How should we explain differences in religious belief and practice? Philippe Borgeaud's ambitious intellectual history tells the story of how reflection on religious phenomena emerged, throughout the centuries, in European consciousness and scholarship. Christianity in particular, as Borgeaud shows, long wrestled with how to understand polytheistic cultures versus its own belief in a single omnipotent God.
The Church Fathers, the author argues, sought to inherit the core of Graeco-Roman culture while rejecting its deities and religious practices; and patristic ideas were later adopted when Europeans travelling and colonising the world encountered ever more varied polytheistic traditions. At times detached, at times enchanted, these travellers' reflections provided the basis for the modern study of 'religions', and have since conditioned the mindset of anyone brought up in a European culture.
The book concludes by arguing for the importance of liberation from these assumptions and instead considering religion as a form of 'play'.
| ISBN: | 9781009220347 |
| Publication date: | 20th August 2026 |
| Author: | Philippe Borgeaud |
| Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 204 pages |
| Series: | Classical Scholarship in Translation |
| Genres: |
History of religion History of ideas Ancient history European history |
How should we explain differences in religious belief and practice? Philippe Borgeaud's ambitious intellectual history tells the story of how reflection on religious phenomena emerged, throughout the centuries, in European consciousness and scholarship.
What Is Religion? features in the following genres: History of religion, History of ideas, Ancient history, European history
Hardback. £22.50, down from the £25.00 cover price. In Stock.
What Is Religion? was written by Philippe Borgeaud and published by Cambridge University Press
What Is Religion? has 204 pages
Yes it is part of Classical Scholarship in Translation series
£22.50, reduced from £25.00. In Stock.