![]() ![]() ![]() The ability to cause changes by calling upon supernatural entities and using supernatural powers was almost universally accepted as real. Magic was crucial to the developing attitude concerning the pagan religions. The church saw them as worshippers of imaginary deities. As pagan religion was swept aside, so the witches and sorcerers were to some extent pushed from the emerging urban areas into the countryside. The pagan religious functionaries went under a variety of names, commonly terms that meant witch and/or sorcerer. ![]() Typical of the church’s stance was the account of Paul’s encounter with the Greek philosophers on the Areopagus, recounted in the biblical Book of Acts 17:16–34, in which Paul contrasted the one true God with the many gods represented in the statutes. As a whole, Christianity assumed that the pagan deities were unreal, that they did not exist. As Christianity arose, it tended to push the pagan religions aside and denounce any claims made by pagan believers. They would include such entities as the Greek lamiai and seven evil spirits of the mythology of Babylonia and Assyria. Many vampires first appeared among the demonic beings of pagan polytheistic religions. In Europe, witchcraft and vampirism have had an intertwining history since ancient times. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |