Search results for ""Author Guy G Stroumsa""

At the dawn of the twentieth century, many leading European intellectuals, perceiving that religion was in rapid decline in their secularizing societies, thought that it was doomed to soon become marginal, and eventually to disappear, throughout the world. A century later, such naïve beliefs have collapsed. We are struck by the complexity of religious transformations in our globalized world. Today, religion often appears to have been hijacked by murderous "thugs for God's sake," who come in various shapes and colours, but always with the same intentions they are often also willing to act on. In the essays in this volume, Guy G. Stroumsa reflects on some leading intellectuals, such as Sigmund Freud, Martin Buber, Emmanuel Levinas and Carlo Ginzburg, and how they approached an understanding of religious phenomena from their own disciplinary viewpoints. The volume closes with comments on crucial problems and methods in the contemporary study of religion.

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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.

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Perhaps more than any other cause, the passage of texts from scroll to codex in late antiquity converted the Roman Empire from paganism to Christianity and enabled the worldwide spread of Christian faith. Guy Stroumsa describes how canonical scripture was established and how its interpretation replaced blood sacrifice in religious ritual.

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Sarah Stroumsa untersucht die als "Convivencia" bezeichnete interkommunale Balance zwischen christlichen, jüdischen und muslimischen Gemeinschaften im mittelalterlichen islamischen Osten. Sie zeigt auf, dass gerade das Vermächtnis der christlichen Akademien in der Spätantike einen tragfähigen Rahmen für das Betreiben von Philosophie bot, dem sich sowohl Juden als auch Muslime anschließen konnten.Guy G. Stroumsa nimmt die Erforschung von Judentum und Islam in der europäischen Wissenschaft des 19. Jahrhunderts in den Blick. Anhand zahlreicher Beispiele zeigt er auf, wie sich in der Geschichte der einschlägigen wissenschaftlichen Disziplinen durchweg breitere kulturelle Trends und gesellschaftliche Entwicklungen widerspiegeln.

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