priestcraftn.

1483 Seill of Caus Edinb. 2 May , MS. (Jam.) To the wpholde of devyne service at the said alter ouklie and daylie, and to the priestcraft at the alter as effeirs.

1574 J. Studley tr. J. Bale Pageant of Popes 60 This Formosus..gaue ouer his orders, forsoke priestcraft, and became a layeman.

1900 in Church Times 9 Mar. 267/2 ‘Craft’ means art, dexterity, skill... Priestcraft in a good sense simply means the diligent and able exercise of priestly functions.

1936 H. A. L. Fisher Hist. Europe 157 Upon his fresh..mind the marvels of Rome, its wealth in churches and wonder-working relics, its finished priestcraft, its Gregorian chants and well-ordered ritual, made a profound impression.

1681 J. Dryden Absalom & Achitophel 1 In pious times, e'r Priest-craft did begin.

1692 C. Gildon Post-boy rob'd of his Mail I. lxix. 204 Prithee, if thou wouldst leave Bigottry, leave it for good, and all, and rail not at it in this, or that, and caress it in another thing. It was no Crime, when natural Religion rul'd the World, till State-Politics, and Priest-Craft made it so.

1700 J. Toland Clito 16 Religion's safe, with Priestcraft is the War.

1711 J. Swift Examiner No. 23 in F. H. Ellis Swift vs. Mainwaring (1985) 143 The Queen began her Reign with a noble Benefaction to the Church. Here's Priestcraft with a witness.

1796 Bp. R. Watson Apol. for Bible (ed. 2) 197 The extreme folly, to which credulity and priestcraft can go.

1824 Lancet 22 Feb. 243/1 The millions of people..have hitherto been kept in a state of darkness under the thraldom of priest craft and despotism.

1834 E. Bulwer-Lytton Last Days of Pompeii I. i. viii. 157 I would preserve the delusions of priestcraft—for they are serviceable to the multitude.

1869 L. Schmitz in Smith's Dict. Gr. & Rom. Antiq. 838/2 Freethinkers and unbelievers looked upon the [Delphic] oracle as a skilful contrivance of priestcraft which had then outgrown itself.

1908 Atlanta (Georgia) Constit. 21 Aug. 3/5 Priestcraft always clings to power and to money, where it can get something for nothng.

1965 Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 26 Nov. 26/3 Although the early founders of protestantism had freed the people from priestcraft and established the priesthood of individual Christians, in Jamaica this freedom has often been taken too far.

1995 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 22 Dec. 67/1 This episode provides Thérèse with more than a lesson in the dangers of priestcraft.

1842 Christian Observer Feb. 115/2 Those soul-ensnaring, demoralizing, priestcrafty, and Gospel-debasing theories and practices which have most deeply stained the history of Popery.

2007 C. K. Raju Cultural Foundations Math. i. 21 People like Porphyry were not intimidated by the priestcrafty trick of an assumed moral superiority.