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Description
What is a religion? What triggered the spontaneous development of distinct religions throughout the ancient world? How do religions evoke the ultimate realities they claim to address? Such questions are as evergreen as belief itself. The Hellenistic and Roman worlds were a fertile seedbed of the monotheistic faiths that dominate today's western image of religion, as well as many global conflicts. In this concise and elegant overview, Jorg Rupke addresses the similarities and differences of religions in antiquity, tracing their sometimes complex lineage into modern systems of belief. Greek and Roman religion is discussed not in isolation, but in the broader context of western Asia and Egypt. The author also addresses developments relating to early Islam on the south-eastern margins of the Byzantine Empire.
Examining such topics as the functions of priests and religious functionaries; religious individualism; the relationship between religion and political identity; the acceptance of the pagan Julian calendar by Christians; and contrasting ancient and modern understandings of divination, Rupke shows that study of pre-modern culture enables us more daringly to explore the contemporary religious world.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Chapter 1: Individual and Corporate Religion
Chapter 2: Historicizing Religion
Chapter 3: Idolatry and Representation
Chapter 4: Theological Heritages: Roman Priesthood and the New Testament
Chapter 5: Colonizing Time
Chapter 6: Dealing with the Future: Divination by Calendars
Chapter 7: The Presence of Death in Lived Religion
Chapter 8: Conclusion
Some Suggestions for Further Reading
Notes
Index
Product details
Published | Jan 10 2019 |
---|---|
Format | Paperback |
Edition | 1st |
Extent | 192 |
ISBN | 9781780761701 |
Imprint | I.B. Tauris |
Illustrations | 1 bw integrated |
Dimensions | 216 x 138 mm |
Series | Ancients and Moderns |
Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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