History and psychopathology of the devil
The devil is one of the marked presences in the
history of mankind. From the very beginnings mankind has believed that good and
bad spirits influenced the life and the thoughts of man. In the Bible the devil
and the fallen angels explain the incidence of suffering and evil. In the
person of Satan the devil tempts man, possesses him and induces him to bad
deeds. During the middle Ages this belief became so strong, that the
persecution of warlocks and witches attained his summit at the beginning of the
Modern Times. At the end of the 19th century a new wave of demonism came into existence.
Oriental Templars, Hell Fire clubs and New Satanism originated. Together with
new paganism they constitute a kind of new religion.
It has been shown, how psychopathology explains a great number of features of Satanism
and demonism, how the devil himself thanks its existence to pathological
thoughts.
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Copyright © 1997 Dr.
Herman H. Somers.
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