This volume collects essays by Guy G. Stroumsa on the intertwined religious history in late antiquity, reflected in the forms of belief and practice among pagans, Christians, Jews, Gnostics, and Manichaeans. The author shows how the relationship between polytheistic, monotheistic and dualist systems as well as rituals leads to a double dynamism of beliefs and transformations of religious ethos.

The religious revolution of late antiquity and its intertwined religious history are reflected in a broad array of new forms of religious belief and practice, of which Christianity is only the most perceptible one. It is represented in the passage from polytheistic systems to monotheistic and dualist ones, as well as in the move from rituals centred upon sacrifices in temples to rituals established upon scriptures, in churches, synagogues, or mosques. This double dynamism of beliefs and rituals sheds light on the transformations of religious ethos. Guy G. Stroumsa's two-part volume reflects this double argument. The essays all focus on central aspects, such as in Part I on mental aspects of religion in the Roman Empire, as expressed in early Christian texts and traditions, and in Part II on religious communication across the empire's cultures and communities.

Autorentext
Born 1948; 1978 PhD; Dr. h. c. Zurich; Martin Buber Professor Emeritus of Comparative Religion, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Professor Emeritus of the Study of the Abrahamic Religions, and Emeritus Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford. Member, Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.