[f. prec. + -ISM.]
1. Supernatural character or quality; a system or collection of supernatural agencies, events, etc. Rarely in pl. supernatural agencies or means.
1799. W. Taylor, in Robberds, Mem. (1843), I. 285. Stripping the legend of all its supernaturalism.
1853. E. Miall, Bases Belief, III. ii. (1861), 107. In the case of Jesus of Nazareth,… Supernaturalism was a necessary feature of his work.
1859. R. F. Burton, Centr. Afr., in Jrnl. Geog. Soc., XXIX. 346. Charms and spells, exorcisms and talismans … will be in demand, and wherever supernaturalisms are in requisition, men will be found for a consideration to supply them.
1878. Gladstone, Prim. Homer, vi. 87. The really grand figures in this department of the Homeric supernaturalism are the Erinuēs.
2. Belief in the supernatural; a theory or doctrine that admits or asserts the reality of supernatural beings, powers, events, etc.
1809. W. Taylor, in Crit. Rev., Ser. III. XVII. 463. He … mingles superstition with his supernaturalism.
1836. Partington’s Brit. Cycl. Lit., etc., III. 857/1. Supernaturalism considers the Christian religion as an extraordinary phenomenon, out of the circle of natural events, and as communicating truths above the comprehension of human reason.
1858. J. Martineau, Stud. Christ., 251. The Roman Catholic system … its ecstatic phenomena, its physical supernaturalism.
1886. Encycl. Brit., XX. 289/1. Rationalism had as its antitheses … supernaturalism, and … naturalism.
