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

Front Cover
Yale University Press, 2008 - Biography & Autobiography - 326 pages

Theophrastus von Hohenheim (1493-1541), 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.

From inside the book

Contents

Life and Labour
1
The Power of Print
34
The Sources of Dissent
70
Copyright

4 other sections not shown

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2008)

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

Bibliographic information