Download or read book Planetary gods and planetary orders in the mysteries of Mithras written by R. Beck and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2015-11-16 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Preliminary material /Roger Beck -- The planets and the grades: the problem of a unique order /Roger Beck -- The grade order and exoteric planetary orders: mastery of space and time /Roger Beck -- Orders on the monuments: introduction /Roger Beck -- Orders in mithraea: Sette Sfere and Sette Porte /Roger Beck -- The order of the Bologna relief: the planets and the bull-killing /Roger Beck -- Planets and zodiac: the Housesteads birth scene /Roger Beck -- The Ottaviano Zeno monument: planetary orders implicit in the row of altars; the snake-encircled figures; the ascent of souls (i); Jupiter, Sun and Saturn /Roger Beck -- The planetary order of Contra Celsum 6.22: the ascent of souls(ii); the two revolutions /Roger Beck -- Saturn's primacy: the Sun of midnight /Roger Beck -- Planetary orders and the zodiac in the Barberini fresco: the structures of genesis and apogenesis; Saturn and the snakeencircled god /Roger Beck -- the integrity ofthe Bologna relief /Roger Beck -- INDICES /Roger Beck -- LIST OF PLATES /Roger Beck -- Plates I-IV /Roger Beck.
Download or read book Planetary Gods and Planetary Orders in the Mysteries of Mithras written by Roger Beck and published by Brill. This book was released on 1988 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Introduction to the New Testament written by Helmut Koester and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 1995 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Astrological Neptune and the Quest for Redemption written by Liz Greene and published by Weiser Books. This book was released on 2000-10-15 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The longing for redemption is a many-headed daimon that dwells within the most earthbound and prosaic of souls. Neptune is the astrological symbol that describes this energy. Liz Greene, an internationally known astrologer, has given us the most complete and accessible book about Neptune ever written! She explores Neptune themes in literature, myth, politics, religion, fashion, and art to show how this energy manifests.
Download or read book Mithras written by Andrew Fear and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2022-06-24 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mithras explores the history and practices of the ancient mystery religion Mithraism, looking at both literary and material evidence for the god Mithras and the reception and allure of his mysteries in the present. The genesis and spread of Mithraism remain highly controversial. This book examines our current state of knowledge on the pre-classical Indo-Iranian god, Mitra, and argues that Mithraism was a product of Mitra’s encounter with the religious thought of the classical world. It then charts the life history of Mithraism in the Roman Empire, exploring the social background of its initiates and the reasons for their attraction to the religion. The rituals and beliefs of the cult are as mysterious as its origins; in studying Mithraic "caves" and paintings found in some Mithraic temples, we can better understand and reconstruct the rituals the Mithraists practiced. While "bull-slaying", or tauroctony, lies at the core of the Mithraic mythos, this volume explores other incidents in the god’s life depicted in ancient art, including his miraculous birth and his banquet with the sun, as well as the disconcerting lion-headed "enveloped god". After a fall from grace in the post-classical world, Mithras has resurrected himself in the present, establishing himself as one of the most recognisable if elusive gods of antiquity. Mithras provides a fascinating study of this complex god that will be of interest to scholars and students of Roman and Late Antique religion, mystery cults, as well as those working on society and religion in antiquity more broadly.
Download or read book Julian s Gods written by Rowland B. E. Smith and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-04-15 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Julian's brief reign (360-363 AD) had a profound impact on his contemporaries, as he worked fervently for a pagan restoration in the Roman Empire, which was rapidly becoming Christian. Julian's Gods focuses on the cultural mentality of `the last pagan Emperor' by examining a wide variety of his own writings. The surviving speeches and treatises, satires and letters offer a rare insight into the personal attitudes and motivations of a remarkable Emperor. They show Julian as a highly educated man, an avid student of Greek philosophy, and a talented author in his own right. This elegant and closely-argued study will deepen understanding not only of Julian, but of the context of fourth century Neoplatonism.
Download or read book Mystery and Secrecy in the Nag Hammadi Collection and Other Ancient Literature Ideas and Practices written by Christian H. Bull and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2011-10-28 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mystery and secrecy were central concepts in the ritual, rhetoric, and sociological stratification of antique Mediterranean religions. That the ultimate nature and workings of the divine were secret, and either could not or should not be revealed except as a mystery for the initiated, was widely accepted among Pagans, Jews, and then Christians, both Gnostic and otherwise. The similarities and differences in the language of mystery and secrecy across religious and cultural borders are thus crucial for understanding this important period of the history of religions. The present anthology aims to present and analyze a wide selection of sources elucidating this theme, reflecting the correspondingly wide scholarly interests of Professor Einar Thomassen in honor of his 60th birthday.
Download or read book Relighting the Souls written by Frederick E. Brenk and published by Franz Steiner Verlag. This book was released on 1998 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the last ten years, there has been an enormous awakening of interest in Plutarch. This collection contains many stimulating and important articles from the Plutarch renaissance, especially on the interaction between divine and human worlds, and on expectations in the next life. But treated here are also a number of other challenging topics in classical Greek literature. Among them are the Near Eastern background of early Greek myth and literature, the decisive speech of Achilleus' mentor, Phoenix, in the Iliad, divine assimilations and ruler cult, the language of Menander's young men, the vision of God in Middle Platonism, blessed afterlife in the mysteries, Greek epiphanies and the Acts of the Apostles, and the revolt at Jerusalem against Antiochos Epiphanes in the light of similar cities under Hellenistic rule. Another book of Frederick E. Brenk: Clothed in Purple Light. (Franz Steiner 1998)
Download or read book Romanising Oriental Gods written by Jaime Alvar Ezquerra and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2008 with total page 507 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The traditional grand narrative correlating the decline of Graeco-Roman religion with the rise of Christianity has been under pressure for three decades. This book argues that the alternative accounts now emerging significantly underestimate the role of three major cults, of Cybele and Attis, Isis and Serapis, and Mithras. Although their differences are plain, these cults present sufficient common features to justify their being taken typologically as a group. All were selective adaptations of much older cults of the Fertile Crescent. It was their relative sophistication, their combination of the imaginative power of unfamiliar myth with distinctive ritual performance and ethical seriousness, that enabled them both to focus and to articulate a sense of the autonomy of religion from the socio-political order, a sense they shared with Early Christianity. The notion of 'mystery' was central to their ability to navigate the Weberian shift from ritualist to ethical salvation.
Download or read book Romanising Oriental Gods written by Jaime Alvar and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2008-07-31 with total page 506 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The traditional grand narrative correlating the decline of Graeco-Roman religion with the rise of Christianity has been under pressure for three decades. This book argues that the alternative accounts now emerging significantly underestimate the role of three major cults, of Cybele and Attis, Isis and Serapis, and Mithras. Although their differences are plain, these cults present sufficient common features to justify their being taken typologically as a group. All were selective adaptations of much older cults of the Fertile Crescent. It was their relative sophistication, their combination of the imaginative power of unfamiliar myth with distinctive ritual performance and ethical seriousness, that enabled them both to focus and to articulate a sense of the autonomy of religion from the socio-political order, a sense they shared with Early Christianity. The notion of 'mystery' was central to their ability to navigate the Weberian shift from ritualist to ethical salvation.
Download or read book Snatched Into Paradise 2 Cor 12 1 10 written by James Buchanan Wallace and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2011 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, Paul claims to have been snatched into paradise but then tells how he received a "thorn in the flesh". Many recent scholars contend that Paul belittles ecstatic experiences such as the ascent to paradise. This monograph places 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 in the contexts of ancient ascent traditions as well as other accounts of extraordinary religious experience in Paul's letters, and it engages premodern interpretation of the ascent. This study argues that for Paul, extraordinary experiences such as the ascent enable self-transcending love for God and neighbors.
Download or read book Corresponding Sense written by Brook W.R. Pearson and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-10-01 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Corresponding Sense represents a turning point in the application of ‘hermeneutics’ to New Testament texts. Following the example of Hans-Georg Gadamer’s ‘philosophical hermeneutics’, Pearson treats several different problems in New Testament interpretation centred around the figure of Paul. In so doing, he demonstrates how a dialogical approach to the interpretation of ancient texts functions pragmatically to allow for a deeper understanding not only of individual texts, but also of their siting with the larger dialectical web of the texts and contexts of the ancient world. This approach, developed here in connection with the New Testament, also has relevance to other literature. In Corresponding Sense, Pearson outlines what he calls a ‘dialectical topography’—the tracing of connections and disjunctions between texts and their subject matter both within and outside of the New Testament. He uses both theoretical and practical discussion to demonstrate this approach, showing how it functions as a new way of approaching a Paul who is a member of a much larger community than simply the Judaism of his fathers—a Paul who participates in cultural narratives which extend throughout not only earliest Christianity, but also into the wider thought-world of the Roman Empire.
Download or read book Practicing Gnosis written by April DeConick and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2013-08-22 with total page 581 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ritual, magic, liturgy, and theurgy were central features of Gnosticism, and yet Gnostic practices remain understudied. This anthology is meant to fill in this gap and address more fully what the ancient Gnostics were doing. While previously we have studied the Gnostics as intellectuals in pursuit of metaphysical knowledge, the essays in this book attempt to understand the Gnostics as ecstatics striving after religious experience, as prophets seeking revelation, as mystics questing after the ultimate God, as healers attempting to care for the sick and diseased. These essays demonstrate that the Gnostics were not necessarily trendy intellectuals seeking epistomological certainities. They were after religious experiences that relied on practices. The book is organized comparatively in a history-of-religions approach with sections devoted to Initiatory, Recurrent, Therapeutic, Ecstatic, and Philosophic Practices. This book celebrates the brilliant career of Birger A. Pearson.
Download or read book Exploring the New Testament World written by Albert Bell and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 1998-09-18 with total page 2035 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The timeless message of the New Testament applies to people of every culture and generation. Yet there is great value in understanding the world in which that message was first revealed - its social manners, politics, religious customs, and culture. Exploring the New Testament World, written by classics and Bible scholar Dr. Albert A. Bell, Jr., illuminates the living context of the New Testament, immersing its readers in the intriguing world of Jesus and the early church. An authority on ancient Greek and Roman language, culture, and history, Dr. Bell writes in a readable style that is accessible and enjoyable to any reader - an uncommon accomplishment among New Testament scholars today. Surveying Jewish factions of the era, the social and political structure of the Roman Empire, and the philosophies and religions that surrounded the early church, Dr. Bell helps his readers learn to think like first-century Jews, Greeks, and Romans, illuminating puzzling New Testament passages for clear understanding. Comprehensive Scripture and Subject Indexes make this volume even more useful as a "manners and customs" Bible companion. This authoritative guide receives high praise from college professors and Sunday school teachers alike, proving its appeal to both popular and academic audiences. A "must-have" reference for every pastor and an indispensable resource to any Bible reader.
Download or read book Beck on Mithraism written by Roger Beck and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-11-25 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Roger Beck, a world authority on Mithraism, brings together his major writings on the Mysteries of Mithras in the context of the culture and religions of imperial Rome. In these studies he opens new vistas on myth making, ritual, symbolism, the role of astrology in the cult, recently discovered Mithraic monuments and artefacts, and the emergence of Mithraism and Christianity concurrently in the first century. Beck offers new introductions to his thematically framed groups of writings and adds six entirely new essays published here for the first time. These essays link his research to contemporary studies in cognitive science of religion and anthropology of religion. This collection will appeal particularly to scholars exploring contemporary aspects in anthropology of religion, astronomy and astrology, cults and myths, images and symbols, as well as traditional scholars of Greco-Roman antiquity and Christian origins.
Download or read book The Star of Bethlehem and the Magi written by George H. van Kooten and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2015-11-02 with total page 718 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the fruit of the first ever interdisciplinary international scientific conference on Matthew's story of the Star of Bethlehem and the Magi, held in 2014 at the University of Groningen, and attended by world-leading specialists in all relevant fields: modern astronomy, the ancient near-eastern and Greco-Roman worlds, the history of science, and religion. The scholarly discussions and the exchange of the interdisciplinary views proved to be immensely fruitful and resulted in the present book. Its twenty chapters describe the various aspects of The Star: the history of its interpretation, ancient near-eastern astronomy and astrology and the Magi, astrology in the Greco-Roman and the Jewish worlds, and the early Christian world – at a generally accessible level. An epilogue summarizes the fact-fiction balance of the most famous star which has ever shone.
Download or read book The Roman Mithras Cult written by Olympia Panagiotidou and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-11-02 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Roman Mithras Cult: A Cognitive Approach is the first full cognitive history of an ancient religion. In this groundbreaking book on one of the most intriguing and mysterious ancient religions, Roger Beck and Olympia Panagiotidou show how cognitive historiography can supplement our historical knowledge and deepen our understanding of past cultural phenomenon. The cult of the sun god Mithras, which spread widely across the Greco-Roman world at the same time as other 'mystery cults' and Christianity, offered to its devotees certain images and assumptions about reality. Initiation into the mysteries of Mithras and participation in the life of the cult significantly affected and transformed the ways in which the initiated perceived themselves, the world, and their position within it. The cult's major ideas were conveyed mainly through its major symbolic complexes. The ancient written testimonies and other records are not adequate to establish a definitive reconstruction of Mithraic theologies and the meaning of its complex symbolic structures. Filling this gap, The Roman Mithras Cult: A Cognitive Approach identifies the cognitive and psychological processes which took place in the minds and bodies of the Mithraists during their initiation and participation in the mysteries, enabling the perception, apprehension, and integration of the essential images and assumptions of the cult in its worldview system.
