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Originally an enthusiast is a person possessed by a God. Applied by the Greeks to Manifestation s 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. Thus Socrates speaks of the inspiration of Poet s as a form of enthusiasm. Its uses, in a religious sense, are confined to an exaggerated or wrongful 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 Sect s of the 16th and 17th Centuries were called enthusiastic. During the 18th Century , popular Methodists such as John Wesley or George Whitefield were accused of blind enthusiasm (i.e. fanaticism). In modern ordinary usage, enthusiasm has lost its peculiar 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 are excited about what they might be engaged in. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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