Editing Enthusiasm (section)

==Historical usage==
[[File:Camp meeting of the Methodists in N. America J. Milbert del M. Dubourg sculp (cropped).jpg|thumb|262px|Methodist preachers have been known for their enthusiasm in promulgating the doctrines of the [[Born again#Methodism|new birth]] and [[entire sanctification]] to the public at events such as [[tent revival]]s and [[camp meeting]]s, which they believe is the reason that God raised them up into existence.<ref name="Gibson">{{cite web|url=https://ucmpage.org/sgca/wesley01.htm|title=Wesleyan Heritage Series: Entire Sanctification|last=Gibson|first=James|publisher=South Georgia Confessing Association|language=en|access-date=30 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180529053529/http://ucmpage.org/sgca/wesley01.htm|archive-date=29 May 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>]]
The word ''enthusiasm'' originates from the [[Greek language|Greek]] {{lang|grc|[[wikt: ἐνθουσιασμός|ἐνθουσιασμός]]}} from {{lang|grc|[[wikt: ἐν|ἐν]]}} ({{transliteration|grc|en}}, “in”) and {{lang|grc|[[wikt: θεός|θεός]]}} ({{transliteration|grc|theós}}, “god”), meaning "inspired or possessed by [a] god". Applied by the [[Greeks]] to [[Theophany|manifestations]] of divine possession, by [[Apollo]] (as in the case of the [[Pythia]]), or by [[Dionysus]] (as in the case of the [[Bacchantes]] and [[Maenads]]), the term enthusiasm was also used in a transferred or figurative sense. [[Socrates]] taught that the inspiration of [[poet]]s is a form of enthusiasm.<ref>{{cite thesis |last1=Shelton |first1=Matthew James |title=Madness in Socratic Philosophy Xenophon, Plato and Epictetus |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/196582649.pdf |publisher=University of St Andrews |access-date=16 May 2021 |page=9 |year=2019|degree=PhD}}</ref> The term was confined to a belief in religious inspiration, or to intense religious fervor or [[emotion]].

From this, a [[Syrian]] sect of the fourth century was known as the Enthusiasts. They believed that "by perpetual [[prayer]], ascetic practices, and [[contemplation]], man could become [[divine inspiration|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]].<ref name="Brackney2012">{{cite book |last1=Brackney |first1=William H. |title=Historical dictionary of radical Christianity |year=2012 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |location=Lanham, Md. |isbn=978-0810871793 |page=117}}</ref>

Several [[Protestant]] [[Christian denomination]]s that emerged in the 16th and 17th centuries, especially those who hold [[revival meeting|revivals]], were called enthusiastic.<ref name="Brackney2012"/>

=== Pejorative use ===
During the years that immediately followed the [[Glorious Revolution]], "enthusiasm" was a British pejorative term for advocacy of any political or religious cause in public, i.e. [[fanaticism]]. 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."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Williamson |first1=George |title=The Restoration Revolt against Enthusiasm |journal=Studies in Philology |year=1933 |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=571–603 |jstor=4625155 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4625155 |issn=0039-3738}}</ref>

During the 18th century, popular [[Methodists]] such as [[John Wesley]] or [[George Whitefield]] were accused of blind enthusiasm, a charge against which they defended themselves by distinguishing fanaticism from "religion of the heart." Methodists who enthusiastically preach about and experience the [[born again|new birth]] (first work of grace) and [[entire sanctification]] (second work of grace) often have [[Religious experience|emotional experiences]].<ref name="Gibson" /><ref name="Brackney2012" />