When the film premiered, theatergoers fainted and vomited. It went on to inspire a series of copycat films – while fomenting a cultural panic about the demons in our midst.
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In the 1960s, the Catholic Church sought to downplay demonic possession, but its views since then have changed.
By the end of the 19th century, the Devil had become a figure of myth. Ironically, that helped his image proliferate in popular culture.
The video for Lil Nas X’s latest track is provocative and erotic. It also fits into a tradition of turning the tables on those seeking to oppress marginalized groups through religious dogma.
Stella Immanuel, who made headlines recently regarding a false coronavirus cure claim, has many beliefs related to how demons are a threat to humans. An expert explains their long religious history.
The idea of organized satanic witchcraft was invented in 15th-century Europe by church and state authorities, who at first had a hard time convincing regular folks it was real.
A group known as The Satanic Temple was started with the political goal of advocating for the value of church-state separation. This group is now challenging the traditional definition of religion.
Reports of demonic possession are once again on the rise. But during the devil’s last apogee in early modern Europe, demonic afflictions were taken seriously by both priests and physicians.
Forty-five years ago, ‘The Exorcist’ terrified viewers with its portrayal of a practice that goes back several centuries and continues today in Christianity.
Pope Francis has been accused of a cover-up in the sex abuse scandal involving Theodore McCarrick, a former archbishop. Experts explain why it’s hard for the Catholic Church to hold clergy accountable.
The Vatican is training priests to recognise and deal with the demonically possessed. This re-emergence of the Devil in popular Western culture is part of a new engagement with an enchanted world.
What, exactly, are the political goals of The Satanic Temple, which formed in 2013? A religion professor attended a recent satanic ritual to find out.
Were evil witches really stealing children in the 17th century?
Top contributors
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Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Texas State University
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PhD Candidate/Teaching Fellow in Systematic Theology, Boston College
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Emeritus Professor in the History of Religious Thought, The University of Queensland
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Associate Professor of Religion, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
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Professor of History, Iowa State University
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Master Lecturer of Rhetoric, Boston University
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Professor of Renaissance and Magical Literatures, University of Exeter
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Visiting Predoctoral Fellow, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science
