Features
- Cover Type: Paperback with 210 pages
- Published by: Lulu Press, Inc. September 23, 2007
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 1430327634
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-1430327639
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Book Dimensions:
8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
- Weighs: 10.4 ounces
Product Description
Modern Hellenismos is a religious movement that reconstructs the ancient Greek religion in a modern context. The practice uses a method that adapts the old with the new, using the best available archaeological evidence with intellectual honesty. Those attracted to the ancient Greek religion want to know what Hellenists believe. What does Hellenismos say about sin and salvation, creation and the afterlife? Theology is, simply put, a system, school, or body of educated opinions concerning the Divine and religious questions, and provides for a reasoned discourse that creates an understanding of a religion, its spiritual practices, and the Gods. Within this introduction to Hellenic theology, written by the foremost author on modern Hellenismos, you will find a modern theology sourced and adapted from the history, culture, traditions, thought, and ethics of ancient Greece.
Reader ReviewsI should preface this review by saying that I am not a Hellenic Reconstructionist nor am I an expert on Ancient Greek Philosophy/beliefs (I am however am inspired in my practices by the Indo-Greek Kingdom of Menander I). Timothy Jay Alexander's The Gods of Reason seems to me to be an interesting modern theology for Hellenic Reconstructionism that seems to be composed of a mix of Stoic, Neo-Platonist, and other Philosophic influences. Alexander tends to be a bit convoluted in places but overall it makes for a short and interesting read (and as with his previous works more than 1/2 the text is composed of appendixes of primary documents). A couple of things about Alexander's text seem to be a bit troubling such as Alexander's tendency to make fairly sweeping generalizations at times such as on page 67: "We also accept, as the ancients did, that the gods are incorporeal and thus the Cosmos must be incorporeal. It may be pedantic, but this statement should have really said something along the lines of "as most of the ancients did" when making a statement such as this since in its original form it seems to completely ignore such Philosophers as Epicurus (whose 'Principle Doctrines' are included as Appendix I) who taught that the gods were corporeal and composed of atoms (but of a finer kind of atoms that gave them immortality). Another thing I found troubling is that the book could cause some confusion between Alexander's theology and what he called the 'basic theology' in Hellenismos due to a lack of a clear definition of 'basic theology' when it is first mentioned. Still overall it was a interesting and decent little volume.
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