What if you were to discover that you were not entirely you, but rather one half of a whole, that you had, in other words, a divine double? In the second and third centuries CE, this idea gripped the religious imagination of the Eastern Mediterranean, providing a distinctive understanding of the self that has survived in various forms throughout the centuries, down to the present. Our Divine Double traces the rise of this ancient idea that each person has a divine counterpart, twin, or alter-ego, and the eventual eclipse of this idea with the rise of Christian conciliar orthodoxy. Charles Stang marshals an array of ancient sources: from early Christianity, especially texts associated with the apostle Thomas "the twin"; from Manichaeism, a missionary religion based on the teachings of the "apostle of light" that had spread from Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean; and from Neoplatonism, a name given to the renaissance of Platonism associated with the third-century philosopher Plotinus. Each of these traditions offers an understanding of the self as an irreducible unity-in-duality. To encounter one's divine double is to embark on a path of deification that closes the gap between image and archetype, human and divine. While the figure of the divine double receded from the history of Christianity with the rise of conciliar orthodoxy, it survives in two important discourses from late antiquity: theodicy, or the problem of evil; and Christology, the exploration of how the Incarnate Christ is both human and divine.

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1922 Edition.

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1922 Edition.

The study of Norse or Germanic mythology has long been the guarded province of scholars. Unfortunately, few breakthroughs in terms of new interpretations have been forthcoming in recent years. Neopagan groups referring to themselves as Asatruar, literally those who believe in the Aesir or "Gods," have charted their own course in regards to deciphering the symbols and motifs found embedded in Norse myth, but these approaches, though admirable in intent, have often yielded wildly undisciplined or simplistic and naive analyses. The present volume strives to achieve a "middle ground" between the severe strictures of academia and the ever-evolving and very individualistic belief systems of modern-day spiritual Vikings. It is with this goal in mind that the author presents thirty essays that he hopes will serve to fill the void in critical yet creative approaches to the unresolved problems posed by key elements of Norse myth.

This volume contains a series of provocative essays that explore expressions of magic and ritual power in the ancient world. The strength of the present volume lies in the breadth of scholarly approaches represented. The book begins with several papyrological studies presenting important new texts in Greek and Coptic, continuing with essays focussing on taxonomy and definition. The concluding essays apply contemporary theories to analyses of specific test cases in a broad variety of ancient Mediterranean cultures. Paul Mirecki, Th.D. (1986) in Religious Studies, Harvard Divinity School, is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Kansas. Marvin Meyer, Ph.D. (1979) in Religion, Claremont Graduate School, is Professor of Religion at Chapman University, Orange, California, and Director of the Coptic Magical Texts Project of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity.

Rather than viewing the Graeco-Roman world as the "background" against which early Christian texts should be read, Abraham J. Malherbe saw the ancient Mediterranean world as a rich ecology of diverse intellectual traditions that interacted within specific social contexts. These essays, spanning over fifty years, illustrate Malherbe's appreciation of the complexities of this ecology and what is required to explore philological and conceptual connections between early Christian writers, especially Paul and Athenagoras, and their literary counterparts who participated in the religious and philosophical discourse of the wider culture. Malherbe's essays laid the groundwork for his magisterial commentary on the Thessalonian correspondence and launched the contemporary study of Hellenistic moral philosophy and early Christianity.

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1822 Edition.

Religion. When you hear this word, what comes to mind? War, power, greed, brainwashing? Maybe other words which have their place in history: inquisition, witch-hunting, burning, torture? Or words we hear in our own history: jihad, extremist, suicide bomber? And there are other words spoken by dreamy-eyed gurus: peace, love, unity, consciousness, or words from those who consider themselves above religion: science, evidence, delusion, superstition, myths and fairytales. Religious history is full of such words and questions. Who were the Aryans? Why did they use hallucinogenic drugs to call on their gods? Who built the great ziggurats which stand on opposite sides of our world, in Iran and Central America? Did the ancients worship and serve giant beings which walked among them, demanding human sacrifice? Shamans, priests, prophets and magicians, servants of the gods, mediums of power, or frauds? Yahweh, Mithra, Horus and Agni, Lucifer, Allah and Ra, what do they have in common? Zoroaster, Buddha and Jesus Christ, Mohammed, Elena Blavatsky and L. Ron Hubbard, who were these people? Are all religions equally useful or useless? Do they all point to the same goal, share the same mysteries. Religion: History and Mystery explores the ancient and modern religions which have dominated the world for 6000 years. 22 religions, examined, exposed and deciphered. Is there one absolute truth, one infinite God? Religion: History and Mystery exposes the contradictions, uncovers the mysteries, and reveals the truth of who and what we are.