Rethinking the Gods: Philosophical Readings of Religion in the Post-Hellenistic Period

Peter van Nuffelen

Cambridge University Press, Dec 1, 2011 - Literary Criticism - 282 pages

Ancient philosophers had always been fascinated by religion. From the first century BC onwards, the traditionally more hostile attitude of Greek and Roman philosophy was abandoned in favour of the view that religion was a source of philosophical knowledge. This book studies that change, not from the perspective of the history of religion, as is usual, but understands it as part of the wider tendency of Post-Hellenistic philosophy to open up to external, non-philosophical sources of knowledge and authority. It situates two key themes, ancient wisdom and cosmic hierarchy, in the context of Post-Hellenistic philosophy and traces their reconfigurations in contemporary literature and in the polemic between Jews, Christians and pagans. Overall, Post-Hellenistic philosophy can be seen to have a relatively high degree of unity in its ideas on religion, which should not be reduced to a preparation for Neo-Platonism.

About the author

Peter van Nuffelen is Professor of History at Universiteit Gent, Belgium. His interests cover Hellenistic history, ancient historiography, ancient religion and philosophy and late antique history and literature, including in oriental languages. He has published widely in these fields, including the monograph Un héritage de paix et de piété. Étude sur les Histoires ecclésiastiques de Socrate et de Sozomène (2004) and the edited volumes Faces of Hellenism (2009), Monotheism in Late Antiquity Between Christians and Pagans (2010, with S. Mitchell) and One God. Pagan Monotheism in the Roman Empire (First-Fourth Centuries AD) (2010, with S. Mitchell). He is currently working on projects on late antique historiography and on ritual communication in Late Antiquity.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Rethinking the Gods: Philosophical Readings of Religion in the Post-Hellenistic Period; Greek Culture in the Roman World
• Author: Peter van Nuffelen
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2011
• ISBN: 1107012031, 9781107012035
• Length: 282 pages
• Subjects: Literary Criticism / Ancient & Classical; Philosophy / History & Surveys / Ancient & Classical; Religion / Philosophy