It is often assumed that ancient religion was not concerned with doctrines but only with rituals. To which I say, sort of, but no! The ancient world did not have something called ‘religion’ as we ordinarily imagine it. If by ‘religion,’ one means a body of beliefs about the supernatural with various ethical corollaries that can be compartmentalized from a secular culture, then obviously, ‘no,’ there was no such thing as ‘religion.’ There is not even an ancient word that translates into ‘religion.’ The Latin word
The bit about "religio" reminds me of an article (the name of which I cannot remember) by Edwin Judge I read ages ago which I found useful in an apologetic sense as well as of great historical interest.
Many thanks - fascinating!
The bit about "religio" reminds me of an article (the name of which I cannot remember) by Edwin Judge I read ages ago which I found useful in an apologetic sense as well as of great historical interest.
This is so well done!! I learned new things again about ancient religion!!