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"The Handbook of Religions in Ancient Europe" surveys the major
religious currents of Europe before Christianity - the first
continental religion with hegemonic ambition - wiped out most local
religions. The evidence - whether archaeological or written - is
notoriously difficult to interpret, and the variety of religions
documented by the sources and the range of languages used are
bewildering. The "Handbook" brings together leading authorities on
pre-Christian religious history to provide a state-of-the-art
survey. The first section of the book covers the Prehistoric
period, from the Paleolithic to the Bronze Age. The second section
covers the period since writing systems began. Ranging across the
Mediterranean and Northern, Celtic and Slavic Europe, the essays
assess the archaeological and textual evidence. Dispersed
archaeological remains and biased outside sources constitute our
main sources of information, so the complex task of interpreting
these traces is explained for each case. The "Handbook" also aims
to highlight the plurality of religion in ancient Europe: the many
ways in which it is expressed, notably in discourse, action,
organization, and material culture; how it is produced and
maintained by different people with different interests; how
communities always connect with or disassociate from adjunct
communities and how their beliefs and rituals are shaped by these
relationships. The "Handbook" will be invaluable to anyone
interested in ancient History and also to scholars and students of
Religion, Anthropology, Archaeology, and Classical Studies.
"The Handbook of Religions in Ancient Europe" surveys the major
religious currents of Europe before Christianity - the first
continental religion with hegemonic ambition - wiped out most local
religions. The evidence - whether archaeological or written - is
notoriously difficult to interpret, and the variety of religions
documented by the sources and the range of languages used are
bewildering. The "Handbook" brings together leading authorities on
pre-Christian religious history to provide a state-of-the-art
survey. The first section of the book covers the Prehistoric
period, from the Paleolithic to the Bronze Age. The second section
covers the period since writing systems began. Ranging across the
Mediterranean and Northern, Celtic and Slavic Europe, the essays
assess the archaeological and textual evidence. Dispersed
archaeological remains and biased outside sources constitute our
main sources of information, so the complex task of interpreting
these traces is explained for each case. The "Handbook" also aims
to highlight the plurality of religion in ancient Europe: the many
ways in which it is expressed, notably in discourse, action,
organization, and material culture; how it is produced and
maintained by different people with different interests; how
communities always connect with or disassociate from adjunct
communities and how their beliefs and rituals are shaped by these
relationships. The "Handbook" will be invaluable to anyone
interested in ancient History and also to scholars and students of
Religion, Anthropology, Archaeology, and Classical Studies.
The scholarly study of new religious movements focuses on the
contemporary period, but religious innovation is nothing new. This
Element explores a historical epoch characterized by a multitude of
emergent religious concepts and practices – the Hellenistic and
Roman periods. A precondition for the intense degree of religious
innovation during this time was a high level of cultural exchange.
Religious elements crossed porous cultural borders and were adapted
to suit new purposes. The resulting amalgams were presented in a
vast corpus of texts, largely produced by a literate elite.
Charismatic leaders played a particularly important role in
creating new religious options and were described in genres that
were infused with ideological agendas. Novel religious developments
were accepted by the Roman authorities unless suspected of
undermining the social order. The rise of one of the many new
religions of the period, Christianity, ultimately changed the
religious landscape in profound ways.
Few, if any, individuals have had such a profound influence on
Western culture as Jesus, even though not a single detail of his
life or teaching can be confirmed with certainty. This lack of
reliable biographical data has left his life open to broad
interpretation. Jesus, gnostic and apocryphal sources insist, never
truly died on the cross since he was a divine being, whose human
frame was an illusion. Muslim sources affirm that Jesus was a
prophet of God and will return at the end of time. Joerg Lanz von
Liebenfels formulated racial theories in which Jesus was a redeemer
for Aryans only, while the Renaissance polymath Guillaume Postel
was convinced that Christ had returned as a Venetian woman. This
book explores these and other views without taking sides in any
theological arguments and presents research on a variety of
alternative Christologies.
New religions emerge as distinct entities in the religious
landscape when innovations are introduced by a charismatic leader
or a schismatic group leaves its parent organization. New religious
movements (NRMs) often present novel doctrines and advocate
unfamiliar modes of behavior, and have therefore often been
perceived as controversial. NRMs have, however, in recent years
come to be treated in the same way as established religions, that
is, as complex cultural phenomena involving myths, rituals and
canonical texts. This Companion discusses key features of NRMs from
a systematic, comparative perspective, summarizing results of forty
years of research. The volume addresses NRMs that have caught media
attention, including movements such as Scientology, New Age, the
Neopagans, the Sai Baba movement and Jihadist movements active in a
post-9/11 context. An essential resource for students of religious
studies, the history of religion, sociology, anthropology and the
psychology of religion.
The dictionary definition of tradition refers to beliefs and
practices that have been transmitted from generation to generation,
however, 'tradition' can rest simply on the claim that certain
cultural elements are rooted in the past. Claim and documented
historical reality need not overlap. In the domain of religion,
historically verifiable traditions coexist with recent innovations
whose origins are spuriously projected back into time. This book
examines the phenomenon of 'invented traditions' in religions
ranging in time from Zoroastrianism to Scientology, and
geographically from Tibet to North America and Europe. The various
contributions, together with an introduction that surveys the
field, use individual case studies to address questions such as the
rationale for creating historical tradition for one's doctrines and
rituals; the mechanisms by which hitherto unknown texts can enter
an existing corpus; and issues of acceptance and scepticism in the
reception of dubious texts.
Few, if any, individuals have had such a profound influence on
Western culture as Jesus, even though not a single detail of his
life or teaching can be confirmed with certainty. This lack of
reliable biographical data has left his life open to broad
interpretation. Jesus, gnostic and apocryphal sources insist, never
truly died on the cross since he was a divine being, whose human
frame was an illusion. Muslim sources affirm that Jesus was a
prophet of God and will return at the end of time. Jorg Lanz von
Liebenfels formulated racial theories in which Jesus was a redeemer
for Aryans only, while the Renaissance polymath Guillaume Postel
was convinced that Christ had returned as a Venetian woman. This
book explores these and other views without taking sides in any
theological arguments and presents research on a variety of
alternative Christologies."
New religions emerge as distinct entities in the religious
landscape when innovations are introduced by a charismatic leader
or a schismatic group leaves its parent organization. New religious
movements (NRMs) often present novel doctrines and advocate
unfamiliar modes of behavior, and have therefore often been
perceived as controversial. NRMs have, however, in recent years
come to be treated in the same way as established religions, that
is, as complex cultural phenomena involving myths, rituals and
canonical texts. This Companion discusses key features of NRMs from
a systematic, comparative perspective, summarizing results of forty
years of research. The volume addresses NRMs that have caught media
attention, including movements such as Scientology, New Age, the
Neopagans, the Sai Baba movement and Jihadist movements active in a
post-9/11 context. An essential resource for students of religious
studies, the history of religion, sociology, anthropology and the
psychology of religion.
The dictionary definition of tradition refers to beliefs and
practices that have been transmitted from generation to generation,
however, 'tradition' can rest simply on the claim that certain
cultural elements are rooted in the past. Claim and documented
historical reality need not overlap. In the domain of religion,
historically verifiable traditions coexist with recent innovations
whose origins are spuriously projected back into time. This book
examines the phenomenon of 'invented traditions' in religions
ranging in time from Zoroastrianism to Scientology, and
geographically from Tibet to North America and Europe. The various
contributions, together with an introduction that surveys the
field, use individual case studies to address questions such as the
rationale for creating historical tradition for one's doctrines and
rituals; the mechanisms by which hitherto unknown texts can enter
an existing corpus; and issues of acceptance and scepticism in the
reception of dubious texts.
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