Phenomenal Phenomena
eBook - PDF

Phenomenal Phenomena

Biblical and Multicultural Accounts of Spirits and Exorcism

  1. 275 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Phenomenal Phenomena

Biblical and Multicultural Accounts of Spirits and Exorcism

About this book

Today, the conception of spirits and demons has been mostly consigned to pop culture in films and novels. Any notion of supernatural possession is often derided as outdated belief or legend. The Western world has essentially "cast out" stories of exorcisms that persist throughout much of the world today. Consequently, Western Christians have a limited framework to interpret the exorcism accounts scattered throughout the Synoptic Gospels and Acts in their depictions of the ministry of Jesus and his followers.

With Phenomenal Phenomena, Joy L. Vaughan maps the hermeneutical problem readers of biblical spirit possession and exorcism stories might face. Vaughan communicates how the intersection of Western and global perspectives is a fruitful frame through to compare modern stories of spirit phenomena compare to ancient accounts. She surveys interreligious and global perspectives through three relationships: spirit possession and illness; spirit possession and violence or extraordinary strength; and spirit possession and vocalic activity/alteration, demonic speech, and oracular activity. These global perspectives challenge reductionist readings that pervade Western scholarship and allow the actuality of spirits to contribute to our collective interpretive task.

Considering the complexity of global experiences of spiritual and demonic activity, a variety of interpretive options are needed to understand the transcultural occurrences of these phenomena. Vaughan demonstrates that listening to global voices opens up a wide horizon of modern spirit possession and exorcism stories that have comparable characteristics to New Testament accounts. A fresh opportunity arises to read both sets of data as eyewitness testimony to extraordinary events.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
No, books cannot be downloaded as external files, such as PDFs, for use outside of Perlego. However, you can download books within the Perlego app for offline reading on mobile or tablet. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
  • Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
  • Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Both plans are available with monthly, semester, or annual billing cycles.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Phenomenal Phenomena by Joy L. Vaughan in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Theology & Religion & Biblical Studies. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Half Title Page, Title Page, Copyright
  3. Contents
  4. Foreword
  5. Acknowledgments
  6. Introduction
  7. I: Reading through Multicultural and Genre-Specific Lenses
  8. 1. Demythologizing the Demythologizers: The Need to Hear Multicultural Voices
  9. 2. When Two Worlds Meet: The Hope of a Multicultural Approach
  10. 3. History or Hysteria?: Reading the Gospels and Acts with Genre Criticism
  11. II: Characteristics of Spirit Possession in Biblical and Multicultural Perspectives
  12. 4. Spirits Make Me Sick!: Spirit Possession and Illness
  13. 5. Spirits Make Me Violent and Strong!: Spirit Possession, Violent Acts, and Extraordinary Strength
  14. 6. Spirits Make Me Speak!: Spirit Possession, Vocalic Alterations, Demonic Speech, and Oracular Activity
  15. 7. A Vision of Transcultural Phenomena: Summary, Implications, and Conclusions
  16. Bibliography
  17. Author Index
  18. Scripture Index