IMC 2024: Sessions
Session 834: A Faith in Crisis, IV: Turning Points
Tuesday 2 July 2024, 16:30-18:00
| Sponsor: | The Blurred Boundaries of Religious Dissent Research Initiative / The Mysticism & Lived Experience Network |
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| Organiser: | Amanda Langley, School of History, Queen Mary University of London |
| Moderator/Chair: | Stamatia Noutsou, Independent Scholar |
| Respondent: | John H. Arnold, Faculty of History, University of Cambridge |
| Paper 834-a | The Witches' Sabbath as a Crisis of Belief (Language: English) Index terms: Mentalities, Pagan Religions and Social History |
| Paper 834-b | An Apocalyptic Balm in an Age of Crisis: Reading Pseudo-Methodius's Revelationes in the 15th Century (Language: English) Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Manuscripts and Palaeography and Mentalities |
| Abstract | Heresies, reform movements, and the manifestation of mystical experiences can be a response to a crisis or, in turn, precipitate a crisis by challenging established institutions and beliefs. These crises encompass a diversity of experiences, and range from crises of faith experienced by individuals questioning their faith, receiving revelations from an uncertain origin, or being challenged by religious authorities regarding orthodoxy, to devastating communal crises with “heretical” groups challenging the Church or calling for reform, and ecclesiastical authorities trying to respond, sometimes violently. The final session of this strand looks into superstition, alchemy and astronomy to show how the turning point towards the end of what we call the Middle Ages was fraught with both doubt, unbelief, and hope. The final respondent will wrap up the four sessions and open the floor for discussion. |