The phantom world: the history and philosophy of spirits, apparitions-Vol. 1 translated from the work of Augustine Calmet 1746 - Rev Henry Christmas - supernatural phenomena, Christian theology, angels, angelology, demonology, demons, possession, exorcism, hauntings , vampires, occult philosophy (original) (raw)

1850, The New Alexandria Library of Texas + (the old publisher)- London :Richard Bentley of New Burlington Street -" Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty"

The Phantom World by Henry Christmas, translated from the work of Augustine Calmet, presents an in-depth Christian examination of supernatural phenomena as understood within various cultural and historical contexts. Structured as a comprehensive treatise, the book investigates a broad spectrum of apparitions, spirit encounters, angelic and demonic manifestations, sorcery, and otherworldly beings like vampires and revenants. By employing Christian theological frameworks alongside scriptural exegesis, it aims to both validate and critique accounts of the supernatural found in the Old and New Testaments, as well as in ancient Judaic, Greco-Roman, and Islamic traditions. A key focus of the work is on angelology and demonology, analyzing documented appearances of good and bad angels within biblical and extrabiblical sources. The book scrutinizes theological perspectives on these beings and explores their supposed interventions in the mortal realm. It contrasts Christian views on apparitions and possessions with those of other faiths and philosophical schools, particularly examining pagan practices such as oracular prophecy, spirit summoning, and magical rites from the cultures of Egypt, Chaldea, Greece, and Rome. The text also delves into demon possession and exorcism, presenting case studies and theological arguments surrounding possession, sorcery, and the power of faith in combating dark forces. By comparing biblical accounts with folk beliefs, the author addresses the theological implications and moral interpretations of these phenomena, concluding with a Christian critique of non-Christian practices. Furthermore, the work extends to cultural beliefs about the afterlife and revenants, exploring traditions of the undead, vampires, and restless spirits in European folklore and analyzing the Christian perspective on these legends. Finally, the treatise offers philosophical reflections on the nature and possibility of supernatural appearances, confronting objections with theological replies and discussing explanations for the manifestation of spirits within Christian, Jewish, and Islamic doctrine. With its meticulous approach to a wide range of supernatural topics, The Phantom World serves as both an apologetic and scholarly work on Christian supernatural philosophy, presenting readers with a historical and theological lens through which to understand the mystery of spirits and the a Table of Contents I. The Appearance of Good Angels Proven by the Books of the Old Testament . . . 37 II. The Appearance of Good Angels Proven by the Books of the New Testament . . . 38 III. Under What Form Have Good Angels Appeared? . . . 41 IV. Opinions of the Jews, Christians, Mahometans, and Oriental Nations Concerning the Apparitions of Good Angels . . . 44 V. Opinion of the Greeks and Romans on the Apparitions of Good Genii . . . 47 VI. The Apparition of Bad Angels Proven by the Holy Scriptures—Under What Form They Have Appeared . . . 50 VII. Of Magic . . . 57 VIII. Objections to the Reality of Magic . . . 61 IX. Reply to the Objections . . . 63 X. Examination of the Affair of Hocque, Magician . . . 67 XI. Magic of the Egyptians and Chaldeans . . . 70 XII. Magic Among the Greeks and Romans . . . 73 XIII. Examples Which Prove the Reality of Magic . . . 75 XIV. Effects of Magic According to the Poets . . . 81 XV. Of the Pagan Oracles . . . 83 XVI. The Certainty of the Event Predicted is Not Always Proof That the Prediction Comes from God . . . 86 XVII. Reasons Which Lead Us to Believe that Most Ancient Oracles Were Impositions by Priests and Priestesses Claiming Divine Inspiration . . . 89 XVIII. On Sorcerers and Sorceresses, or Witches . . . 93 XIX. Instances of Sorcerers and Witches Being, as They Said, Transported to the Sabbath . . . 98 XX. Story of Louis Gaufredi and Magdalen de la Palud, Who Claimed to Be Sorcerer and Sorceress . . . 102 XXI. Reasons Which Prove the Possibility of Sorcerers and Witches Being Transported—Continuation of the Same Subject . . . 111 XXII. Obsession and Possession by the Devil . . . 114 XXIII. The Truth and Reality of Possession and Obsession by the Devil Proven from Scripture . . . 117 XXIV. Examples of Real Possessions Caused by the Devil . . . 119 XXV. Continuation of the Same Subject . . . 123 XXVI. Objections Against the Obsessions and Possessions of Demons—Reply to the Objections . . . 128 XXVII. Further Objections Against Possessions and Replies to Those Objections . . . 132 XXVIII. Of Familiar Spirits . . . 138 XXIX. Other Examples of Elves . . . 142 XXX. Spirits That Guard Hidden Treasure . . . 149 XXXI. Instances of Hidden Treasures Guarded by Spirits . . . 153 XXXII. Apparitions That Predict Unknown Events . . . 156 XXXIII. Other Apparitions of Spectres . . . 159 XXXIV. Examination of the Apparition of a Pretended Spectre . . . 163 XXXV. Spectres That Haunt Houses . . . 165 XXXVI. More Cases of Spectres That Haunt Certain Houses . . . 170 XXXVII. Prodigious Effects of Imagination in Those Who Believe They Interact with Demons . . . 172 XXXVIII. Return and Apparitions of Souls After Death Proven from Scripture . . . 176 XXXIX. Apparitions of Spirits Proven from History . . . 180 XL. More Instances of Apparitions . . . 185 XLI. Apparitions of Spirits That Imprint Their Hands on Clothes or Wood . . . 190 XLII. Opinions of Jews, Greeks, and Latins Concerning the Dead Left Unburied . . . 195 XLIII. Messages or Revelations Given by the Dead to the Living . . . 201 XLIV. Apparitions of the Living to Other Living Men Over Long Distances . . . 204 XLV. Arguments Concerning Apparitions . . . 210 XLVI. Objections Against Apparitions and Replies to Those Objections . . . 221 XLVII. Additional Objections and Replies . . . 224 XLVIII. Secrets of Physics and Chemistry Mistaken for Supernatural Events . . . 229 XLIX. Conclusion of the Treatise on Apparitions . . . 232 L. Ways to Explain Apparitions . . . 235 LI. The Difficulty of Explaining How Apparitions Appear, Regardless of Proposed Systems . . . 241 XXXII. A Vroucolacan Exhumed in the Presence of M. de Tournefort . . . 304 XXXIII. Does the Demon Have the Power to Kill and Restore Life? . . . 308 XXXIV. Examination of the Opinion that the Demon Can Restore Life to a Dead Body . . . 310 XXXV. Instances of Phantoms Appearing to the Living and Showing Signs of Life . . . 313 XXXVI. The Practice of Devoting People to Death Among the Heathens . . . 314 XXXVII. Instances of Dooming to Death Among Christians . . . 317 XXXVIII. Instances of People Who Promised to Send News of Themselves from the Afterlife . . . 321 XXXIX. Extracts from the Political Works of the Abbe de St. Pierre . . . 325 XL. Various Systems for Explaining Ghosts . . . 331 XLI. Instances of People Buried Alive . . . 333 XLII. Instances of Drowned Persons Reviving . . . 335 XLIII. Instances of Women Believed Dead Who Came Back to Life . . . 337 XLIV. Applicability of These Cases to Hungarian Revenants . . . 339 XLV. Dead People Who Chew in Their Graves and Consume Their Own Flesh . . . 340 XLVI. Unique Case of a Hungarian Revenant . . . 341 XLVII. Arguments on This Subject . . . 343 XLVIII. Are Vampires or Revenants Truly Dead? . . . 344 XLIX. Case of a Man Named Curma Sent Back to This World . . . 351 L. Instances of People Entering Ecstatic Trances at Will and Remaining Senseless . . . 354 LI. Application of Such Cases to Vampires . . . 356 LII. Examination of the Theory that Demons Fascinate the Eyes of Those Who See Vampires . . . 360 LIII. Cases of Resurrected People Who Describe What They Saw in the Afterlife . . . 361 LIV. Pagan Traditions About the Afterlife Deriving from Hebrew and Egyptian Beliefs . . . 364 LV. Christian Accounts of Resurrected Persons Sent Back to This World, including the Vision of Vetinus, a Monk of Augia . . . 366 LVI. Vision of Bertholdas, as Reported by Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims . . . 368 LVII. Vision of St. Fursius . . . 369 LVIII. Vision of a Protestant from York and Other Cases . . . 371 LIX. Conclusion of the Dissertation . . . 374 LX. The Moral Impossibility of Ghosts Emerging from Their Tombs . . . 376 LXI. Challenges in Believing and Explaining Reports of Excommunicated People Leaving Churches . . . 378 LXII. Remarks on the Dissertation Concerning the Spirit at St. Maur des Fosses . . . 380 LXIII. Dissertation by an Anonymous Author on the Appearance of Spirits in Relation to the St. Maur Incident of 1706 . . . 387 Letters Letter from the Marquis Maffei on Magic . . . 407 Letter from Reverend Father Dom Calmet to M. Debure . . . 410 Tags Apparitions, spirits, ghosts, supernatural, supernatural phenomena, Christian theology, angels, angelology, demonology, demons, possession, exorcism, hauntings, revenants, vampires, undead, afterlife, resurrection, Biblical supernatural, Old Testament, New Testament, Bible, religious philosophy, theology, metaphysics, philosophy of spirits, Augustine Calmet, Henry Christmas, folklore, supernatural folklore, medieval mysticism, paganism, occult, occultism, magic, sorcery, witchcraft, witches, warlocks, alchemy, occult philosophy, oracles, ancient prophecy, divination, Egyptian magic, Chaldean magic, Greco-Roman myths, Roman religion, Greek mythology, Eastern mysticism, Oriental traditions, Islamic traditions, Judaic traditions, Jewish folklore, Islamic supernatural, cultural belief systems, ancient beliefs, ancient religions, Christianity, Christian doctrines, pagan practices, non-Christian religions, morality, spiritual beings, apparitions of the dead, apparitions of angels, apparitions of demons, miraculous events, mystical experiences, miracles, divine intervention, supernatural encounters, otherworldly, apparitional, demon possessions, religious exorcisms, spiritual possession, haunted places, haunted houses, spectral appearances, ghostly apparitions, mystical visions, supernatural visions, spirit world, mysticism, mystics, visionary experiences, medieval visions, religious visions, apparitional narrative...