Please note: In order to keep Hive up to date and provide users with the best features, we are no longer able to fully support Internet Explorer. The site is still available to you, however some sections of the site may appear broken. We would encourage you to move to a more modern browser like Firefox, Edge or Chrome in order to experience the site fully.

Religion : Antiquity and Its Legacy, Paperback / softback Book

Religion : Antiquity and Its Legacy Paperback / softback

Part of the Ancients and Moderns series

Paperback / softback

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.

Information

Information

Also in the Ancients and Moderns series  |  View all

£19.99

£19.29

£19.99

£19.29