Elaine Pagels is an unlikely celebrity. It is not often that professors of religion write books which so thoroughly and successfully straddle the professional/popular divide. Pagels has written many such books:
The Gnostic Gospels
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent: Sex and Politics in Early Christianity
The Origin of Satan: How Christians Demonized Jews, Pagans, and [...]
Tags:apocalypse·bible·Book of Revelation·canonization·Catholic Church·Christian history·Constantine·Elaine Pagels·exegesis·Gnostic Gospels·John of Patmos·Left Behind·prophecy·rapture·Revelation·Satan·the Beast
Fascinating post by Kristina Killgrove over at Osteons, with bonus clip from Monty Python’s Life of Brian. Besides perfecting the dark art of crucifixion over a 600 year period (it was banned by the Emperor Constantine in 337 CE to exalt the Christian symbol), what did the Romans ever do for us:
Except for the aqueduct, [...]
In his 1880 Hibbert Lecture on the history of early Christianity, Ernest Renan commented: “I sometimes permit myself to say that, if Christianity had not carried the day, Mithraicism would have become the religion of the world.” While it is doubtful that a Persian-influenced mystery cult which appealed primarily to Roman soldiers, officials, and aristocrats [...]
Tags:bull sacrifice·bull worship·Catal Hoyuk·Christianity·Commagene·Constantine·Crusades·early Christians·Ernest Renan·Franz Cumont·Kingdom of Commagene·Knights Templar·Mithraism·Mithras·mystery cult·Persian·Roger Beck·Rome·solar deity
Incredibly, there are three articles over at HuffPo Religion that I have recently bookmarked for brief discussion here. There are of course about ten others which reflect the liberal, progressive, ecumenical, and mystical view of religion adhered to by a tiny minority of people, and which will be of interest mostly to the highly educated [...]
Tags:Buddhist history·Christianity as state religion·Constantine·Constantine's conversion·Darwinism and the Moral Argument for God·Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche·early Christianity·empire·evolved morality·foragers·Fran de Waal·hunter-gatherers·Is Buddhism a Religion·Marc Hauser·Michael Ruse·moral code·morality·natural morality·non-religious morality·Paul Wagler·primates·privatization of religious belief·proto-morality·Rodney Stark·secular·Siddhartha·Talal Asad·westernized Buddhism
The story is a familiar one: a new religion is founded — or, as the sociologist Rodney Stark would say, a new sect is born from an older tradition — and over time it becomes successful. By success, I mean that it grows, becomes popular, and shows few signs of slowing down.
At some point during [...]
Tags:Beijing·Buddhist economy·China·Chinese Buddhism·Chinese government·Chinese state·Christianity·co-opt·co-optation·Confucius·Constantine·Cultural Revolution·Dalai Lama·domesticated religion·Foucault·new religions·official atheism·political power·power·profits·religion as commodity·resistance·Roman Empire·sects·state·suppression·surveillance·Tibetan Buddhism·Western Buddhism·World Buddhist Forum
The rise of chiefdoms, city-states, and empires following the Neolithic Revolution was greatly assisted by marrying religion to power, or using religion to maintain power. The relationship between religion and power thus has deep historical and structural roots. There have been times, however, when the abuse of power has spawned new religions or dissenting sects. [...]
Tags:Christianity·Constantine·power
