Reviews for Pagan Religion A Translation of De Religione Gentilium

The average rating for Pagan Religion A Translation of De Religione Gentilium based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-04-09 00:00:00 Lynn Baranyi Lord Edward Herbert of Chirbury's volume "Pagan Religion" might be more aptly titled: "Philosophy of Greco-Roman religion", as it does not actually deal with paganism on a large scale, but instead sticks more closely to parallels and overlaps between European paganism and Roman Catholic Christianity. This does not take away from the wealth of wisdom which the volume presents by any means though, it merely serves to remind the reader that Lord Herbert was writing during the 1600s, before our understanding of paganism and ancient history had advanced far enough to make distinctions between pagan beliefs and religions. What "Pagan Religion" attempts to accomplish is the establishment of a hierarchal system of pagan deities, based on a structural analysis of pagan religious beliefs. To this effect, Lord Herbert determines that paganism (Greco-Roman paganism at least) was subdivided into three "kingdoms", and five "classes" of being, all of which were lorded over by the Best and Greatest God, the Christian one. Lord Herbet's analysis breaks down as such: Heaven was the domain of the Best and Greatest God: the Christian God. To help manage the maintenance of the Universe and Nature, the Best and Greatest God created a second tier of divinities, and gave to them the Supercelestial kingdom. These beings are invisible and unknowable, but are responsible for all of the processes which we, today, take for granted as naturally occurring. They establish the movement of planets, the growth of vegetation, and the lifespans of living beings. These divine creature, in their turn, established the Celestial kingdom, and arranged an order of beings to oversee the affairs of the Earth and human beings. These celestial beings included the Sun (Apollo), the Moon (Diana), Mercury (Hermes), Venus (Aphrodite), the Earth (Ceres, Hestia, Demeter, and Athena), Mars (Ares), Jupiter (Zeus), and the Fixed Stars: human heroes like Orpheus, Theseus, and Hercules, and demigods, such as the Fates, Pan, the Furies, Artemis, and others. Finally, the celestial deities established the Subcelestial kingdom to interact with living, sentient beings on their behalf. This final, and lowest kingdom, consisted of the Elements (Fire, Water, Air, and Earth) and Daemons (Lares, Lemures, angels, and genius locii). The pagan people, according to Herbert, appeased the Subcelestial kingdom with offerings, worship, and prayer; in turn, the Elements and Daemons communicated the desires of man to the Celestial kingdom. The Planetary deities of the Celestial kingdom then sought to enact the changes desired by human beings, and reported to the Supercelestial kingdom their activities. Finally, the divine, unknowable forces in the Supercelestial kingdom, alongside the Best and Greatest God, judged man after his death based on his sinfulness or purity. Lord Herbet's explanation and theories are, surprisingly, well laid out, informed, and supported. While they do not hold true for all pagan religions (Hindu, Egyptian, West Asian and Celtic don't necessarily overlap), for comparative elements between Christianity and classical paganism his theories hold up extremely well. Lord Herbert then goes a step further, condemning pagan priests, rituals, idolatry, and superstition for the degrading qualities which they instilled in what he called "pure religion", but elaborating on the Five Articles of paganism which he believes are pure, clean, and beneficial to man. These are: The Mind: that paganism established a reverence for consciousness, and the conscience, and helped men to determine good from evil, right from wrong, and sin from salvation. Virtue: that paganism taught man to be good, to support his family, his community, and his nation. That such virtuous ways, not reprehensible to the Church, were even welcomed and adopted by the Church Fathers, resulting in a special afterlife for what are called "virtuous pagans". Piety: that paganism introduced the idea of reverence, prayer, and adoration to man. Helping them to become pious, and honor their gods (even if they were mistakenly not honoring the Best and Greatest God). Lord Herbet recognizes that piety has as its roots, paganism. Concord: Herbet makes especial mention of the notion of harmony and peace which pagan religion attempted to establish between man, his gods, and the supernatural forces of the Universe at large. Not just a peace, but an actual sustained interrelationship between man and those forces above and beyond himself. Faith: the final article which pagan religion established within man is faith; faith in both the existence of the Best and Greatest God, but also in that the five articles (outlined above) are acknowledged and honored by all fellow men. That through this mutual faith in each other all of us might achieve concord, or harmony, among our nations. The final portion of the book is Lord Herbet's attempt to philosophically support his theory that pagan religion, in its pure form (before the priests, augers, and charlatans corrupted it) was a porthole through which the True Faith, Christianity, was capable of entering into the consciousness, hearts, minds, and conscience of all human beings. While I myself am not Christian, and espouse no Christian beliefs, I must honestly concede that Lord Herbert of Chirbury very successfully presents the foundation for, and practice of, a symbiotic faith between paganism and Christianity, which would create a philosophically sound, morally good, and consciously aware spiritual individual. Despite the more formidable archaeological evidence, and cultural studies available to the modern scholar, Lord Herbert's work was, in the 1600s, no doubt revolutionary and eye opening. ***** Since Goodreads currently lacks finer details concerning the book, here are some of my copy's features: the volume is a bound book with a green cover and a gold inlaid Apkallu figure on the front. It has a title page identifying that it is volume 5 in the Dovehouse Studies in Literature series, and volume 152 in the Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies Series. Here is a link to Amazon.com for the edition I have: Pagan Religion. Text Information Written by Lord Herbert of Chirbury Edited and anotated by John Anthony Butler Standard Text: 352 pages With bibliography: 363 pages With index: 379 pages Publication information Copyright Dovehouse Editions Inc., 1996 Dovehouse Editions 1890 Fairmeadow Cres. Ottawa, Canada K1H7B9 ISBN: 1-895537-21-5 Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies State University of New York Binhamton, N.Y. 13902-60000 ISBN: 0-86698-193-4

Review # 2 was written on 2013-08-16 00:00:00 Rob Wood Argument: From the earliest colonial efforts thru 1770, the society that formed in Brazil was NOT a creolization of various nations and peoples. It was a recreation of the religion, values, and ways of life that these slaves had practiced in Central Africa. Some really good sections of the book and some more dry. The middle section is the best, a deep dive into the elements of African cosmology that transitioned to Brazil. Good stuff!