Intergalactic Medicine Show interviews James Morrow
Among contemporary writers, James Morrow is one of the most intelligent, most imaginative, and also one of the funniest. In this new interview he discusses his most recent novel, The Last Witchfinder, which is about one woman’s crusade to bring down the 1604 Witchcraft Statute of James I and help usher in the Age of Reason.
Here’s one interesting bit: “Yes, there is also some demonology in the Old Testament, but we find it largely in the famous translation authorized by James I, who fancied himself an expert demonologist, even wrote a book on the subject. The King James Bible was translated by witch believers, and this state of mind influenced many of their word choices. Think about that notorious line from Exodus, ‘Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.’ Today a Hebrew scholar would translate it in much more innocuous terms. It would come out something like, ‘Thou shalt not provide a fortune-teller with his means of livelihood.'”
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