart from the visionary figure that appeared in it. The fourth group of experiences applies to those in which several percipients were simultaneously affected. The fifth group involves visions in which some event in the life of Jesus is apparently re-enacted, for example, an event of his childhood or his crucifixion.
Phillip H. Wiebe
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195126693
- eISBN:
- 9780199853366
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195126693.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
The most obvious questions evoked by contemporary reports of Christic apparitions are whether the reports are credible, how the experiences that have occurred are to be explained, and whether ...
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The most obvious questions evoked by contemporary reports of Christic apparitions are whether the reports are credible, how the experiences that have occurred are to be explained, and whether contemporary experiences bear any similarity to those that seem to lie behind New Testament (NT) accounts of post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus. The first question has a direct bearing on the other two questions. If, for instance, all of the reports of Group IV apparition experiences are judged as having inadequate epistemic foundations, because so few plausible reports can be found, explanations that have been developed for such experiences can be ignored. Such a negative evaluation on reports about a unique class of experiences might warrant rejection of similar NT accounts as well. If such reports are deemed credible, however, this will have implications for explanations that are proposed, and for various critical views of the NT accounts. This chapter looks at the reports presented in Chapter 2, particularly in the light of various epistemic principles that have been thought of value in evaluating religious experience.Less
The most obvious questions evoked by contemporary reports of Christic apparitions are whether the reports are credible, how the experiences that have occurred are to be explained, and whether contemporary experiences bear any similarity to those that seem to lie behind New Testament (NT) accounts of post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus. The first question has a direct bearing on the other two questions. If, for instance, all of the reports of Group IV apparition experiences are judged as having inadequate epistemic foundations, because so few plausible reports can be found, explanations that have been developed for such experiences can be ignored. Such a negative evaluation on reports about a unique class of experiences might warrant rejection of similar NT accounts as well. If such reports are deemed credible, however, this will have implications for explanations that are proposed, and for various critical views of the NT accounts. This chapter looks at the reports presented in Chapter 2, particularly in the light of various epistemic principles that have been thought of value in evaluating religious experience.
Phillip H. Wiebe
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195126693
- eISBN:
- 9780199853366
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195126693.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter focuses on the nature of the New Testament (NT) post-Resurrection appearance accounts. It surveys critical positions advanced by selected authors that fall into three broad interpretive ...
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This chapter focuses on the nature of the New Testament (NT) post-Resurrection appearance accounts. It surveys critical positions advanced by selected authors that fall into three broad interpretive groups: traditional, reductionist, and fideist interpretations. It shows that contemporary visionary phenomena add an important perspective for reading the NT documents and assessing interpretative traditions. NT criticism that confines its attention to the documentary evidence of the 1st century alone (biblical and extra-biblical), as though ongoing phenomena could have no relevance to understanding and testing claims coming to us from antiquity, deprives itself of a vital tool. Claims about what happened in antiquity cannot be divorced from research that outlines the apparent range of empirical possibilities.Less
This chapter focuses on the nature of the New Testament (NT) post-Resurrection appearance accounts. It surveys critical positions advanced by selected authors that fall into three broad interpretive groups: traditional, reductionist, and fideist interpretations. It shows that contemporary visionary phenomena add an important perspective for reading the NT documents and assessing interpretative traditions. NT criticism that confines its attention to the documentary evidence of the 1st century alone (biblical and extra-biblical), as though ongoing phenomena could have no relevance to understanding and testing claims coming to us from antiquity, deprives itself of a vital tool. Claims about what happened in antiquity cannot be divorced from research that outlines the apparent range of empirical possibilities.
Phillip H. Wiebe
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195126693
- eISBN:
- 9780199853366
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195126693.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter considers explanations coming from neurophysiology. These are among the most important, culturally speaking, given the widespread suspicion among philosophers and neural scientists about ...
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This chapter considers explanations coming from neurophysiology. These are among the most important, culturally speaking, given the widespread suspicion among philosophers and neural scientists about the value of the conceptual resources of mentalism. Topics covered include hallucination, the perceptual release theory, the information processing theory, and the overactive reticular system theory. It is argued that neurophysiology holds out some promise for explaining a number of apparition experiences. It appears to be a strong contender for experiences falling into the first three groups identified in Chapter 2, apart from those cases in which percipients could look away from and back to the apparition figure. It also appears to be capable of handling cases falling into Group V.Less
This chapter considers explanations coming from neurophysiology. These are among the most important, culturally speaking, given the widespread suspicion among philosophers and neural scientists about the value of the conceptual resources of mentalism. Topics covered include hallucination, the perceptual release theory, the information processing theory, and the overactive reticular system theory. It is argued that neurophysiology holds out some promise for explaining a number of apparition experiences. It appears to be a strong contender for experiences falling into the first three groups identified in Chapter 2, apart from those cases in which percipients could look away from and back to the apparition figure. It also appears to be capable of handling cases falling into Group V.
Phillip H. Wiebe
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195126693
- eISBN:
- 9780199853366
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195126693.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Christic visions are evidently more common than is ordinarily believed, although a lack of documentation currently makes this conclusion improvable. Christic visions seem to occur to people who are ...
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Christic visions are evidently more common than is ordinarily believed, although a lack of documentation currently makes this conclusion improvable. Christic visions seem to occur to people who are unlikely to be classified as “saints,” and who would resist being described in that way. The visions often occur quite spontaneously, rather than being generated by deliberate efforts to produce them through fasting, oxygen deprivation, focused meditation, or other similar techniques. The relationship between contemporary Christic visions and the phenomena that appear to lie behind the New Testament (NT) writings is unclear. However, the sharp distinction between NT appearances and visions commonly made by Christian theologians is questionable. This chapter outlines the conditions under which a theory of transcendence might be considered a tentative explanation for the Christic visionary experience and offers suggestions for further research.Less
Christic visions are evidently more common than is ordinarily believed, although a lack of documentation currently makes this conclusion improvable. Christic visions seem to occur to people who are unlikely to be classified as “saints,” and who would resist being described in that way. The visions often occur quite spontaneously, rather than being generated by deliberate efforts to produce them through fasting, oxygen deprivation, focused meditation, or other similar techniques. The relationship between contemporary Christic visions and the phenomena that appear to lie behind the New Testament (NT) writings is unclear. However, the sharp distinction between NT appearances and visions commonly made by Christian theologians is questionable. This chapter outlines the conditions under which a theory of transcendence might be considered a tentative explanation for the Christic visionary experience and offers suggestions for further research.
Ariel Glucklich
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195108798
- eISBN:
- 9780199853434
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195108798.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
In 1886, while visiting Boston on a speaking tour, Alfred Russell Wallace was taken by William James to a séance where several apparitions were expected to materialize. Wallace was not the only ...
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In 1886, while visiting Boston on a speaking tour, Alfred Russell Wallace was taken by William James to a séance where several apparitions were expected to materialize. Wallace was not the only famous individual in England who was attracted by the lure of ghosts, but his passionate embrace of spiritualism may have been the strangest considering his career as a naturalist. The phenomena of spiritualism are related to the spirits' efforts to draw attention and to communicate and to the methods of the mediums for receiving information. They include raps and other noises, apports and the manipulation of objects, automatic writing, psychic photography, touching, appearances, and clairvoyance or clairaudience. Wallace's fascination with the occult was probably a result of an aversion he shared with Charles Darwin toward the dominant forms of Christianity. His inherent sense of justice and his appreciation of the uniquely human potential of mind and spirit led him away from evolution and Christian ethics alike and toward the third path of spiritual evolution as described by the spiritualist movement.Less
In 1886, while visiting Boston on a speaking tour, Alfred Russell Wallace was taken by William James to a séance where several apparitions were expected to materialize. Wallace was not the only famous individual in England who was attracted by the lure of ghosts, but his passionate embrace of spiritualism may have been the strangest considering his career as a naturalist. The phenomena of spiritualism are related to the spirits' efforts to draw attention and to communicate and to the methods of the mediums for receiving information. They include raps and other noises, apports and the manipulation of objects, automatic writing, psychic photography, touching, appearances, and clairvoyance or clairaudience. Wallace's fascination with the occult was probably a result of an aversion he shared with Charles Darwin toward the dominant forms of Christianity. His inherent sense of justice and his appreciation of the uniquely human potential of mind and spirit led him away from evolution and Christian ethics alike and toward the third path of spiritual evolution as described by the spiritualist movement.
Galit Noga-Banai
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- June 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190874650
- eISBN:
- 9780190874681
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190874650.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, History of Art: pre-history, BCE to 500CE, ancient and classical, Byzantine
This book is about the effect Jerusalem had on the formulation of Christian art in Rome during the fourth and fifth centuries. It deals with the visual Christianization of Rome from an almost ...
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This book is about the effect Jerusalem had on the formulation of Christian art in Rome during the fourth and fifth centuries. It deals with the visual Christianization of Rome from an almost neglected perspective: not in comparison to pagan art in Rome, not as reflecting the struggle with the emergence of New Rome in the East (Constantinople)—topics that have both been studied extensively—but rather as visual expressions of the idea of Jerusalem and its holy sites. Contesting the ownership of the historical events and their mythical venues, Rome, as suggested in Sacred Stimulus, constructed its own set of holy sites and foundational myths and, already in the second half of the fourth century, expropriated, for its own use, some of Jerusalem’s sacred sites and legends. The selective analysis suggested here is based mostly on visual sources. The book addresses a series of artistic products of various media, shapes, compositions, and combinations, which together make sense—or better, make a point. The accumulative evidence points to a clear Roman attitude toward Jerusalem in the second half of the fourth century, and to a change of attitude during the fifth century. Sacred Stimulus uncovers and defines this shift and suggests an explanation for it. It does not deal with new or unpublished artistic evidence. Rather, it analyzes well-known and central works of art, including mosaic decoration, sarcophagi, wall paintings, portable art, and architecture, and exposes the role played by Jerusalem in the genesis of Christian art in Rome.Less
This book is about the effect Jerusalem had on the formulation of Christian art in Rome during the fourth and fifth centuries. It deals with the visual Christianization of Rome from an almost neglected perspective: not in comparison to pagan art in Rome, not as reflecting the struggle with the emergence of New Rome in the East (Constantinople)—topics that have both been studied extensively—but rather as visual expressions of the idea of Jerusalem and its holy sites. Contesting the ownership of the historical events and their mythical venues, Rome, as suggested in Sacred Stimulus, constructed its own set of holy sites and foundational myths and, already in the second half of the fourth century, expropriated, for its own use, some of Jerusalem’s sacred sites and legends. The selective analysis suggested here is based mostly on visual sources. The book addresses a series of artistic products of various media, shapes, compositions, and combinations, which together make sense—or better, make a point. The accumulative evidence points to a clear Roman attitude toward Jerusalem in the second half of the fourth century, and to a change of attitude during the fifth century. Sacred Stimulus uncovers and defines this shift and suggests an explanation for it. It does not deal with new or unpublished artistic evidence. Rather, it analyzes well-known and central works of art, including mosaic decoration, sarcophagi, wall paintings, portable art, and architecture, and exposes the role played by Jerusalem in the genesis of Christian art in Rome.
Melissa Daggett
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781496810083
- eISBN:
- 9781496810120
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781496810083.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
This chapter summarizes the first twenty-five years of Spiritualism on a national level. The Banner of Light continues to be the premier Spiritualist newspaper, and Fanny Conant’s column, “The ...
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This chapter summarizes the first twenty-five years of Spiritualism on a national level. The Banner of Light continues to be the premier Spiritualist newspaper, and Fanny Conant’s column, “The Messenger,” is profiled. The column was composed of responses to the families and friends of fallen soldiers, both Confederate and Union, who were denied the “good death.” This chapter also discusses the Anglo séance circles in New Orleans and their nocturnal paranormal events, such as rappings, apparitions, tipping tables and slate writing. The tradition of Spiritualist lectures continued at new venues such as Minerva Hall. James Peebles, the Spiritual Pilgrim, spent two winters in New Orleans lecturing and invoking his favorite spiritual guide, Black Hawk. The chief later become the favorite guide of the eclectic twentieth-century Spiritual churches. By the mid-1870s, the fabric of Spiritualism became frayed, faded, and torn apart by relentless truth seekers and their convicted multitudes.Less
This chapter summarizes the first twenty-five years of Spiritualism on a national level. The Banner of Light continues to be the premier Spiritualist newspaper, and Fanny Conant’s column, “The Messenger,” is profiled. The column was composed of responses to the families and friends of fallen soldiers, both Confederate and Union, who were denied the “good death.” This chapter also discusses the Anglo séance circles in New Orleans and their nocturnal paranormal events, such as rappings, apparitions, tipping tables and slate writing. The tradition of Spiritualist lectures continued at new venues such as Minerva Hall. James Peebles, the Spiritual Pilgrim, spent two winters in New Orleans lecturing and invoking his favorite spiritual guide, Black Hawk. The chief later become the favorite guide of the eclectic twentieth-century Spiritual churches. By the mid-1870s, the fabric of Spiritualism became frayed, faded, and torn apart by relentless truth seekers and their convicted multitudes.
