audiobook How Democratic is the American Constitution? Second Edition by Robert A. Dahl in History

Description

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.