The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of ReligionThis is one of my favorite books. Renowned anthropologist and historian of religion Mircea Eliade attempts to describe how religious people experience the sacred. He also gives a fascinating explanation of primitive religions. The popular image of the religion of primitive peoples is pretty unflattering: they worship rocks, animals, and whatnot; their rituals are just attempts to extract favors from imaginary spirits; their myths are laughably bad attempts at scientific explanations, etc. Eliade shows that these are complete misunderstandings. Primitive people don't worship natural objects, but they believe that natural objects can be revelations of the sacred, and that one can worship the gods through them. Primitive men certainly do want help from their gods (who wouldn't?), but they are also driven by what Eliade calls an 'ontological nostalgia', a desire to live in the presence of the gods who are the preeminently real and the source of all being. Nor do their myths seem so silly when one understands the function they serve and the universal symbolism they employ. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - gmicksmith - LibraryThingOne of the essential works of religion that can supplement any standard textbook on comparative or world religions: this is a classic text that students should read. Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - hrissliss - LibraryThingOne of the seminal books of religious scholarship (not theology, but the study of religion as religion). Because its seminal, some of it is pretty basic, and other parts don't quite work cross ... Read full review
Contents
Sacred Time and Myths | 68 |
The Sacredness of Nature and Cosmic Religion | 116 |
Human Existence and Sanctified Life | 162 |
CHRONOLOGICAL SURVEY The History of Religions | 216 |
| 234 | |
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Common terms and phrases
According appearance archaic assume becomes beginning behavior believed birth body born break called celestial Center ceremony chaos Christian communication complete conception concern condition constitute continuity cosmic cosmogony cosmos created creation culture death desacralized divine earth Eliade equivalent especially eternal event example existence experience expressed fact festival followed forms four gods heaven hence human idea imitate implies important Indian initiation initiatory later live longer man's manifested meaning mode mystery myth mythical mythologies nature nonreligious once opening orientation origin paradigmatic passage periodically plane possible present primitive primordial profane reactualization reality religions religious religious experience repeated represents revealed rites ritual role sacred sacred space sanctified sense short situation societies space spiritual stone structure symbolism temple tempore tion traditional transcendent tree understand universe valorization values various waters whole
References to this book
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion Volume 81 of Harper torchbooks Harper torchbooks, TB81H Harper torchbooks: Cloister library Harvest book Harvest book, HB l44 |
| Author | Mircea Eliade |
| Edition | reprint |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1959 |
| ISBN | 015679201X, 9780156792011 |
| Length | 256 pages |
| Subjects | › › Religion / Christian Theology / Apologetics Religion / Comparative Religion Religion / Reference |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |