From: Sociology of Religion | Date: September 22, 1994| Author: | COPYRIGHT 1994 Association for the Sociology of Religion. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

Leonard Levy, in his encyclopedic survey of blasphemy persecutions, traces the gradual expansion of the term from its original Jewish meaning as a verbal abuse of God to a broader concept used to prosecute differences of religious opinion and offenses of religious sensibilities. The sweep of his discussion is impressive, encompassing blasphemy accusations against Socrates, Jesus, the Donatists (by Augustine of Hippo), George Fox, William Penn, Thomas Paine (and Richard Carlile for the printing of Paine's work), Charles Bradlaugh, as well as the more contemporary cases of Salmon ...