Pagan Regeneration: A Study of Mystery Initiations in the Graeco-Roman World

Pagan Regeneration: A Study of Mystery Initiations in the Graeco-Roman World PDF Author: Harold Rideout Willoughby
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
ISBN: 1465581065
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description

Pagan Regeneration: A Study of Mystery Initiations in the Graeco-Roman World

Pagan Regeneration: A Study of Mystery Initiations in the Graeco-Roman World PDF Author: Harold Rideout Willoughby
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
ISBN: 1465581065
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description


Pagan Regeneration

Pagan Regeneration PDF Author: Harold R. Willoughby
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781494083502
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
This is a new release of the original 1929 edition.

Pagan Regeneration

Pagan Regeneration PDF Author: Harold R. Willoughby
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781506179377
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
"Notwithstanding the protestations of apologists there is ample evidence that in both the west and the east the mystery cults were widely disseminated and very influential before Christianity appeared on the scene. In the following pages care is taken to exhibit this evidence in relation to each of the mystery systems." A cogent investigation of the social ambience in which the secret cults operated brought to light the true motivations of the interests and needs met by mystery initiation. On the one hand this made comprehensible the undoubted popularity of the mystery cults themselves; on the other hand it served to suggest why it was the early Christian propagandists, in order to win gentile believers to their cult, came to place such deliberate emphasis on the experience of individual regeneration. Table of Contents PREFACE CHAPTER 1. PAGAN PIETY IN THE GRAECO-ROMAN WORLD CHAPTER 2. THE GREATER MYSTERIES AT ELEUSIS CHAPTER 3. DIONYSIAN EXCESSES CHAPTER 4. ORPHIC REFORM CHAPTER 5. THE REGENERATIVE RITES OF THE GREAT MOTHER CHAPTER 6. DEATH AND NEW BIRTH IN MITHRAISM CHAPTER 7. ISIAC INITIATION CHAPTER 8. THE NEW BIRTH EXPERIENCE IN HERMETICISM CHAPTER 9. THE MYSTICISM OF PHILO CHAPTER 10. THE SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE OF MYSTERY INITIATION "THERE is a vague but widespread impression that the age that saw the emergence of Christianity was religiously destitute and morally decadent. The general and orthodox conviction of today is that all pagan religions current in the first century A.D. were in a bad state of degeneration. Originally they may have started with a modicum of light and revelation from above, but that original good had been corrupted by false beliefs and evil practices to such an extent that in the first century the gentile world was in a worse state than it had ever been before. People of all classes, wearied of the apparent futility of contemporary cults, were quitting them wholesale, or were giving them a merely formal adherence. In an abandon of atheism they were surrending themselves to unrestrained indulgence in immoral practices. Approximately this is still the popular impression of religious conditions in the Graeco-Roman world."

Pagan Regeneration

Pagan Regeneration PDF Author: Harold R. Willoughby
Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub
ISBN: 9781482790771
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
Researches in the field of Graeco-Roman religions prove conclusively that apologists for early Christianity and even eminent classicists have been inclined to underestimate the genuineness of gentile religious interests and the extent to which religion dominated life in pagan lands when Christianity was emerging. Of the gentile cults probably the most popular in the first century, and certainly the least known and understood in the twentieth, were the so-called mystery religions. Notwithstanding the protestations of apologists there is ample evidence that in both the west and the east the mystery cults were widely disseminated and very influential before Christianity appeared on the scene. In the following pages care is taken to exhibit this evidence in relation to each of the mystery systems. A detailed investigation of typical cult experiences further convinced the author that the central meaning of mystery initiation, the regeneration, both essential and ethical, of the individual devotee.

Pagan Regeneration

Pagan Regeneration PDF Author: Harold Rideout Willoughby
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Greece
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description


Pagan Regeneration

Pagan Regeneration PDF Author: Harold R. Willoughby
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781500511401
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
An analytical investigation of the social milieu in which the mystery cults operated brought to light the fundamental character of the interests and needs met by mystery initiation. On the one hand this made intelligible the undoubted popularity of the mystery cults themselves; on the other hand it served to suggest why it was the early Christian propagandists, in order to win gentile adherents to their cult, came to place such insistent emphasis on the experience of individual regeneration.

Gnostic Visions

Gnostic Visions PDF Author: Luke A. Myers
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1462005470
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
Gnostic texts are filled with encounters of strange other worldly beings, journeys to visionary heavenly realms, and encounters with the presence and spirit of the divine. In Gnostic visions, author and Gnostic scholar Luke A. Myers presents evidence demonstrating how Gnostic visions were created and the connection these visions have to naturally occurring visionary compounds that are still in existence today. The culmination of more than ten years of research, Gnostic Visions advances the understanding of classical ethnobotany, Gnosticism, and the genesis of early Christian history. In this book the author discusses the prehistoric foundations of early human religion as well as the visionary religious traditions of the classical Greeks and Egyptians. Using these as a foundation, the book presents new and never before seen research explaining how Gnostic visions were created and what types of compounds were used by these ancient people to create them. Gnostic Visions presents evidence directly linking visionary Ayahuasca analogs with the creation of Gnostic and Hermetic visionary experiences. Gnostic Visions also describes the decline of Gnosticism, other visionary practices used in the Dark Ages and gives a brief tour of the visionary plants of the new world. In Gnostic visions, Myers tells of his personal experience with the divine and includes some of his own reflections of the importance of mankinds relationship to the natural world. He communicates that altered states of consciousness have been responsible for many of the most profound mystical religious experiences in human history.

The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Volume I

The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Volume I PDF Author: Martin Luther King
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520079507
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 510

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Book Description
First in a series of 14 volumes, this book contains the complete texts of King's letters, speeches, sermons, student papers, and other articles. The papers range chronologically from his childhood to his young manhood. An introductory biographical essay presents a broad picture of the events that the documents themselves cover, while extensive annotations of the documents deal with specific details of King's life during these years. The passion that drove him is observable in nearly every document. ISBN 0-520-07950-7:

The Path of Paganism

The Path of Paganism PDF Author: John Beckett
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide
ISBN: 0738752207
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
Paganism is a way of seeing the world and your place in it. It means challenging the assumptions of mainstream society and strengthening your relationships with the gods, the universe, your community, and your self. The Path of Paganism provides practical advice and support for honoring your values and living an authentic Pagan life in mainstream Western culture. Discover tips for establishing or deepening a regular practice. Explore how your spirituality can help you deal with life's inevitable hardships. Learn the basics of leadership roles and other steps to take as you gain experience and move into more advanced practices. With questions for contemplation as well as rituals to help you integrate new concepts, this book guides you through a profoundly meaningful way of life. Praise: "This is an absolute gem of a book! John's love of his Pagan path fills this book with incredible enthusiasm and confidence...I would recommend this book to beginners and experienced practitioners alike. Both will find many pearls of wisdom within these pages. Highly recommended."—Damh the Bard

An Examination of the Isis Cult with Preliminary Exploration Into New Testament Studies

An Examination of the Isis Cult with Preliminary Exploration Into New Testament Studies PDF Author: Elizabeth A. McCabe
Publisher: University Press of America
ISBN: 9780761834021
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 148

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Book Description
This work serves as an investigation of the Isis cult by tracing its development from Egypt into Greco-Roman society. The origin of the Isis cult is described by using the accounts of Plutarch, Apuleius, and Diodorus before examining the effects of Isis on Egyptian culture. The Isis cult soon overflows into the Greco-Roman world. While this mysterious religion initially encounters opposition, especially since it clashes with Roman patriarchal society, it overcomes these limitations.