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Lectures given at a symposium held in 1987, sponsored by Fordham University.
Written specifically for level 2 undergraduates, this textbook introduces readers to the extremely wide range of forms of religious thought, and the responses of religion to modern ideas, cultural phenomenon and events of the 20th century
In this book, Breasted details the evolution of religious belief through thousands of years of Egyptian history. He describes (and quotes extensively from) the great funerary texts, most importantly the Pyramid texts, as well as the Coffin texts and the Book of the Dead. He covers the history of Egyptian religion from the earliest Osiran beliefs up to the groundbreaking monotheism of Akhenaton. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in Egyptian religion.
In this important new book, the distinguished Egyptologist Jan Assmann provides a masterful overview of a crucial theme in the religious history of the West - that of 'religio duplex', or dual religion. He begins by returning to the theology of the Ancient Egyptians, who set out to present their culture as divided between the popular and the elite. By examining their beliefs, he argues, we can distinguish the two faces of ancient religions more generally: the outer face (that of the official religion) and the inner face (encompassing the mysterious nature of religious experience). Assmann explains that the Early Modern period witnessed the birth of the idea of dual religion with, on the one hand, the religion of reason and, on the other, that of revelation. This concept gained new significance in the Enlightenment when the dual structure of religion was transposed onto the individual. This meant that man now owed his allegiance not only to his native religion, but also to a universal 'religion of mankind'. In fact, argues Assmann, religion can now only hold a place in our globalized world in this way, as a religion that understands itself as one among many and has learned to see itself through the eyes of the other. This bold and wide-ranging book will be essential reading for historians, theologians and anyone interested in the nature of religion and its role in the shaping of the modern world.
Subjects covered in these pages include: Egyptian Spirituality The Akhenaten Heresy and Its Impact on Religion and Mystical Thought Creation Mythology of the Four Centres The Soul and Its Journey in Egyptian Metaphysical Thought Secrets of the Book of the Dead The Nature of the Human Being Ra's Journey through the Underworld and Its Initiatory Significance Egyptian Mysteries as the Prototype of Ancient Mystery Schools Shamans, Hierophants, and the Initiatory Process Wisdom of the Egyptian Sages, from Ancient Egypt to the Hermetic Mystics of Alexandria The Heart as the Spiritual Self and Monitor of Morality in Human Behaviour KIRKUS REVIEW: A collection of insights into the esoteric meanings of ancient Egyptian religious and spiritual practices. This extraordinary book, the product of extensive research by author and Rosicrucian lecturer de Motte (The Grail Quest, 2003), is ideal for readers who want to go beyond ancient Egypt's pyramids, artifacts and mummies. Here, in highly readable form, the author presents the broad outlines of the ancient Egyptian spiritual belief system-from the founding cosmology of a watery, amorphous pre-creation mass to the rise of Ra, Osiris, Isis, Horus and Seth, and on to the highly developed use of symbols as keys to mystic truths, comprehended only by a chosen few. Why do ancient Egyptian renderings of human figures have bird heads? The book gives the answer: They depict, among other things, the soul in flight, freed from an earthly cage and able to access other realms of reality. The book also explains how the scarab, an insect that stores balls of dung to feed its offspring, is intimately linked to the mighty sun god Ra, who must successfully pass through the underworld each night. One of the book's main themes is the notion that, in every age, there's a body of secret knowledge about life, death and the afterlife known only to initiates and never preached or recorded. That knowledge is passed on exclusively by word of mouth over the millennia, lest it fall into the hands of those who would abuse it. In the Egyptian model, the priestly class served this function in so-called "mystery schools" with elaborate pageantry. Although de Motte's prose is highly readable, some readers may find this a difficult book to absorb. The author presents a very large amount of information here, and readers not well-acquainted with his topic may find it necessary to re-read it to keep from getting lost. Only bona fide Egyptologists can render scholarly judgment on de Motte's dazzling pages, but neophytes will appreciate the author's liberal citation of experts, even when he doesn't agree with them. An impressive work that brings light to a mysterious ancient culture.