The Decadence of Delphi

The Decadence of Delphi PDF Author: Kristin M. Heineman
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317036271
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
Examining the final years of Delphic consultation, this monograph argues that the sanctuary operated on two connected, yet distinct levels: the oracle, which was in decline, and the remaining religious, political and social elements at the site which continued to thrive. In contrast to Delphi, other oracular counterparts in Asia Minor, such as Claros and Didyma, rose in prestige as they engaged with new "theological" issues. Issues such as these were not presented to Apollo at Delphi and this lack of expertise could help to explain why Delphi began to decline in importance. The second and third centuries AD witnessed the development of new ways of access to divine wisdom. Particularly widespread were the practices of astrology and the Neoplatonic divinatory system, theurgy. This monograph examines the correlation between the rise of such practices and the decline of oracular consultation at Delphi, analyzing several examples from the Chaldean Oracles to demonstrate the new interest in a personal, soteriological religion. These cases reveal the transfer of Delphi’s sacred space, which further impacted the status of the oracle. Delphi’s interaction with Christianity in the final years of oracular operation is also discussed. Oracular utterances with Christian overtones are examined along with archaeological remains which demonstrate a shift in the use of space at Delphi from a "pagan" Panhellenic center to one in which Christianity is accepted and promoted.

The Decadence of Delphi

The Decadence of Delphi PDF Author: Kristin M. Heineman
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317036271
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 265

Get Book Here

Book Description
Examining the final years of Delphic consultation, this monograph argues that the sanctuary operated on two connected, yet distinct levels: the oracle, which was in decline, and the remaining religious, political and social elements at the site which continued to thrive. In contrast to Delphi, other oracular counterparts in Asia Minor, such as Claros and Didyma, rose in prestige as they engaged with new "theological" issues. Issues such as these were not presented to Apollo at Delphi and this lack of expertise could help to explain why Delphi began to decline in importance. The second and third centuries AD witnessed the development of new ways of access to divine wisdom. Particularly widespread were the practices of astrology and the Neoplatonic divinatory system, theurgy. This monograph examines the correlation between the rise of such practices and the decline of oracular consultation at Delphi, analyzing several examples from the Chaldean Oracles to demonstrate the new interest in a personal, soteriological religion. These cases reveal the transfer of Delphi’s sacred space, which further impacted the status of the oracle. Delphi’s interaction with Christianity in the final years of oracular operation is also discussed. Oracular utterances with Christian overtones are examined along with archaeological remains which demonstrate a shift in the use of space at Delphi from a "pagan" Panhellenic center to one in which Christianity is accepted and promoted.

The Omphalos and the Cross

The Omphalos and the Cross PDF Author: Paul Ciholas
Publisher: Mercer University Press
ISBN: 9780865547834
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 532

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Book Description
In a post-Constantine cultural and religious setting Christian theology was marked by a dialectical tension in which the spiritual could no longer be freed from the secular or the eternal from the temporal.".

Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research

Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research PDF Author: American Society for Psychical Research
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Parapsychology
Languages : en
Pages : 832

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Book Description
List of members in v. 1, 6, 12.

T&T Clark Handbook to the Historical Paul

T&T Clark Handbook to the Historical Paul PDF Author: Ryan S. Schellenberg
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0567691993
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 564

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Book Description
The T&T Clark Handbook to the Historical Paul gathers leading voices on various aspects of Paul's biography into a thorough reconsideration of him as a historical figure. The contributors show how recent trends in Pauline scholarship have invited new questions about a variety of topics, including his social location, his mode of subsistence, his cultural formation, his place within Judaism, his religious experience and practice, and his affinities with other religious actors of the Roman world. Through careful attention to biographical detail, social context, and historical method, it seeks to describe him as a contextually plausible social actor. The volume is structured in three parts. Part One introduces sources, methods, and historiographical approaches, surveying the foundational texts for Paul and the early Pauline tradition. Part Two examines key biographical questions pertaining to Paul's bodily comportment, the material aspects of his career, and his religious activities. Part Three reconstructs the biographical portraits of Paul that emerge from the letters associated with him, presenting a series of “micro-biographies” pieced together by leading Pauline scholars.

Have You Been to Delphi?

Have You Been to Delphi? PDF Author: Roger Lipsey
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791491455
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 348

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Book Description
This book of tales of the ancient Oracle at Delphi, freshly interpreted from ancient literature, restores a lost wisdom tradition. This tradition is conveyed not through philosophical or religious exposition but through story, ranging from the grandeur of myth to charming anecdotes and dark riddles. At the Delphic temple of Apollo, for nearly a thousand years, a priestess in trance listened to the urgent inquiries of questioners from all parts of the ancient world and responded on behalf of the god. From this sacred conversation there resulted both a set of enduring values and a collection of tales that relate the encounter with the divine and its consequences in the lives of questioners. In addition to a generous selection of these wisdom tales, the book also contains chapters on the priestess and ancient concepts of trance mediumship; on the Delphic commandment, "Know thyself"; and on the still-surviving Chief State Oracle of Tibet, which offers a living parallel to the ancient Delphic oracle.

Religion and World Civilizations [3 volumes]

Religion and World Civilizations [3 volumes] PDF Author: Andrew Holt
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 1679

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Book Description
An indispensable resource for readers investigating how religion has influenced societies and cultures, this three-volume encyclopedia assesses and synthesizes the many ways in which religious faith has shaped societies from the ancient world to today. Each volume of the set focuses on a different era of world history, ranging through the ancient, medieval, and modern worlds. Every volume is filled with essays that focus on religious themes from different geographical regions. For example, volume one includes essays considering religion in ancient Rome, while volume three features essays focused on religion in modern Africa. This accessible layout makes it easy for readers to learn more about the ways that religion and society have intersected over the centuries, as well as specific religious trends, events, and milestones in a particular era and place in world history. Taken as a a whole, this ambitious and wide-ranging work gathers more than 500 essays from more than 150 scholars who share their expertise and knowledge about religious faiths, tenets, people, places, and events that have influenced the development of civilization over the course of recorded human history.

The Oxford Handbook of Heracles

The Oxford Handbook of Heracles PDF Author: Daniel Ogden
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190650982
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 609

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Book Description
"The first half of the volume is devoted to the exposition of the ancient evidence, literary and iconographic, for the traditions of Heracles' life and deeds. After a chapter each on the hero's childhood and his madness, the canonical cause of his Twelve Labors, each of the Labors themselves receives detailed treatment in a dedicated chapter. The 'Parerga' or 'Side-Labors' are then treated in a similar level of detail in seven further chapters. In the second half of the book the Heracles tradition is analysed from a range of thematic perspectives. After consideration of the contrasting projections of the figure across the major literary genres, Epic, Tragedy, Comedy, Philosophy, and in the iconographic register, a number of his myth-cycle's diverse fils rouges are pursued: Heracles' fashioning as a folkloric quest-hero; his relationships with the two great goddesses, the Hera that persecutes him and the Athena that protects him; and the rationalisation and allegorisation of his cycle's constituent myths. The ways are investigated in which Greek communities and indeed Alexander the Great exploited the figure both in the fashioning of their own identities and for political advantage. The cult of Heracles is considered in its Greek manifestation, in its syncretism with that of the Phoenician Melqart, and in its presence at Rome, the last study leading into discussion of the use made of Heracles by the Roman emperors themselves and then by early Christian writers. A final chapter offers an authoritative perspective on the limitless subject of Heracles' reception in the western tradition"--

The Study of Greek and Roman Religions

The Study of Greek and Roman Religions PDF Author: Nickolas P. Roubekas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350102628
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
How should ancient religious ideas be approached? Is "religion" an applicable term to antiquity? Should classicists, ancient historians, and religious studies scholars work more closely together? Nickolas P. Roubekas argues that there is a disciplinary gap between the study of Greek and Roman religions and the study of “religion” as a category-a gap that has often resulted in contradictory conclusions regarding Greek and Roman religion. This book addresses this lack of interdisciplinarity by providing an overview, criticism, and assessment of this chasm. It provides a theoretical approach to this historical period, raising the issue of the relationship between “theory of religion” and “history of religion,” and explores how history influences theory and vice versa. It also presents an in-depth critique of some crucial problems that have been central to the discussions of scholars who work on Graeco-Roman antiquity, encouraging us to re-examine how we approach the study of ancient religions.

Dreams and Divination from Byzantium to Baghdad, 400-1000 CE

Dreams and Divination from Byzantium to Baghdad, 400-1000 CE PDF Author: Bronwen Neil
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019264453X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
Why did dreams matter to Jews, Byzantine Christians, and Muslims in the first millennium? Dreams and Divination from Byzantium to Baghdad, 400 - 1000 CE shows how the ability to interpret dreams universally attracted power and influence in the first millennium. In a time when prophetic dreams were viewed as God's intervention in human history, male and female prophets wielded was unparalleled power in imperial courts, military camps, and religious gatherings. The three faiths drew on the ancient Near Eastern tradition of dream key manuals, which offer an insight into the hopes and fears of ordinary people. They melded pagan dream divination with their own scriptural traditions to produce a novel and rich culture of dream interpretation. Prophetic dreams enabled communities to understand their past and present circumstances as divinely ordained and helped to bolster the spiritual authority of dreamers and those who had the gift of interpreting their dreams. Bronwen Neil takes a gendered approach to the analysis of the common culture of dream interpretation across late antique Jewish, Byzantine, and Islamic sources to 1000 CE, in order to expose the ways in which dreams offered women a unique opportunity to exercise influence. The epilogue to the volume reveals why dreams still matter today to many men and women of the monotheist traditions.

The Journal of Hellenic Studies

The Journal of Hellenic Studies PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Electronic journals
Languages : en
Pages : 490

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Book Description
Vols. 1-8, 1880-87, plates published separately and numbered I-LXXXIII.