Blasphemies of Thomas Aikenhead

Blasphemies of Thomas Aikenhead
Author :
Publisher : Edinburgh University Press
Total Pages : 192
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780748634279
ISBN-13 : 0748634274
Rating : 4/5 (79 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Blasphemies of Thomas Aikenhead by : Michael F. Graham

Download or read book Blasphemies of Thomas Aikenhead written by Michael F. Graham and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2008-10-30 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first modern book-length study of the case of Thomas Aikenhead, the sometime University of Edinburgh student who in 1697 earned the unfortunate distinction of being the last person executed for blasphemy in Britain.Taking a micro-historical approach, Michael Graham uses the Aikenhead case to open a window into the world of Edinburgh, Scotland and Britain in its transition from the confessional era of the Reformation and the covenants, which placed high emphasis on the defence of orthodox belief, to the polite, literary world of the Enlightenment, of which Edinburgh would become a major centre. Graham traces the roots of the Aikenhead case in seventeenth-century Scotland and the law of blasphemy which was evolving in response to the new intellectual currents of biblical criticism and deism. He analyzes Aikenhead's trial and the Scottish government's decision to uphold the sentence of hanging. Finally, he details the debate engendered by the execution, carried out in a public sphere of pri


Blasphemies of Thomas Aikenhead Related Books