Angels of light? : sanctity and the discernment of spirits in the early modern period / edited by Clare Copeland, Jan Machielsen.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Copeland, Clare.

Machielsen, Johannes M., 1984-

Series:

Studies in medieval and Reformation traditions ; v. 164.

Studies in medieval and reformation traditions, 1573-4188 ; v. 164

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Angels--History--Early modern, 1500-1700.

Angels.

Devil--History--Early modern, 1500-1700.

Devil.

Demonology--History--Early modern, 1500-1700.

Demonology.

History.

Physical Description:

xiv, 306 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2013.

Summary:

"And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." (2 Corinthians 11:14) Paul's warning of false apostles and false righteousness struck a special chord in the period of the European Reformations. At no other time was the need for the discernment of spirits felt as strongly as in this newly confessional age. More than ever, the ability to discern was a mark of holiness and failure the product of demonic temptation. The contributions to this volume chart individual responses to a problem at the heart of religious identity. They show that the problem of discernment was not solely a Catholic concern and was an issue for authors and artists as much as for prophets and visionaries. Book jacket.

Contents:

I Angels, Demons, and Everything in Between: Spiritual Beings in Early Modern Europe / Euan Cameron Cameron, Euan 17

II Dangerous Visions: The Experience of Teresa of Avila and the Teaching of John of the Cross / Colin Thompson Thompson, Colin 53

III Participating in the Divine: Visions and Ecstasies in a Florentine Convent / Clare Copeland Copeland, Clare 75

IV Heretical Saints and Textual Discernment: The Polemical Origins of the Acta Sanctorum (1643-1940) / Jan Machielsen Machielsen, Jan 103

V Augustine Baker: Discerning the "Call" and Fashioning Dead Disciples / Victoria Van Hyning Hyning, Victoria Van 143

VI A Seventeenth-Century Prophet Confronts His Failures: Paul Felgenhauer's Speculum Poenitentiae, Buβ-Spiegel (1625) / Leigh T. I. Penman Penman, Leigh T. I. 169

VII Visions, Dreams, and the Discernment of Prophetic Passions: Sense and Reason in the Writings of the Cambridge Platonists and John Beale, 1640-60 / R. J. Scott Scott, R. J. 201

VIII Gijsbert Voet and Discretio Spirituum after Descartes / Anthony Ossa-Richardson Ossa-Richardson, Anthony 235

IX "Incorporeal Substances": Discerning Angels in Later Seventeenth-Century England / Laura Sangha Sangha, Laura 255.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9789004233690

9004233695

9789004233706

9004233709

OCLC:

817598776