What is the difference between ghosts and demons? Books, folklore and history reflect society's supernatural beliefs

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What is the difference between ghosts and demons? – Landon W., 15, The Colony, Texas

Belief in the spirit world is a key part of many faiths and religions. A 2023 study in 26 countries found that approx half of the respondents he believed in the existence of angels, demons, fairies and ghosts. A 2020 US survey found that approximately half of Americans believe it ghosts and demons are real.

While the topic of demons and ghosts can be frightening, the concepts themselves can be confusing: is there a difference between them?

Historically, communities have understood the supernatural according to their religious and spiritual traditions. For example, the scary ghosts from Pu Songling's movieStrange tales from a Chinese studio” work differently than those that haunt the works of William Shakespeare, even though both writers lived in the 17th century.

Literary depictions of ghosts and demons often reflect the anxieties of communities experiencing social, religious, or political upheaval. as researcher of early newfangled English literatureMy research focuses on how ordinary people in 16th and 17th century Europe used storytelling to cope with major social changes. This era, often called renaissancewas punctuated by the rise of mass media through print, the global spread of colonization, and the emergence of newfangled science and medicine.

Digging through literary archives can reveal people's ideas about demons and spirits and what makes them different.

Martin Luther and the Reformation

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther, a former law student and former monk, boldly published his Ninety-five theses. In it he rejected the promise of the Catholic Church that monetary payments to the church could shorten the life of the soul spent in purgatory. What began as a local protest in Wittenberg, Germany, soon engaged all major European powers in a life-and-death struggle over religious reform. Cities were besieged, landscapes burned, villages plundered.

This period, the so-called Reformationled to the creation of up-to-date Christian denominations. Among the early teachings of these Protestant churches was the edict that purgatory did not exist souls could not return to Earth haunt the living. Protestant reformers insisted that after death the soul should be judged immediately. The virtuous ascended to God in heaven; sinners burned in hell with the devil.

According to Protestants, ghosts were invented by Catholic priests to intimidate people into obedience. For example, the English translator of Ludwig Lavater's 1572 book “About ghosts and spirits walking at night” insists that ghosts are “Monkes lies or devils' illusions, mad imaginations, or other frivolous and vain beliefs.” If you ever encounter a “phenomenon”, you must call it out and show it for what it really is: a devil masquerading as a ghost.

Christopher Marlowe's play Doctor Faustus comments on these debates. A play written in the 1580s for a mainly Protestant audience contains a scene in which Dr. Faustus and his devilish companion Mephistopheles deceive the Pope by stealing his meal. A confused member of the papal court states that “it may be some spirit… who has come to beg Your Holiness for forgiveness.” However, viewers know perfectly well that these jokes are carried out by a necromancer and his demon.

A spooky haunting

Despite Protestantism's official position on ghosts, belief in them persisted popular imagination.

Archival records show that ordinary people cling to popular beliefs despite the orders of religious authorities. For example case book by richard napierastrologer doctor, gives several cases “spiritual” visitations.including a adolescent mother named Catherine Wells who was “tormented by the spirit” for three years.

Popular plays provide additional evidence. Shakespeare's “Hamlet” begins with a midnight visit the ghost of Hamlet's fathertelling his son that he cannot rest in peace until his murderer is brought to justice. Ghostly victims seeking justice appear in other Shakespeare plays, including in “Macbeth” and “Richard III”.

Cheap printinga form of collaborative media that capitalizes on public interest in the paranormal. Part entertainment, part journalism, economical printing, read by all sorts of people. A 1662 pamphlet titled “The strange and wonderful discovery of a terrible and cruel murder [murder]” describes Isabel Binnington's disturbing encounter with the ghost of Robert Eliot her testimonyclaims that Eliot's ghost promised he would never hurt her. He just wanted her to hear his story: he was murdered for money in the same house where she lived.

A broadside ballad from 1730 titled “Miracle in Suffolk” – performed to this day – tells the story of young lovers separated by an overprotective father. After taking his daughter away, her lover dies of a broken heart. When his ghost later appears to her, she “wants to see the joy of her heart.”

Demonic possession

Although Reformed Protestant thinkers rejected the existence of spirits, they enthusiastically accepted the reality of devils.

Reports of demonic possession were popular. Before ascending the English throne, King James VI of Scotland published: literary treatise on demonology in 1597. He claims that “the attacks of Satan are most certainly practiced” and that among us live “the abominable slaves of the Devil.”

The journals of English Puritans provide further evidence that beliefs about encounters with the devil were widespread. In the 1650s, the Calvinist preacher Thomas Hall insisted that this was his piety attracted Satan's attention like a moth to a candle. As he complained, from an early age he experienced “satanic attacks” and had terrifying dreams. However, he believed that surviving demonic temptation demonstrated his unwavering devotion to God.

Distinguishing ghosts from demons

Based on the literature, what conclusions can we draw about how people saw ghosts and demons?

Early newfangled people often portrayed ghosts as gloomy and pitiable. They were depicted as a spiritual remnant of a recently deceased person, haunting their friends and relatives – or sometimes a stranger. They retained some of their humanity and were psychologically connected to a place, such as their former home, or to a person, such as their most valued companion.

Demons, on the other hand, were almost always malicious impostors who served the Devil. Demons lacked knowledge of what it meant to be human. Hell was a place of demons. Early newfangled texts describe them visiting the earth plane to corrupt, possess, or tempt people to commit self-harm or violence against others.

Then, as now, stories about ghosts and demons aroused fear and wonder. Tales of the supernatural inspired the imagination of kings, theologians, playwrights and ordinary people.

Approaching the otherworldly topic with intellectual humility can spark a deeper curiosity about cultures across space and time. As Hamlet reflects on his friend after his encounter with his father's ghost: “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamed of in your philosophy.”

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