The concept of superstition in the text of early modern Catholic missionaries
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| Year of publication | 2023 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Early modern (but also much later) Christian missionaries in various areas frequently used the term superstitio to refer to the non-Christian religious traditions they encountered and interacted with, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and various folk religions. Although the modern reader may be tempted to see this term as a mere disparaging slur, it has in fact a specific and precisely defined meaning in the Catholic moral theology of the time. In this paper, I would like to analyze this concept in its historical context and to show how the use of the term reflects the interaction between Catholic Christianity and other religions in the context of early modern Christian missions in Asia. |
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