Sacrifice and 'Religion

Modeling Religious Change in the Roman Empire

Bibliographic Data

ID4789180
AuthorsJames Rives, James B Rives (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume10
Issue1
Pages16
Publication date2018-12-28
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel10010016
OpenAlexW2907111208
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited21

In this paper I present a model for describing the change in religion that took place during the Roman imperial period, a model that is built around a contrast between orthopraxy and orthodoxy. I begin with a brief survey of the most important earlier models of religious change in the Roman empire, followed by an initial sketch of my own proposed model. In the third and fourth sections I elaborate on this model in more detail by developing it through two brief case studies: the Graeco-Roman practice of animal sacrifice and the nascent Christian discourse around that practice. In analyzing animal sacrifice, I focus on its role in constructing the socio-political and cultural structures of the Roman empire. For the Christian discourse of sacrifice, I limit myself to one particular text, Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, which provides some of the earliest surviving reflections on sacrifice by a Christ-follower. I close with a few comments on some of the limitations as well as the potential of my proposed model

Aesthetics · Ancient history · Art · Early Christianity · Empire · Literature · Orthodoxy · Political science · Politics · Roman Empire · Sacrifice · Sketch · Theology · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classics · Computer Science · History · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies

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