Christian Divination In Late Antiquity

Download Christian Divination In Late Antiquity full books in PDF, epub, and Kindle. Read online Christian Divination In Late Antiquity ebook anywhere anytime directly on your device. Fast Download speed and no annoying ads. We cannot guarantee that every ebooks is available!

Christian Divination in Late Antiquity

Author : Robert Wisniewski
Publisher : Amsterdam University Press
ISBN 13 : 9048541018
Total Pages : 290 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (485 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Christian Divination in Late Antiquity by : Robert Wisniewski

Download or read book Christian Divination in Late Antiquity written by Robert Wisniewski and published by Amsterdam University Press. This book was released on 2020-10-21 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Late Antiquity, people commonly sought to acquire knowledge about the past, the present, and the future, using a variety of methods. While early Christians did not doubt that these methods worked effectively, in theory they were not allowed to make use of them. In practice, people responded to this situation in diverse ways. Some simply renounced any hope of learning about the future, while others resorted to old practices regardless of the consequences. A third option, however, which emerged in the fourth century, was to construct divinatory methods that were effective yet religiously tolerable. This book is devoted to the study of such practices and their practitioners, and provides answers to essential questions concerning this phenomenon. How did it develop? How closely were Christian methods related to older, traditional customs? Who used them and in which situations? Who offered oracular services? And how were they treated by the clergy, intellectuals, and common people?

Christian Divination in Late Antiquityhb

Author : WISNIEWSKI
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9789462988705
Total Pages : 330 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (887 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Christian Divination in Late Antiquityhb by : WISNIEWSKI

Download or read book Christian Divination in Late Antiquityhb written by WISNIEWSKI and published by . This book was released on 2020-11-16 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Late Antiquity, people commonly sought to acquire knowledge about the past, the present, and the future, using a variety of methods. While early Christians did not doubt that these methods worked effectively, in theory they were not allowed to make use of them. In practice, people responded to this situation in diverse ways. Some simply renounced any hope of learning about the future, while others resorted to old practices regardless of the consequences. A third option, however, which emerged in the fourth century, was to construct divinatory methods that were effective yet religiously tolerable. This book is devoted to the study of such practices and their practitioners, and provides answers to essential questions concerning this phenomenon. How did it develop? How closely were Christian methods related to older, traditional customs? Who used them and in which situations? Who offered oracular services? And how were they treated by the clergy, intellectuals, and common people?

Christianity, Empire, and the Making of Religion in Late Antiquity

Author : Jeremy M. Schott
Publisher : University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN 13 : 0812203461
Total Pages : 264 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (122 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Christianity, Empire, and the Making of Religion in Late Antiquity by : Jeremy M. Schott

Download or read book Christianity, Empire, and the Making of Religion in Late Antiquity written by Jeremy M. Schott and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2013-04-23 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Christianity, Empire, and the Making of Religion in Late Antiquity, Jeremy M. Schott examines the ways in which conflicts between Christian and pagan intellectuals over religious, ethnic, and cultural identity contributed to the transformation of Roman imperial rhetoric and ideology in the early fourth century C.E. During this turbulent period, which began with Diocletian's persecution of the Christians and ended with Constantine's assumption of sole rule and the consolidation of a new Christian empire, Christian apologists and anti-Christian polemicists launched a number of literary salvos in a battle for the minds and souls of the empire. Schott focuses on the works of the Platonist philosopher and anti- Christian polemicist Porphyry of Tyre and his Christian respondents: the Latin rhetorician Lactantius, Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, and the emperor Constantine. Previous scholarship has tended to narrate the Christianization of the empire in terms of a new religion's penetration and conquest of classical culture and society. The present work, in contrast, seeks to suspend the static, essentializing conceptualizations of religious identity that lie behind many studies of social and political change in late antiquity in order to investigate the processes through which Christian and pagan identities were constructed. Drawing on the insights of postcolonial discourse analysis, Schott argues that the production of Christian identity and, in turn, the construction of a Christian imperial discourse were intimately and inseparably linked to the broader politics of Roman imperialism.

Divine Powers in Late Antiquity

Author : Anna Marmodoro
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0191079952
Total Pages : 280 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (91 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Divine Powers in Late Antiquity by : Anna Marmodoro

Download or read book Divine Powers in Late Antiquity written by Anna Marmodoro and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-01-26 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is power the essence of divinity, or are divine powers distinct from divine essence? Are they divine hypostases or are they divine attributes? Are powers such as omnipotence, omniscience, etc. modes of divine activity? How do they manifest? In which way can we apprehend them? Is there a multiplicity of gods whose powers fill the cosmos or is there only one God from whom all power(s) derive(s) and whose power(s) permeate(s) everything? These are questions that become central to philosophical and theological debates in Late Antiquity (roughly corresponding to the period 2nd to the 6th centuries). On the one hand, the Pagan Neoplatonic thinkers of this era postulate a complex hierarchy of gods, whose powers express the unlimited power of the ineffable One. On the other hand, Christians proclaim the existence of only one God, one divine power or one 'Lord of all powers'. Divided into two main sections, the first part of Divine Powers in Late Antiquity examines aspects of the notion of divine power as developed by the four major figures of Neoplatonism: Plotinus (c. 204-270), Porphyry (c. 234-305), Iamblichus (c.245-325), and Proclus (412-485). It focuses on an aspect of the notion of divine power that has been so far relatively neglected in the literature. Part two investigates the notion of divine power in early Christian authors, from the New Testament to the Alexandrian school (Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Athanasius the Great) and, further, to the Cappadocian Fathers (Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa), as well as in some of these authors' sources (the Septuagint, Philo of Alexandria). The traditional view tends to overlook the fact that the Bible, particularly the New Testament, was at least as important as Platonic philosophical texts in the shaping of the early Christian thinking about the Church's doctrines. Whilst challenging the received interpretation by redressing the balance between the Bible and Greek philosophical texts, the essays in the second section of this book nevertheless argue for the philosophical value of early Christian reflections on the notion of divine power. The two groups of thinkers that each of the sections deal with (the Platonic-Pagan and the Christian one) share largely the same intellectual and cultural heritage; they are concerned with the same fundamental questions; and they often engage in more or less public philosophical and theological dialogue, directly influencing one another.

Religions of Late Antiquity in Practice

Author : Richard Valantasis
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691188165
Total Pages : 528 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (911 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Religions of Late Antiquity in Practice by : Richard Valantasis

Download or read book Religions of Late Antiquity in Practice written by Richard Valantasis and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2018-06-05 with total page 528 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an unprecedented collection of nearly seventy Late Antique primary religious texts. These texts--all in new English translation and many appearing in English for the first time--represent every major religious current from the late first century until the rise of Islam. Produced through the efforts of thirty-six leading scholars in the field, they constitute a comprehensive view of religious practice in Late Antiquity. Religious life and performance during this period comprised diverse, often unusual practices. Philosophical ascent, magic, legal pronouncement, hymnography, dietary and sexual restriction, and rhetoric were all part of this deeply fascinating world. Religious and political identity often intertwined, as reflected in the Roman persecution of Christians. And a fluid boundary between religion and superstition was contested in daily life. Many practices, including ascetic training, crossed religious boundaries. Others, such as "incubation" at specific temples and certain divination rites, were distinctive practices of individual groups and orders. Intrinsically interesting, the practice of religion in the Late Antique also edifies modern-day religious life. As this volume shows, the origins of the contemporary Western religious terrain can be gleaned in this period. Rabbinic Judaism flourished and spread. Christianity developed still-important theological categories and structures. And even movements that did not survive intact--such as Neoplatonism and the once-powerful Manichaean churches--continue to influence religion today. This rich sourcebook includes discussions of asceticism, religious organization, ritual, martyrdom, religion's social implications, law, and theology. Its unique emphasis on practice and its inclusion of texts translated from lesser-known languages advance the study of religious history in several directions. A strong interdisciplinary orientation will reward scholars and students of religion, theology, gender studies, classical literatures, and history. Each text is accompanied by an introduction and a bibliography for further reading and research, making the book appropriate for use in any university or seminary classroom.

Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World

Author : Scott Noegel
Publisher : Penn State Press
ISBN 13 : 9780271046006
Total Pages : 274 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (46 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World by : Scott Noegel

Download or read book Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World written by Scott Noegel and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2010-11-01 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the religious systems of ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Mediterranean, gods and demigods were neither abstract nor distant, but communicated with mankind through signs and active intervention. Men and women were thus eager to interpret, appeal to, and even control the gods and their agents. In Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World, a distinguished array of scholars explores the many ways in which people in the ancient world sought to gain access to--or, in some cases, to bind or escape from--the divine powers of heaven and earth. Grounded in a variety of disciplines, including Assyriology, Classics, and early Islamic history, the fifteen essays in this volume cover a broad geographic area: Greece, Egypt, Syria-Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Persia. Topics include celestial divination in early Mesopotamia, the civic festivals of classical Athens, and Christian magical papyri from Coptic Egypt. Moving forward to Late Antiquity, we see how Judaism, Christianity, and Islam each incorporated many aspects of ancient Near Eastern and Graeco-Roman religion into their own prayers, rituals, and conceptions. Even if they no longer conceived of the sun, moon, and the stars as eternal or divine, Christians, Jews, and Muslims often continued to study the movements of the heavens as a map on which divine power could be read. The reader already familiar with studies of ancient religion will find in Prayer, Magic, and the Stars both old friends and new faces. Contributors include Gideon Bohak, Nicola Denzey, Jacco Dieleman, Radcliffe Edmonds, Marvin Meyer, Michael G. Morony, Ian Moyer, Francesca Rochberg, Jonathan Z. Smith, Mark S. Smith, Peter Struck, Michael Swartz, and Kasia Szpakowska. Published as part of Penn State's Magic in History series, Prayer, Magic, and the Stars appears at a time of renewed interest in divination and occult practices in the ancient world. It will interest a wide audience in the field of comparative religion as well as students of the ancient world and late antiquity.

Divination and Theurgy in Neoplatonism

Author : Crystal Addey
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317148991
Total Pages : 352 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (171 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Divination and Theurgy in Neoplatonism by : Crystal Addey

Download or read book Divination and Theurgy in Neoplatonism written by Crystal Addey and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-05-13 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why did ancient philosophers consult oracles, write about them, and consider them to be an important part of philosophical thought and practice? This book explores the extensive links between oracles and philosophy in Late Antiquity, particularly focusing on the roles of oracles and other forms of divination in third and fourth century CE Neoplatonism. Examining some of the most significant debates between pagan philosophers and Christian intellectuals on the nature of oracles as a central yet contested element of religious tradition, Addey focuses particularly on Porphyry's Philosophy from Oracles and Iamblichus' De Mysteriis - two works which deal extensively with oracles and other forms of divination. This book argues for the significance of divination within Neoplatonism and offers a substantial reassessment of oracles and philosophical works and their relationship to one another. With a broad interdisciplinary approach, encompassing Classics, Ancient Philosophy, Theology, Religious Studies and Ancient History, Addey draws on recent anthropological and religious studies research which has challenged and re-evaluated the relationship between rationality and ritual.

Mantikê

Author : Sarah Iles Johnston
Publisher : BRILL
ISBN 13 : 9047407962
Total Pages : 328 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (474 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Mantikê by : Sarah Iles Johnston

Download or read book Mantikê written by Sarah Iles Johnston and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2005-07-01 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a collection of studies by scholars Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and early Christian religions on the topic of divination. Its topics range from necromancy to dice rolling, free-lance diviners to Delphi, and includes treatments from the Archaic period to Late Antiquity.

Making Amulets Christian

Author : Theodore de Bruyn
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0191511706
Total Pages : 312 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (915 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Making Amulets Christian by : Theodore de Bruyn

Download or read book Making Amulets Christian written by Theodore de Bruyn and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-07-14 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Making Amulets Christian: Artefacts, Scribes, and Contexts examines Greek amulets with Christian elements from late antique Egypt in order to discern the processes whereby a customary practice—the writing of incantations on amulets—changed in an increasingly Christian context. It considers how the formulation of incantations and amulets changed as the Christian church became the prevailing religious institution in Egypt in the last centuries of the Roman empire. Theodore de Bruyn investigates what we can learn from incantations and amulets containing Christian elements about the cultural and social location of the people who wrote them. He shows how incantations and amulets were indebted to rituals or ritualizing behaviour of Christians. This study analyzes different types of amulets and the ways in which they incorporate Christian elements. By comparing the formulation and writing of individual amulets that are similar to one another, one can observe differences in the culture of the scribes of these materials. It argues for 'conditioned individuality' in the production of amulets. On the one hand, amulets manifest qualities that reflect the training and culture of the individual writer. On the other hand, amulets reveal that individual writers were shaped, whether consciously or inadvertently, by the resources they drew upon-by what is called 'tradition' in the field of religious studies.

Prophets and Profits

Author : Richard Evans
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351970356
Total Pages : 254 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (519 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Prophets and Profits by : Richard Evans

Download or read book Prophets and Profits written by Richard Evans and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-07 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume examines the ways in which divination, often through oracular utterances and other mechanisms, linked mortals with the gods, and places the practice within the ancient sociopolitical and religious environment. Whether humans sought knowledge by applying to an oracle through which the god was believed to speak or used soothsayers who interpreted specific signs such as the flight of birds, there was a fundamental desire to know the will of the gods. In many cases, pragmatic concerns – personal, economic or political – can be deduced from the context of the application. Divination and communication with the gods in a post-pagan world has also produced fascinating receptions. The presentation of these processes in monotheistic societies such as early Christian Late Antiquity (where the practice continued through the use of curse tablets) or medieval Europe, and beyond, where the role of religion had changed radically, provides a particular challenge and this topic has been little discussed by scholars. This volume aims to rectify this desideratum by providing the opportunity to address questions related to the reception of Greco-Roman divination, oracles and prophecy, in all media, including literature and film. Several contributions in this volume originated in the 2015 Classics Colloquium held at the University of South Africa and the volume has been augmented with additional contributions.

The Beginnings of the Cult of Relics

Author : Robert Wisniewski
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0199675562
Total Pages : 264 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (996 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Beginnings of the Cult of Relics by : Robert Wisniewski

Download or read book The Beginnings of the Cult of Relics written by Robert Wisniewski and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2019-02-13 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christians have often admired and venerated martyrs who died for their faith, but for long time thought that the bodies of martyrs should remain undisturbed in their graves. Initially, Christian attitude toward the bones of the dead, saint or not, was that of respectful distance. The Beginnings of the Cult of Relics examines how this changed in the mid-fourth century. Robert Wisniewski investigates how Christians began to believe in power of relics, first, over demons, then over physical diseases and enemies. He considers how they sought to reveal hidden knowledge at the tombs of saints and why they buried the death close to them. An essential element of this new belief was a string conviction that the power of relics was transferred in a physical way and so the following chapters study relics as material objects. Wisniewski analyses what the contact with relics looked like and how close it was. Did people touch, kiss, or look at the very bones, or just at reliquaries which contained them? When did the custom of dividing relics appear? Finally, the book the book deals with discussions and polemics concerning relics and tries to find out how strong was the opposition which this new phenomenon had to face, both within and outside Christianity on its way relics to become an essential element of the medieval religiosity.

Signs, Wonders, and Gifts

Author : Jennifer Eyl
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190924675
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (99 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Signs, Wonders, and Gifts by : Jennifer Eyl

Download or read book Signs, Wonders, and Gifts written by Jennifer Eyl and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-06-03 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In much of the scholarship on Paul, activities such as speaking in tongues, prophecy, and miracle healings are either ignored or treated as singular occurrences. Typically, these practices are categorized in such a way that shields Paul and his followers from the influence of so-called paganism. In Signs, Wonders, and Gifts, Jennifer Eyl masterfully argues that Paul did, in fact, engage in range of divinatory and wonder-working practices that were widely recognized and accepted across the ancient Mediterranean. Eyl redescribes, reclassifies, and recontextualizes Paul's repertoire vis-á-vis such widespread, similar practices. Situating these activities within the larger framework of reciprocity that dominated human-divine relationships in antiquity, she demonstrates that divine powers and divine communication were bestowed as benefactions toward Paul and his gentile followers in proportion to their faithfulness and loyalty.

Praying and Contemplating in Late Antiquity

Author : Eleni Pachoumi
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9783161565946
Total Pages : 229 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (659 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Praying and Contemplating in Late Antiquity by : Eleni Pachoumi

Download or read book Praying and Contemplating in Late Antiquity written by Eleni Pachoumi and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Divination and Revelation in Later Antiquity

Author : Elsa Giovanna Simonetti
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1009328786
Total Pages : 237 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (93 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Divination and Revelation in Later Antiquity by : Elsa Giovanna Simonetti

Download or read book Divination and Revelation in Later Antiquity written by Elsa Giovanna Simonetti and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2023-10-31 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Explores divination in antiquity from a range of perspectives, looking both at practices and theories and how and why these changed over time. Important for students and academics working in classics, history of philosophy, and history of religion"--

Trafficking with Demons

Author : Martha Rampton
Publisher : Cornell University Press
ISBN 13 : 1501735314
Total Pages : 409 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (17 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Trafficking with Demons by : Martha Rampton

Download or read book Trafficking with Demons written by Martha Rampton and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2022-01-15 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Trafficking with Demons explores how magic was perceived, practiced, and prohibited in western Europe during the first millennium CE. Through the overlapping frameworks of religion, ritual, and gender, Martha Rampton connects early Christian reckonings with pagan magic to later doctrines and dogmas. Challenging established views on the role of women in ritual magic during this period, Rampton provides a new narrative of the ways in which magic was embedded within the foundational assumptions of western European society, informing how people understood the cosmos, divinity, and their own Christian faith. As Rampton shows, throughout the first Christian millennium, magic was thought to play a natural role within the functioning of the universe and existed within a rational cosmos hierarchically arranged according to a "great chain of being." Trafficking with the "demons of the lower air" was the essense of magic. Interactions with those demons occurred both in highly formalistic, ritual settings and on a routine and casual basis. Rampton tracks the competition between pagan magic and Christian belief from the first century CE, when it was fiercest, through the early Middle Ages, as atavistic forms of magic mutated and found sanctuary in the daily habits of the converted peoples and new paganisms entered Europe with their own forms of magic. By the year 1000, she concludes, many forms of magic had been tamed and were, by the reckoning of the elite, essentially ineffective, as were the women who practiced it and the rituals that attended it.

Dreams in Late Antiquity

Author : Patricia Cox Miller
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780691058351
Total Pages : 292 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (583 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Dreams in Late Antiquity by : Patricia Cox Miller

Download or read book Dreams in Late Antiquity written by Patricia Cox Miller and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 1998-01-11 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Centuries.... By studying together pagan and Christian dreams, Cox Miller hopes to reach a better understanding of some fundamental patterns of late antique culture. DLGuy G. Stroumsa, The Journal of Religion A fluent and discursive text.... This is an adventurous exploration of a range of material which deserves to be more widely known.DLGillian Clark, The Classical Review.

The Church in Ancient Society

Author : Henry Chadwick
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191529958
Total Pages : 746 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (915 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Church in Ancient Society by : Henry Chadwick

Download or read book The Church in Ancient Society written by Henry Chadwick and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2001-12-14 with total page 746 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Church in Ancient Society provides a full and enjoyable narrative history of the first six centuries of the Christian Church. Ancient Greek and Roman society had many gods and an addiction to astrology and divination. This introduction to the period traces the process by which Christianity changed this and so provided a foundation for the modern world: the teaching of Jesus created a lasting community, which grew to command the allegiance of the Roman emperor. Christianity is discussed in relation to how it appeared to both Jews and pagans, and how its Christian doctrine and practice were shaped in relation to Graeco-Roman culture and the Jewish matrix. Among the major figures discussed are Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Constantine, Julian the Apostate, Basil, Ambrose, and Augustine. Following a chronological approach, Henry Chadwick's clear exposition of important texts and theological debates in their historical context is unrivalled in detail. In particular, theological and ecclesial texts are examined in relation to the behaviour and beliefs of people who attended churches and synagogues. Christians did not find agreement and unity easy and the author displays a distinctive concern for the factors - theological, personal, and political - which caused division in the church and prevented reconciliation. The emperors, however, began to foster unity for political reasons and to choose monotheism. Finally, the Church captured the society.