Ancient Religion Research Articles

The Issue of Etiquette in “Avesta”

In addition to being the holy book of zoroastrianism counted from the ancient religions of the world, “Avesta” is important in the study of the centuries - old history, socio-economic life, spirituality and values of our ancestors. In the great spiritual heritage of our ancestors, special attention was paid to the issues of education and spirituality, which indicates that a high culture has existed in our country since ancient times. This article will talk about the ideas put forward in our rich spiritual heritage “Avesta” about etiquette, education, spirituality.

Experiencing the divine? Museum presentations of religion in Roman Britain

Religious practice in the Roman world involved diverse rituals and knowledge. Scholarly studies of ancient religion increasingly emphasise the experiential aspects of these practices, highlighting multisensory and embodied approaches to material culture and the dynamic construction of religious experiences and identities. In contrast, museum displays typically frame religious material culture around its iconographic or epigraphic significance. The author analyses 23 UK museum displays to assess how religion in Roman Britain is presented and discusses how museums might use research on ‘lived ancient religion’ to offer more varied and engaging narratives of religious practices that challenge visitors’ perceptions of the period.

An Atypical Base-community

This study aims to review and refresh previous fieldwork findings of the Icelandic Ásatrúarfélagið neopagan movement. With a membership of over 5500, sensationalist media has created a magnified image of the group, depicting it as a “steadily growing ancient religion” worshipping old Norse deities, such as Odin, Thor, and Njord. Such simplifying articles overemphasized and mistook the movement’s reinterpretations of historical traditions, overexposed the construction of their new communal space, labeling it the “first pagan temple in a millennium, which cultivated a “Heathen Mecca” effect. The author of this study had the opportunity to conduct fieldwork in 2018, documenting Ásatrúarfélagið rituals and activities. 20 years after the first academic articles of the movement, the following study aims to re-evaluate previous research statements and offer novel contexts for some of the documented changes in the Ásatrúarfélagið’s rituals, self-representation, and practices.

The Heart Renaissance.

Ancient societies believed the heart was the most important organ in the body. Ancient religions held that only through the heart could one connect with God. During Europe's Middle Ages there was little to no advances regarding the heart's workings. As the Middle Ages gave way to the Renaissance, scientists and physicians began questioning long-standing theories on the heart. The first accurate descriptions of the heart and its function were written, and the first anatomically correct representations of the heart were drawn.

The conceptualisation of morality in ancient religions at the hand of the Gilgamesh Epic

The conceptualisation of morality in ancient religions at the hand of the Gilgamesh Epic

Faith in the Stars and Architecture: Astrology as an Interpretation of Religious Permanence and the Birth of Modernity

In 1912, Aby Warburg presented his interpretation of the frescoes at the Palazzo Schifanoia in Ferrara at the 10th International Congress of Art History in Rome. The decision to expound his theory in an academic setting was no coincidence: Warburg’s work, and the subsequent studies of Fritz Saxl, sought to centre the attention of art history on the complex world of astrological studies. The history of astrology demonstrated—via iconological analysis—the migration of knowledge from East to West. Warburg’s innovation was to superimpose the trauma of historical-artistic paths on this network. Through the Schifanoia frescoes, he could reflect upon how an international comparison with the surviving figurative concepts of Eastern Mediterranean civilisations had generated the stylistic transformation of the human figure in Italian art. Warburg defined astrology as ancient religion’s most tenacious form of hidden survival. He traced a path of continuity through art and its relationship to the architectural space hosting it. Astrological illustrations not only enable us to reconstruct the warp and weft of religious permanence but serve as a tool to explain the procedures of iconographic change that led to the Renaissance. After the collapse of paganism, many astrological images survived into the Middle Ages as symbols associated with the essences appropriated by Christianity as its own. A complex store of astrological iconography that migrated from classical cultures and reappeared during the Renaissance's construction of a universal language. Some foretastes emerge in medieval buildings; after a long period in which Christianity and astrology were considered incompatible, astrological language completed and provided meaning to the architecture that welcomed it. Such is the case of the Palazzo della Ragione in Padua. This paper aims to retrace the most significant paths of this migration of symbols through the analysis of such examples of Renaissance architecture as Villa Farnesina in Rome and the aforementioned Palazzo Schifanoia. It will also reflect on the position and training of the architect during the Renaissance and on how astrology was considered both magical thought and a mathematical description that would lead to the discovery of infinity. It is notable that the Farnesina’s astrological contents were dictated by Baldassarre Peruzzi, the building’s architect.

A Dialogue between Hindu and Catholic Perspectives in Taking Care of Newborns at their End-of-Life.

Hinduism is considered one of the most ancient religions in the world. Although the technological innovation of modernization has undermined the reliance on their traditions, Hindus may still rely on Hindu Scripture when making decisions. From their standpoint, contrary to Western medicine, human lives cannot be reduced to statistical and empirical facts. They focus more on preserving the spirit, rather than considering survival as one of the goals of medicine. Consequently, when a preterm infant is born, Hindu parents might struggle to understand the goals of Western neonatologists. This divergence may create misunderstandings when discussing end-of-life decisions. Since they value relational aspects to be of utmost importance, they may accept treatments only in the likelihood of good neurological outcomes. Being able to interact allows Hindus to act virtuously with the aim of purifying their soul toward moksa. When it comes to end-of-life decisions on behalf of newborns, Hindu parents may opt to forgo treatments and let the baby peacefully die, while praying for their soul to have a better rebirth. This paper aims to evaluate quality-of-life assessment in the Hindu tradition in comparison with the Catholic tradition. It draws parallelisms between these two different religions to investigate whether an inter-religious dialogue is possible. This work will help Catholic, and more broadly Western, doctors to have a better understanding of the Hindu end-of-life views.

DA REFRIGERIUM AL SUO CONTRARIO. ALCUNE SFUMATURE DEL CONCETTO NELLE VISIONES ANIMARUM MEDIEVALI

From refrigerium to its opposite. Some nuances of the concept in occidental visiones animarum. The term refrigerium/refrigera re acquired two fundamental semantic values in early Christianity: one relating to commemorating the dead, the other to eschatology. Both meanings have been the subject of extensive research linking the Christian meanings either to the etymon and uses of the term in pre-Christian Latin or to beliefs and practices in other cul tures and religions of Antiquity. In the following lines, I will delve further into the nuances of this term in its sense of temporary and cyclical interruption/ suspension of infernal punishments, as they appear in some texts within the visiones anima rum category. Consecutively, I will identify and justify the occurrence of the oppo site of this meaning for the same category of texts.

Gurdjieff: Ritual Movements and Prayer

G. I. Gurdjieff, a mystic of Greek descent, said that, in ancient religion, ritual and sacred dance were guidebooks containing vital truth, which could not be understood without a key. They were “guidebooks” in that they aimed to bring one to a state where one can experience one’s individual reality, and even a relationship to God. For Gurdjieff, prayer, including ritual prayer, meant connection, and so he attributed to rituals an objective value, and did not reduce them to an instrument of communication. His own “sacred gymnastics” or “Movements” comprised three categories: “exoteric,” “mesoteric,” and “esoteric.” While all three levels are linked, the esoteric and mesoteric levels approximate to ritual prayers and to contemplative exercises. Exoteric Movements chiefly serve to prepare one’s body and attention for the higher. We note how Gurdjieff exhibited these ideas in his “ballet scenario,” The Struggle of the Magicians, and how they are consistent with what was understood of ancient Greek dance in the first quarter of the twentieth century. The key to understanding the unity of his aims and methods is his concept of “self-remembering.”

Religion-making in South Asia: An interstitial perspective

The study of ‘Hinduism’ in contemporary academia has generated considerable controversy. Many scholars have argued that the idea of a single ancient religion is difficult to substantiate based on the historical record. A common alternative position is that Hinduism is a colonial construct, without well-defined historical antecedents. This paper contributes to a scholarly middle ground, which provides an empirically based yet still contingent analysis of the evolution of ‘Hinduism’, by drawing on evidence from the Sikh tradition. In doing so, it also draws on approaches which interpret Islam as a discursive tradition, subject to contestable representations, shaped by conditions of knowledge and power, as well as by collective aspirations. Sikh attempts at self-definition included distinguishing their tradition from the two larger, pre-existing traditions of Muslims and Hindus in an explicit and self-conscious manner. In doing so, Sikh leaders recognised ‘Hindu’ as a religious category to some degree, well before the colonial period.

Inventing the Past: Iolo Morganwg and His Neo-Druidic Doctrine

This article examines the historical mythmaking of the multifaceted Welsh intellectual Edward Williams and his bardo-druidic doctrine known as “Bardism” and developed by him based on the ideas of the main ancient religions (Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.). Drawing on Barddas, the purpose of this study is to identify and reveal the main “dogmas” of neo-druidism and identify the peculiarities of interpretation of the Celtic past by this historian-polymath. Relying on the methodology of intellectual history, the author not only manages to trace the origins of neo-druidism in the work of Edward Williams but also reveal the very context of the era which the main hoaxer of Wales belonged to. During the study, the author concludes that the doctrine developed by the antiquary was aimed at refuting the image of the Celts as barbarians, which appeared in the Roman historical tradition and entrenched in the perception of the British. This was accomplished by Edward Williams by creating a bardic-druidic doctrine, which demonstrated that the Druids were not bloodthirsty pagan priests at all, but on the contrary, sages who spread monotheism and principles of truth, piety, freedom, and peace. Based on the blending of Druidism and Christianity, Celtic church arose, which was destroyed by the Roman Catholic Church. However, the ancient teaching survived thanks to the poetic tradition of the Bards of Glamorgan, successors of the Druids. Thus, building this line of succession, Iolo Morganwg was able to consolidate the status of the centre of Druidism for his motherland both in ancient times and in modern times, and demonstrate a high degree of development of the Celtic civilization.

Urban Religion through the Lens of Urban Archaeology

Cities and religion are among the most intensely studied topics in the classical world. Yet, they have hardly been studied in their broader relationship to each other. The concept of “urban religion” has proposed to change this and is advocating the “mutual formation of religion and urbanity” as a globally applicable tool. For the ancient world, archaeology is the most relevant discipline and its most important “lens” for any such study. In this article we develop this relationship by proposing and testing two concepts that further nuance the lived ancient religion approach, namely ephemerality and anomaly. Each two address the problem of producing better accounts of comparability and change when combining local case studies with an interest in transregional entanglement and comparability. This is demonstrated in a series of short case studies.

Muslim-Christian Debates in the Subcontinent: A Research Review

Subcontinent is a multi-religious territory and Hinduism is the most ancient religion of this land which is divided into more sects. When Christianity started here during the first century AD the Indians accepted it and bowed the knee before it. Islam was introduced in the Subcontinent because of Arabian traders. In the 8th century, the Arabian government was established here. The Christians, being the people of the Book, created more problems for the Muslims because of some similarities. That is why the Muslims had to face their objections and prove Islam as a true divine religion. Mughal emperor Akbar started Muslim-Christian debates and after him, his son Jahangir held on to this practice. Their religious policies upreared Christianity in the Subcontinent. Shāh Jahān got over this situation and encouraged the Muslim-converted people by changing the law. Muslim-Christian debates were in full swing during the British period. It was the time when Christian ecclesiasts burnt the candle at both ends to convert the Muslims to Christianity.

Comparing Islam with other Late Antique Religions: Examining Theological Parallels with Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Manichaeism

This article argues that Islamic theological doctrines emerged out of broad late antique religious trends. Such trends were reflected in Judaism and Christianity, but also transcended them. In support of this view, the article systematically examines parallels between Islamic theological doctrines, and those found in the late antique religions of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Manichaeism. It is argued that all of these religions share six basic doctrines: (1) belief in one morally-concerned Supreme Being (2) belief in lesser spirit beings that are good or bad (3) belief in prophets (4) belief in scriptural texts (5) belief in an afterlife (6) belief that the world will end with the triumph of good over evil. It is argued that the preceding six doctrines coherently fit together into a larger perspective on the universe. The article explains how this perspective is central to late antique religions, including Islam.

Satan’s Temptation of Jesus in the Gospels: A Critical study

The research examines the Satan’s temptation of Jesus in the Gospels by analyzing the places where this story is mentioned in the three Gospels: Matthew, Luke, and Mark. It also studies this phenomenon in some ancient religions and compares it with what is mentioned in the Gospels. The research then delves into the incident within the Gospels, comparing them with each other, highlighting their differences, and drawing parallels with what is found in ancient pagan religions. Additionally, it presents a critique of this story and demonstrates its invalidity through rational analysis. Lastly, it discusses the Islamic perspective on this matter.

Zombies Roaming Around the Pantheon

The present contribution explores how the field of Roman History has formalized and justified the absence of “belief”—and religious belief in particular—as part of its standard research programme. In positing an unbridgeable gap between ancient Romans and modern human beings mainly based on the idea that “belief” and “faith” are modern Protestant concepts, Roman History inadvertently transmogrified its subjects of study into a legion of zombies incapable of holding meta-representations of their own religious (and non-religious) beliefs. While Roman History might have been an outlier in its staunch commitment to this exclusionary approach, the post-1970s move towards the abandonment of “belief” insofar as the study of ancient religion(s) is concerned was part of a widespread paradigm shift within the Humanities, which only very recently has been questioned. The history of the concept of “belief” in both Roman History and anthropology, as well as its rejection from the former’s disciplinary toolbox, are tackled, while the peculiar disciplinary concepts of Roman “orthopraxy” and “demythicization” (sometimes hailed as explananda or replacements for the absence of “belief” in Roman antiquity) are also explained. Finally, a cognitive rebuttal of this absence is provided through a reappraisal of David Chalmers’ “philosophical zombies” mental experiment.

Moksha in the Religious Philosophy of Ancient India: A View from Vietnam

One of the many outstanding themes found in ancient religions of India is the theme of Moksha or liberation. With time, Indian society changed and man’s mental power also improved. The philosophical thought of Liberation first started between the time of the Rig-Veda (from 1500 B.C to 1000 B.C.) and that of Brahmanas (from 1000 B.C to 800 B.C to 500 B.C), was further developed in the principal message of the Upanishads (from 800 B.C to 500 B.C.) and interpreted differently in the various philosophical and religious schools of the time such as Sankhya, Vaisheshika, Nyaya, Yoga, Mimansa, Vedanta (belonging to orthodox Brahminism) or Jainism. This thought, however, reached its highest development in Buddhism (of the unorthodox system). Each of these philosophical and religious schools, together with its teachings and tendencies, represented the voice of each of the various castes in India and presented a course of physical and mental disciplines for attaining liberation.

Theological Matricide in the Ancient Israelite Religion and Commentary on the Book of Lamentations

The essay considers the possibility that the Book of Lamentations contains passages lamenting the theological matricide that the ancient religion of Israel and the life of faith and worship have undergone. Despite the fact that archaeological findings, and biblical descriptions, point to the presence of a divine mother figure at the core of the religion and worship of the ancient people of Israel, the violent expulsion of this mother from the people’s life of faith and worship from the outset, as described in the Bible itself, has not been thoroughly investigated in terms of its spiritual-existential implications. This essay argues that what is described in Lamentations 1 may not only originate from the nation’s grief, the sense of chaos, and the destruction of the temple and the city, but also from the existential emotional violent separation from the Mother-Goddess, from the nation’s life of faith and worship, and the disaster that followed this disconnect and separation.

Moses and Christ in the Wilderness Narrative: Transformation of Religious Traditions in 1 Cor 10

Unlike Islam, Judaism and Christianity, religions in antiquity were non-confessional and lacked moral instructions for worshippers. Patron–client associations seemed to depict gods-worshipper relations in Paul’s time. In this paper, I argue that Paul in 1 Cor 10:1–4 uses both his former religious traditions and those of the first audience, Jews and non-Jews, to convince them about his novel God–Christ patron–covenant theology. Paul abruptly introduced Moses (10:2), spiritual food/drink (10:3–4a) and Christ (10:4b) into the classic Jewish wandering story in the wilderness to delineate his anti-idol rhetoric throughout 1 Cor 10. Paul paradoxically warned the first audience against their idol-worshipping lifestyles by utilising and transforming Jewish Shema worship into a binitarian God–Christ covenantal relation, and idol-worship traditions to the only patron family god of the Christ-follower community. Paul’s rhetorical purpose of (re)introducing the concept of God as Moses’ God and Christ as an anti-idol polemic is a coherent theme throughout 1 Cor 10 and probably throughout 1 Cor 11–14.

Spirituality and Spaceflight

While the advent of space flight is relatively new, humankind has always had a fascination with the heavens. Ancient religions across numerous civilizations had spiritual and/or religious beliefs as to what lay in the heavens, or what is now referred to as outer space. Humans constantly searched for answers among the stars and believed space to be a place of the Gods. Though religious institutions, such as the Catholic Church, were often at odds with scientific discoveries, the astronomers did not let that dampen their spirits. This overlap between spirituality and space science continued right into the dawn of achievable space flight technology. Important engineers such as Werner von Braun were driven by faith and their belief it was humankind’s destiny to unravel the mysteries of the heavens. Almost all of the NASA astronauts and engineers during the Gemini and Apollo programs held strong spiritual beliefs. And beyond that, many more recent astronauts have described a transformative experience during their time in space, something that several prominent psychologists have begun to explore. With the recent beginning of humankind’s next manned moon mission, Artemis, well underway, it is time to examine the very obvious and powerful connection that exists in humans between spirituality and spaceflight. This paper will examine exactly this, with a slant towards NASA and the West and how spirituality and space will continue to interact into the foreseeable future.