What is Religion?: European Thought from Antiquity to the Present - Couverture rigide

Borgeaud, Philippe

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 1009220349 ISBN 13 : 9781009220347

Editeur : Cambridge University Press, 2026

Synopsis

How should we explain differences in religious belief and practice? Philippe Borgeaud's ambitious intellectual history tells the story of how reflection on religious phenomena emerged, throughout the centuries, in European consciousness and scholarship. Christianity in particular, as Borgeaud shows, long wrestled with how to understand polytheistic cultures versus its own belief in a single omnipotent God. The Church Fathers, the author argues, sought to inherit the core of Graeco-Roman culture while rejecting its deities and religious practices; and patristic ideas were later adopted when Europeans travelling and colonising the world encountered ever more varied polytheistic traditions. At times detached, at times enchanted, these travellers' reflections provided the basis for the modern study of 'religions', and have since conditioned the mindset of anyone brought up in a European culture. The book concludes by arguing for the importance of liberation from these assumptions and instead considering religion as a form of 'play'.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Philippe Borgeaud was, until his retirement, Professor of the History of Ancient Religions at the University of Geneva where he is now an Honorary Professor in the Department of the Sciences of Antiquity. He is one of the world's leading scholars of the history of religion, originating in his study of ancient Greece. His books include The Cult of Pan in Ancient Greece (1988) and Mother of the Gods (2004).

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Cambridge University Press
• Date d'édition: 2026
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1009220349
• ISBN 13: 9781009220347
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 198
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Avery; https://www.avery.fr/; ; chemin des peupliers 27; Dardilly; France