Pagan and Christian in an Age of Anxiety : Some Aspects of Religious Experience from Marcus Aurelius to Constantine

Interest in the world of Late Antiquity is currently undergoing a significant revival, and in this provocative book, now reissued in paperback, E. R. Dodds anticipated some of the themes now engaging scholars. There is abundant material for the study of religious experience in late antiquity, and through it Professor Dodds examines, from a sociological and psychological standpoint, the personal religious attitudes and experiences common to pagans and Christians in the period between Marcus Aurelius and Constantine. He looks first at general attitudes to the world and the human condition before turning to specific types of human experience. World-hatred and asceticism, dreams and states of possession, and pagan and Christian mysticism are all discussed. Finally Dodds considers both pagan views of Christianity and Christian views of paganism as they emerge in the literature of the time. Although primarily written for social and religious historians, this study will also appeal to all those interested in the ancient world and its thought.… (more)

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LibraryThing member ibonewits

A good book, but flawed by the primary limits of all such books -- a reliance on the writings of the intellectuals of the times. At that, he ignores the likelihood that other writings by less fashionable authors have been lost or suppressed.
(handwritten on verso of 2nd flyleaf)

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LibraryThing member haeesh

This is a series of lectures (4) on various aspects of Christian Pagan spirituality. It has a rambling quality that often fails to satisfy, however there are gems and wry comments sprinkled throughout. The method of comparison is one of textual literary analysis, something that might seem a little

old-fashioned especially when one considers how little of the writings of Late Antiquity has come down to us. (Ie, you can't make generalizations on religious behavior with such scanty evidence.) Get it for its fluent discussion of various Christian sects and their silliness (the author is an admitted agnostic).

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