Edward Levack's Primary Focus Of Culture

The thesis of this article was the Levack, although he made valid points, his primary focus of culture caused him to overlook other important factors that influence exorcisms. Edward Bever is the author of this book review that I decided to use as my source. The main focus of this piece was discussing how Levack successfully uses seven important points to discuss the history of possession and exorcism. The first point being that the early modern period broadcasted phenomena in the Christian world. Second, there were evident links between demonic possession and witchcraft persecutions. Third, some cases of possession were dishonest, while others could have been blamed on illness. Fourth, that incidences of possession varied between the different Christian faiths. Fifth, that behavior shown by demoniacs were portrayed in scripts that the participants had previous knowledge to. Sixth, shows how possession and exorcisms emitted an air of illegitimacy. Finally, the seventh point was, that stress and anxiety can often affect the body in a way that one may seem as if they are showing signs of possession.
One does not necessarily have to read the book that Bever is critiquing in order to get the jist of it; however, I would have to say that this might have been a confusing read for an individual who did not have any previous knowledge about possession or exorcisms (specifically if one does not know what an exorcism is). Another weakness to this piece I would have have to say is the Bever seems as if he is almost attacking Levack’s claims directly, but is sometimes unclear as to why he