Showing results for "Satan" in Other Religions, Practices & Sacred Texts

During the bleak winter of 1692 in the rigid Puritan community of Salem Village, Massachusetts, a group of young girls began experiencing violent fits, allegedly tormented by Satan and the witches who worshipped him. From the girls' initial denouncing of an Indian slave, the accusations soon multiplied. In less than two years, 19 men and women were hanged, one was pressed to death, and over a hundred others were imprisoned and impoverished. This evenhanded and now-classic history illuminates the horrifying episode with visceral clarity.

Many have claimed for Freemasonry a heritage that has been traced to biblical times and involved many historical celebrities. In this acerbic essay, religious scholar Joseph McCabe reveals that this tradition actually commenced with the guilds in the Middle Ages, and that it inevitably attracted the hostility of the Catholic Church because of its populist and atheistic leanings. He also shows that Freemasons were significant players in the struggle for democracy which eroded the power of popes and princes.