
Ancient Christian Magic
Coptic Texts of Ritual Power
Princeton University Press
Published on 4. April 1999
Book
Paperback/Softback
432 pages
978-0-691-00458-7 (ISBN)
Description
This thought-provoking collection of magical texts from ancient Egypt shows the exotic rituals, esoteric healing practices, and incantatory and supernatural dimensions that flowered in early Christianity. These remarkable Christian magical texts include curses, spells of protection from "headless powers" and evil spirits, spells invoking thunderous powers, descriptions of fire baptism, and even recipes from a magical "cookbook." Virtually all the texts are by Coptic Christians, and they date from about the 1st-12th centuries of the common era, with the majority from late antiquity. By placing these rarely seen texts in historical context and discussing their significance, the authors explore the place of healing, prayer, miracles, and magic in the early Christian experience, and expand our understanding of Christianity and Gnosticism as a vital folk religion.
Reviews / Votes
The authors make a grand tour of Western philosophy, theology, and ethics. They provide brilliant analyses of pertinent thinkers, including Aristotle, Aquinas, Hobbes, Kant, Rousseau... The writing is fluid and engaging... Library JournalMore details
Series
Edition
Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
New Jersey
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Revised edition
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
10 line drawings 10 halftones
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
691 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-691-00458-7 (9780691004587)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Marvin W. Meyer is Professor of Religion at Chapman University and director of the Coptic Magical Texts Project of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity. Richard Smith teaches at Claremont Graduate School and was managing editor of The Nag Hammadi Library (revised edition).
Content
AcknowledgmentsIntroductionPt. 1Ritual Power in EgyptCh. 1Old Coptic Texts of Ritual PowerCh. 2Greek Texts of Ritual Power from Christian EgyptCh. 3Ritual Power in Coptic Gnostic TextsPt. 2Coptic Spells of Ritual PowerCh. 4Healing SpellsCh. 5Protective SpellsCh. 6Sexual SpellsCh. 7CursesCh. 8Spells with Other ApplicationsPt. 3Coptic Handbooks of Ritual PowerCh. 9Collections of RecipesCh. 10A Portfolio of Spells from the British LibraryCh. 11The Coptic Hoard of Spells from the University of MichiganCh. 12The Coptic Book of Ritual Power from LeidenCh. 13A Coptic Book of Ritual Power from HeidelbergAfterwordAppPreviously Unpublished Coptic Texts of Ritual Power in the Beinecke Library, Yale UniversityTextual NotesGlossaryIllustration CreditsBibliography