King's College, Diss.--London, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references and index.

Thesis (M.A.)--Trinity International University, 2001. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 219-240).

Thesis (M.A.)--Trinity International University, 2001. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 219-240).

The Roman idea of pietas was an important value during the Augustan revival of Rome in the first century. Ovid wrote about a unique ritual in the poem Fasti that focused on piety towards ancestors called Lemuria. The original meaning of the Lemuria ritual has changed through the centuries by the power of the Christian Church and modern Christian bias. The anachronistic language used in the translations of Ovid’s Fasti and the choice of words that historians have used to interpret it portrays the Lemuria in an occult-like expulsive way. The Lemuria is not comparable to Christian ritual as some have understood it. The Lemuria is simply a ritual of pietas, and Ovid’s version was to promote popular Roman moral values such as piety while gaining favor with Emperor Augustus.

The aim of this essay is to investigate how the solemn rite of exorcism manifests itself within the Roman Catholic Church based on The Roman Ritual: Exorcisms and certain supplications [ECS] (1999) as well as how the rite is communicated in the document. Therefore, the method used is critical hermeneutic analysis and thenceforth the results are analyzed according to Bronislaw Malinowski’s theory of magic, science and religion (1948). The study shows that the rite of major exorcism is explained with clarity in ECS and constantly imbedded in the theology and the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. ECS leaves little room for the executive priest to interpret the execution of the rite. The scripture is very clear that the rite must follow a specific order of events and that some prayers and hymns are mandatory while others can be replaced since ECS clearly states that every solemn exorcism is unique due to the individual receiving the exorcism. Furthermore, ECS clearly states that the church will not perform an exorcism if there is any doubt that the troubled person really is possessed by the Devil or his demons, for in which case the medical science must attend.

The present thesis focuses on the topic of exorcism in the Synoptic Gospels. The introductory chapters characterize the practice of exorcism in the cultures of antiquity and Judaism, clarifying some of the specific emphases of these rituals. It then introduces the perspective of the New Testament on the subject, including a short list of terminology related to the designation of the enemy of God in the synoptics. Separate chapters are dedicated to Jesus' statements about exorcism, exorcism narratives and general reports. Each chapter treats in great detail the different exegeses, and the relevant terminological and stylistic peculiarities. The merits of the individual findings, which are summarized in the concluding chapter, are duly assessed from several perspectives, primarily biblical theology, but also underscoring some issues concerning pastoral theology and the practical applications of these findings.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of History, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 42-46).

This essay aims to explore and answer if the horror movies about exorcism stays true to the historical practices of the ritual. Or if the creators of these films made it all up. But also to see how the ritual has been portrayed in these movies over the years. Therefore I chose to analyse four different movies that is in different historic periods of the horror movie genre. Among these movies is the classic movie that started it all, The Exorcist. The other movies is representing periods that came after, with this essay we can also gather how society sees the rite of exorcism. The essay is going to present the history of the ritual, the various symptoms of possession and the classifications of getting an approved exorcism. We will focus on the roman-catholic tradition of this ritual, mainly because it is the version that the movies take most of their inspiration from.

<p>Uppsatsen Präster, psykiatriker och demoner – En religionspsykologisk studie kring besatthet och exorcism, och användning av exorcism som en möjlig behandlingsmetod skildrar och analyserar frågan kring och om exorcism kan ha en användbar funktion inom modern psykologi och psykiatri. Problem och möjliga fördelar med exorcism som en möjlig behandlingsmetod för psykisk störning studeras. Kan en sådan värdeladdad företeelse ha en plats i det moderna samhället och</p><p>inom vården? Inledande i uppsatsen ges en inblick i främst de katolska föreställningarna som rör besatthet och exorcism. Efter det inledande kapitlet ges en kort översikt av exorcismens historia, och den katolska kyrkans regelverk för bedömning av besatthet,och den själva utdrivningsritualen presenteras kort utifrån Rituale Romanum, den katolska kyrkans ritualbok. Även Vatikanens uppdatering av ritualen kring exorcism från 1999 skildras. I uppdateringen ska hänsyn till modern psykologi, psykiatri och medicin tas, men djävulen är självfallet samtidigt en realitet.I uppsatsens analys presenteras det valda internationella och svenska materialet som studerats. Besatthet och exorcism behandlas utifrån en inblick i problemen och</p><p>debatten som rör företeelsernas plats inom vården och samhället.</p><p>Diagnosproblematik, problem kring tro och vetande, och möjliga fördelar och belastningar med exorcism som en möjlig behandlingsmetod tas upp. I uppsatsens slutsatser konstateras att en öppenhet för alla aspekter av fenomenet är viktigt för att bästa vård och hjälp ska kunna ges. Många aspekter måste tas i beaktning, och det är viktigare att hitta bästa lösningen på patientens problem än att bara se till egna åskådningar och förhållningssätt. Slutsatsen dras att för att kunna hjälpa någon som är i behov av psykisk vård och samtidigt rör sig inom en speciell religiös föreställningsvärld under speciella omständigheter kan exorcism vara en möjlig del av vården under kontrollerade former. Uppsatsens författare anser dock att exorcism och besatthet fortfarande kommer att vara mycket kontroversiellt och värdeladdat för många även om psykvården skulle ge ett erkännande av begreppet ”besatthet” som en diagnos och exorcism som en möjlig behandlingsmetod.</p>

This study examines how two writers deal with demonic possession and exorcism in their written works that both have a common theme, the same alleged case of possession and exorcism. By comparing these written works I explore if the authors share any common or varying theories on possession and exorcism and investigate if the common theme of the two books has contributed to the authors writing similar books.My results show that the two authors deal with demonic possession and exorcism differently, one has theological views of the phenomena but is sceptical of their role in the alleged case, whilst the other believes that demonic possession and exorcism can be explained using scientific theories and that they are phenomena that played a part in the alleged case. The two books are quite different. I conclude that both writers’ theories of the phenomena are dependent on the existence of the phenomenon of religion.