With its exploration of demons 鈥� including disembodiment, exorcism, and demonic sacrifice 鈥� Travis Proctor鈥檚 debut scholarly book, Demonic Bodies and the Dark Ecologies of Early Christian Culture, (Oxford University Press, May 2022), just might be the perfect Halloween read.
Proctor, 性视界 assistant professor of religion, has long been fascinated by demons and interested in early Christian cultures, particularly the many diverse ways early Christians portrayed demons.
鈥淭he belief in demons is something that goes back to the very roots of the Christian tradition (Jesus is said to have cast out demons, according to the Gospels), and yet early Christians offered diverse, even contradictory, portrayals of what constituted the physical nature of demons,鈥� Proctor said.
In his book, Proctor draws upon critical theories such as environmental humanities, disability studies, and gender studies, 鈥淕nostic鈥� writings, and case studies on New Testament texts to examine the debate over whether or not demons have physical bodies or exist only as 鈥渆thereal entities.鈥�
He discovered that 鈥渄emons consistently functioned as personifications of 鈥榙eviant鈥� bodily practices, including 鈥榤agical鈥� rituals, immoral sexual acts, gluttony, and 鈥榩agan鈥� religious practices.鈥�
He also realized 鈥渢hat the diversity in Christian understandings of demonic had much to tell us about other issues that were 鈥榟aunting鈥� Christians: debates over gender, religious difference, and proper Christian practice among them.鈥� With those debates continuing today, he believes his book is important and relevant to a contemporary audience.
鈥淔or early Christians, my book argues that religious deviation, alternative gender roles, and/or improper religious practices were things that 鈥榟aunted鈥� some Christians with a presence that they feared, and this was expressed through the ways that they portrayed demons in their world,鈥� Proctor said. 鈥淪imilarly, ghost stories often serve that function in our contemporary culture 鈥� it is why some scholars have argued that oppressed and marginalized peoples such as slaves and indigenous Americans often frequent our ghost stories 鈥� they are presences that our cultures have not fully grappled with, yet fear the implications of, which ultimately gets expressed through their 鈥榟aunting鈥� of our towns and homes.鈥�
To help the students in his Demons, Angels, and Ghosts course think about what 鈥渉aunts鈥� our culture today, Proctor recently took them on a ghost tour through historic downtown Springfield to hear tales of local legends, mystery, and folklore. The tour was offered by the National Trail Parks and Recreation District in partnership with the Springfield Arts Council.
Proctor challenges his students to think about the following questions: 鈥淲hat parts of our culture or society are often 鈥榙emonized鈥�? How does portraying a person or community as 鈥榙emonic鈥� often make those people liable to violent treatment?
鈥淚 hope the book will inspire readers to ask those kinds of questions about their own communities, and so uncover what issues might be 鈥榟aunting鈥� our world today.鈥�
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