Johnstone, Nathan

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Johnstone, Nathan

PERSONAL:

Male.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Canterbury Christ Church University, North Holmes Rd., Canterbury, Kent CT1 1QU, England.

CAREER:

Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury, Kent, England, history faculty member.

WRITINGS:

The Devil and Demonism in Early Modern England, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

A history department faculty member at Canterbury Christ Church University in England, Nathan Johnstone is the author of The Devil and Demonism in Early Modern England. Covering the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century years from the English Reformation through the English Civil War, the book is a detailed study of the changing perception of the devil from a physical being that acts as an enemy of God and humans to a much more subtle kind of spirit that invades the souls of people to tempt them in insidious ways. The fear of an individual devil thus transforms into a broader form of demonism, and the message the church adopts becomes more powerful because Satan, now residing within all people, becomes harder to overcome; thus, the need for a guiding clergy becomes more essential.

David Parnham, writing a review for Church History, elaborated: "So conceived, the Devil premises the urgency with which self-surveillance be undertaken, for it is known that insidious temptation might be confronted at life's very next turn and, once experienced, might proceed to orchestrate the variously criminal, blasphemous, heretical, or rebellious outcomes in which the subversion of the self is most execrably demonstrated." This shift had broad implications in England at a time when conflict between Protestants and Catholics was at a high point. Protestants, for example, claimed that the devil had infiltrated the Roman Catholic Church, and that dancing, theater, and other forms of entertainment were influenced by Satan. The notion of demonism entered the common literature, including religious pamphlets, and even affected religious ceremonies, such as the practice of exorcism within the Sarum rite. The English church, remarked Jonathan Wright in a Canadian Journal of History review, "objected to … the notion that his [Satan's] blandishments could be neutralized by a single, straightforward ritual gesture. Instead, those of reformed sympathies envisioned a lifelong struggle."

The role of priests evolved, too, from intermediaries between people and the powers of heaven and hell to the role of spiritual counselors, advising their flocks on how to resist temptations and lead more godly lives. Furthermore, there were psychological implications following the shift toward demonism and the idea of internal temptations. Such challenges were actually viewed as a positive by those who considered themselves among the so-called godly elect. The reasoning was that Satan was, in a way, actually flattering his targets for temptation because the devil would be most interested in corrupting the more saintly individuals; the elect could also take comfort in knowing that they were the most treasured people of God, who would not permit them to become Satan's victims. Interestingly, Johnstone goes so far as to implicate the shift toward a belief in demonism as causing war in England. Historian contributor Amy Rebok Rosenthal noted: "Johnstone suggests that the common experience of temptation created a thread that bound English Protestants together and propelled them into the religious and political conflicts that led to the Civil War."

Critics of The Devil and Demonism in Early Modern England appreciated the work for its unique perspective on history and for addressing a little-discussed topic. Parnham remarked that "Johnstone's resolve to get to grips with the experience of ‘demonism’ is to be welcomed. This book takes us beyond the polemical and bifurcating valence of the diabolic, treating its subject with illuminating precision and subtlety, and offering some sensitive insights into the explanatory resources of demonic language." Rosenthal believed that readers less familiar with English history of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries might struggle with the work, but she asserted that "Johnstone's book occupies an important place within the historiography of early modern England."