ABSTRACT

The magician compels, the miracle-worker asks for help and knows that it is God alone who decides. The difficulty in applying the distinction between 'magic' and 'religion' to particular individuals and groups must be borne in mind when we consider the 'Reformation onslaught' on priests as professional magicians set apart by celibacy and ritual consecration. It was certainly in the interest of the Reformers, if not to embrace outright Cessationism, at least to play down the role of miracles in the post-biblical period. It was the Reformers who insisted upon the manipulation of minds by a 'priestly class' who claimed to be the officially sanctioned mediators of God's power which was available to all through Holy Scripture. The watch is a self-sufficient piece of craftsmanship that can proceed of its own accord. The Enlightenment is not short of enthusiasm for the physical universe taken as a whole.