Description
Book SynopsisSpiritual Taxonomies and Ritual Authority recounts how philosophers of the late third century C.E. organized the spirit world into hierarchies, positioning themselves as high priests in the process. By establishing themselves as experts on sacred matters, they fortified their authority, prestige, and reputation.
Trade Review"
Spiritual Taxonomies and Ritual Authority is an original and thoughtful work, and one that will be of considerable interest to a range of scholars. Tracing the interactions among figures who have traditionally been perceived as operating within separate spheres-pagan Neoplatonists, Christian Platonists, Egyptian ritual experts, and gnostics-Heidi Marx-Wolf makes a persuasive and stimulating argument for how these thinkers used their expertise to establish their social authority." * James Rives, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill *
Table of ContentsList of Abbreviations
Introduction
Chapter 1. How to Feed a Daemon: Third-Century Philosophers on Blood Sacrifice
Chapter 2. Everything in Its Right Place: Spiritual Taxonomy in Third-Century Platonism
Chapter 3. The Missing Link: Third-Century Platonists and "Gnostics" on Daemons and Other Spirits
Chapter 4. High Priests of the Highest God: Third-Century Platonists as Ritual Experts
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
