The Pursuit Of The Millennium
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The Pursuit Of The Millennium
''The Pursuit of the Millennium: Revolutionary Millenarians and Mystical Anarchists of the Middle Ages'' (1957, revised and expanded in 1970) is Norman Cohn's study of millenarian cult movements. Covering a wide span of time, Cohn's book discusses topics such as anti-Semitism and the Crusades, in addition to such sects as the Brethren of the Free Spirit, flagellants, the Anabaptists, and the Ranters. ''The Pursuit of the Millennium'' concludes with a discussion of the theocratic king John of Leiden, who took over the city of Münster in 1534. Legacy People influenced by ''The Pursuit of the Millennium'' include the French Marxist philosopher and writer Guy Debord, who considered the chiliastic cults discussed by Cohn something of a model for the Situationist International, and British author Richard Webster. Webster wrote that he was impressed by the book, and that it led him to read Cohn's other works, including ''Warrant for Genocide'' and ''Europe's Inner Demons''. Reading those ...
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Norman Cohn
Norman Rufus Colin Cohn British Academy, FBA (12 January 1915 – 31 July 2007) was a British Academia, academic, historian and writer who spent 14 years as a professorial fellow and as Astor-Wolfson Professor at the University of Sussex. Life Cohn was born in London, to a German Jewish father and a Catholic mother. He was educated at Gresham's School"Norman Cohn: Historian who drew parallels between apocalyptic medieval movements and Marxism and Nazism", obituary in ''The Guardian'', 9 August 2007. and Christ Church, Oxford. According to the Italian scholar Lorenzo Ferrari, "Cohn grew up feeling ‘a man between all worlds’ with his German-Jewish surname, his mother’s Catholic faith (although she never had him baptised), and his numerous German relatives". He was a scholar and research student at Christ Church between 1933 and 1939, taking a first-class degree in Modern Languages in 1936 (French) and in 1939 (German). He served for six years in the British Army, being commiss ...
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Richard Webster (British Author)
Richard Webster (17 December 1950 – 24 June 2011) was a British author. His five published books deal with subjects such as the controversy over Salman Rushdie's novel ''The Satanic Verses'' (1988), Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis, and the investigation of sexual abuse in Britain. Born in Newington, Kent, Webster studied English literature at the University of East Anglia and lived in Oxford, England. He became interested in the problem of false allegations partly due to reading the work of historian Norman Cohn. In ''A Brief History of Blasphemy'' (1990), Webster discussed the Muslim response to ''The Satanic Verses'' and argues against unrestricted freedom of speech. The book was praised by Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury. In Webster's subsequent book ''Why Freud Was Wrong'' (1995), he argued that Freud became a Messiah figure and that psychoanalysis is a disguised continuation of the Judaeo-Christian tradition. The book was praised by several commentators. In ' ...
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1957 Non-fiction Books
1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year of the 1950s decade. Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be dismissed for having '' handled the ball'', in Test cricket. * January 9 – British Prime Minister Anthony Eden resigns. * January 10 – Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. * January 11 – The African Convention is founded in Dakar. * January 14 – Kripalu Maharaj is named fifth Jagadguru (world teacher), after giving seven days of speeches before 500 Hindu scholars. * January 15 – The film ''Throne of Blood'', Akira Kurosawa's reworking of '' Ma ...
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Christian Anarchism
Christian anarchism is a Christian movement in political theology that claims anarchism is inherent in Christianity and the Gospels. It is grounded in the belief that there is only one source of authority to which Christians are ultimately answerable—the authority of God as embodied in the teachings of Jesus. It therefore rejects the idea that human governments have ultimate authority over human societies. Christian anarchists denounce the state, believing it is violent, deceitful and, when glorified, idolatrous. Christian anarchists hold that the "Reign of God" is the proper expression of the relationship between God and humanity. Under the "Reign of God", human relationships would be characterized by divided authority, servant leadership, and universal compassion—not by the hierarchical, authoritarian structures that are normally attributed to religious social order. Most Christian anarchists are pacifists who reject war and the use of violence. More than any other Bibl ...
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A Brief History Of Blasphemy
''A Brief History of Blasphemy: Liberalism, Censorship and the Satanic Verses'' is a 1990 book by Richard Webster, in which the author discusses the controversy over Salman Rushdie's novel ''The Satanic Verses'' (1988). Webster critiques the freedom to blaspheme, and argues against ''The Crime of Blasphemy'' (which advocated the abolition of Britain's blasphemy laws "without replacement"). Summary Webster notes that he named the book after the fourth section of ''The Crime of Blasphemy'', a pamphlet issued by the International Committee for the Defence of Salman Rushdie and his Publishers, and that his work is influenced by Karen Armstrong's ''Holy War'' (1988) and Norman Cohn's books ''The Pursuit of the Millennium'' (1957), ''Warrant for Genocide'' (1967), and '' Europe's Inner Demons'' (1975). He also approvingly cites Muslim writer Shabbir Akhtar's ''Be Careful With Muhammad!'' (1989). Webster describes ''A Brief History of Blasphemy'' as "an attempt to show, without ever ...
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The Powers Of Evil In Western Religion And Folk Belief
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with pronouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of pronoun ''thee'') when followed by a v ...
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Richard Cavendish (occult Writer)
Richard Cavendish (12 August 1930 – 21 October 2016) was a British historian who was considered Britain's foremost authority on the subjects of occultism, religion, the tarot, and mythology. Personal life Cavendish was born in 1930 at Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, the son of a Church of England clergyman. He lived with his partner in the United States for eight years, in New York City and Los Angeles. His daughter is the journalist and life peer Camilla Cavendish, Baroness Cavendish of Little Venice. Career Cavendish was educated at Christ's Hospital and at Brasenose College, Oxford, where he specialized in medieval studies. He wrote both on the political and social history of Great Britain and on the history of folk magic and occultism in the British Isles and Europe. Among his best-known works are ''The Black Arts: A Concise History of Witchcraft, Demonology, Astrology, and Other Mystical Practices Throughout the Ages'', ''The Tarot'', ''A History of Magic'', and the ...
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Apocalyptic Religion And The Death Of Utopia
Apocalyptic is from the word apocalypse, referring to the end of the world. Apocalyptic may also refer to: * Apocalyptic literature, a genre of religious writing * Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, a subgenre of science fiction, science fantasy or horror fiction involving global catastrophic risk * Apocalypticism Apocalypticism is the religious belief that the Eschatology, end of the world is imminent, even within one's own lifetime. This belief is usually accompanied by the idea that civilization will soon come to a tumultuous end due to some sort of c ..., the belief that the end of time is near * ''Apocalyptic'' (album), a 2010 album by the Swedish death metal band Evocation * "Apocalyptic" (song), a 2015 song by the American hard rock band Halestorm See also * Apocalypse (other) {{dab ...
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John Gray (philosopher)
John Nicholas Gray (born 17 April 1948) is an English political philosopher and author with interests in analytic philosophy, the history of ideas, and philosophical pessimism. He retired in 2008 as School Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Gray contributes regularly to ''The Guardian'', ''The Times Literary Supplement'' and the ''New Statesman'', where he is the lead book reviewer. He is an atheist. Gray has written several influential books, including '' False Dawn: The Delusions of Global Capitalism'' (1998), which argues that free market globalization is an unstable Enlightenment project currently in the process of disintegration; '' Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals'' (2002), which attacks philosophical humanism, a worldview which Gray sees as originating in religions; and '' Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia'' (2007), a critique of utopian thinking in the modern world. Gray sees ...
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Europe's Inner Demons
''Europe's Inner Demons: An Enquiry Inspired by the Great Witch-Hunt'' is a historical study of the beliefs regarding European witchcraft in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe, with particular reference to the development of the witches' sabbat and its influence on the witch trials in the Early Modern period. It was written by the English historian Norman Cohn, then of the University of Sussex, and first published by Sussex University Press in association with Heinemann (publisher), Heinemann Educational Books in 1975. It was released as a part of a series of academic books entitled 'Studies in the Dynamics of Persecution and Extermination' that were funded by the Columbus Centre and edited by Cohn himself. Within the book, Cohn argues that there never were any Devil-worshipping witches in Early Modern Europe, and that all of those persecuted for being so were innocent. In this he specifically rejects the Witch-cult hypothesis put forward by English scholar Margaret Murray, whic ...
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Warrant For Genocide
''Warrant for Genocide: The Myth of the Jewish World-Conspiracy and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion'', by Norman Cohn, is a critical work about ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion''. This scholarly book explores the history, origin, and worldwide dissemination of this notorious, antisemitic plagiarism, literary forgery, and hoax. See also * '' A Brief History of Blasphemy'' References * *Scholarly journal review: Philip Mason Man, New Series, Vol. 2, No. 3 (September, 1967), pp. 474–475, , ''Journal Information for Man'', Publisher: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) is a long-established anthropological organisation, and Learned Society, with a global membership. Its remit includes all the component fields of anthropology, such as biolo ..., ; ; LCCN: sn99-23436 1966 non-fiction books Books about antisemitism Protocols of the Elders of Zion {{lit-b ...
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