Synopsis
This book seeks to explain an enigmatic and paradoxical image common to many of the world religions, both polytheistic and monotheistic--that of the god who worships. Drawing on a broad array of comparative evidence, including examples from Indian, Iranian, Germanic, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic religions, Patton fashions a new theory of "divine reflexivity," according to which the gods create, model, and comment upon those practices with which they are related, not just as recipients but as prototypes. This theory offers a satisfying basis of interpretation for such disparate cases as the bull- slaying god of Mithraism, and the sacrifice of Christ on the cross as repeated in the Christian mass. With its new explanation of a fascinating religious phenomenon, this book will be of great to both comparativists and to scholars of the individual religions discussed.
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About the Author
Kimberley C. Patton is Professor of the Comparative and Historical Study of Religion at Harvard Divinity School. Her special fields are ancient Greek religion, archaeology, and iconography. She is the author of "The Sea Can Wash Away All Evils": Modern Marine Pollution and the Ancient Cathartic Ocean (forthcoming, 2006) and co-editor of and contributing author to A Magic Still Dwells: Comparative Religion in a Postmodern Age and Holy Tears: Weeping in the Religious Imagination.
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Religion of the Gods: Ritual, Paradox, and Reflexivity
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Religion of the Gods : Ritual, Paradox, And Reflexivity
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Religion of the Gods: Ritual, Paradox, and Reflexivity (eng)
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Hardcover. Condition: new. Hardcover. In many of the world's religions, both polytheistic and monotheistic, a seemingly enigmatic and paradoxical image is found--that of the god who worships. Various interpretations of this seeming paradox have been advanced. Some suggest that it represents sacrifice to a higher deity. Proponents of anthropomorphic projection say that the gods are just "big people" and that images of human religious action are simply projected onto the deities. However, suchexplanations do not do justice to the complexity and diversity of this phenomenon. In Religion of the Gods, Kimberley C. Patton uses a comparative approach to take up anew a longstandingchallenge in ancient Greek religious iconography: why are the Olympian gods depicted on classical pottery making libations? The sacrificing gods in ancient Greece are compared to gods who perform rituals in six other religious traditions: the Vedic gods, the heterodox god Zurvan of early Zoroastrianism, the Old Norse god Odin, the Christian God and Christ, the God of Judaism, and Islam's Allah. Patton examines the comparative evidence from a cultural and historical perspective, uncovering deepstructural resonances while also revealing crucial differences. Instead of looking for invisible recipients or lost myths, Patton proposes the new category of "divinereflexivity." Divinely performed ritual is a self-reflexive, self-expressive action that signals the origin of ritual in the divine and not the human realm. Above all, divine ritual is generative, both instigating and inspiring human religious activity. The religion practiced by the gods is both like and unlike human religious action. Seen from within the religious tradition, gods are not "big people," but other than human. Human ritual is directed outward to a divine being, but the godspractice ritual on their own behalf. "Cultic time," the symbiotic performance of ritual both in heaven and on earth, collapses the distinction between cult and theology each time ritual is performed.Offering the first comprehensive study and a new theory of this fascinating phenomenon, Religion of the Gods is a significant contribution to the fields of classics and comparative religion. Patton shows that the god who performs religious action is not an anomaly, but holds a meaningful place in the category of ritual and points to a phenomenologically universal structure within religion itself. Seeks to explain an enigmatic image common to many of the world religions, both polytheistic and monotheistic, that of the God who worships. Drawing on an array of comparative evidence, this book suggests a theory of 'divine reflexivity'. It is of interest to comparativists and to scholars of the individual religions under discussion. This item is printed on demand. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780195091069
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