Reviews for Liberal Learning and Religion

The average rating for Liberal Learning and Religion based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-06-15 00:00:00 Maribel Garcia It is always so gratifying, when confronted by some old public domain classic, to find something that -- far from being dry as dust -- turns out to be fascinating and up-to-the-minute. Such is Five Stages of Greek Religion by Gilbert Murray. What we have here, in some 240 pages, is a history of how Greek Paganism went through a series of stages such that it was ripe for conversion when Christianity came along. Murray writes so cogently that it seems at time almost an accident that it is dealing with more than just Greek religion, but all religion. (The only exception: There are a large number of untranslated Greek phrases and not a few Latin ones, but most are relegated to the footnotes.) And there is also what I find to be a very touching personal statement of faith by the author:There is no royal road in these matters. I confess it seems strange to me as I write here, to reflect that at this moment many of my friends and most of my fellow creatures are, as far as one can judge, quite confident that they possess supernatural knowledge. As a rule, each individual belongs to some body which has received in writing the results of a divine revelation. I cannot share in any such feeling. The Uncharted surrounds us on every side and we must needs have some relation towards it, a relation which will depend on the general discipline of a man's mind and the bias of his whole character. As far as knowledge and conscious reason will go, we should follow resolutely their austere guidance. When they cease, as cease they must, we must use as best we can those fainter powers of apprehension and surmise and sensitiveness by which, after all, most high truth has been reached as well as most high art and poetry: careful always really to seek for truth and not for our own emotional satisfaction, careful not to neglect the real needs of men and women through basing our life on dreams; and remembering above all to walk gently in a world where the lights are dim and the very stars wander.In short, Murray makes Paganism understandable, such that even the Olympian gods of Homer and Hesiod become understandable in the context of the time. As I mentioned, Five Stages of Greek Religion is in the public domain and can be found in its entirety at Gutenberg.Org. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is serious about the history of religion.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-12-14 00:00:00 Victor Cherdsuriya Sometimes one immures himself thinking that one knows more than the world around him. It's this attitude of complacency and hubris that I'm currently fighting, because sometimes I admit I do think I know a lot more than most people, which is why I'm glad I came across this book. I didn't read this book as if I were performing an exegesis: I'm not a Greek scholar and will probably never be one. There were a lot of terms that I failed to understand, because I am unable to read untranslated Greek words. However, I was delighted with this book because it managed to debunk and destroy my preconceptions about some of the Greek philosophies and religions. For example, one perceives of Epicurus nowadays as merely a pleasure-seeker. Mr. Murray reveals that nothing was farther from the truth: 'Epicurus says that pleasure, or "sweetness of life," is the good but he never counsels the direct pursuit of it. Quite the reverse. He says that if you conquer your desires and fears, and live simply and love those about you, the natural sweetness of life will reveal itself." (p. 105) That doesn't seem to be horrible. In fact, it's Jesus Christ's second commandment: love your neighbor as you love yourself. The current idea of cynicism is relatively negative: people are driven by their own interests and usually do not hold honorable virtues. The original Cynic, however, was almost its polar opposite: these were the people who only sought virtue and lived like dogs in the sense that all it needed was to be loyal to its master, defend its master from beasts, and provide for himself. (p. 88) The Stoics were slightly different: they believed that life was shit, but man can be virtuous by the force of his own will. In reading the evolution of Greek religion I also discovered my prejudices against paganism and developed insight regarding that. During the swansong of Pagan religion Paganism was neither bloody nor uncouth: the Pagan Sallustius wrote 'On the Gods and the World' explaining his beliefs, and it was a civilized and intelligent treatise. I'm grateful for this book for providing me with a bit more knowledge and destroying some of my prejudices, and reminding me that I still have much to learn.