Religion of the Gods: Ritual, Paradox, and Reflexivity - Hardcover

Patton, Kimberley Christine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 019509106X ISBN 13: 9780195091069

Publisher: OUP USA, 2009

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.

About this title

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.

Edition details

• Publisher: OUP USA
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 019509106X
• ISBN 13: 9780195091069
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 512