Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface and acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction: the debate about pagan monotheism
- 2 Pagan monotheism as a religious phenomenon
- 3 Pagan ritual and monotheism
- 4 The case for pagan monotheism in Greek and Graeco-Roman antiquity
- 5 Monotheism between cult and politics: the themes of the ancient debate between pagan and Christian monotheism
- 6 The price of monotheism: some new observations on a current debate about late antiquity
- 7 Megatheism: the search for the almighty god and the competition of cults
- 8 Deus deum … summorum maximus (Apuleius): ritual expressions of distinction in the divine world in the imperial period
- 9 Further thoughts on the cult of Theos Hypsistos
- Bibliography
- General index
- Index of authors, works and citations
6 - The price of monotheism: some new observations on a current debate about late antiquity
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 May 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface and acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction: the debate about pagan monotheism
- 2 Pagan monotheism as a religious phenomenon
- 3 Pagan ritual and monotheism
- 4 The case for pagan monotheism in Greek and Graeco-Roman antiquity
- 5 Monotheism between cult and politics: the themes of the ancient debate between pagan and Christian monotheism
- 6 The price of monotheism: some new observations on a current debate about late antiquity
- 7 Megatheism: the search for the almighty god and the competition of cults
- 8 Deus deum … summorum maximus (Apuleius): ritual expressions of distinction in the divine world in the imperial period
- 9 Further thoughts on the cult of Theos Hypsistos
- Bibliography
- General index
- Index of authors, works and citations
Summary
RECENT DEBATE AND THE SILENCE OF HISTORIANS
My title refers to Die Mosaische Unterscheidung oder der Preis des Monotheismus, the most prominent of Jan Assmann's publications, which have been at the centre of a debate about monotheism among contemporary theologians. Assmann proposed a structural division between primary and secondary forms of religion which broadly conforms to the divide between polytheism and monotheism. The decisive factor in the emergence of secondary religious forms was not the decision to honour one rather than many gods, but to distinguish true from false doctrine. The choice of truth necessarily entailed the rejection of falsehood; thus the secondary religion was exclusive, not inclusive, and intolerant of error and religious deviation. The price for the identification and pursuit of religious truth was paid in hostility to and the repression of false gods, heresy and religious ideas that deviated from the true religion. Violence and hatred were therefore inevitable partners of secondary, monotheistic, religion. It is likely that widespread discussions of Assmann's thesis will continue, not without inevitable repetition of the ensuing arguments. This paper does not intend to side with Assmann's critics and praise monotheism for its integrative and peaceful characteristics, nor will it defend his views with new or old arguments. Rather, my reflections proceed from the comment recently made by a historian: ‘the screaming muteness of the historians and scholars of the social sciences’.
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- One GodPagan Monotheism in the Roman Empire, pp. 100 - 111Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010