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A History of Religious Ideas, Volume 1

From the Stone Age to the Eleusinian Mysteries
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
A History of Religious Ideas, Volume 1 by Mircea Eliade explores the development of human spirituality from the earliest expressions of religiosity to the mysteries of ancient civilisations. It delves into diverse religious ideas, myths, and rituals, examining how these spiritual traditions have shaped cultures and societies throughout history. Eliade presents this comprehensive overview with an emphasis on understanding the profound impact of religious beliefs on human life and thought.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you have an interest in the diverse origins and developments of religious thought across different cultures. Mircea Eliade offers an engaging exploration of early religious ideas, making it an insightful read for anyone fascinated by the evolution of spirituality and the sacred.

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"No one has done so much as Mr. Eliade to inform literature students in the West about 'primitive' and Oriental religions...Everyone who cares about the human adventure will find new information and new angles of vision."--Martin E. Marty, "New York Times Book Review"

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description
"No one has done so much as Mr. Eliade to inform literature students in the West about 'primitive' and Oriental religions. . . . Everyone who cares about the human adventure will find new information and new angles of vision."—Martin E. Marty, New York Times Book Review

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780226204017

Publisher: The University of Chicago Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 15 April 1981

Country: United States

Imprint: University of Chicago Press

Contributors:

  • Translated by Willard R. Trask

Audience: Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 3.0mm

Width: 15.0mm

Height: 23.0mm

Weight: 737g

Pages: 508

About the Author

Mircea Eliade (1907-1986) was the Sewell L. Avery Distinguished Service Professor at the Divinity School and professor in the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago. He was one of the most influential scholars of religion of the 20th century and one of the world's foremost interpreters of religious symbolism and myth. Eliade was the author of many works of scholarship and fiction, including A History of Religious Ideas and ten novels.

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    In volume 2 of this monumental work, Mircea Eliade continues his magisterial progress through the history of religious ideas. The religions of ancient China, Brahmanism and Hinduism, Buddha and his contemporaries, Roman religion, Celtic and German religions, Judaism, the Hellenistic period, the Iranian syntheses, and the birth of Christianity—all are encompassed in this volume. History of Religious Ideas, Volume 2...
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  • History of Religious Ideas, Volume 3
    This volume completes the immensely learned three-volume A History of Religious Ideas. Eliade examines the movement of Jewish thought out of ancient Eurasia, the Christian transformation of the Mediterranean area and Europe, and the rise and diffusion of Islam from approximately the sixth through the seventeenth centuries. Eliade's vast knowledge of past and present scholarship provides a synthesis that is...
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  • The Myth of the Eternal Return
    First published in English in 1954, this founding work of the history of religions secured the North American reputation of the Romanian émigré-scholar Mircea Eliade. Making reference to an astonishing number of cultures and drawing on scholarship published in no fewer than half a dozen European languages, The Myth of the Eternal Return illuminates the religious beliefs and rituals of...
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  • The Forge and the Crucible
    Primitive man's discovery of the ability to change matter from one state to another brought about a profound change in spiritual behaviour. In The Forge and the Crucible, Mircea Eliade follows the ritualistic adventures of these ancient societies, adventures rooted in the people's awareness of an awesome new power. The new edition of The Forge and the Crucible contains an...
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  • Shamanism
    Shamanism is an essential work on the study of this mysterious and fascinating phenomenon. The founder of the modern study of the history of religion, Mircea Eliade, surveys the tradition through two and a half millennia of human history, moving from the shamanic traditions of Siberia and Central Asia—where shamanism was first observed—to North and South America, Indonesia, Tibet, China,...
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