New Avenues in the Study of the Old Testament. Vandome, John McBrewster 9781165325771 1165325772 Belle Islet — In imitation of At one Time 1884 , Frederick Theory Olmsted 9781166396442 1166396444 A Mean Found respecting Realm in addition to Ingersoll 1887 , Lewis Naphtali Dembitz 9781171163015 1171163010 Kernel Bar Guide — NASCADigest Busch Progression — 2006 Queen Lilac 200, Feature Denny Hamlin, Not shiny Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Obey Martin, Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, J.
He also thanks his colleagues at Colgate University, particularly William Skelton and Dexter Morrill, for their kindly encouragement of his broader interests, and for material assistance from the Humanities Faculty Development Fund. General Editor: Jill Purce © 1981 Thames and Hudson Ltd, London. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. EDITION Printed in Great Britain Le: 81-47423 ISBN: 81 0-06-063 1406 82 83 84 85 10 9 8 7 6 4 2 Contents Introduction 7 THE PATH OF THE WARRIOR II THE PATH OF THE MONK 17 THE PATH OF THE MAGICIAN 22 THE PATH OF LOVE 26 THE PATH OF KNOWLEDGE 31 Chapters I THE ROMAN GODS II MYTHOLOGY 38 48 III THE IMPERIAL CULT 56 IV MAGICAL AND FOLK BELIEFS 64 V PHILOSOPHERS VI JUDAISM 7° 78 VII GNOSTICISM 84 VIII CHRISTIANITY 9° 98 IX MITHRAS AND AION X CYBELE AND ATTIS XI ISIS AND SERAPIS XII DIONYSUS 110 120 13 2 XIII ORPHEUS AND HERCULES 144 XIV THE OVERSEERS 15° XV SYNCRETISM 16 4 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 17 2 PHOTOGRAPHIC ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 173 INDEX 173 MOMUS: ZEUS: Tell, me, 0 Zeus, however did Attis, and Corybas, and Sabazius ever get trundled in upon us? Or Mithras over there, the Mede, in his caftan and cap, who doesn't even speak Greek? And you, too, dog-faced Anubis - how do you think you'll pass for a god if you keep barking? I'm ashamed, Zeus, to mention all the ibises, monkeys, billygoats and worse beasts still, which have somehow been smuggled out of Egypt into Heaven. However can you bear it, Gods, to see them worshipped as much as yourselves, or even more? And you, Zeus, how can you put up with those rams' horns they stick on your head? All these points you mention about the Egyptians are in truth unseemly. Nevertheless, Momus, most of them are matters of symbolism; and one who is not an adept in the Mysteries really should not laugh at them. Lucian, The Parliament of Gods 9-1 I Introduction An extraordinary variety of paths was open to the Mediterranean and European peoples in the last centuries before, and the first centuries after Christ. The subjects of the Roman Empire enjoyed a freedom of choice in religious matters unparalleled until modern times. The similarity goes further: so far, indeed, that it seems almost as though the present epoch is an accelerated recapitulation of the earlier one. In such a case it is possible to use past history as a lens through which to view more clearly our own age - and vice versa. In both epochs we see the old religions degenerating through loss of genuine enthusiasm in the original sense of the term. Priests and ministers cling to their rituals out of fear or habit, and have nothing to teach the people but morality. The old Roman religion had grown as fossilized and uninspiring as modern 'Churchianity', yet the alternatives of agnosticism or atheism, while useful as a cleansing reaction, left the soul as bleak then as they do now. In answer to its need, illumination comes from another direction: lux ex Oriente. In those days it was the cults ofAsia Minor, Egypt and the Near East that shed their light over the Empire; in these it is especially the discovery of the Far Eastern religions, in all their variety, which brings new life to the aspirations of those Westerners who are receptive to them. They proclaim that the sole purpose of life is spiritual development, for which each can find a means best suited in nature and level. Of course this could lead a modern person back to Christ, but then it would be with a new understanding and in a new relationship. Theory is transformed into experience, and mysteries - 'the hidden things' - become the central concern of life. Too long have we learnt about ancient religion from unbelieving academics or from Christian chauvinists, divorcing it on the one hand from life and on the other from faith. I have the highest respect for the industry and dedication of our archaeologists and classicists, but not for the attitude that approaches the Mysteries in the same spirit as the classification of potsherds. Already the study of living religions is 7 escaping from the obligatory agnosticism which used to be demanded by the modern Academy; and the case should be no different with ancient religion. I do not want to learn about Plato from a logical positivist, but from a Platonist. Is it possible to comprehend that in which one does not believe? My frame ofreference is the 'Perennial Philosophy', which I use for want of a better term to denote the philosophy that assumes a transcendent unity behind all religions, and sees them all as attempts, each valid for its time and place, to point the way to the true goal of human existence. Many people can accept this as it applies to the great religions current today: Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam. But it is a different matter when it comes to religions as remote as those ofCybele, Mithras or Orpheus. Often they are regarded merely as bizarre and rather fin-de-siecle attempts to repair a loss of faith in the old Roman religion. They were much more than this. There were millions of devotees - human beings not so very different from ourselves - who lived and died in these - to us - strange faiths. A deliberate effort of the imagination is necessary in order to comprehend them. It is not enough just to empathize with the religious impulse in general: one must put one's own self in the position, say, of a person for whom Cybele is God, and all that that can mean. In the case of a Mystery initiation, one must imagine one's entire life story, here and now, pivoting around the great event
