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This article responds to Craig Keener's opening article in a special issue, originating with a Holy Spirit Symposium, Center for the Study of the Work and Ministry of the Holy Spirit Today, Biola University, October 27, 2023. Keener presents historical, theological, and philosophical reasons to accept intellectually that miracles are credible. My response shifts focus to three psychological and pastoral questions. First, given that many Christians do affirm belief in miracles, why do relatively few Christians—at least in the Global North—pray regularly, expectantly, and persistently for miraculous healing? Second, what are the costs of this gap between beliefs and practices? Third, how might more Christians move from believing in miracles to contending for miracles? I argue that it is insufficient for Christians to believe in the credibility of miracles; the church needs to make it a priority to contend for miracles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Church history demonstrates that the Church has always encountered cosmic powers. It is an appeal to church historians to consider cosmic powers as the reality to be dealt with. Through a literature review study, this paper gives some historical knowledge of the activities of cosmic powers from the Old Testament through the New Testament into the church history. The objectives are to point out that demons and their activities are part of church history; and that the current church and world at large still confront these demonic activities in diverse ways. The picture of human misery is elaborated upon and left open to interpretation as different disciplines scrutinise these miseries differently, but theologically as church history has demonstrated over centuries, they are the cosmic powers at work, manifesting as powers that promote injustice, coldness of heart, fear, and despising and abusing God's creation. These human miseries are the reason for the call to church to seriously study the subject of cosmic powers (demonology). Historical studies show that all Christian churches, especially Pentecostal and Charismatic operations seem to be in touch with the cosmic powers reality and endeavours are made to deal with them just as is the case in all mainline churches. Conclusion is an appeal to church historians to note that demons should not be treated as an absurdity and that the religion should not conclude that God is dead, or irrelevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beliefs in supernatural evils are prevalent among many religions. Prior research has shown that beliefs in supernatural evils were tied to various social and health outcomes. However, much less is known about the political implications of beliefs in supernatural evils. To fill this research void, a national survey of 1,092 adults with oversamples of respondents of Asian or Hispanic heritage was conducted in March 2023. The findings suggest that a stronger belief in demons or evil spirits was associated with more negative views toward President Joe Biden. This demonic effect was robust even after controlling for a variety of religious and sociodemographic variables. Besides being robust, the demonic effect was the strongest among all religiosity measures. In contrast, a main relationship between a stronger belief in demons and greater support for Donald Trump was found. However, this demonic effect was explained by Christian nationalism. Finally, these demonic effects vary based on one's political party identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the costume of Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovensky, the main character of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel Demons. Unlike clothes, the costume is associated with theatricality, acting, and performing or with playing a role. During the novel Stepan Trofimovich “plays different roles” and Varvara Petrovna determines his costume. Other heroes from the novel are also costumed (especially the young generation or young “demons”), who play their roles on the stage of Skvoreshniki. Stepan Trofimovich sometimes accepts, sometimes renounces his role; he protests and withstands the costume intended for him. Analysing his behaviour and costume, the article concludes that Stepan Trofimovich, in the end of his life journey, frees himself from the role that was intended for him. In the very end he “stepped off the stage” of Skvoreshniki and found himself “naked” on the eternal path when he took off his “civil” and fake costume.

Recent studies on Mark's characterization of demons have concluded that the demons in Mark are wholly negative characters. This study argues that Mark portrays demons with more ambiguity by characterizing them in ways that overlap with other character groups, like supplicants. The article concludes by suggesting how this character analysis sheds light on the apocalyptic scenario that undergirds the narrative of the Second Gospel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most Pentecostals, at least in the global South, believe that Satan and his demonic forces are responsible for much of the carnage and suffering that characterise life on earth. The broader context of the discourse is the challenge theodicy poses to Christian believers: if God is almighty and good, why do believers, just like unbelievers, suffer while living on earth? This paper aims to discuss Pentecostals' response: they blame evil as Satan's strategy to oppose God. They reason that his main goal is to handicap and double-cross creation because God threw him and his followers from heaven following his rebellion against the divine order. Thus, Satan is portrayed as the instigator of the first human couple, tempting them to sin, with all future generations implied by their choice and cursing human beings with a sinful nature at birth. Demonic forces employ human sinful nature to realise their ultimate goal, to separate humankind from the Creator by tempting them to sin while also threatening the rest of creation. This article investigates the Pentecostal theology of demonic forces in explaining the challenges posed by theodicy by comparing it to biblical data, using grammatical-historical exegesis and a comparative literature survey to evaluate their biblical grounding. It concludes that Pentecostals' belief in such forces are justified if the the New Testament narratives are accepted as divine revelation. However, some Pentecostal speculations about demons' origins, scope and reach are not biblically justified and complicates the response to theodicy, such as the origin of evil and its relation to human beings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Church history demonstrates that the Church has always encountered cosmic powers. It is an appeal to church historians to consider cosmic powers as the reality to be dealt with. Through a literature review study, this paper gives some historical knowledge of the activities of cosmic powers from the Old Testament through the New Testament into the church history. The objectives are to point out that demons and their activities are part of church history; and that the current church and world at large still confront these demonic activities in diverse ways. The picture of human misery is elaborated upon and left open to interpretation as different disciplines scrutinise these miseries differently, but theologically as church history has demonstrated over centuries, they are the cosmic powers at work, manifesting as powers that promote injustice, coldness of heart, fear, and despising and abusing God’s creation. These human miseries are the reason for the call to church to seriously study the subject of cosmic powers (demonology). Historical studies show that all Christian churches, especially Pentecostal and Charismatic operations seem to be in touch with the cosmic powers reality and endeavours are made to deal with them just as is the case in all mainline churches. Conclusion is an appeal to church historians to note that demons should not be treated as an absurdity and that the religion should not conclude that God is dead, or irrelevant.

This article focusses on the church in Africa, dwelling with God, empowered by the Holy Spirit to confront the cosmic powers. Using the African ‘circular’ patterns, God’s presence with his people from the Old Testament times through the New Testament, an argument is presented that the African church possesses the potency to confront the cosmic powers that impinge upon the human dignity, with intentions of breaking down the community of Christ. The circle is presented as a force building towards community cohesiveness and, therefore enhancing the communality for strength against eternal forces that are aimed to destroy the church. The secret of the victory of the community over the cosmic powers is through God’s presence with his people, communality (togetherness) of his followers, and the empowerment by the Holy Spirit. God made his presence visible through shekinah, tabernacle, miracles of provision for their needs, sacrificial rituals, temple and prophetic leadership. The article concludes that God has always opted to commune with his people, because he himself is a communal God. He is in community, the trinitarian God dwelling together with and among his people. During the uncertain times of confrontation with cosmic powers, he has been at the centre while his people are encircling him and look towards him as a centre of attraction. Intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary implications: Understanding the context of African church, confronted with cosmic powers, the church is encouraged to understand the power of the presence of God. With anthropological concept of a circle, one understand the importance of community as a way of being empowered to stand the challenges of cosmic powers.

Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novels resonate with the vibes of the current epoch: the fundamental issues that his personages tried to fathom are as relevant now as they were in the XIX century. The problem of communication is one of such issues: oral verbal interaction between people is one of the most disputed problems in modern humanities. The authors relied on the systematic approach, as well as on hermeneutical, analytical, and statistical methods, to analyze the peculiarities of verbal communication in F. M. Dostoevsky’s Demons. The analysis covered the way the author introduced the main characters (Daria Shatova, Pyotr Verkhovensky, Stavrogin, Lebyadkin, Marya Lebyadkina, Kirillov) through their speech and made it possible to build their speech profiles. As for the forms and functions of speech communication, the authors believe that F. M. Dostoevsky understood the need for human communication as fundamental and urgent. The writer tested his personages for this need: it was through interpersonal communication that Dostoevsky’s characters manifested their existence and attitudes.

Lilith has radically changed since she first appeared in ancient Mesopotamia and late antique Babylonia. Medieval Kabbalists situated her as the mother of demons and a murderous succubus, she was a muse to nineteenth century European poets and artists, and radical feminists in the 1970s reclaimed Lilith as the embodiment of female emancipation. This article critically examines four cross-cultural manifestations of Lilith, including Lilith as the "hand of Inanna," Eve's lesbian lover, genetrix and protector of children, and a trans divinity, and expands upon Creed's theory of the "monstrous-feminine" to present a unique type of feminism that has emerged from Lilith's cultural history: monster feminism. This brand of feminism is a praxis that arises from within groups marginalized by patriarchal gender roles that mobilize the monstrous as a way of resisting structural violence. These genealogies also show the way her evolution over time has been a dynamic and iterative process, rendering her a constellation of ideas rather than a single coherent figure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focusses on the church in Africa, dwelling with God, empowered by the Holy Spirit to confront the cosmic powers. Using the African 'circular' patterns, God's presence with his people from the Old Testament times through the New Testament, an argument is presented that the African church possesses the potency to confront the cosmic powers that impinge upon the human dignity, with intentions of breaking down the community of Christ. The circle is presented as a force building towards community cohesiveness and, therefore enhancing the communality for strength against eternal forces that are aimed to destroy the church. The secret of the victory of the community over the cosmic powers is through God's presence with his people, communality (togetherness) of his followers, and the empowerment by the Holy Spirit. God made his presence visible through shekinah, tabernacle, miracles of provision for their needs, sacrificial rituals, temple and prophetic leadership. The article concludes that God has always opted to commune with his people, because he himself is a communal God. He is in community, the trinitarian God dwelling together with and among his people. During the uncertain times of confrontation with cosmic powers, he has been at the centre while his people are encircling him and look towards him as a centre of attraction. Intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary implications: Understanding the context of African church, confronted with cosmic powers, the church is encouraged to understand the power of the presence of God. With anthropological concept of a circle, one understand the importance of community as a way of being empowered to stand the challenges of cosmic powers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yaşamın her alanına yayılan paradoksal düşünme ve kişilerin karakterleriyle uyuşmayan zıt davranışları, aslında birbirine tezat ancak aynı zamanda sinerjik ve sistem içerisinde birbiriyle ilişkili dualiteleri birlikte düşünmeyi gerektirmiştir. Dışarıdan tamamen zıt algılanan muğlak olgular aslında bir toplumun sosyal düzeninin oluşmasında oldukça önemli yer edinmektedir. Antik dönemlerde yaşayan halkların sosyal düzeni oluşturmak ve bulundukları çağa ayak uydurmak için kendi yarattıkları olgular içerisinde hem düalist hem de ironik durumlar mevcuttur. Bu antik toplumlar arasında en göze çarpanı medeniyetin beşiği olarak görülen ve tarihte oldukça önemli bir yere sahip olan Antik Mezopotamya’dır. Mezopotamya'da tanrılarla birlikte koruyucular, iyi ve kötü ruhlar, demonlar ve hayaletler de dâhil olmak üzere birçok farklı türde insanüstü varlığın olduğuna inanılmıştır. Bu varlıklar sosyal düzen ve denge içerisine dâhil edilmiş ve böylece toplumsal yapının oluşumuna katkıları olmuştur. Bu çalışmanın amacı, Mezopotamya’nın sıra dışı demonlarından Pazuzu ve Lamaštu’yu farklı karakteristik özellikleri bağlamında sosyal düzen içerisinde paradoksal ve ironik yönleriyle ele almaktır.

This paper examines the inclusion of Etruscan demons such as Charun and Vanth in Homeric art, using the François Tomb as a case study. The combination of Greek and Etruscan figures is often described as a "patchwork" of influences. I argue that the "patchwork" approach is anachronistic and that fourth-century viewers would not have seen such a dichotomous opposition between Etruscan demons and Greek myths. Anthropological memory theory supplies a new framework for understanding the inclusion of Greek myths in the Etruscan pantheon. I argue that the François Tomb was the end product of a centuries-long process of forgetting: the Greek origin of the Homeric myths was no longer felt as acutely in the fourth century as when the two cultures first made contact. By the fourth century, the blending was not a calculated change or an attempt to show off foreign knowledge. It was a representation of the Etruscans' own cultural memory, adapted over three centuries of Greek contact to become a syncretic system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how the Lengyan jing , or Śūrangama Sūtra – an apocryphal Buddhist scripture written in China around 705 CE – remapped Chinese Buddhist understandings of moral responsibility in consequential ways. Although grounded in the orthodox doctrinal premise that all sentient beings innately possess buddha-nature, the Lengyan jing is punctuated by warnings about the danger that even the most earnest seekers of enlightenment might be possessed by demons, embark on evil behavior, and end up fully demonic. Such warnings depart from longstanding norms in Buddhist ethics, according to which responsibility for fault is measured in terms of a person's intentions. Instead, I argue that the Lengyan jing articulates a moral logic of what Sandra Macpherson calls "tragic responsibility." This logic informed important but overlooked aspects of the soteriological vision found in key texts from the Chan (Japanese Zen) tradition, which rose to prominence in the centuries following the Lengyan jing 's composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution to the essay forum "The Jewish Recipe." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most Pentecostals, at least in the global South, believe that Satan and his demonic forces are responsible for much of the carnage and suffering that characterise life on earth. The broader context of the discourse is the challenge theodicy poses to Christian believers: if God is almighty and good, why do believers, just like unbelievers, suffer while living on earth? This paper aims to discuss Pentecostals’ response: they blame evil as Satan’s strategy to oppose God. They reason that his main goal is to handicap and double-cross creation because God threw him and his followers from heaven following his rebellion against the divine order. Thus, Satan is portrayed as the instigator of the first human couple, tempting them to sin, with all future generations implied by their choice and cursing human beings with a sinful nature at birth. Demonic forces employ human sinful nature to realise their ultimate goal, to separate humankind from the Creator by tempting them to sin while also threatening the rest of creation. This article investigates the Pentecostal theology of demonic forces in explaining the challenges posed by theodicy by comparing it to biblical data, using grammatical-historical exegesis and a comparative literature survey to evaluate their biblical grounding. It concludes that Pentecostals’ belief in such forces are justified if the the New Testament narratives are accepted as divine revelation. However, some Pentecostal speculations about demons’ origins, scope and reach are not biblically justified and complicates the response to theodicy, such as the origin of evil and its relation to human beings.

On the basis of a close reading of the pericope of the healing of the boy with a mute spirit as it is recorded in Mark 9:14–29, I argue that Mark intended Jesus’ enigmatic answer “this kind can can come out only through prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29, NRSV) to be a lesson for his readers on how to prepare for exorcisms. Like the disciples who failed to cast out the mute demon while Jesus’ was being transfigured, so too Mark’s readers must prepare for exorcisms by prayer and fasting, for Jesus is not present with them the way he was for his disciples during most of his earthly ministry.

The article focuses on two Babylonian incantation bowls in Jewish Aramaic today preserved in the Musée des explorations du monde (previously, Musée de la Castre) in Cannes and first published at the fin de siècle. The incantation texts inscribed on the two bowls are re-edited here for the first time after more than a century, translated in English, and accompanied by new high resolution images and drawings. The two objects are interrogated for what they can reveal about communal self-definition and the cultural boundaries between Jews and non-Jews in Sasanian Babylonia. Specifically, the article analyzes the sacred names quoted in the incantations, as well as the interplay between image, text, and materiality, reflecting on dynamics of religious-cultural dissemination, differentiation, and appropriation, and on the role of a shared local sensitivity. The multilayered re-examination of the two bowls from an historical, artistic, interreligious and everyday life perspective aims at better understanding the many nuances of the lived religion of Jews and other minorities in Sasanian Babylonia, in between the two main interpretative poles proposed in scholarship, that of a shared magical culture and that of an arena of negotiated identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research on Jewish demonology has been significantly advanced by evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls. In light of these advances, this article revisits the use of daimones and related terms in the Greek translations of Jewish scriptures commonly called the Septuagint (LXX). Against the tendency to conflate these LXX data into one intermediate stage in the development of the demonology of the New Testament, it calls for further attention to the particular dates and translational tendencies in specific LXX texts, as well as further attention to contemporaneous Aramaic and Hebrew sources. Accordingly, it situates the daimones of LXX Deuteronomy, the Greek Psalter, and LXX Isaiah alongside the emergent demonologies in the Aramaic Enoch literature, Jubilees , 4Q560, and 11Q11. Taken together, these sources attest new literary creativity surrounding transmundane powers among Jews in the Hellenistic period, shaped by distinctive concerns that cannot be reduced to a transitional, proto-Christian moment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Testimony of Truth (NHC IX,3) is characterized by polemic against other Christians and certain aspects of Judaism, and shows familiarity with Jewish textual traditions. One such case is a narrative surrounding Solomon's building of the Jerusalem temple with the help of demons, who are incarcerated in the temple water jars and released by Roman armies, who unknowingly perform an act of purification on a demon-infected space. This paper argues that: 1) Testimony of Truth should be read as part of the wider early Christian polemical tradition presenting Rome as purveyors of vengeance against the errant Jewish people; 2) Testimony of Truth offers evidence for a flourishing Jewish presence in second or early third-century Alexandria, against the long-held argument that the community was largely annihilated following the Diaspora Revolt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the staging of Fedor Dostoevsky’s novel Demons in Brusnikin workshop (Directors: Dmitry Brusnikin, Mikhail Mokeev, Mikhail Rakhlin). The play, staged by the final year of the Moscow Art Theater School in 2013, was played until the end of May 2021, and after that was not removed from the repertoire, but replaced by the play “Demons. The Night.” The performance is staged in the style of the New Russian Drama, which includes a large amount of improvisation, the involvement of the audience in the course of the performance, the fact of rethinking and refining key points right during the performance. Essentially, the production itself is existential, and requires from the actors to experience situations that reveal them to themselves in a new form and quality during each performance. In the article we will talk about the philosophy involved in the symbolic level of the performance.

Russian classical literature of the 19th and early 20th centuries constitutes the whole with the finest Russian journalism of the same period. Almost all famous authors started their careers by releasing their first works of literature in magazines and even in newspapers. Nevertheless, even when gaining popularity, they continued to cooperate with periodicals, offering them their masterpieces. Thus, Leo Tolstoy published his novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina in the Russkiy Vestnik [Russian Herald] magazine, while his novel Resurrection was published in Niva, the most popular Russian magazine aimed at mass reader. The writer wanted to reach as many ordinary people as possible. Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Demons, and The Brothers Karamazov first appeared in the same Russkiy Vestnik, along with Ivan Turgenev’s novel Fathers and Sons. This list is long indeed. Russian authors actively employed material published in press in their works. Therefore, the characters of Anna Karenina passionately discussed the events highlighted by the newspapers and magazines of that time. The references to certain periodicals, their brief description made it possible to understand better the mood and to expose the nature of their characters for the readers. During Soviet times, the attitude of the characters to certain newspapers and magazines displayed the role of media in public relations and their place in the political system of the country. Finally, thanks to the media subscriptions of the characters in novels and short stories, the reader could better understand their worldview, hobbies, and dreams. The authors set themselves the task of studying the specifics of the use of references to certain media as an artistic detail in literary works. They attempt to identify the role of such details in creating the artistic character, as well as in recreating the atmosphere and ideology of the era. They also examine references to journal articles read by the characters of a literary work from the perspective of intertextuality theory, as well as the task of revealing the peculiarities of the interaction of artistic and journalistic texts in the context of the era. The authors also raise the question of the possibility of using texts of literary works as a source for the study of media history.

The article addresses the subtle differences between how anthropomorphism of animals is used to represent humans and human behavior versus divine behavior. By examining the different types of anthropomorphism used at Deir el-Medina as a starting point, this study considers the multiple manifestations of Egyptian deities and how these manifestations may be dependent on the context in which they are represented in sacred spaces and objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Luke presents Jesus defending his exorcistic power in 11:14-26 through two connected portions of text. After the initial challenges in vv. 14-16, Jesus refutes his accusers in vv. 17-20 by placing them in a series of confounding challenges through an unarguable proverb (vv. 17b-18), a conundrum regarding other Jewish exorcists (v. 19), and the eschatological risk of missing the kingdom of God (v. 20). The second part of Jesus's defense (vv. 21-26) is a critique of other Jewish exorcists. These other exorcists are the "strong ones," who are regularly overcome by "stronger" demonic forces (vv. 21-22). Thus, they end up being "against" Jesus (v. 23). They may have the capacity to cast out a single demon, but their techniques cannot resist the greater demonic powers that return to repossess a person (vv. 24-26). Jesus's invincible exorcistic power trumps anything that other exorcists can do, proving that his ministry signals the arrival of God's kingdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spiritual implications of illness were a significant interest for monks of late antiquity, whose concerns reflect common experiences in illness and ways of speaking about illness observable yet today. At the root of the many letters from the sixth-century Gazan monastery of Thavatha is a concern about the meaning of illness, not so much a diagnosis of a medical problem as a discernment of how natural and demonic influences intertwine, and how bodily and mental afflictions make sense within the spiritual "progress" of the monk. For Barsanuphius and John, the great old men of Gaza, the Bible offered models to reframe suffering in line with their ascetic spirituality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs contain nuanced discussions of the nature of sin, which is invariably associated with both demonic forces and the human body. The senses are portrayed as human spirits. These senses, when used inappropriately, can allow the spirits of deceit to overcome a person and lead them to sin. Seeing, tasting and hearing can all be distorted by the spirits of deceit. When this happens a part of person’s nature is replaced with that of the forces of evil. The Testaments thus problematise the self and the body as a bonded category.

The globalization of biomedicine poses the problem of finding cross-culturally valid criteria for mental health. Undue pathologization is a major risk for global health, especially when diagnoses rely exclusively on Western nosology. This article focuses on the clinical conflation between involuntary mass possession and conversion disorder. Originally, the diagnosis of "conversion disorder" evolved from the notion of hysteria. Even though the category of hysteria disappeared from psychiatry many decades ago, some of its undergirding assumptions have survived under the new label of conversion. Namely, the assumption that hysteria/conversion is caused by repressed sexual desire is still implicit in widespread explanatory models for mass possession worldwide. Drawing upon an ethnography of demonic possession (grisi siknis) among the Afro-Indigenous Miskitos of Nicaragua, I argue that (1) the label of conversion is eurocentric and inappropriate for mass possession; and (2) emic perspectives on mass possession offer a critical counterpoint to rethink Euro-American and globalized understandings of embodiment and desire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

John Malalas' account of the career of Alexander of Macedon is marked by numerous deviations from the standard historical record. One such error, Alexander crossing over to Asia at the Bosporus rather than the Hellespont, however, seems to point to Dio Cassius' story of a δαίμων in the guise of Alexander crossing from Byzantium to Chalcedon. The association of references to Alexander and the activity of demons, in turn, draws into the ambit of Malalas' allusions an array of Christian rhetorical assaults on the Emperor Julian. Julian is revealed as the real subject, or target, of Malalas' account of Alexander and its apparent errors are shown to be references to matters that recur in the Christian critique of Julian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview and critique of John Calvin's understanding of non-Christian philosophy and religions. I suggest Calvin's thinking differed in three significant ways from early and medieval church belief. First, he gave a far less prominent place to the role of the demonic in religions. Second, Calvin rejected both traditional and Renaissance versions of the prisca theologia. Finally, it is noted that he explained glimmers of truth in non-Christian religion and philosophy by developing a rather unique understanding of human enlightenment as gifting from a specific role of the Logos rather than as enlightenment by the Logos per se. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across Asia, display is central to the creative process of worldmaking. This issue introduces "the anthropology of display" as a subfield in its own right that illuminates how people, spirits, gods, demons, ghosts, and their ritual props, offerings, effigies, or emblems manifest their powers and presence. A display is not just the static or unmoving framing of an image that invites contemplation rather than participation; it may unfold as one of the many moving, lively, and performative parts in a public event that generates deeply recursive imaginaries of the cosmos. Bringing the anthropology of religion, magic, exchange, art, and performance into conversation with museum anthropology, this issue shows that display is often used to push at the edges of the social and cosmic order. People and spirits may harness the power of display to steer rituals, ceremonies, and festivals in their preferred directions. Displays of this sort may unleash moral ideals of cultural heritage and plurality, aesthetic deliberations about the future, and new anthropological ways of envisioning the human and otherworldly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article attempts a comparative analysis of the ancient Egyptian demonic imagery of animal and hybrid figures, according to anthropological studies and theories of perspectivism, as well as by referring to studies of Monster Theory and Cryptozoology. The aim is to disclose what kind of agency real and imaginary animals of the ancient Egyptian Duat (Beyond) possess and how it relates to the agency of humans and other non-human beings populating the Realm of the Dead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thesis of this paper is that Platonic Forms are angels. I make this identification by claiming that Platonic Forms have the characteristics of angels, in particular, that Platonic Forms are alive. I offer four arguments for this claim. First, it seems that engaging in self-directed action is a sufficient condition for being alive. The Forms are, as teleological activities, self-directed actions. Second, bodies receive their being from their Forms, and some bodies are essentially alive. Third, in the Good, all the types of goodness, including life, are identical. The Forms are appearances of the Good. Fourth, since the Good imparts as much goodness as it can, the Forms are alive unless there is some bar to their being alive. There are good reasons to think that there is no such bar. I then show that ethical vices do not give body to human form, but give body to other forms—those that are evil angels. Lastly, I provide a survey of the relationships that various religious traditions posit between ethical vice and the demonic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The archaeological site of Bethsaida was the capital of the Geshurite kingdom during the Iron Age, until its destruction in the late 8th century BCE. An analysis of the architectural and small finds presents an eclectic collection of religious images similar to those of other cultures in the Iron Age Levant. In particular, the two stelae of the Moon God found in Stratum VI's (11th-10th centuries) and Stratum V's (9th-8th centuries) city gates offer clear evidence of the Geshurites' Aramaean heritage that was heavily influenced by older Hurrian and Hittite traditions. At the same time, figurines from the site show influences from the Israelites, Ammonites, Phoenicians, and Egyptians. Not all these figures should be identified as major deities of the official cult. It seems the Geshurites also respected demons in their domestic religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the Christian church came to Zimbabwe, women have been its backbone. Today, even more than before, women are the ones who keep the church spiritually and numerically alive. Paradoxically, women are treated as objects of a male-created, monitored and imposed power structure and theology. Power seems to be located within a multidimensional system of oppression in which people can be oppressors and the oppressed simultaneously. Miracles involving exorcisms of demons continue to play an important role in defining sainthood, while possession itself has become increasingly the experience of women. With particular reference to selected Pentecostal churches in Zimbabwe, the study explores the nexus between the gendered African traditional beliefs on the status of women in society and the spiritual devaluation of women and their decimation as witches or as keepers of demons in Christian churches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This practice paper demonstrates an art therapy session that revealed the internalized monstrous and demonic identities amongst those who have sexually offended. Several of the participants represented their shadow-self as: (1) nebulous demonic self-representations, (2) internalized monstrous selves as hurtful or uncontrolled, or (3) a dichotomy of power and helplessness. Making these negative self-images visible during such an art therapy process can inform the initial step toward reconciliation, especially within the transitional space of reintegrating into society post-incarceration. Implications demonstrate the use of metaphorical expression and how such images can address the stigmatized and internalized negative self-perceptions of those who have sexually offended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Letters to the Dead is the conventional, modern name for a collection of texts that petition the recently deceased, typically for assistance with problems of inheritance, illness, or fertility. They are known from the Old Kingdom through the Late Period and have been preserved upon ceramic vessels and figurines, stone stelae, papyrus, and linen. The Letters were written by male and female petitioners and are addressed to both male and female dead. Though only a few dozen Letters to the Dead have been identified, they are important artifacts for better understanding interactions between the living and the dead in ancient Egypt. Notably, they illuminate the quotidian, social networks that existed between the living and the dead, help us to understand how the ancient Egyptians conceived of and interacted with the dead, and expand upon our knowledge of mortuary culture and popular religious practices in ancient Egypt.

The aim of this article is to rethink the way scholarship conceives Gregory of Nyssa's so-called mystical theology by directing attention to his account of hostile powers in the Homilies on the Song of Songs. In recent decades, debates on "divine darkness" have governed scholarly readings of Christian progress in the homilies. However, through his allegorical commentary, Gregory also provides an extensive account of the history, ontology, and activity of the devil and demons, while also instructing Christians on how to defeat them. According to this account, only Christ is victorious in the proper sense. Therefore, believers must participate in Christ's victory by journeying the way of the Homilies on the Song of Songs. This begins with baptism and continues with self-knowing, prayer, pure thoughts, and correct worship. Therefore, these homilies—communicating Gregory's vision of "divine darkness"—also provide an extensive account of how to overcome adversarial powers whose goal is to prevent the bride's union with God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolutionary creation model Of origins best matches the scientijic evidence for evolution with common descent. However, the violence and harni associated with the evolutionary history of li# may be viewed as incompatible with religious traditions such as Anabaptist that understand God to be nonviolent as revealed in the li# and teaching ofJesus. This article argues that malevolent wills such as fallen angels opposed God's will in the evolutionary process and that explanations for natural evils that do not recognize the corrupting activities of fallen spirit-beings make God culpable Br evil and non-Christlike in moral character. In this light, the rejection Of the angelic-jall thesis by many writers is surprising. Consequently, a number Of common objections to the thesis are examined. The angelic-jall approach to natural evil has biblical support, a long history in the church, support Of theologians, the ability to resist objections, and many usefid outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are few specific studies on the demonic possession of Judas and Mary Magdalene, especially as regards the representation of these demons in medieval art. This article analyses the matter in order to subsequently carry out a comparative analysis of the two characters and thus respond to both the general and specific objectives put forward: the reason for the difference in quantity in the representations of Judas with his demons compared to Magdalena; the type of demons represented; their possible meanings; and some considerations related to gender issues. The analysis has been carried out with a cultural perspective, comparing images with texts, as well as putting these materials into context. Taking all of this into account, it is shown that the main cause behind the quantitative difference in the images of the two characters lies in their subsequent fates: Magdalene, exorcised, becomes an example of repentance, confession, and penance for the faithful, whereas Judas is condemned and never abandoned by the devil. The reason for the choice of Judas and Mary Magdalene is that they are two of the most important characters in the New Testament to have suffered from demonic possession, though there are also depictions of different exorcisms performed by Jesus. Furthermore, the antagonism of these characters forms a key feature in both art and religion in the medieval West, as demonstrated at the end of this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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