Paracelsus : Medicine, Magic and Mission at the End of Time

by Charles Webster

• ISBN13: 9780300139112
• ISBN10: 030013911X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2008-12-16
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

Theophrastus von Hohenheim (14931541), better known as Paracelsus, was a physician, natural magician, radical activist of the early Reformation, and commentator on the social and religious issues of his day. This elegantly written book is the defining account of the man known as "Paracelsus the Great." Drawing on the whole range of relevant manuscript and printed sources, Charles Webster considers Paracelsus's life and works, explores his advocacy for total reform of the clerical, legal, and medical professions, and describes his precise expectations for the Christian church of the future, focusing on his affinity with the spiritualist Anabaptists. The author concludes with the apocalyptic speculations of Paracelsus, who vividly portrayed the sense of endtime crisis that constituted one of the defining characteristics of his era.

Author Biography

Charles Webster is emeritus fellow of All Souls College, Oxford.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. ix
Preface and Acknowledgements	p. xi
Life and Labour	p. 1
The Power of Print	p. 34
The Sources of Dissent	p. 70
Call of the New	p. 98
Matter and Magic	p. 131
Radical Reform	p. 169
Endzeit	p. 210
Conclusions: The Way to God	p. 244
Notes	p. 252
Select Bibliography	p. 301
Index	p. 315
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