Nowadays references to the afterlife--angels strumming harps, demons brandishing pitchforks, God enthroned on heavenly clouds--are more often encountered in New Yorker cartoons than in serious Christian theological reflection. Speculation about death and its sequel seems to emba…
"In tenth- and eleventh-century England, Anglo-Saxon Christians retained an old folk belief in elves as extremely dangerous creatures capable of harming unwary humans. To ward off the afflictions caused by these invisible beings, Christian priests modified traditional elf charms…
The witchcraft confessions given by Isobel Gowdie in Auldearn, 1662, are widely celebrated as the most extraordinary on record in Britain. Their descriptive power, vivid imagery and contentious subject-matter have attracted considerable interest on both academic and popular leve…