View source for Draft:Superstitions in Christian societies

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*To be expanded<ref>{{Cite web|last=Anele|first=Douglas|date=2021-04-25|title=Reality versus illusion: How religion poisons everything (1)|url=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/04/reality-versus-illusion-how-religion-poisons-everything-1/|access-date=2021-10-06|website=Vanguard News|language=en-US}}</ref>,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Anele|first=Douglas|date=2021-05-02|title=Reality versus illusion: How religion poisons everything (2)|url=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/05/reality-versus-illusion-how-religion-poisons-everything-2/|access-date=2021-10-06|website=Vanguard News|language=en-US}}</ref>,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Anele|first=Douglas|date=2021-05-13|title=Reality versus illusion: How religion poisons everything(3)|url=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/05/reality-versus-illusion-how-religion-poisons-everything3/|access-date=2021-10-06|website=Vanguard News|language=en-US}}</ref>, <ref>{{Cite web|last=Anele|first=Douglas|date=2021-05-16|title=Reality versus illusion: How religion poisons everything (4)|url=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/05/reality-versus-illusion-how-religion-poisons-everything-4/|access-date=2021-10-06|website=Vanguard News|language=en-US}}</ref>, <ref>{{Cite news|last=Berkhead|first=Samantha|date=November 4, 2020|title=Practical Magic: How Russia's Ancient Witchcraft Traditions Continue to Thrive|work=The Moscow Times|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/10/31/practical-magic-how-russias-ancient-witchcraft-traditions-continue-to-thrive-a71919|access-date=October 4, 2021 }}</ref>, <ref>Claudia Stella Valeria Geremia, [https://www.revistas.usach.cl/ojs/index.php/rivar/article/download/5417/26004096/ Plague and Superstition in the Canary Islands: Inquisitorial Trials (1523-1532)], RIVAR Vol. 9, nº 25, 77-92, enero 2022 , ISSN 0719-4994  Artículo de investigación   https://doi.org/10.35588/rivar.v9i25.5417</ref>, <ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-11-23 |title=A spiritual newspaper in Kerala has become the subject of funny memes: Here's why |url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/spiritual-newspaper-kerala-has-become-subject-funny-memes-here-s-why-170226 |access-date=2022-12-24 |website=The News Minute |language=en}}</ref>, <ref>{{Cite web |last=Segarra |first=Edward |title=Jinger Duggar Vuolo opens up about 'harmful' religious beliefs: 'Fear was a huge part' |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2023/01/18/jinger-duggar-vuolo-memoir-breaking-free-harmful-religious-beliefs/11076543002/ |access-date=2023-04-26 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref>
According to David Bailey, it was with [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]]'s usage of the word Magic that came close to  [[superstition]]. The charge of being superstitious was first leveled by Roman authorities on their Christian subjects. In turn early Christian writers pronounced all Roman and Pagan cults to be superstitious, and worshiping false Gods,  [[fallen angel]]s and demons. With Christian usage, almost all forms of magic became forms of superstition .<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=MARTIN|first=Dale B.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fjTU6YmauZwC|title=Inventing Superstition|date=2009-06-30|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-04069-4|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Cotterill|first=Aden|date=2020-12-21|title=Why are Christians susceptible to conspiracy theories?|url=https://www.abc.net.au/religion/why-are-christians-susceptible-to-conspiracy-theories/13003550|access-date=2021-01-04|website=ABC Religion & Ethics|language=en}}</ref>

One view, first propounded by [[The Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment philosophers]], asserts that the Church's doctrines are entirely superstitious and have hindered the progress of civilization. [[Communist states]] have made similar arguments in their education in order to inculcate a negative view of Catholicism (and religion in general) in their citizens. The most famous incidents cited by such critics are the Church's condemnations of the teachings of [[Copernicus]], [[Galileo Galilei]] and [[Johannes Kepler]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}}

Because of the focus on reason over superstition, the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] cultivated the arts.<ref>David Beard and Kenneth Gloag, ''Musicology, The Key Concepts'' (New York: Routledge, 2005), 58.</ref> Emphasis on learning, art and music became more widespread, especially with the growing middle class. Areas of study such as literature, philosophy, science, and the fine arts increasingly explored subject matter to which the general public, in addition to the previously more segregated professionals and patrons, could relate.<ref>J. Peter Burkholder, Donald J. Grout and Claude V. Palisca, ''A History of Western Music, Seventh Edition'', (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2006), 475.</ref>



<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Bailey, Michael David, 1971-|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/70267160|title=Magic and superstition in Europe : a concise history from antiquity to the present|date=2007|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Pub|isbn=978-0-7425-3386-8|location=Lanham|oclc=70267160}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Thampu|first=Valson|date=|others=Former principal of St Stephen’s College, New Delhi|title=Christians of Kerala, awake!|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/2019/dec/08/christians-of-kerala-awake-2073008.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-12-05|website=The New Indian Express}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Grantham-Philips|first=Wyatte|title=It's Friday the 13th. In 2020. Here's a brief history about the superstitious date and some hilarious tweets to get you through the day.|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/11/13/friday-13-superstitions-2020-history/6277960002/|access-date=2020-12-05|website=USA TODAY|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Briggs|first=Stacia|date=2020-10-24|title=How many of these common superstitions do you believe in?|url=https://www.edp24.co.uk/lifestyle/most-common-uk-superstitions-to-avoid-bad-luck-6400672|access-date=2020-12-05|website=Eastern Daily Press|language=en-UK}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-05-12|title=Busting the Myth of Friday the 13th and the Knights Templar|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2016/05/160512-friday-13-knights-templar-superstition/|access-date=2020-12-05|website=National Geographic News|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Bailey|first=Michael D.|title=The invention of satanic witchcraft by medieval authorities was initially met with skepticism|url=http://theconversation.com/the-invention-of-satanic-witchcraft-by-medieval-authorities-was-initially-met-with-skepticism-140809|access-date=2020-12-05|website=The Conversation|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Secular Web Kiosk: The Invention of Hell|url=https://infidels.org/kiosk/article/the-invention-of-hell-939.html|access-date=2021-07-08|website=infidels.org}}</ref>

László Sándor Chardonnens classifies [[Prophecy]] under topic of [[divination]];  examples being  the prophets of the [[Old Testament]], biblical typological allegory, the fifteen signs before [[Last Judgment|Judgement Day]], and the many prophecies expressed by saints.; Chardonnens further points out that since many aspects of religious experience are tied up with prophecy, church condones the same.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Chardonnens|first=L. S.|url=https://brill.com/view/book/9789047420422/Bej.9789004158290.i-608_006.xml|title=Chapter Four. Superstition and prognostication|date=2007-01-01|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-474-2042-2|language=en}}</ref> Chardonnens says, one could differentiate between those kinds of prophecy which are (1) inspired by God or Satan and their minions; (2) “gecyndelic”; and (3) “wiglung” examples —lacking divine or infernal inspiration and not “gecyndelic” either. But practically, however, most, if not all, words relating to prophecy ought to be interpreted as inspired.<ref name=":2" />

=== UK ===
In the UK there is a superstitious belief in the "[[Whistling#Cultural beliefs|Seven Whistlers]]" which are seven mysterious birds or spirits who call out to foretell death or a great calamity. In the 19th century, large groups of coal miners were known to have refused to enter the mines for one day after hearing this spectral whistling. The Seven Whistlers have been mentioned in literature such as ''[[The Faerie Queene]]'' by Edmund Spenser, as bearing an omen of death. [[William Wordsworth]] included fear of the Seven Whistlers in his poem, "Though Narrow Be That Old Man's Cares". The superstition has been reported in the [[Midlands]] of England but also in [[Lancashire]], Essex, [[Kent]], and even in other places such as North Wales and Portugal.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wright|first=Elizabeth Mary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rB1AAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA197|title=Rustic speech and folk-lore|publisher=H. Milford|year=1913|page=197}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=|title=The poetical works of William Wordsworth|publisher=William Paterson|year=1883|editor=William Knight|volume=4|location=Edinburgh|pages=73–76}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|date=October 3, 1874|title=Notes and Queries, Fifth series|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bdyx_f8TT6sC&pg=PA264|location=London|publisher=Oxford Journals, Oxford University|volume=2|page=264}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Taylor|first=Archer|date=April 1917|title=Three Birds of Ill Omen in British Folklore&nbsp;– III. The Seven Whistlers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rvVGAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA167|journal=Washington University Studies|location=St Louis, Missouri|publisher=Washington University|volume=IV|pages=167–173|number=2}}</ref>

== 2012 blasphemy case ==
{{See also|Blasphemy law}}{{Main|Weeping crucifix in Mumbai}}
In March 2012, [[Sanal Edamaruku]] investigated a report that a crucifix at Our Lady of Velankanni church in Mumbai was dripping water from the feet.<ref name="Interview">{{cite news|last=Shaffer|first=R|date=March–April 2013|title=Blasphemy, Free Speech, and Rationalism: An Interview with Sanal Edamaruku|publisher=[[The Humanist]]|url=http://thehumanist.org/march-april-2013/blasphemy-free-speech-and-rationalisman-interview-withsanal-edamaruku/|accessdate=2013-02-23}}{{cite news|date=March 2013|title=Blasfemia, libertad de expresión, y el racionalismo: Una entrevista con Sanal Edamaruku|work=[[The Humanist]]/Europa Laicismo|url=http://www.laicismo.org/detalle.php?pk=19330|accessdate=2013-02-23|archive-date=2013-02-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130223202114/http://www.laicismo.org/detalle.php?pk=19330|url-status=dead}}</ref> This incident, though not claimed by the Catholic Church as a miracle,<ref>{{cite web|title=PRESS STATEMENT ON MR. SANAL EDAMARUKU|url=http://archdioceseofbombay.org/news/diocesan/press-statement-mr-sanal-edamaruku}}</ref> was believed by locals to be one. Research by Edamaruku indicated that the dripping was caused by [[capillary action]] from a clogged drain..

Edamaruku mocked the Catholic Church, calling it "anti-science", and made fun of the [[Pope]], during his appearance on a television show held to discuss the investigation. A Catholic lawyer asked Edamaruku to apologise whilst on television, but he did not, so in April 2012, the [[Catholic Secular Forum]]<ref>{{cite news|last1=Dissanayake|first1=Samanthi|title=The Indian miracle-buster stuck in Finland|publisher=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26815298|accessdate=9 June 2016}}</ref> in [[Mumbai]] filed a complaint under [[Hate speech laws in India|Section 295(A)]] of the [[Indian Penal Code]] in several police stations around the city.<ref name="Interview" /><ref name="FIR">{{cite news|last=Ashley D'Mello & Vijay V Singh|date=16 April 2012|title=FIR against rationalist, cops call him for questioning|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-16/mumbai/31348993_1_fir-juhu-occ|accessdate=6 December 2013|archive-date=14 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214094628/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-16/mumbai/31348993_1_fir-juhu-occ|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[All India Catholic Union]] said the law was being applied incorrectly.<ref>{{cite AV media|title=A Rationalist Fights to Disprove Miracles in India|date=23 Nov 2012|publisher=Public Radio International|medium=Audio file}}</ref> [[Colin Gonsalves]], the founder of the India Center for Human Rights and Law, stated his opinion that no criminal offence had been committed.<ref name="IBNLive">{{cite news|last=Dube|first=Priyanka|date=4 December 2012|title=Indian rationalist stays in Finland fearing arrest for hurting religious sentiments|newspaper=[[IBNLive]]|url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/indian-rationalist-stays-in-finland-fearing-arrest-for-hurting-religious-sentiments/308704-2.html|accessdate=6 December 2013|archive-date=8 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121208055549/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/indian-rationalist-stays-in-finland-fearing-arrest-for-hurting-religious-sentiments/308704-2.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> There were further complaints that the law was being misused to suppress [[Freedom of speech|free speech]].<ref name="SamanthiDissanayake">{{cite news|last=Dissanayake|first=Samanthi|date=2 June 2014|title=The Indian miracle-buster stuck in Finland|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26815298|accessdate=4 June 2014}}</ref> Others spoke in his defense publicly, such as [[Vishal Dadlani]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Ghose|first=Sagarika|title=Support pours in for Indian rationalist forced to live in Finland fearing arrest|url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/support-pours-in-for-indian-rationalist-forced-to-live-in-finland-fearing-arrest/308896-2.html|accessdate=6 December 2013|publisher=CNN-IBN|archive-date=22 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131222102352/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/support-pours-in-for-indian-rationalist-forced-to-live-in-finland-fearing-arrest/308896-2.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[James Randi]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Randi|first=James|author-link=James Randi|title=A Matter of Very Great Concern|url=http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/1746-james-randi.html|accessdate=1 March 2014|publisher=JREF}}</ref> The [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay]] issued statements that called for Edamaruku to apologise and for the prosecution to drop the charges, although the Catholic Church is not associated with the criminal charges.<ref name="PRI">{{cite web|title=India TV's Great Tantra Challenge|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/bryantpark/2008/04/india_tvs_great_tantra_challen.html|accessdate=2008-05-06|publisher=[[National Public Radio]]}}</ref>

On 31 July 2012 Edamaruku moved to Finland. When fellow campaigner [[Narendra Dabholkar]] was murdered in 2013, Edamaruku felt returning could put his life in peril. Edamaruku said, "I would do it again. Because any miracle which has enormous clout at one moment, is simply gone once explained. It's like a bubble. You prick it and it is finished."<ref name="SamanthiDissanayake" />

== Quotes ==

*
* Verbal and plenary Inspiration compels us to accept as true: 1st. The account of the six days creations, with all their rude errors and singular misconceptions 2nd. The tree of knowledge, the apple and the fall. 3rd. Two statement's as Noah's ark, and the animals that entered it, utterly contradictory and both incredible. 4th The ingenious legend of the tower of Babel. 5th The literal version of the plagues of Egypt 6th. the crowded miracles of the Exodus 7th. The passage of the Red Sea, the sojurn in the desert and the establishment of  canaan ... Westminister Review XLVI, April 1863 p. 510 <ref name=":0">The Christian observer [afterw.] The Christian observer and advocate. United Kingdom, n.p, 1866.</ref>
* In the matter of doctrine three articles of faith have more than any other prevented the cordial and grateful reception of   ecclesiastical Christianity by the most pure and honest minds 1. Vicarious punishment 2. Salvation by faith 3. Eternal damnation ...and that no Christian or sensible man would teach them, were it not held that every text of Scripture is authentic, authoritative, indisputably true, and in some sense or other, inspired and divine"    ...Westminister Review XLVI, April 1863 p. 510<ref name=":0" />
*"..It must never be forgotten that, the most monstrous of Christian superstitions, the most grotesque of   Christian  miracles, and the most inhuman of Christian dogmas, find their prototype in the books of the Old and the New Testaments. Kings and Popes, witch finders and miracle mongers, may all plead their cause in words taken from that medley of documents, which, with much that is true, pathetic, and sublime, contains not a little that is false, inhuman, or immoral.." ...Westminister Review October 1865    p. 350<ref name=":0" />

== Good Friday superstitions ==
Expand<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-04-15 |title=Five Good Friday superstitions explained from hot cross buns to unlucky housework |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/good-friday-superstition-easter-explained-b2058749.html |access-date=2022-04-20 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Good Friday 2013: 5 Superstitions About the Christian Holiday |url=https://www.mic.com/articles/31483/good-friday-2013-5-superstitions-about-the-christian-holiday |access-date=2022-04-20 |website=Mic |language=en}}</ref>

Encyclopædia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World: Volume III. United States, University Press of the Pacific, 2003. Page 1527 

== prosperity gospel ==
Expand<ref>https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/45347/Kroesbergen_Superstition_2015.pdf?sequence=1</ref>


== In Popular culture ==

* https://www.scottishfield.co.uk/culture/books/when-superstition-was-at-its-peak-in-gripping-read/

== Bibliography ==
* Wheless, Joseph. Is It God's Word. United States, Cosimo, Incorporated, 2007.
* [https://theprint.in/india/cure-cancer-undo-death-punjabs-christian-prophet-pastors-offer-miracles-compete-with-deras/793074/ Sethi, Chitleen K. Cure cancer, undo death: Punjab’s Christian 'prophet, pastors' offer miracles, compete with deras,] The Print 11 January, 2022 
* Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church: Vol. 2. N.p., Bod Third Party Titles, 2022.
* Anderson, Lesley George. Baptism, Superstitions, and the Supernatural: A Caribbean Perspective. Jamaica, Christian Faith Publishing, Incorporated, 2022.
* Religion and Superstition in Reformation Europe. United Kingdom, Manchester University Press, 2002.

== See also ==

* As of now See also section includes broader topics too for searching related edits and invite recent editors of such topics for expansion of the article. We will revisit the list only before bringing article in article namespace so please don't hurry to reduce this list as of now. Please do join in expansion of the article thanks. 


*[[Snake handling in Christianity]]
* [[Malindi cult]]
* [[Knocking on wood]]
* [[Spilling water for luck]]
* [[Break a leg]]
*[[Burning bush]]
* [[Papal infallibility]]
* [[Miracle of the Sun]]
* [[:Category:Christian miracles]]
*[[Infallibility of the Church]]
*  [[Letter to a Christian Nation]]
*  [[Baruch Spinoza]]
*[[Index Librorum Prohibitorum]]
*[[List of authors and works on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum|List of authors and works on the ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum'']]
*[[Baruch Spinoza]]
*[[Christian mysticism]]
*[[Halloween]]
*[[Christianity by country]]
*[[Charismatic movement]]
*[[Luck|Luck#Christianity and Judaism]]
*[[Devil in Christianity]]
*[[Aries (journal)|''Aries'' (journal)]]
*''[[Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft]]''
*[[Superstition#Religion]]
*[[Christian culture]]
*[[Christianity and science]]
* [[Angel#Christianity]]
*[[Veneration#Christianity]]
*[[Canonization]]
*[[Beatification]]
*[[Feminist interpretations of the Early Modern witch trials]]
*[[Inquisition]]
*[[:Category:Early Modern witch hunts]]
*[[Christophany]]
*[[Fallen angel]]
*[[Salem witch trials]]
*[[Epiphany (holiday)|Epiphany]]
*[[Theophany#Christianity]]
*[[Last Judgment]]
*[[Transubstantiation]]
*[[Superstitions in Muslim societies]]

* [[Criticism of Christianity#Virgin%20Birth%20and%20descent%20of%20Jesus|Criticism  of Christianity#Virgin Birth and descent of Jesus]]
* [[Resurrection of Jesus]]
*[[Crossed fingers]]
*[[Holy water]]
*[[Sacrament]]
*[[Sign of the cross]]
*[[Orans]]

*
* [[Christian mythology]]
* [[Criticism of Christianity]]
* [[Iconophobia]]
* [[Christian  attitudes towards science]]
* [[Islamic mythology]]
* [[Christian view of miracles]]

* [[Jewish mythology]]
* [[Miracles of Jesus]]
* [[Predestination in Islam]]
* [[Psychology of religion and dreams#Christianity ]]
* [[Christianity and miracles]]
* [[Biblical literalism]]
* [[Biblical inerrancy]]
* [[Religious skepticism]]

* [[Superstition in Judaism]]
* [[Magic and religion]]
* [[Religion#Superstition]]
* [[Superstition#Superstition and religion]]
* [[An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture]]
* [[Biblical hermeneutics]]
* [[Biblical literalism]]
* [[Bibliolatry]]
* [[Christ myth theory]]
* [[Divine providence]]
* [[Historical criticism]]
* [[John Calvin's view of Scripture]]
* [[Quranic inerrancy]]
* [[Qur'anic literalism]]
* [[Religious skepticism]]
* [[Urtext (Biblical studies)]]
* [[Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible]]
* [[Biblical inerrancy]]
* [[Biblical infallibility]]
* [[Biblical literalism]]
* [[Bibliomancy]]
* [[Religious images in Christian theology]]
*[[Cult of personality]]
*[[Weeping crucifix in Mumbai]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==

* [https://www.theholidayspot.com/christmas/superstitions.htm Christmas Superstitions]
*[https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/christmas/sites/content/pages/superstitions.shtml Christmas superstitions]
*[https://www.auntyflo.com/superstition-dictionary/santa-claus-superstitions Santa Claus Superstitions]


{{Superstition}}Redirects and categories 

<blockquote>
* Christian superstitions  

* [[:Category:Christianity and society]]
</blockquote>
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