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Rethinking the Gods: Philosophical Readings of Religion in the Post-Hellenistic Period
Contributor(s): Van Nuffelen, Peter (Author)
ISBN: 1107012031     ISBN-13: 9781107012035
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
OUR PRICE:   $105.45  
Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats
Published: December 2011
Qty:
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Literary Collections | Ancient, Classical & Medieval
- Philosophy | History & Surveys - Ancient & Classical
- History | Ancient - General
Dewey: 180
LCCN: 2011033570
Series: Greek Culture in the Roman World
Physical Information: 0.9" H x 6.2" W x 9" (1.27 lbs) 282 pages
Themes:
- Chronological Period - Ancient (To 499 A.D.)
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
Ancient philosophers had always been fascinated by religion. From the first century BC onwards, the traditionally more hostile attitude of Greek and Roman philosophy was abandoned in favour of the view that religion was a source of philosophical knowledge. This book studies that change, not from the perspective of the history of religion, as is usual, but understands it as part of the wider tendency of Post-Hellenistic philosophy to open up to external, non-philosophical sources of knowledge and authority. It situates two key themes, ancient wisdom and cosmic hierarchy, in the context of Post-Hellenistic philosophy and traces their reconfigurations in contemporary literature and in the polemic between Jews, Christians and pagans. Overall, Post-Hellenistic philosophy can be seen to have a relatively high degree of unity in its ideas on religion, which should not be reduced to a preparation for Neo-Platonism.

Contributor Bio(s): Van Nuffelen, Peter: - Peter van Nuffelen is Professor of History at Universiteit Gent, Belgium. His interests cover Hellenistic history, ancient historiography, ancient religion and philosophy and late antique history and literature, including in oriental languages. He has published widely in these fields, including the monograph Un h�ritage de paix et de pi�t�. �tude sur les Histoires eccl�siastiques de Socrate et de Sozom�ne (2004) and the edited volumes Faces of Hellenism (2009), Monotheism in Late Antiquity Between Christians and Pagans (2010, with S. Mitchell) and One God. Pagan Monotheism in the Roman Empire (First�ourth Centuries AD) (2010, with S. Mitchell). He is currently working on projects on late antique historiography and on ritual communication in Late Antiquity.