Everything about Enthusiasm totally explained
Enthusiasm (
enthousiasmos) originally meant
inspiration or
possession by a divine
afflatus or by the presence of a
god.
Johnson's Dictionary, the first comprehensive dictionary of the English language, divines
enthusiasm as "a vain belief of
private revelation; a vain confidence of divine favour or communication." In current English vernacular the word simply means intense
enjoyment,
interest, or
approval.
Historical usage
Enthusiasm (ἐνθουσιασμός) root - en-theos = in God. An
enthusiast is a person
inspired by god. *see:
Biblical inspiration - (
inspiration Greek - θεοπνευστος - Theopneustos = literally God breathed) When the early Christians would see someone convert to Christianity there was this overwhelming joy that followed the gift of
Salvation but they'd a problem there was no word to describe this feeling so they combined the two words (in God) creating the word (entheos) from which we get the English word Enthusiasm.
Its uses are confined to a belief in religious inspiration, or to intense religious fervour or
emotion. Thus a
Syrian sect of the
4th century was known as the Enthusiasts. They believed that by perpetual
prayer, ascetic practices and
contemplation, man could become [inspired] by the Holy Spirit, in spite of the ruling evil spirit, which the fall had given to him. From their belief in the efficacy of prayer, they were also known as
Euchites. Several
Protestant sects of the
16th and
17th centuries were called enthusiastic. During the years immediately following the
Glorious Revolution, "enthusiasm" was a British pejorative term for advocacy of any political or religious cause in public. Such "enthusiasm" was seen in the time around 1700 as the cause of the previous century's
English Civil War and its attendant atrocities, and thus it was an absolute social sin to remind others of the war by engaging in enthusiasm. The
Royal Society bylaws stipulated that any person discussing religion or politics at a Society meeting was to be summarily ejected for being an "enthusiast." During the
18th century, popular
Methodists such as
John Wesley or
George Whitefield were accused of blind enthusiasm (for example
fanaticism).
Modern usage
In modern ordinary usage, enthusiasm has lost its religious significance, and means a whole-hearted
devotion to an
ideal, cause, study or pursuit. Sometimes, in a depreciatory sense, it implies a devotion which is partisan and is blind to difficulties and objections.
Science-fiction writer
Thomas M. Disch once suggested that the mystical experiences of writer
Philip K. Dick might be described as a form of
enthousiasmos.
One might be said in modern terms to be enthusiastic if they're excited about what they might be engaged in.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Enthusiasm'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://enthusiasm.totallyexplained.com">Enthusiasm Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
