Thursday, October 29, 2015

Strange Histories:

Strange Histories: The trail of the pig, the walking dead, and other matters of fact from the medieval and Renaissance worlds By: Darren Oldridge
Non-fiction: History, Paranormal, Religion 175 pages
Book Count: 47

This book is about many unusual beliefs that people had in the Middle ages and during the Renaissance, and how given their world view and what the knew to be true, all of these things were logical.  It also talks about how this relates to things that we now think are logical or facts my be based more on world view and not scientific facts.  It deals with the arguments that people had over details for these things and how they were thought out and logical given what they knew.  For example, devils flying witches to locations was seen as more likely then them traveling there in spirit. Because, in the Bible it says the Devil transported Jesus to the top of the Temple, so demons must be able to move  matter.  And as only God has the power of life and death, removing a soul from a body was argued to also be something that only God can do.  So while a modern person might see the inverse as more logical, because it doesn't go against the rules for flight and many people have heard of out-of-body experiences, medieval people had logical reasons for coming to a conclusion that people today see as strange and unbelievable.

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